Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms (Audio Engineering Society Presents)

In short, I keep re-reading this book - probably the last collection by Floyd Toole. I wish most speaker manufacturers would heed his advice and give the consumer the data they need to make meaningful decisions. As an engineer (retired) but from another discipline, I gather a lot of useful information in this book. Sean Olive or other protege should come up with an enhanced version in the future. Discuss, please, the types of automatic room equalization systems available, and which ones work well and which don't. I've done a lot of manual equalization after the first steps of speaker placement and some room treatment. Various devices enable rapid measurements now. A means to bring all this data together and provide a downloadable EQ curve to a parametric equalizer is something I would like to see (as opposed to some proprietary algorithm where one just presses a button.) The consumer digital camera world has become very technical, precise and accurate in terms of product technical reviews of capability and performance. Even in 2016, and at the most extreme prices, "HiFi" continues to be defined by "snake oil" salesmen. And the Audio Critic is dead. Is anyone listing to Toole other than JBL?

You need to be realistic if you purchase this book. The author is a superb scientist and recognized authority in the field of acoustic engineering. If you have a strong background in the "hard sciences" i.e. math, physics, chemistry then you'll get a lot out of this book. I have advanced degrees in biological sciences and frankly much of this book was too complex for me. It should also be said, at least IMO, that the book could be edited very substantially as quite a bit of material is repeated and again IMO quite a bit is unnecessary. If you are determined you will glean very helpful tips about speaker placement and a greater understanding of low frequency behavior in rooms, but it will be painful and time consuming. The folks at Audioholics reference Dr. Toole often and they manage to distill his teachings into much more practical and easy to digest bits on their YouTube channel.

This book is a standard reference that should be in everyone's library who is interested in home audio and home theaterIn an easy to read format the book provides the results of decades of research performed by Dr. Toole (with support from other excellent staff) at Harmon International. The results of real research, not just opinions, are hard to come by in the audio field. This book demonstrates what factors are important in loudspeaker response, how loudspeakers fit into rooms, subwoofer and room interactions, and much more.I've had a copy of the book for several years. I just purchased another copy to be circulated among members of a local audio club. The book would make a great gift for someone you know who is into audio.

I am not going to write long about that book. Simply put: it just changed my attitude completely. Many things in this book seems contradictory to the common knowledge. That pushed me to investigate more on the topic (especially in terms of loudspeakers), that as a consequence led me to Mr. Linkwitz web page...Then I realized that I was spending huge amount of money to be able to listened to some nice music...and all that was not necessary. Suddenly I got to know that proper loudspeakers could sound fantastic in my empty, modern equipped living room. I then got one, tested them and found most of the concepts in the book to be accurate and true. Now, my specially designed "listening room" (with "golden dimensions", acoustic treatment etc.) stays empty...and my wife used to call it "guest room" as we all listen to the music in our living room now.

My son in college is studying engineering and is very interested in learning more about this subject. He says it is exactly what he was looking for!

Very good for home theater and stereo playback in small room acoustics such as consumer rooms. Covers small room acoustics much better than the normal acoustics books.

The use of test signals were never my forte but I did use them for subwoofer intergration and speaker and sub phase response. Dr. Toole is right on about so many setup and bad and good myths and I like the fact that I used many of his techniques instinctively.Music after using Pink and Brown noise was ofcourse the main tool in capturing the best in music as per quality of timbre and proper bass and high frequency reproduction.A great book from a great mind, Highly recomended, John M.

The book is certainly excellent and deserves 5 stars even if you disagree with some (or many) arguments presented within. Writing style is absolutely engaging, easy while technical, almost hard to believe it could be done so eloquently. You will learn just about everything there is to know about sound, recording and projection. AT the same time in order to be with the author, you must also agree that sound of some (very few in fact) concert halls produces the best there is and anything else is just plain wrong or at least short of live perfection. I could not disagree with assertion more, yet it is repeatedly stated in early parts of the book (which is were I am right now). I'm not only saying that most concert halls are not good enough to compete with sound projection of the most recognized ones, I'm plainly saying that like sound reproduced at home, or anywhere you listen to, it is what it is and may or may not be approved as best by many listeners. It has nothing to do with one being infrequent hall goer, hence inexperienced in the ... experience. It is different and things should remain so. Author asserts that hall experience will never be matched in home environment. Perhaps so, but so what?You will love the book even if you fall in the same as me category of experiencing sound. The book is worth every dime it costs. But I would caution against falling for all the rhetoric with blinders on. Even if it is a gem of a book, a great read to boot (and that is a lot for such a narrowly focused technical publication).

If you are interested in how loudspeakers and small rooms interact and what parameters are really important in characterizing loudspeaker performance, this is essential reading. It may not help you much in choosing a commercial loudspeaker (because the manufacturers almost never publish the really important information that would let you choose between them), but if you are thinking of designing and building your own or in understanding why some designs work much better than others, this will help a lot.

Heavy in places, but if you're into your Hi-Fi/home cinema, and you want to do some loudspeaker trainspotting, this is for you. It's pretty much the bible for speaker positioning in rooms etc. You can just bypass all the heavier stuff, and go straight to the end for the bottom line, if you like.

Great book with deep insight and lots of references to historical and recent findings in the fields of acoustics, recording techniques and critical considerations in loudspeaker building and their placement in different types of rooms. Beware: the book destroys some of the myths that were considered axioms for several decades. The must-have for accurate sound recording and reproduction enthusiasts and professionals.

Haben Sie Freude an HiFi-/High End Musikreproduktion? Dann lesen Sie dieses Buch, auch wenn es fundierte Kenntnisse der englischen Sprache voraussetzt. Wer gerne regelmäßig neues Equipment anschafft und darin seinen Weg ins HiFi-Nirvana fiden möchte, der sollte einen großen Bogen um dieses Buch machen, denn es deckt detailliert, wissenschaftlich fundiert und schonungslos auf, dass gerade heutzutage eben nicht mehr das Equipment an sich, sondern der Raum, indem dieses steht, den Klang maßgeblich beeinflusst. Schon mit 400€-Lautsprechern kann man auf höchstem Niveau Musik genießen, wenn sie nur richtig platziert im richtig ausstaffierten Raum aufspielen dürfen. Auch das Kapitel über Forschungsergebnisse aus der Psychoakustik ist höchst interessant: klingen doch plötzlich im Blindhörtest die günstigen Lautsprecher gar nicht mal soviel schlechter als die 10x so teuren. Also: Buch kaufen, lesen und endlich mit der eigenen hochwertigen HiFi-Anlage zufrieden sein, wenn man nur die Tipps aus diesem Buch beherzigt und ein wenig mit Einrichtung und Platzierung expermientiert....

Sound reproduction es una referencia invaluable tanto para profesionales como para aficionados al sonido, pero esta edición de tapa blanda viene mal encuadernada. Las páginas están desplazadas unos 5 mm hacia el lomo, quedando a la vista la sangre lateral, lo que sumado a una maquetación algo forzada hacen que la lectura se vuelva incómododa.Se me pasó la fecha para devolverlo y no volvería a comprar esta edición, aunque si cualquier otra que esté ejecutada correctamente.