Looking For The Perfect Listening Chair

I can't imagine whatever drove that question.

Angela said:

I have worked my butt off my whole life, I am READY to be spoiled a little

a nice chair, some good music, a glass of wine - now that is S-P-O-I-L-E-D

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Must be a great chair, if it works without a butt.

mep,

Electric Ladyland... You play that Strat along with Jimi? I have a '73 Fender P-bass tuned down a half step for that.

I also have an Ekornes Stressless Ambassador in my music/living room. Good stuf!

Ray

As you can see I have 3 guitars and I can't play any of them worth a damn. I tried to take up guitar way too late in life and I figured out I have an un-natural ability to play guitar vice a natural ability. I do have a nice Fender Strat, Tele, and Seagull acoustic guitar. I also have a great sounding Traynor 100 watt tube amp. Too bad I can't really play them well. Bar chords are killer for me.

Mark

Steve Williams said:

I have been looking for the perfect listning chair, one that is relaxing, comfortable and with the height of the chair below the height of my ears

There are some amzing (and very expensive) chairs

I am interested in what you use and what recommendations you might have

So far I have found

http://www.ekornes.com/us/stressless/stressless_recliners/

http://www.thosmoser.com/product.detail.php?category_id=32&family_id=&product_id=1419

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For our Reference Listening room we use hotel chairs 31" (W) x 33(D) and 29 (H) that have low backs for not blocking direct/reflected sound at the ears, and small form factor for high density seating: we want to get as many listeners into the sweet spot as possible.

Here is an example: http://www.scandesign.com/catalog/product/496-Hotel-Antelope

We haven't done testing to see if the chairs produce the ideal inverted U-shape in listener performance versus stress/arousal, -- just in case Miles asks That said, you also don't want the chairs to be so comfortable that the listener falls asleep.

Steve Williams said:

Nice looking chair Sean, thanks

And reasonably priced as well.

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Yes, price was a consideration since we are a publically traded company.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the influence of low frequency tactile cues on the perceived quality of bass. We found that tactile cues can increase the perceived loudness of bass as much as 3 dB in the car. If your chair is mechanically decoupled from the floor and/or your feel no bass via your feet/body - you may need to turn up the bass.

Some companies\home theater designers sell butt-kickers that go in the chair or put shakers in the floor to simulate the Dinosaur effects in Jurassic Park. I find most of the effects pretty boring after about 2 minutes. I also don't want my butt being kicked while listening to jazz or classical music

Nicholas Bedworth said:

I'm pretty tall, 6' 2" roughly, and thin, Anything resembling a plump cushion is very UNcomfortable for me; not enough support, anywhere. The kind of chair I'd like is a typical long-haul 1st class airline seat that has VERY hard foam and it's narrow. Recaro makes these, and they cost about $60K each for airline purposes.

So is there a Recaro-style chair that's suitable for residential use, rather than in planes or cars? The seat in my Honda Element is somewhat similar; perhaps a trip to the junk yard is in order?

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Can you describe what a typical long-haul 1st class airline seat feels like? I've never sat in one before.

I'm not even sure what a business class seat feels like anymore since our company travel policy changed 2 years ago. I recently sat in one on a return long haul from LA to Shanghai - but only because I taught a course in exchange for the business class seat. I actually felt human after getting off the plane.

Vincent Kars said:

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The original Buttkicker!

Lee

RBFC said:

The original Buttkicker!

Lee

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LOL! That was my thought as well!

i love my 'perfect' 'zero gravity' chair when i'm alone in my room. however; it has a very tall back and so when i have visitors, which (as i prefer) is often, i move my 'big' chair out of the way and use my Barcelona Chair 'knockoffs' in the back and bring in another chair for the front. the problem is that the Barcelona Chairs are not comfortable for any extended period, and the other chairs i bring in are also probematic for extended listening.

so since i want my visitors to have the same level of comfort that i enjoy while by myself, i've decided to get rid of my Barcelona chairs and have spent awhile considering my options. my big question is whether i wanted a sofa or separate chairs for the rear seating. and then a matching single 'sweet spot' chair for the front.

