I am one of those crazy symmetry freaks that can spot a crooked picture from across the room.
Out of place or out of whack makes me uncomfortable.
I've been known to get up in the middle of a meeting and straighten out a wall hanging that's off by a quarter of an inch.
This personal quirk makes it quite difficult to feel relaxed in a listening room where we've had to rely upon asymmetry to correct room resonance problems. In fact, the unease such asymmetry causes me is more than I can handle so I find other ways of dealing with the problem.
Others around me don't suffer from this malady, but something else makes them squirm. In fact, I'll bet each of us has their own tipping points between comfort and restlessness.
Which brings me to the process of building our new listening rooms we're calling, the Listening Lab. Already the choices have begun. When Terri took a look at the new flooring they were installing (a composite vinyl material that looks like wood) she put a stop to it. Too busy. Too distracting.
She was absolutely correct. I hadn't noticed it until she pointed it out. Now I can't see anything else.
Up went the floor and now they are laying a different pattern, one that's not so distracting.
Of course our main concerns are sonics, yet we understand that a great listening room is a complete package of looks, feel, and sound.
Get all three right and you make magic.
