You may or may not have given much thought to it, but your walls, floors and ceilings have a pretty significant impact on the sound you hear from your audio system. A fair number of acoustic experts generalize that when you're seated 6 to 10 feet or more from the speakers, over 50% of what you hear is actually reflected sound, not primary sound, directly from the speaker itself. The more you know about the effect these boundary surfaces have on your listening, the better your chances of maximizing the sound you hear.

Before we delve into the basics of room acoustics we'd like to review some fundamental information that will make the following easier to grasp. We are repeating some of this from past issues, so if you already know this stuff, you might just scan through it as a refresher.

Wavelengths - Every frequency has a specific wavelength. The lower the frequency, the longer the wavelength and vice versa. So a 20Hz wave is 56.5 feet, 60Hz is 18.33 feet, 200Hz is 5.65 feet, 10,000Hz is 1.356 inches and a 20,000Hz wave is 0.678 inches long. If you're interested, a wavelength calculator can be found here: Calculator Link: http://users.nlamerica.com/kevin/Freq.htm.

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Although I usually go to and write about popular music concerts (jazz, rock, folk etc.), I very much enjoy classical music and attend these concerts frequently. Actually, when I was in school, I played in the band and orchestra, which helped to develop and form my musical taste as well as to train my ear. In terms of venues in NYC, there are many great ones, but none better than Carnegie Hall. 

Those of you who are familiar with some of my favorite demo material know that I am particularly fond of the Reference Recordings version of John Rutter's Requiem. I was fortunate, once, after leaving the Trattoria del'Arte after dinner with my daughter, to notice that John Rutter was across the street at Carnegie Hall conducting his Requeim with a huge chorus. Wow!!! what a pleasant surprise and what a treat that concert was. I particularly enjoyed hearing the huge chorus filling that venerable hall with unimaginable sonorous joy. 

Recently, I had the pleasure of experiencing another choral treat at Carnegie Hall: this time it was "Bach's Saint Matthew's Passion" performed by the Oratorio Society Orchestra and Chorus, along with two dozen children from the Choristers of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and 40 members of the Society's orchestra. The Oratorio Society of NY is a private, non-profit group of avocational singers who share a common passion for choral music. It is their mission to contribute to the great tapestry of New York's cultural fabric by performing wonderful choral works at the highest musical level. Their performance of "Handel's Messiah" is one of the great highlights of the holiday season every year in NY.

Basically, choral masterpieces performed by huge massed choruses, which are an incredible sonic treat, would be financially impossible without non-profit, non-payed enthusiast groups like the Oratorio Society. In this case, we were treated to a combined chorus of over 200 singers, performing in what many consider the best sounding hall in North America. And a treat it was. Although for popular music I like to sit up front as close as possible to the stage, my good friend David Chesky pointed out that for classical music, something like row P is preferable, and he is correct. Taking my row P center seat, I sat back and was treated to an incredible evening of music and sonic delight. I find massed choruses to be one of the most enjoyable but difficult types of music for a hifi system to reproduce properly, and it is always great to experience the real thing as a reference. 

The conductor that evening was Kent Tritle, the musical director of the society. The standout among the vocalists was the tenor, Nicholas Phan, He had a youthful, penetrating voice with impressive control of his vibrato with a focussed sound and choirboy purity. Bass-baritone Kevan Deas, soprano Leslie Fagan, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzner, tenor Matthew Plenk and baritone Thomas Meglioranza were also wonderful and noteworthy. And Bach's score? Well I think heavenly is the salient phrase, especially with these performers in this venue. And close to heaven was where the performance brought us.