separate chairs are more flexible; but a sofa is a bit more 'friendly'.....particularly when i want my wife to spend more time in the room. the next question is comfort. most sofas have little support for extended listening. others are just too big; not in terms of width but too big in terms of depth.

the other thing is aesthetics. i have a black leather 'zero gravity' chair with teak frame; it sits on black and deep red area rug atop my very plush beige shag carpet. my room is mostly light maple cabinetry. i tried to stay with black leather but i was open-minded.

i went back and forth on a number of options. at one point i fell in love with the Maxwell Studio Leather Sofa from Restoration Hardware. but it's just not comfortable and is 42 inches deep; so it would be too limiting in space.

finally i have decided on the Ekones Oslo Chair and Sofa in black leather with teak trim. for a chair without a headrest this is extremely comfortable and supportive; and puts your head angle just right. the sofa is very comfortable and supportive. the pictures show the white chair as there was no picture of the black one.

the Ekones is not the very most elegant looking furniture. but it was by far the most comfortable and will work well aesthtically in my room. i hope my visitors appreciate it.

Dear Steve: This is what I posted on other thread time ago:

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08-31-08: Rauliruegas
Dear friends: This " seat position " subject has 1-3 different paths that can/could help us to know how good is our system.

he " SP " ( seat position ). link is probable one of the most important link in the whole audio chain home system and we have to take care about seriously.

There are some things that we have to take in count like the armchair construction materials that have different tendency to resonate/vibrate where those " vibrations " affect our ears/brain sound perception: the fabric used on the armchair is very important and through my experiences natural fabric is prefered ( wool, cotton, leather, etc. ).
The more simple and solid construction the better: we need a non-resonant/non-absorb armchair or where that resonant frequency affect the less the sound perception.

My system belongs to my sitting room where the armchair is part of the sitting room furniture set, this armchair is the one that I use to day by day listening but when I have to make an in-deep evaluation audio device I take out that armchair and I use a simple solid wood chair with almost non resonance and where my whole " body " is free: my ears/brain sound perception improve through that simple wood chair ( that I can't use it day by day. ), you can't believe it till you try it: everything change for the better.

Another issue is to try not use a 2-3 person couch at the seat listening position but a single armchair or single wood chair, the difference is higher that you can/could think, here the " path " is : try it. ...

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this is the kind of chair I'm refering to:

http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/s/f/1269877847.jpg

not very conmfortable but IMHO the best to improve and hear music at its best almost any stereo home audio system. Btw, that picture is only an example and it is not at my place.

it is not enough to " see " it for understand the " quality differences " we can/could achieve: we have to try in our each one audio system and " feel " it yes " feel it " because we " hear " through our whole body and that kind of chair permit it.


Steve, other advantage is that you don't sleep in between, nothing is perfect!

Btw, any one of you already try to listening your audio system using that kind of chair? what do you experienced?

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Ha ha ha . . . The chair with the cone driver for a seat is really funny. My first listening chair was from Ikea. It was wide, cushioned both on the seat and backrest and could be reclined to three different angles. How high or low I sat was not important as my speakers then were a pair of Magnepan 3a. Currently, my listening chair was custom made by one of my listneing buddies who is a furniture maker. It is a two piece unit with a separate foot rest. The main chair's backrest rises to just below my shoulders when I sit upright and is up to the back of my upper neck when I do my maximum slouch. This backrest is made of some kind of native weave so that my back will not sweat when I listen for long periods of time. The seat is made of foam cushion and it is deep enough such that the edge is exactly where my knees fold down when I sit upright and exactly where my butt will be when I am in my maximum slouch position. The height is exactly for my feet to be flat on the floor when I am sitting upright.

Hi Steve,

I am an idiot when i work with computers. Being able to post and do e mail is all I know. I will ask JackD201 or Jadis if they can post a picture of my listening chair. As for a customized listening chair for you, I will get in touch with him and revert to you.

Yes. Perhaps Jack can take your measurements. Will have to find out what measurements of you Jack has to take.

While we are talking chairs what is considered to be the proper height of the listeners ears? Above, below, or at the same height as the speakers???

Jay

It varies depending on the speakers.