What's the minimum room size for stereo?

[VisciousHippo]

I have 12 x 8, and the sound deadening required behind the listening is spot on advice. Without it the sound stage is shifting depending where you sit due to the reflections. I have a largish panel on the wall of 7 foot by 4 foot and that sorted it. Room treatment is the key!

[stephensr]

I have a small room and Paul is correct about placement and acoustic treatments.

I have experienced that the size of the speaker is not so important its more important on how many drivers they have and how close to them you are sitting. Many drivers means many points of sound and you need distance from them to blend sonically with no time distortion. Lastly stay away from speakers using rear bass ports or side facing drivers. They both really restrict placement.

Small two way stand or floor speakers are simple and work great or likewise Tannoy's the size of washing machine still work as they are a single point source and act like just one driver so you can sit quite close

[BlankBrain]

Some of the most amazing sound I heard was 4 Klipshorns in a dorm room. The horns were stacked in two corners. Best listening was out in the quad.

[Gregor]

My big listening room is 13 x 56’. This is the best sound I’ve had. I’m listening about 17’ from the front wall.

[leekumiega]

If you can get Ohm Acoustics Walsh speakers they would be your best bet as they work best placed around 1 foot from the rear wall (closer for more bass) with a lot of reflecting surfaces .They are good imaging speakers with a reach out and touch it realism and the whole room is the sweet spot with their design. The 1000's are great in a small room .Or check Ebay for the original Walsh 2 as they are a good price and do not need a refoam.Also if there is a dealer in the UK (there are in other parts of Europe)They offer a 120 day free home trial.

[barneyjones]

I set up a 9.2' x 10.2' room for 5.1 as well as 2 channel. Overhead bookshelf speakers with a sub and good electronics to let the speakers sing. The room as evolved over many years; while small, not to small to yield a very nice sound.

[astolatpere]

My room is 9'x12' with an opening to another room behind my chair. I just ordered a Schiit amp and am on my way to listen to a pair of Maggie LRS. The challenge in a small room, like he said, is listening position, but also where to put your gear. I like to place my gear away from the speakers on a side wall. Thanks for the tip on decluttering. Very useful info.

[revolution_]

Hi Paul ! - Moving the speakers from the wall has really a magic effect - It's like having a new sound system and it cost nothing - Thanks !

[janinapalmer]

My main listening room is 22' x 15' with a 10' vaulted ceiling .. the walls are made of solid brick 12" thick. The floor is concrete with tiles and large thick rug. I use my modified B&W 800's in there and the soundstage literally "stands there " in front of me ! The largish room allows for the longer wavelengths to form naturally giving excellent bass. I have a set of acoustic wall diffusers stuck to the wall ( not hung on hooks ) You can spend all the money you have on high end equipment and end up never appreciating how good it can be by using it in a terrible room . You do need a dedicated listening room if you're really serious .

[Duds]

I have been on the near field side of things for years now and something work well but others don't. Stuffing my speaker boxes as full of damping has been a god send. My 12 sub is very responsive now and I don't have to turn it up loud to hear the details.

[hushpuppykl]

A 12’ x 14’ room is lovely. Wish I had a dedicated room of that size. 😢

[zrx]

My room is 10’x 20’ and works really well with a pair of Harbeth 30.1’s four feet from the back wall. Thanks Paul. 😎

[johndaddabbo]

12 ft wide by 14 ft long with large Legacy Audio Focus speakers worked quite well. Of course I had to implement all of Paul's suggestions and then some. Now, taking those very same 'large' Legacy Audio Focus speakers and reducing the room size down by 2 ft (a 10 by 12) and I feel that given my experience (/troubles) with the 12 by 14 size room, that the 'large' Legacy's may very well NOT work. However that is only me guessing / extrapolating. So I wouldn't say that any room is too small, however one must then be extra choosey as to the speakers they buy/use for such small rooms, as well be prepared to implement sound control, EQ, and more.

[KamiKaXi]

ohh my goodness this is my actual situation, i have a small apartment and i want to build a small audio studio

[jimdavis]

I have a 10' by 12' listening room in which my system sounded terrible. I therefore built 13 limp membrane sealed bass traps each 4' by 2' by 6''. I installed them all over the wall behind my listening position. now my system sounds great.

[DIY-valvular]

Paul is completely right, Steve Guttemberg call the rooms of that magnitude of dimension "listening room from hell". For listening music in that kind of roooms he recommends "listen music with headphones". Here in Buenos Aires the most of the old houses like mine are built in bunker-like hard bricks and even harder concrete. During the last two years I am building (with a lot of budget constrains) my personal man-cave/office/e-lab/audio room in a room of about 11' by 15' with walls hard as a panzer.I have not installed the curtains or much of the furniture yet, I tried my good old faithful sound system there, and in those conditions it sounds like a Spica radio, no bass at all! a real porteña listening room from hell!

[sudd]

my room is basically a 7 feet cube, and large amount of sound absorption and EQ is needed for sure.

[oliverbeard]

My room is around 10ft by 11ft.Not entirely square, with plenty of books and CDs around. In my view, setting off room modes excessively, with a boomy bass is very distracting, so i'd generally go for a smaller speaker in a smaller room.

[saquibhussain]

Would love your recommendations on which speakers are least affected by room size. Some of us barely have 1ft away from wall b/c the listening area is in the living room of a 600 sqft apartment.

[serloinoflamm]

Hi Paul, do you think you could use a few more metric measures for those of us who don’t understand American measures? You’re an international star with a world-wide audience! Thanks