Originally published in Audio Video Interiors in Home Theater Magazine Unlocking The Best February/October 2008 issues by Gary Altunian. Contributions from Art Noxon
“The dimensions, shape, and features of a listening room can have a profound effect on sound quality, starting with the bass. Based on its dimensions and shape, every room has resonant modes or standing wave resonances that either reinforce or attenuate bass frequencies. The most common malady is boomy or heavy bass. And if the bass isn’t right, nothing sounds good. Room-resonance modes are present in frequencies from 20 hertz up to about 300 Hz, and they first occur when a sound’s wavelength is twice the length of the room.
They also occur at twice, three times, and four times the first or fundamental frequency. For example, if a room resonance exists at 48 Hz, a second resonance will exist at 96 Hz, a third at 144 Hz, and so on. The room’s width and height also create the own room resonances, and where these resonant frequencies combine, they cause peaks and/or dips in the bass response. Art Noxon, president of Acoustic Sciences Corporation, a manufacturer of acoustic treatment products, describes the best bass as individual pulses followed by quiet, or intersonic silence. Each bass note should sound distinct; nonetheless, room resonances tend to blur the bass and make all bass notes sound the same.”
“The speakers seemed to virtually disappear, replaced by a three-dimensional sonic image of the recording with a soundstage I’ve only heard on the finest audio systems. Details I’ve never heard in some recordings were suddenly there, as if I were playing a different version of the same performance. Separation of multiple instruments and vocals was obvious and stunning. The TubeTraps produced a remarkable difference.”
“The TubeTraps are one of the most significant improvements you can make in your audio system. Before you spend one dollar more on electronics, speakers, cables, or disc players, invest in some ASC TubeTraps – you will be rewarded.”
