Ears (weird question)

[Keneta]

Hey all-

Ive spent a pretty fair amount of time with speaker placement and whatnot. One day while listening I happened to cup my hands behind my ears and noticed a pleasing difference in the sound quality. It seemed to "fill in" a portion of the soundfield (the center area) and also increase the volume (which I more or less expected....the "sound hole" however, was a bit of a concern.) the details were clearer.
The question is, does this denote a problem with placement? Heh, I like the sound, but I dont want to have to hold my hands behind my ears :)

I just recently put a tv in the room (space was an issue) and was forced to place it between the 2 fronts, about a foot or so back from them. Is this somehow creating the issue?

[mne563]

About fifteen years ago there was a guy at Stereophile magazine that built some head gear out of leather that had cups around the back of his ears to replicate this effect. I think at another time he filled his ears with cotton for a couple of days to see if his hearing was super-sensitive the next time he listened to his stereo without the cotton. I can't remember how either of these experiments turned out...

The only problem I could see (and it's a big one) is that most (all?) loudspeakers were designed to be heard with no hand assistance. It's probably changing the frequency response when you do that.

Keep in mind however that it may look better to your significant other to have your hands behind your ears when you're listening to music than to be wearing some weird-*** leather thing on your head.

;)

Then again, you might try moving your speakers closer together.

[Holy Zoo]

Originally posted by Keneta


The question is, does this denote a problem with placement? Heh, I like the sound, but I dont want to have to hold my hands behind my ears :)


Hmm... time for plastic surgery?

;)

Seriously, I suspect (but don't know) that if your ears would compensate for the change in sound caused by your hands if left that way for very long.

If it turns out you simply like a bit more midrange, might be worth looking at a change in speakers? Something warmer perhaps?

jeff

p.s. Welcome to the forum! :)

[Gary]

What's behind your listening chair? Is it affecting the sound? Try moving the chair around or putting something back there (a screen, perhaps?).

I know I have some weird things happening in my listening room.... gotta work on that....

And welcome to SH forums! :)

[Keneta]

Originally posted by Gary
What's behind your listening chair? Is it affecting the sound? Try moving the chair around or putting something back there (a screen, perhaps?).

I know I have some weird things happening in my listening room.... gotta work on that....

And welcome to SH forums! :)

Hmmm...not much, really. I have a glass sliding door back there, it is about 6 to 8 feet behind me. The comment about it actually changing the frequency response seems to make sense. It seems to go from a "scooped" sound to drastically bringing up the mids (and the volume) I like the fact that I can hear more details easily.
Hehe, I actually breifly worked on a "headboard" that I would put behind me which simulated my hands....than I took a good look at myself sitting in a darkened room with this ridiculous thing and immediately discarded it :) Sad, actually!

Im using Paradigm Studio 60s upfront, and Arcam amps (bi-amped) I wonder if the scooped sound is a product of my amps/speakers? (XA777ES source)