Speaker
Description
High-quality immersive listening experiences require an adequately diffuse sound field to ensure spatial uniformity and listener envelopment. However, in small and medium-sized rooms, acoustic conditions are often compromised by dominant modal behaviour, leading to pronounced spatial unevenness of the sound field. This study outlines an integrated design approach for optimising an existing immersive listening room (280 m3) by combining in situ measurements with advanced numerical simulations. Initial acoustic characterisation of the study site revealed significant spatial non-homogeneity and a strong modal response, with reverberation times exceeding 1.1 seconds in all the octave bands assessed. A finite-element approach enabled enhanced spatial distribution analysis and the preliminary evaluation of corrective strategies. The proposed intervention features a system of perforated gypsum panels with variable air gaps on the rear wall behind the listener, designed to provide broadband absorption and enhance macro-diffusion through edge diffraction. This is complemented by high-density curtains for mid-high frequency control. Experimental and numerical results show that the implemented treatments successfully bring the reverberation time within recommended target ranges while also contributing to a more uniform sound pressure distribution, particularly at low frequencies.