
seC T i o n 1 �1 —Wa s P 7
Wilson Audio Specialties
energy imparted by the rear wall boundary. Also notice that your voice is quite spatially diffuse (to
your assistant, your voice will sound spatially large and difficult to localize) as you begin to ease away
from the rear wall.
3. At some point during your progression forward into the room, you will observe a sonic transition in
your voice; it will sound more tonally correct and less spatially diffuse (your assistant can now pre-
cisely localize the exact origin of your voice). When you hear this transition, you have entered the
inner edge of the Zone of Neutrality. Place a piece of tape on the floor to mark this location. Although
it will vary from room to room, in most rooms the zone begins between two and a half to three feet
from the rear wall.
4. Continue to walk slowly away from the rear wall. After some distance, usually one to two feet past the
first piece of tape, you will begin to hear your voice lose focus and appear to reflect (echo) in front of
you. This is caused by the return of the room’s boundary contribution; your voice is now interacting
with the opposite wall. At the point where you begin to hear the reflected sound of your voice, you
have reached the outer edge of the Zone of Neutrality. Place a piece of tape on the floor and mark
this location. The distance between the “inner” and “outer” edge tape marks is usually between eight
inches (for small, interactive rooms) and three feet (for large, more neutral rooms).
5. Now position yourself against the side wall perpendicular to the intended speaker location. Stand
between the two tape marks. Using the same procedure as above, begin moving into the room toward
the opposite sidewall, progressing between the two pieces of tape. As above, listen for the point in
the room where your voice transitions from bass-heavy and diffuse to neutral. Mark this point with
tape. Continue your progression until there is an obvious interaction with the opposite wall in front
of you and mark this point with tape. The four pieces of tape now form a rectangle that establishes
the Zone of Neutrality for the loudspeaker to be installed on that side of the room. Using the four
marks as your guide, tape an outline to define the boundaries of the rectangle.