Just got the book and have read some of the parts that most interested me. Some of my take aways:
* Reflections, in particular side wall reflections, are not the enemy. They can add a sense of spaciousness to the soundstage. Toole pretty clearly recommends against using side wall treatment for stereo, in contrast to just about every room set up guide I've seen. I do think I was probably overdamping my own room with treatments.
* If you are going to put some sound absorbing material on the walls, use at least 4" of material. Othewise you get uneven dispersion since you are not absorbing enough low frequencies and are probably doing more harm than good.
* The idea of ideal room dimensions is oversold.
Except for a few places where he has "memos" in shaded boxes, the book is not written in a cookbook format that is easy to get straightforward recommendations out of. A lot of this stuff is somewhat subtle and not very cut-and-dried.
The book does seem biased toward multi-channel sound and home theater. I imagine that many sound engineers find stereophony old hat and are impatient with its many flaws.
* Reflections, in particular side wall reflections, are not the enemy. They can add a sense of spaciousness to the soundstage. Toole pretty clearly recommends against using side wall treatment for stereo, in contrast to just about every room set up guide I've seen. I do think I was probably overdamping my own room with treatments.
* If you are going to put some sound absorbing material on the walls, use at least 4" of material. Othewise you get uneven dispersion since you are not absorbing enough low frequencies and are probably doing more harm than good.
* The idea of ideal room dimensions is oversold.
Except for a few places where he has "memos" in shaded boxes, the book is not written in a cookbook format that is easy to get straightforward recommendations out of. A lot of this stuff is somewhat subtle and not very cut-and-dried.
The book does seem biased toward multi-channel sound and home theater. I imagine that many sound engineers find stereophony old hat and are impatient with its many flaws.