Gamut Lobster Chair

I had a 2 pound Loster yesterday.

"The Gamut Hi-Fi Lobster Chair is the world’s first music listening chair. Its ingeniously-crafted headrest incorporates a special material designed to better reflect sound around your ears."

Never heard of these before. That description is scarier than an image of @ebm eating a 2lb lobster.

You don’t want your chair to reflect sound to your ears! Cheers,

Spencer

You might be on to something there, dcpillai.

With the sweep of the headrest area, it might have an effect like cupping your ears, adding some aural "embellishment" to the experience? Great looking chair.

Being a gear head, I'll take a Recaro custom upolstered.

LIke your setup. I use a PL HP also. Rockin some old  50's RCA 6L6 G's in mine. If you haven't yet, try something in the 2 inner preamp tubes for some audio fun.

I've been through four different listening chairs over the years, including a Stressless copy (still not to cheap) and then last year I bought this power recliner after trying many. It is perfect in every way. It has a power headrest, and the arms open for storage, plus you can plug in your phone, and there are lights in the cup holders and the base of the chair. It is so much mure comfortable and adjustable than any other chair I've had, and it's affordable. 

Composer Gray Power Recliner with Adjustable Headrest 2150613 | Ashley Furniture | AFW.com

This is great for me. About twenty degrees back and it's great for hours and I can drum on the arms. Never tried any if the fancier midels. 

A simple Rocker/Recliner works for me.

 

 

We have (chairs that ) rock & roll Dining room chairs that are pretty comfortable. I put one in the sweet spot (in front of reclinder) Works Great and makes for a better drum chair @wsrrsw because your feet are in the proper position for the bass drums and high hat (-: 😀

If I want to relax, i sit in the recliner (Lazy Boy) and listen.

Ha! I mean with my hands on the end of the arms. I just took the bait. Well done. Hard to think while listening to Spike Jones. 23 Skidoo. 

I use a leather couch to listen from, but am very aware of the reflections that it adds when I rest my head against the back cushion. Sometimes it can be beneficial to my hearing, though far from perfect. Sometimes I will put a thin fabric pillow behind my head, but it gets away from me and is annoying.

you had me at Lobster...

my beloved Stickley recliner may go to the grave with me.....soft, supple, large curved drum heads.... " I just wanna bang on the drum all day "

Plain Old IKEA Poang Arm Chair for me.

 

That Ikea chair is awesome! Had one for a while. Light, easy to move and position, super comfortable, ottoman. The seating position is slightly more reclined than ideal, but overall just an excellent chair for the money.

 

The Lobster is a joke. Wrap around wings? Who needs ambience! Just dumb. Seriously doubt that curved shape is good for the back. 

 

I'm still looking for the perfect chair. Spotted it in a movie, maybe someone here knows where to buy it?

 

@millercarbon LOL if you find it let us know.

That movie turned out to be a documentary, so I know the chair is out there somewhere.

Not that there aren't good reasons to study the lobster.

 

I’ve always been partial to a recliner that facilitates having a tray right in front of me so that when suitably ensconsed in a comfortable position I don’t have to reach either side for a variety of lifestyle necessities such as the ashtray or a bottle of vodka.

edit - I do have a stock image but I can’t figure out how to post it, unlike people here who are skilled at technologically advanced endeavours.

I too use the Ikea poang with ottoman, fold the head piece underneath cross brace at top, otherwise too high. Chairs with backs higher than my ears cut off the subtle sound cues coming from behind listening postion.

 

The lobster chair, like I could just fabricate some huge mouse or cat shaped horns and glue them to my head.

That chair looks very nice, but it's not really adjustable and it really has no arms. It doesn't look comfortable at all.

It looks like it forces you into a neckhurting slump. It looks like it'll give you the type of sound you get when you cup your ears, and the eq is thrown off-kilter by keeping your ears from getting sufficient reflecting sound from a wall behind you.

I remember calling about this chair....nope...let me check....it was email.

yep....just looked it up. They wanted 5500.00  

Needless to say I found another chair.

While reviews are scarce, the lobster chair has reviewed very well from a comfort and listening perspective. See here: https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/impressions-the-gamut-lobster/

 In relation to the headrest, this is the relevant extract from the review:

"Nor was the headrest neglected. Indeed, in many ways its design was key to getting audiophile-level performance out of the chair. As GamuT notes in its Lobster Chair product literature, "Normally you can't have a neck rest while listening to music, because you get a reflection from the material behind your ears, distorting the sound. But GamuT has created a unique acoustical damping material, resulting in an extremely effective sound treatment, while maintaining the Lobster Chair's breathtaking beautiful design and comfort. Furthermore the shape of the wide headrest also prevents reflections from [the] wall behind the listener [from] affect[ing] the soundstage, which eliminates the need for sound treatment behind the listener." In other words, there is no leather in the neck and head zone, but rather a fabric that acts to properly dampen the potential acoustical reflections in that area.

