Photographic lenses and listening rooms generate distortion. The trick is to understand how they change the source and take advantage of what they do.
An experienced photographer wishing to capture the majesty of soaring mountains uses the distortion inherent in a telephoto lens to compress distance, bringing the mountain closer to the foreground, and larger in the frame. Inexperienced photographers resort to the opposite: wide angle lenses that capture more but at the penalty of making everything look farther away.
An experienced stereo setup person wishing to capture a realistic soundstage uses the inherent distortion of the room to their advantage, bringing life and realism to the sound. Inexperienced stereo owners over damp rooms in vain attempts to tame distortions, only to be disappointed with sterile and anemic sound.
Few things in life are perfect and it is our recognition of these imperfections, coupled with our knowledge of how to take advantage of them, that breeds success in the listening room.
