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Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms
Floyd Toole, a leading expert in the field of sound reproduction, explains how to design the best possible listening experience for recording control rooms and home entertainment systems. This comprehensive work covers the whole sound reproduction chain from multi-channel audio configurations and the loudspeaker/room system to acoustics and psychoacoustics and the evaluation process. Part 1 shows the reader how to create the best listening experience, offering practical approaches to the sound reproduction chain. Parts 2 and 3 are an in-depth consideration of acoustics and psychoacoustics.
570 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 7, 2020
This was a great read, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in good loudspeakers. Toole was one of the pioneers in bringing the scientific method to the realm of audio. He had a long career studying how to correlate microphone measurements of speakers with what we actually hear and prefer. His book busts many myths that continue to propagate in the audiophile community, so if you're getting ready to splurge on home audio equipment, this book could save you a lot of money! Don't get me wrong; a high-quality home audio system following the "Toole way" is expensive, but surprisingly (or not), price is not a reliable indicator of quality, and Toole demonstrates persuasively what is important and what is not.
The book is not technical, and it is aimed primarily at consumers looking to build awesome home theaters and stereos. That means he does not really go into loudspeaker design principles, acoustics, or engineering considerations, contrary to what I think the title implies. Also, the focus on home audio sometimes detracts from the general principles. One example is his discussion of bass management in rooms. While he acknowledges that bass traps work for smoothing out the bass response, he has a bias against using them in homes mostly because they can be big and ugly. But because of this, he doesn't really discuss bass trapping in any detail, making it unclear if that's the best solution in cases where room aesthetics don't matter as much (like in mixing studios, for example).
So to sum up, if you're planning to spend anything more than a couple hundred dollars on speakers and home audio, this book should be part of your budget. Even though it looks like a textbook, it is a nontechnical review of decades of interesting audio research that has a lot of really practical conclusions. I also refer the reader to a recorded talk that Toole gave a few years ago summarizing the main points in book, found here: https://youtu.be/zrpUDuUtxPM.
The book is not technical, and it is aimed primarily at consumers looking to build awesome home theaters and stereos. That means he does not really go into loudspeaker design principles, acoustics, or engineering considerations, contrary to what I think the title implies. Also, the focus on home audio sometimes detracts from the general principles. One example is his discussion of bass management in rooms. While he acknowledges that bass traps work for smoothing out the bass response, he has a bias against using them in homes mostly because they can be big and ugly. But because of this, he doesn't really discuss bass trapping in any detail, making it unclear if that's the best solution in cases where room aesthetics don't matter as much (like in mixing studios, for example).
So to sum up, if you're planning to spend anything more than a couple hundred dollars on speakers and home audio, this book should be part of your budget. Even though it looks like a textbook, it is a nontechnical review of decades of interesting audio research that has a lot of really practical conclusions. I also refer the reader to a recorded talk that Toole gave a few years ago summarizing the main points in book, found here: https://youtu.be/zrpUDuUtxPM.
January 30, 2021
The main thing I liked about this book is that it kind of connects the world of subjective evaluations (using double-blind subjective tests) to the world of scientific measurements, and explains why some measurements matter, and why some don't. I appreciate Floyd's approach and the book is filled with reference to scientific papers.
At the same time, the book feels a bit repetitive and a bit too long. I enjoyed going through the first half, but somehow I lost motivation afterwards.
Overall - a great contribution to understanding loudspeakers and their interactions with rooms.
At the same time, the book feels a bit repetitive and a bit too long. I enjoyed going through the first half, but somehow I lost motivation afterwards.
Overall - a great contribution to understanding loudspeakers and their interactions with rooms.
April 13, 2025
This is a definitive collection of academic research on these topics.
This is the second edition of the book which is actually the same as the first edition of the book with a different publisher. I strongly recommend seeking out the so-called third edition of the book because it contains many updates and clarifications based on feedback from the earlier addition. And if you haven’t purchased it yet, seek out the publication date for the fourth edition which should be published in 2025 and contain extensive updates from the available academic literature and extensive clarifications based on reader questions over the past decade.
This is the second edition of the book which is actually the same as the first edition of the book with a different publisher. I strongly recommend seeking out the so-called third edition of the book because it contains many updates and clarifications based on feedback from the earlier addition. And if you haven’t purchased it yet, seek out the publication date for the fourth edition which should be published in 2025 and contain extensive updates from the available academic literature and extensive clarifications based on reader questions over the past decade.
October 13, 2011
The definitive source for the science behind sound and its optimal reproduction in home theater environments.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews