I know the accepted knowledge (belief) is that a big room is better for an audio system than a small room. But I keep getting attracted to the benefits of a smaller room and want to discuss it with you.
Big room makes reflections take longer to reachj your ear, thus interfering less with the direct radiating sound in your mind. If there's enough time gap between the direct sound from the speaker and the first reflection then we can filter out the reflections in the mind. Less listening fatigue, more relaxed feeling.
Small room reflections would hit the ear too soon. But small room has much less surface wall area, so it can be more easily treated to attenuate wall reflections. You could make an anechoic chamber relatively inexpensively, or allow enough room reflection to taste. Difficult to damp a big room effectively juggling WAF and budget.
Small room is usually a spare bedroom or other space that can be completely claimed and owned in every aspect by the audiophile. Acoustic treatments won't meet with the usual decorator's judgement drivel.
Small room has a locking door, the space is private, no disturbance during deep listening trance.
Bass modes worse in a small room? Hmmm, not sure about that. Bass modes exist in every room with reflective surfaces. Low bass moves through traditional stick and drywall walls whether the room is big or small. Mid bass will start to bounce around. Smaller room will create more modes up higher where they are easy to kill, but low bass modes will not be reflecting, they will just be pressurizing, right? I mean wavelengths larger than the room dimensions. Those modes which are very difficult to cure with absorption will not be modes. Is this correct or wrong? Same reason a subwoofer box doesn't need bracing, let it swell, the wavelengths inside it never small enough to reflect and disturb cone motion. Speed of sound and all that jazz. Where's my Floyd Toole book?
Smaller room can place absorption strategically, at the exact location on the wall where it can kill a node where SPL is lowest and velocity is highest at a given frequency. Maybe that's 6 places for 2 speakers. In a huge room it might be 40 places at the same freq, so wall treatments are generally ineffective because there is rarely enough treatment applied or acceptable.
A small room can better deal with bass FR using swarm technique, or distributed subs. Smaller subs playing with less power give the same FR due to cabin effect at LF.
Small rooms can be more easily heated and cooled, so it can be more comfortable in there, less drafty. Class A amps in a small room could be a problem in summer.
Smaller speakers can be used, needing less power. Budget tilts away from speakers amps and treatment towards source and content.
Big rooms allow friends to come share the music with you, audiophiles, dance parties and kids. Listening in a common space keeps you in the family activities. How do you value privacy vs belonging? How do those other peoples' presence affect what you listen to? Would you still listen to those modern harpsichord sonatas? Up loud? Do you yell at the stereo like me when something really good happens, or really bad? Privacy of a small room. Ahhhhhh...
A small room makes it easier to control the spread of noise throughout the house. Large common areas can't be closed off, sound goes everywhere, with late night requests to turn it down. Small room playing is satisfying with lower volume, door is closed. Even isolation can be used in small room if necessary.
What else?
Is your listening room big or small? Shared or private? Do you like it, what would you change?
