Does anybody hear difference with a coffee table in place?

Priaptor · Jul 22, 2018

Jim Smith said:
A simple test is to drape a towel over the table top. If there is no difference, don't worry about it. If it's an improvement, keep the towel nearby for "serious" listening sessions or experiment with removing the table.

Back when I needed to have the table in the room due to WAF considerations - I could hear it, but the effect was relatively minor. Draping a towel over it to remove first reflections worked well enough - at least for me.

I guess it’s this “minor” stuff I am having an issue with.

First no designer of a speaker is designing them with a reflection directly in the dispersion pattern of their transducer; Gobel, Wilson and Magico surely aren’t if you look at how they design and their methodologies of testing results.

Ignoring the above my point reverts to the “minor” issue effects when this forum is filled with threads to correct such “minor” effects (many claim major) often running into thousands if not 100s of thousands of dollars.

Call it the Audiophile Paradox where we spend tons of money to correct the minor/major effects with stuff just to ignore it all because “it doesn’t make that much of a difference”. Sorry I find it laughable but that’s me. I’m a cynic.

microstrip · Jul 22, 2018

Priaptor said:
I guess it’s this “minor” stuff I am having an issue with.

First no designer of a speaker is designing them with a reflection directly in the dispersion pattern of their transducer; Gobel, Wilson and Magico surely aren’t if you look at how they design and their methodologies of testing results.

Ignoring the above my point reverts to the “minor” issue effects when this forum is filled with threads to correct such “minor” effects (many claim major) often running into thousands if not 100s of thousands of dollars.

Call it the Audiophile Paradox where we spend tons of money to correct the minor/major effects with stuff just to ignore it all because “it doesn’t make that much of a difference”. Sorry I find it laughable but that’s me. I’m a cynic.

Some people have wood flooring, others have thick carpets with underlay. Which were Gobel, Wilson and Magico expecting? BTW, can I ask what is your favorite floor material and why?

Anyway we must consider that not all coffee tables are equal and speakers are also very different.

T Boost · Jul 22, 2018

Mike Lavigne said:
oh and btw, welcome to What's Best Forum.......and I like the picture of your listening room. looks like a very nice and elegant spot to listen.....with some serious gear.

best regards,

Mike

Thanks Mike. As far as temporary apartments go it's pretty great. We're moving into a house in 6 weeks with, what I believe will be, an amazing sounding basement.

T Boost · Jul 22, 2018

PeterA said:
Same here. I add the coffee table back in when we have dinner parties, but most of time it is out of the room. I agree with Mosin about the glass front wall.

Wecome to WBF. Are those Eggleston speakers? I used to own a pair of Rosas.

Thanks.......I have hopes that Rosas are my next pair of EW speakers. Can you give me you thoughts on them?

T Boost · Jul 22, 2018

NorthStar said:
More Canadians the better. :b
Welcome to WBF!

* Your table is elegant; it fits your room and it is practical to put your books, your cognac and your cigar box. Leave it there, because I too can't hear a difference for the better or worst.
___

And Peter you are correct.
• http://www.chantlibre.com/enceintes-egglestonworks-emma.asp

https://youtu.be/TSEFBDQyl-0
___

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tw5dWRNvpm8/WLwGmLQO5-I/AAAAAAAB9SM/OiPcVkUen8sREaMc9s5ZKLHDz6_2uFbpwCK4B/s640/16819158_1972516382977255_3770401650134887654_o.jp g

?http://www.tonepublications.com/review/egglestonworks-emma-loudspeakers/

Because "All You Need" ... from the review above ^

https://youtu.be/PHG6dtPT6vs

Thanks for the table compliment. I've never spent an evening going back and forth AB'ing the difference with it in place and out of the way but occasionally I slide it behind the couch and haven't heard anything glaring.. Or possibly because it's made of the rarest and most sought after solid tonewood of them all- Brazilian rosewood!

T Boost · Jul 22, 2018

bonzo75 said:
Why coffee table, I can listen to differences with three small mpingo discs. Imagine if the table was made from tuned ebony

I could have gone with Gabon Ebony, or a dalbergia species like Mpingo or something like that....I chose Brazilian rosewood, the guitarists tonewood. More expensive but looks much nicer.

T Boost · Jul 22, 2018

Priaptor said:
I guess it’s this “minor” stuff I am having an issue with.

First no designer of a speaker is designing them with a reflection directly in the dispersion pattern of their transducer; Gobel, Wilson and Magico surely aren’t if you look at how they design and their methodologies of testing results.

Ignoring the above my point reverts to the “minor” issue effects when this forum is filled with threads to correct such “minor” effects (many claim major) often running into thousands if not 100s of thousands of dollars.

Call it the Audiophile Paradox where we spend tons of money to correct the minor/major effects with stuff just to ignore it all because “it doesn’t make that much of a difference”. Sorry I find it laughable but that’s me. I’m a cynic.

Which poster said that it didn't make that much of a difference?

marty · Jul 22, 2018

Does a coffee table in front of the listening position matter? Well, I wanted to test that hypothesis a slightly different way. I asked the folks at Carnegie Hall if I could bring in a big ol' coffee table and put it in front of my seats for a concert. They told me to buzz off. I don't get it. No sense of humor, those folks.....

Priaptor · Jul 22, 2018

microstrip said:
Some people have wood flooring, others have thick carpets with underlay. Which were Gobel, Wilson and Magico expecting? BTW, can I ask what is your favorite floor material and why?

Anyway we must consider that not all coffee tables are equal and speakers are also very different.

My listening floor is composed of a lattice work of bamboo joists with bamboo beams screwed together with ceramic screws predrilled of course.

