Requirements to turn your room into an Optimal Listening Environment

[OzzieAudiophile]

This thread is mainly a brainstorming excercise to list every element required to maximise your listening environment.

Consider this thread a checklist, so you have not overlooked anything, if you will.

I will list what I can think of now, and prioritise in terms of 'easy to do' , to 'most expensive'
to 'least expensive', and a dependency matrix, (i.e. Part A must be done before Part B. Part B must be finished before C can begin etc.

01. Size and shape of room. (square, L-shaped, rectangle)
02. Type of room, is it open/closed
03. Before purchasing your first/second hifi component, consult a Cedia professional and/or
a reputable hifi consultant to recommend the best type of amp/speakers, cabling options etc to
suit the room
04. Other objects in the room, movable and fixed objects (i.e. fireplace)
05. Other electrical appliances, which can cause interference
06. Location of all non speaker components - location of optimal spots for each one
07. Distance of speakers from each other
08. Distance of speakers from listener
09. Requirement for more than 1 "sweet spot" within the room (i.e. Bose system permit
the set up of three sweet spots, by flicking a switch or button on the remote).
10. Lengths of speaker and other cables between each component
11. Types/brands/means of cables/interconnects
12. Optimising amplifier settings in order to get the most out of all other components
13. Choosing the correct/optimal connection type based on the amp used
14. Obtaining equipment to maintain a constant current (i.e. the same level of current
to all hi fi equipment) (not cheap, but offer a higher quality of overal signal)
15. Obtaining the optimal format of music disc (i.e. Blu-Ray, SACD, DVD-Audio,
HDCD etc...)
16. Age of the components (i.e. how many years old are they, require to clean, dust,
replace some parts to improve overall performance ? ), i.e. Maintenance
17. Cleanliness/clutter in the room itself (i.e. dust providing a cumulative negative affect
on components)
18. Level of cleanliness of interconnects/connections, i.e. dust on the connects,
fingerprints, dirt
19. Free space in each of the 3 dimensions provided for each hi fi component, i.e.
6 inches on top, 3 inches side, 5 inches deep)
20. Height of the front speaker tweeters, are they level to the listeners ears ?
21. Genres of the CDs/DVDs/SACDs that are being used for this excercise (i.e. having
a stronger collection of rock, instead of classical or vice versa will greatly affect what
kind of amps/speakers you should be getting, or reason why your system is failing at)
22. Is the placement of your LCD, Plasma, projector, screen causing interference to
the rest of your audio/signal ?
23. Sound insulation (panels to put in the corners, on the wall to correct sound bouncing off walls etc)
24. Materials of your cabinet, walls
25. Type, shape, height, placement of your hi fi cabinet(s)
26. External factors negatively affecting your listening environment (i.e. living just outside
a busy highway, or industrial area, or quiet street)
27. Lighting, what types, what kind of lighting level control to change brightness,
type of bulb used, have a dimmer ?
28. Do you have objects in the room which contain strong magnetic fields ? Probably
want to remove them if possible lol
29. Have you checked that your receiver/amp impedence has been set exactly to your
speakers ? (4 OHMS, or 8 OHMS), or you have connected your speaker cables to the correct slots
30. Will additional cooling be required to be added to your hifi system ?
31. Are your Left and Right speaker cables the "SAME" length ?
32. Is the power you're feeding your components "clean power" ?
33. Are there lighting/display settings on your components which can be lowered or
turned off ?
34. Do you have a sufficient sub woofer to handle the lower frequency ranges ? (more
important to a multi-channel system)
35. Do your speakers have a frequency response beyond 20,000 kHz ? (i.e. Some speakers go 30,000 kHz, and/or more, and as SACD frequency response go up to 100 kHz, that means a small proportion of speakers/amps can do SACD justice).
36. Have you aquired the optimal hifi components that your budget can provide ?
37. Have you aquired the optimal hifi components that your country/local area is able to obtain
for you ? (36. and/or 37. may or may not be mutually exclusive)
38. Number of windows/doors, types of, thickness, and location of each one
39. DO NOT open up any components to make any personal modifications, as it's more unlikely you're a qualified component engineer, and will nullify/invalidate the warranty, and risk degrading the quality/performance of the component
40. DO NOT open up any components for any reason as you risk either electricuting yourself, or shortening-out your component, hence risk degrading the quality/performance of the component.

I intend to add more later.

Feel free to print this off as a checklist, if either you're thinking of getting new equipment,
changing a component, or making tweaks of what you already have.

If you find this thread useful, please pass on the positive feedback.



Much obliged.

BK.