listening chair upgrade

[magnmac]

Anybody get a huge benefit from changing their listening chair? I recently replaced my extremely comfortable Ikea leather Poang chair to a different leather club chair I thought was a fabulous deal and witnessed a shocking improvement in fidelity.

Now part of the reason would be the Poang has a headrest, of a reasonable reflective material (leather) which I knew smeared the soundstage somewhat, as I frequently changed seating position from relaxing reclined position, with my head resting on the headrest, to a more critical forward sitting position with some distance between the headrest and my ears; this soundstage change was evident, but I still chose to enjoy the relaxed postion for years with no complaints. The new chair of course stops at the upper back area, with nothing behind my neck or head to reflect the sound.

But the sound is much clearer with the new chair; with even better imaging, spaciousness, and low frequency definition than merely sitting upright in the Poang. Apparently the headrest did more degradation to the acoustics than I thought?

The second reason, and the improvement in fidelity is likely a combination of the two, is that I am now sitting up probably a foot higher than before. The Poang is like a lawnchair. With conventional speakers this is common knowledge; you want your ears to be at the same height as the tweeters, but my tweeters start at 6 inches off the ground and rise up to over 5 feet off the ground. You would think this wouldn't be an issue? but my ears are telling me it is. I am thinking it is not just the direct waves of the tweeters but the reflected backwave and other reverberations as well. I must be in more of a vertical sweet spot for my room.

It was something I have wanted to do for some time; finally got around to doing it. Simple acoustics is something that is too often overlooked and neglected to optimize ones listening environment. Now to get on a few more bass traps...

[Gregory]

Originally Posted by magnmac

Anybody get a huge benefit from changing their listening chair? I recently replaced my extremely comfortable Ikea leather Poang chair to a different leather club chair I thought was a fabulous deal and witnessed a shocking improvement in fidelity.

Now part of the reason would be the Poang has a headrest, of a reasonable reflective material (leather) which I knew smeared the soundstage somewhat, as I frequently changed seating position from relaxing reclined position, with my head resting on the headrest, to a more critical forward sitting position with some distance between the headrest and my ears; this soundstage change was evident, but I still chose to enjoy the relaxed position for years with no complaints. The new chair of course stops at the upper back area, with nothing behind my neck or head to reflect the sound.

But the sound is much clearer with the new chair; with even better imaging, spaciousness, and low frequency definition than merely sitting upright in the Poang. Apparently the headrest did more degradation to the acoustics than I thought?

The second reason, and the improvement in fidelity is likely a combination of the two, is that I am now sitting up probably a foot higher than before. The Poang is like a lawnchair. With conventional speakers this is common knowledge; you want your ears to be at the same height as the tweeters, but my tweeters start at 6 inches off the ground and rise up to over 5 feet off the ground. You would think this wouldn't be an issue? but my ears are telling me it is. I am thinking it is not just the direct waves of the tweeters but the reflected backwave and other reverberations as well. I must be in more of a vertical sweet spot for my room.

It was something I have wanted to do for some time; finally got around to doing it. Simple acoustics is something that is too often overlooked and neglected to optimize ones listening environment. Now to get on a few more bass traps...

I'm normally ALL OVER the room with the music playing, 6' out, 20' out, behind the speakers, behind the equipment rack, into the other room (the kitchen to get a beer) and hardly ever sit.

-Gregory

[Still-One]

My two channel room as one seating position in the room. It is a low back recliner so it will have minimal impact on the sound. I prefer cloth covered because sitting on leather is not as comfortable over long periods. (Airlines have never figured that out with their First Class seats, where their long haul Business Class seats are usually cloth).

If you want to get a taste of what impact high backed seating can have, just cup yours hands behind yours ears while listening to music.

Jim

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Gregory

I'm normally ALL OVER the room with the music playing, 6' out, 20' out, behind the speakers, behind the equipment rack, into the other room (the kitchen to get a beer) and hardly ever sit.

Gregory....... I can't blame you. You might want to consider a new chair, too.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Gregory....... I can't blame you. You might want to consider a new chair, too.

Dan
Is that what keeps you in your seat when listening to PMC's.

Jim

[jdandy]

Jim.......Actually, PMC offers the chair in matching veneer to go with the speakers. I just couldn't afford it.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jim.......Actually, PMC offers the chair in matching veneer to go with the speakers. I just couldn't afford it.

That is a shocking statement.

[TommyC]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Gregory....... I can't blame you. You might want to consider a new chair, too.

I hope the plug wasn't plugged in

[US Blues]

Chair? Music is for dancing!!

[US Blues]

Originally Posted by jdandy

I'll bet Ivan has a great power cord upgrade for that model too.