The Subjectively-Perceived Frequency Response in Small and Medium-Sized Rooms

The perception of timbre evoked by sound reproduction in a room has been studied in a series of listening tests. The results indicate that equal timbre of sound reproduction in two different rooms can be obtained if the two systems produce equal steady-state ⅓-octave spectra at the entrance of the listener's ear canal. The often-encountered high-frequency roll-off seen on frequency-response curves of loudspeaker-room systems originates from diffraction phenomena at the head and external ear. The diffraction is described by the amplitude characteristics of the head and external ear. Finally, a subjective frequency-domain description is demonstrated which makes possible a graphical display of the subjectively-perceived frequency response of a loudspeaker-room system.