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ever, diffusers can rob the system of bass richness and add significant midrange
colorations. A combination of absorptive and diffusive treatments is usually the
best approach.
S t a n d i n g W a v e s
Another type of reflection phenomenon is standing waves. Standing waves
cause the unnatural boosting of certain frequencies, typically in the bass, at certain
discreet locations in the room. A room generating severe standing waves will tend
to make a loudspeaker sound one way when placed in one location and entirely dif-
ferent when placed in another. The effects of standing waves on a loudspeaker's
performance are primarily as follows:
•
Tonal balance- bass too heavy
•
Low-level detail- masked by long reverberation time LF standing
waves
•
Sound staging- LF component of image shifted
Standing waves are more difficult to correct than slap echo because they
tend to occur at lower frequencies, whose wave lengths are long enough to be inef-
fectively controlled by absorbent materials such as Illbruck Sonex®. Moving speak-
ers about slightly in the room is, for most people, their only control over standing
waves. Sometimes a change of placement as little as one inch can dramatically
alter the tonal balance of a system because of standing wave problems.
Fortunately, minor low frequency standing waves are sometimes well controlled by
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