I can tell you quite categorically that it works extremely well."

What do you think?
 

Spouse & self have a pair of IkyYah Poangs’....she can drop off and sleep through warfare on it. *L*

Our cats like them as well, so their price is very attractive in that regard....one reason ’floor standing speakers don’t live with us in the residence....

We had an earlier feline declawed, but won’t put any or another through that. it’s not ’fair’ nor pleasant to have your fingernails pulled out either.

We can replace a chair, or reupholster it. And for 5~6K$. I’d rather eat lobster than sit in one....;)

The average person Jerry goes through a lot more pain in their lives than a cat does from being declawed. I have adopted 5 cats over the years, and had them all declawed, because while I love them, I also love my furniture. It's a small price for them to pay for a life of love and luxury. I have never had one that seemed to suffer much from the experience.

@millercarbon 

Not that there aren't good reasons to study the lobster.

 

Fascinating!
 

I prefer the cheaper crab chair....

 

Or the really cheap Sea Urchin Sofa. 

Or the even cheaper lion fish futon.

A friend of mine has one, super comfortable, but the cost just doesn’t justify it to me. A local audio Dealer here sells them at 7K(cdn)a pop, plus sales tax. 

I prefer my replica of the Iron Throne. Looks interesting but not very comfortable (needs a cushion). But the swords in the back produce resonances unless you treat the room. #GOT

For that kind of money, it should at least come with a cup holder.

 

JD

 

@tim_p thanks for the input! Any idea about its suitability as a listening chair?

And for the rest of the sea denizen humor, LOL. Keep it flowing guys ;-) 

@tablejockey thanks for the tube rolling suggestions. It has gone on my list of things to try out. Current have tried out only the EL34 and the KT150.

As for aural embellishment, yes I do notice that when I put my hands behind my head, the clarity of the sound increases and the instruments become more distinct. Cupping your ears has an even greater impact. Being a relative newbie, is this to be avoided from an audiophile perspective, or is it "whatever works for you" ? I have also read that the best seating for listening to music should be without a head rest as headrests reflect sound. Not sure whether this is true as the majority of the feedback has been from those that have chairs with headrests!

On that score I understand that the Lobster Chair claims that it negates the feedback by absorbing the sound. Thus the question to the forum. 

Thanks for the input @tablejockey ​​​​​​

I sat in a Lobster chair about 2 weeks ago while listening to my first high-end system, which included a pair of Gamut Zodiac speakers. It was an incredible experience, and the chair was comfortable too. I've also owned Ekornes chairs and they're even more comfortable than the Lobster chair. If you're in the Santa Fe, NM area, check out Lucky Dog Hifi and you can have the same experience I did.

How many more times do you Amatures need to be told, Get your Eames , Lobster ,Inflatable , 3rd grade school chair , potty ,  up on them there Townsend Pods , everything will sound betterer and it will firm up your bottom end .

))))) 

 

@sbridges777 Many thanks for the input and letting me know of your thoughts on the Lobster and Ekornes chairs. This is helpful.👍

I looked for a small recliner to fit my room because it is rather small. I bought the Tyler leather recliner from Pottery Barn. Very comfortable for me. FWIW

@dcpillal he has it in a dedicated listening room (the only chair) and right in the sweet spot. In my opinion a great "headphone" chair, but as a listening chair within 10 minutes and a soon to be Senior, I could see my head slowly tilting to the right and lowering, as my eyes closed to listen, I would easily find this chair very comfortable for passing out in. You sit nicely In a pocket,  but you don’t sink in it. It is a very nice listening chair, don’t get me wrong, just wrong for me at 7K. How many record albums could I buy for 7K....hmm....

I get a better listening experience in a low back chair because of the added reflected sound off the side and rear walls. If the chair swivels it's possible to adjust the balance by swiveling, too.

If you order the Red Lobster chair, you get a side of shrimp for just $2.99...!

 

@roxy54 ...Happy to read your 5 were all adopted, as have the 9 spouse and self have, along with the 4 dogs along the way.  Only one cat had gotten declawed, and we regretted it...for our oho....

They seem drawn mostly to leather, which we like more for 'outerwear' over furniture.  The Poangs' cushion is replacable, and not for big$....comfort on a budget at the time, and still holding up well so 'keepers'. *S*

Current listening sit/stay is a low-back chaise lounge, so able to keep 'ears in the clear' re diffustion.  Leaves reflection to the back wall and the mind.... ;)

Many thanks @tim_p for the helpful input. I find the same thing happening to me in my current chair, i.e. for passing out in LOL. However, your input about the chair being a nice listening chair keeps it in contention in my mind.

Interesting input @bslon . It never occurred to me that swiveling a chair can assist one to balance the sound being directed to your ears. Thanks!

Looks like the Eames chair with scoliosis.

Scoliosis is lateral. Lordosis is sway back. The word you want is kyphosis.