Realism and room reflections

[454Casull]

Does a rear-wall reflection enhance the sense of realism provided by stereo speakers?

If not, does that mean in-wall speakers are generally better than discrete speakers, all else equal?

[MaVo]

If you define realism as the most accurate recreation of the records audio information, then a rear wall reflection obviously degrades the realism, since it adds information which is not in the record.

[serby]

Up to one point is is good to have some acoustically absorbent materials on the real wall in the secondary reflexion point - this will help improve the overall sound stage and focusing of your system. A room that has to many absorbents in it will sound "dead" - to dull and different from a live performance , a room with no absorbents will make to sound to mash - and the sound quality will be affected. So basically you have to find the golden middle way between these two extremes - by trial and eror - and find the sound that you like

[BHTX]

Originally posted by 454Casull
Does a rear-wall reflection enhance the sense of realism provided by stereo speakers?

Well, from my small bit of personal experience (in comparison to others around here), I've come to the conclusion that there's not really a definite answer to this rather subjective question, mainly due to personal preference, different rooms, different speakers, etc etc. BUT, when thinking back on all of the systems I've had/heard.. for me, the answer is usually No. HOWEVER, that is NOT to say that dipoles don't usually tend to provide a clearly audible positive impact on the sense of depth and realism when properly implemented.. which of course, is just another matter of opinion and personal preference in itself. Personally, a large majority of my listening has been dipoles, and I've always experimented with a combination of aborbing+diffusing the rear wave as necessary, then I leave it alone when I think it sounds right.

Originally posted by 454Casull
If not, does that mean in-wall speakers are generally better than discrete speakers, all else equal?

I believe this approach often creates another whole set of obsticles to overcome, not to mention how most people would probably agree that it'd suck badly if their speakers were designed only to be placed statically within a wall. No options for placement within the room? Forced with an infinite baffle?? Yuck. I think this just makes things much more complicated than they already are, and for no real reason at all. Basically, "all else" CAN'T be "equal", and needs to be designed/dealt with accordingly. Go take a pair of thin monopoles and place them against the wall and listen to them, even going as far as covering the rest or the majority of that wall with thick damping material so that it sits flush with the sides of the loudspeaker enclosures... then come back and tell me what you think. I'll bet you won't like it. Aside from the obvious effects of having a conventional monopole loudspeaker too close/against a wall, I certainly didn't like it one bit. As expected, the soundstage collapsed, as did the entire listening experience.

[myhrrhleine]

rear reflections degrade the sound,
so does any other early reflection.
in wall can improve the sound if the speakers are designed well.

See: http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=2852