Revel m20 Guia Do Utilizador

PLACEMENT (CONTINUED)

ROOM ACOUSTICS

Listening rooms have a profound impact on sound quality, espe-
cially at low frequencies. In fact, a listening room can actually
dominate the sound quality below about 300 Hz. Ideally, a new
room being built from scratch would include optimized dimen-
sional ratios to minimize the effects of standing waves. 

However, most installations will be made in existing rooms. In
these cases, your only solution is to take special care in selecting
both the speaker and prime listening locations, which will pay off
in superior low frequency performance. Often the difference
between poor and excellent results is the result of relatively small
adjustments in speaker and listener placements.

The interaction of loudspeakers and rooms is quite complex, as the
loudspeaker and listener are affected by two mechanisms. First,
nearby surfaces, or boundaries, cause large peaks and dips in low
frequency response. These peaks and dips can often range 12 dB or
more. Second, the loudspeaker and listener locations interact with
the standing waves, or room modes. These standing waves, or reso-
nances, also result in large response errors. There are no simple for-
mulas that take both mechanisms into account. Most computerized
room-acoustic programs only consider either the effects of room
boundaries or standing waves, but not both at once. Since both fac-
tors are critical, such simplistic programs are of limited value. 

Here’s where real-world experience counts. We suggest consulting
your Revel dealer for help in determining the optimum loudspeak-
er and listener placement for your listening room. They have been
trained by Revel and have the most up-to-date information on
proper loudspeaker placement.

ROOM TREATMENT

REVEL PERFORMA M20 loudspeakers have very accurate off-
axis response, which minimizes any degradation caused by overly
“live” rooms. However, far superior performance will be achieved
by placing at least minimal acoustic treatment materials at the pri-
mary reflection points. Ideally, special acoustic absorbers should be
placed at the first reflection points on the side and front walls
along with either absorbers or diffusers at the first reflection points
on the rear wall. Short of using acoustic treatment materials, even
simple hanging rugs can be a great help in overly bright rooms.