How do I acoustically treat my room so that I get the best from my monitors?

This is a very large subject area covering room geometry, reverberation time, sound reflection and refraction, material properties, etc, so we will just give a checklist of the most important features that a listening room should have

• First, choose or build a listening room that does not display any parallel walls
• Ensure that the reverberation time is both low and smooth with frequency
• Primary sources of reflection should be treated so that reflected levels are at least 20 dB down from the direct sound pressure level
• In general, if diffusers are used they should be placed to the rear part of the room
• The front wall should be a hard and smooth surface if flush-mounting of the monitors is to be used
• The front wall can be absorptive if free-standing monitors only are being used

Once the room has been acoustically treated the monitors can be installed:

• Position the monitors according to international standard angles
• Position the monitors in the room so that any cancellation effects from side and rear walls do not affect the low frequency region
• Angle the monitors towards the listening position in the horizontal AND vertical planes
• Set the acoustic tone controls as suggested in the Operating Manual/Quick Setup Guide to give a flat frequency response