Within the lattice I have Cumaro and Ipe wood inserts

Above the lattice I am using a composite foam compressed under 1000 lbs/sq” of pressure to present a smooth 1.25” covering of the lattice that runs Wall to Wall in my 26 x 32 foot room

Cost a small fortune.

To get the most out of my floor I place a 14x10 coffee table 2 feet in front of my speakers with couches on each side blocking the Aeon drivers and choose to sit on the floor while I eat my acoustically treated sushi with cumaro wood chopsticks.

Ron Resnick · Jul 22, 2018

marty said:
Does a coffee table in front of the listening position matter? Well, I wanted to test that hypothesis a slightly different way. I asked the folks at Carnegie Hall if I could bring in a big ol' coffee table and put it in front of my seats for a concert. They told me to buzz off. I don't get it. No sense of humor, those folks.....

Hahahaha! Very good, Marty!

jeff1225 · Jul 22, 2018

Priaptor said:
My listening floor is composed of a lattice work of bamboo joists with bamboo beams screwed together with ceramic screws predrilled of course.

Within the lattice I have Cumaro and Ipe wood inserts

Above the lattice I am using a composite foam compressed under 1000 lbs/sq” of pressure to present a smooth 1.25” covering of the lattice that runs Wall to Wall in my 26 x 32 foot room

Cost a small fortune.

To get the most out of my floor I place a 14x10 coffee table 2 feet in front of my speakers with couches on each side blocking the Aeon drivers and choose to sit on the floor while I eat my acoustically treated sushi with cumaro wood chopsticks.

Interesting. Have you posted your system on WBF?

NorthStar · Jul 22, 2018

I love exotic woods, it looks and sounds best.

Hi-FiGuy · Jul 22, 2018

NorthStar · Jul 23, 2018

Sorry, it was in zest.

Loheswaran · Jul 23, 2018

jeffrey_t said:
View attachment 42792

This is the coffee table I use, Nelson Bench by Herman Miller. And, as a bonus, it acts as a scatter plate.

Interesting Solution.
I now have a small dedicated hifi room with treated walls, but I need some record storage, and was going to make an open table in which some of the records could go into.

I have noticed many a time that a table really makes a difference to the sound in my monitor style set-up. By the sounds of it - it makes a difference in the caverns belonging to Mike Lavigne.

I find that once you notice a trait - you keep looking for it - so if you can't hear it, then don't waste your time chasing your tail so to speak

PeterA · Jul 23, 2018

T Boost said:
Thanks.......I have hopes that Rosas are my next pair of EW speakers. Can you give me you thoughts on them?

Please send me a PM. I'd be happy to discuss.

853guy · Jul 23, 2018

Priaptor said:
I guess it’s this “minor” stuff I am having an issue with.

First no designer of a speaker is designing them with a reflection directly in the dispersion pattern of their transducer; Gobel, Wilson and Magico surely aren’t if you look at how they design and their methodologies of testing results.

Ignoring the above my point reverts to the “minor” issue effects when this forum is filled with threads to correct such “minor” effects (many claim major) often running into thousands if not 100s of thousands of dollars.

Call it the Audiophile Paradox where we spend tons of money to correct the minor/major effects with stuff just to ignore it all because “it doesn’t make that much of a difference”. Sorry I find it laughable but that’s me. I’m a cynic.

While it may be true very few if any speaker manufacturers are designing transducers by specifically taking into account the variables introduced by a highly-reflective surface area being placed within that transducer’s on-axis dispersion pattern, it's perhaps also equally true that those transducers are utilised everyday with that exact issue present, in which those using them manage to ignore those aforementioned effects, while producing results in which the issue of a highly-reflective surface area being placed within the on-axis dispersion pattern of the transducer is either undetectable by the listener, or easily ignored.

Individual preferences, then, will remain the arbiter of what one finds major, and what one finds minor.

Yes, that’s a WATT/Puppy in the last pic, and yes, every major mixing and mastering studio has worked around this issue for decades.

Best,

853guy

Priaptor · Jul 23, 2018

853guy said:
While it may be true very few if any speaker manufacturers are designing transducers by specifically taking into account the variables introduced by a highly-reflective surface area being placed within that transducer’s on-axis dispersion pattern, it's perhaps also equally true that those transducers are utilised everyday with that exact issue present, in which those using them manage to ignore those aforementioned effects, while producing results in which the issue of a highly-reflective surface area being placed within the on-axis dispersion pattern of the transducer is either undetectable by the listener, or easily ignored.

Individual preferences, then, will remain the arbiter of what one finds major, and what one finds minor.

Yes, that’s a WATT/Puppy in the last pic, and yes, every major mixing and mastering studio has worked around this issue for decades.

View attachment 42821

View attachment 42822

View attachment 42823

View attachment 42824

View attachment 42825

Best,

853guy

Totally different situations; comparing apples to oranges when comparing mixing studios to “audiophile listening rooms”

853guy · Jul 23, 2018

Priaptor said:
Totally different situations; comparing apples to oranges when comparing mixing studios to “audiophile listening rooms”

Why - are mixing and mastering engineers any less demanding of the results they get in their rooms than audiophiles?

My point - as expressed above - remains the same: Individual preferences, then, will remain the arbiter of what one finds major, and what one finds minor.

Best,

853guy

Elliot G. · Jul 23, 2018

Priaptor said:
Totally different situations; comparing apples to oranges when comparing mixing studios to “audiophile listening rooms”

Totally agree that what a studio does has nothing to do with a great listening room.

Putting objects of any kind in the way of the signal path just makes no sense at all to me.
I have experienced numerous times issues in the room based on objects that were in the room for decoration or convenience creating issues with the end result. In fact a good client had a major issue recently with a guitar amp that his son leaves in the room and it created a major issue with the bass until they figured it out and removed it from the room. The amp was even placed behind the listening chair.

Does anybody hear difference with a coffee table in place?

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