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

I used to count myself among these ranks, but ultimately lost interest and patience with more than one dealer, and ultimately the industry itself. Why? Too much snake oil and "need for component, cable, interconnect matching and the egregious amounts of money needed to do so" whose collective impact IMHO is maybe a couple of percent of the total--assuming the equipment is competently designed and matched. I bought this and two other books recently as I have become more interested the DIY aspects of the hobby, including designing and building loudspeakers. There is a lot to recommend this book--not the least that Dr. Toole takes to task at least a segment of the industry which includes tin eared and/or unprincipled reviewers and some of the makers of loudspeakers who cannot seem to be troubled with getting a reasonably flat frequency curve from their products. Some of the other book reviews lament that Dr. Toole doesn't go so far as to name names in some of these instances. Personally I am fine with the fact that he chooses not to. Besides I suspect that there is enough info given to make some well informed guesses. The book is much more, and while I consider myself more of an old school 2 channel kind of guy, read with great interest his thoughts on the future of audio and the need for multichannel reproduction. Also fascinating was the research (some of it decades old) showing that golden eared gray bearded gurus may not be the ones to be offering advice as the effects of age on the hearing might be greater than generally appreciated, and besides, that those with good hearing can generally be counted on to arrive at a consensus of what sounds good even lacking special training, secret handshakes, and the opportunity to listen at length in their own homes. If you're one of the readers who breathlessly waits each month for tales of how some 7000 dollar DAC beat the pants off one costing 1/2 as much--at least most of the time with some types of source material but only after burning in for several weeks--this book may not be for you--even though you may be the one to most profit from a thorough reading. If you have a general interest in the hows and whys of music reproduction along with some great history from an industry insider, I think you will find like I did, a very compelling read and a book worth keeping handy. Highly recommended.

Floyd Toole is one of the world's leading experts on room acoustics and loudspeakers, as well as all things audio. He was head of R&D for Harman International, one of the largest audio companies in the world which makes things like Harman/Kardon home theater receivers, computer speakers, Infinity car speakers, Revel high end audiophile speakers, JBL pro speakers, etc. This book is very well written and approachable even if you are a novice to audio and acoustics. The emphasis is on multi channel sound, which according to many research studies is the best way to experience immersive high-quality audio. One of the best things about this book is that the author has the solid voice of authority backed by scientific research (his own and others). This is a welcome break from some of the myths and misunderstandings that pervade high end audiophile circles, such as the irrational love of two-speaker stereo, hate of equalization, etc. Some practical things that you will learn are the general principles about how to choose speakers and how to lay out your home theater. There are some interesting sections showing how really inexpensive speakers outperform flawed overprices designs, and how professional studios are not always set up for the best sound. There is also some fascinating reading about subwoofer setup. Shortcomings of the book are that it really does not give you all the answers. In fact, having read it, I feel it dwells too much upon room acoustics and general principles and does not get enough into specifics and how-tos. It also does not cover loudspeaker design as much as I expected based on the author's background (in fact, speakers as a chapter come very late in the book). You will need to look elsewhere to round out your knowledge on this and other topics. Overall, solid book on home theater and room acoustics.

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.

I agree with most of the other reviewers here, especially Howard Ferstler, who details the book's omission of many classic speaker designs. There is no doubt that this is a thorough treatment of sound reproduction, with charts and graphs, LOTS of charts and graphs. Toole's wide knowledge of acoustics cannot be denied, but I wish he would have included more of his expert opinion--he gives volumes of raw data on speakers, for example, but not enough on which subjectively sound better. I would like to have seen more "summaries" at the end of chapters where he synthesizes the information in the chapter. Some chapters have summaries, some don't. Particularly frustrating was his comparisons of various different speaker manufacturers [p. 396 and following]. He presents the data, with overpriced and underperforming speakers compared to inexpensive good performers, but refuses to inform the reader which manufacturer is which, referring only to "a highly-regarded brand" or similar, and price. He begs off by saying that since speaker designs change over time, it is pointless to name the manufacturer. What is he afraid of? The author is retired, so he can't be fired. Even with that quibble, this is a comprehensive book that should be read by anyone interested in acoustics and psychoacoustics.

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).

Do not buy the Kindle edition because it does not have graphs or charts rendering the book almost useless. Buy print edition instead.

This book is a standard reference that should be in everyone's library who is interested in home audio and home theater In 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.

There's no hard and fast rule on setting up the right listening room or designing the "perfect" loudspeaker system. Some people find the open baffles better than sealed boxes, others hate both and love electrostatics, while similar differences of opinion can be found in debates on how to set-up a listening room. Others propose lots of absorption while others claim diffusers offer better results. There's a saying: When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail... There's no single answer to the sound reproduction issue and expanding our toolbox makes as better equiped to solve the problem. This book contains some views and offers some ideas that might sound controversial. They might as well be. But they probably convey some truths, or let's say, some observations that are often discarded and not investigated enough. This book is about how we listen in small and large rooms, focuses on small, and how loudspeakers perform in such rooms. How the loudspeaker "imperfections" interact with the imperfections of the room and the ability of the ear and brain to listen. We don't need perfection to listen and enjoy. We need just a few, well chosen cues and the brain fills the gaps in a way we still try to understand. In an analogy, MPEG audio encoding (with its imperfections) can remove 9/10ths of the content and we can still identify music and find enjoyment. It's been said and written that loudspeaker design is partly science and the rest is art. This book is about understanding that "art" part and turning magic into science. Whether it succeeds or not, each reader can draw their own conclusions. But's it's about time the process started.

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.

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.

livre intéressant sur la reproduction du son s'adressant a un public averti ou professionnel. Beaucoup de domaines sont explorés et expliqués.

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.