Your audiophile chair

Eames Lounge. Ear height is lower than a modern sofa but that actually works with many setups. 

«A chair is a philosophical position»-Chico Marx

I used two old metal horizontally gliding chairs,not real rocking chairs, ( they are easier to move from the slighest movement of the body especially when my body is extended between the two chairs)...

The two facing one another with the right numbers of cushions for feet and my back, then because i listened with ONLY headphone now, i can change my position at will, my back on one chair and my feet on the other or sitting in reverse, then owning two seated positions instead of just one with a regular costly big reclining chair ... It is confort so much so i can sleep often listening music lost in ectasy...

i prefer a gliding chair to a rocking chair because they are easier to move , i prefer them also to reclining static chair because static reclining chair dont permit movement with a slight impulse of my body when listening music... And some music ask for body movements...

I prefer two chairs too because with one i see through a window and with the other i had no distraction facing a wall... With one chair i will be in the obligation to turn around a big chair each time if i want to see nature through the window or meditate facing a wall... Not a good solution... And closing the eyes is no solution either because some music ask for the eyes to be open, some music must be SEEN in front of the wall or around nature...

Another advantage is the two chairs are different in dimensions even if they are two gliding one, they differ and this difference is very healthy for a fatigued back, more healthy than keeping always the same seated position...

As for my audio system i paid a very low amount of money for the 2 used gliding chairs... :)

The best solution are not always the costlier... I dont think most people had thought about all these possibilities here as i did buying their costly esthetical leather reclining chair... ... 😉

«A chair is not and never will be only a chair»- Groucho Marx 🤓

« a chair is a silent  musical instrument »- Harpo Marx

@aniwolfe 

Ok, great photo.

This is what I sit in for my listening sessions. It’s pretty comfortable after many hours and I like the retro mid-century look.

This is my new go to listening chair. Lots of breathing room. RÅDVIKEN from IKEA,. a 20 x 20 pillow is a must.

The Havberg set from Ikea is really nice.  I'm 6' 2.5" and my ears are just above the back of the chair.

That Cassina K-10 Dodo reminded me of a Barcalounger I almost got:

I already have a nice recliner and thought the arms of this one were just a bit too low for long listening support.

All the best,
Nonoise

@mikelavigne 

Thank you. I have a Stressless chair like many others but as you said around 2 hours I need to switch from feet on the foot rest to the floor. I wish the foot rest was adjustable. 

When you are listening in your chair are you in a reclined position or upright?

@ronboco

my chair is always in a slightly reclined position (see link below for a picture).

my chair has a fixed backrest, fixed seat, and fixed leg supports. it tilts around an axis but i keep it in one position (since 1999 so far), which puts my ears just below the tweeter position, 40" verses 41" off the ground. the chair is tilted back so when i have my laptop with a pillow or i’m reading it’s perfect for my neck to be comfortable. sometimes my head is on the small half round head/neck pillow, sometimes slightly forward. my feet can be flat on the ground or suspended when using the lower leg support.

here is a link to a picture from 2001 in my old room showing this chair.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/what-did-your-system-look-like-20-years-ago.34143/#post-770073

and btw; when i have listening visitors i move my ’perfect’ chair out of the sweet spot and move in a very different chair, the Cassina K-10 Dodo. it’s a 2 hour chair, but swivels and has a low back so is more communal. this is the chair the shows in my system pictures, but not what i use. i want a chair i can be in continually.

https://www.miliashop.com/en/armchairs/4309-k10-dodo-armchair-cassina.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw67ajBhAVEiwA2g_jED_I2xDr3abyekPhseHRSbCE7EUm_Q2BtRJ1l3LU0BvmnjYhITfe6BoCqQwQAvD_BwE

@mikelavigne 

When you are listening in your chair are you in a reclined position or upright? 
 

Regards

Ron 

+++Ikea Poang Have one in fabric ($200) and one in leather ($240).....add the ottoman for another $100

Right height for listening with nothing above the shoulders, comfortable for longer sessions, and a tremendous value

A passion and a gift. That's a good way of describing it.

I'm certain that like you, music and audiophilia is a passion and a gift - something we nurture and treasure! 😉

@classicalpiano 

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Looks like you really know what you're doing.

Opera National de Paris' seats replicas made by the Manufacture Henryot & Cie 1867.

Why that

Have comfortable chairs but for critical listening, I use mesh-type office chairs. 

long story short: audiophiles in general have "amazing" taste in furniture, 

Last comment for jcarcopo - nice chair!

Your beautiful chair looks delicious and I would think a great listening chair and conversation piece!

Hi roxy54 - the chairs you reference were intentionally chosen to help the sound. I designed the room 30 years ago to be hard and bright, with dimensions to sharply limit standing waves. I then softened the room of any hardness or slap echoes using ACS tube trap products, carpet, a high vaulted ceiling and furniture. The table is always covered with stuff, so nothing reflects off the glass; it's legs are thin and way below the direct sound line-source ribbons deliver. When using room correction by Trinnov Amethyst preamp and mike it measured incredibly flat 20-20k Hz aside from <2 dB bumps at 20 and 50 Hz. The only thing about a glider rocker is you can move in and out of the sweetspot a little, so you may notice minimal doppler effect only when looking for it. For serious listen I sit quite still and comfortable! Everything about the soundstage, timber, dynamics and focus are very natural and precise. There is method to my audio madness! For example, orchestras, Jennifer Warnes, Roger Water's opening Bill Hubbard track from Amused to Death are precise and span 180° arc of image. Classical, jazz, folk and techno are my preferences - all great recordings sound...GREAT! The listening chair does not interfere with the music at all, and is very comfortable!

I use BACCH4MAC 3D (theoretica.us) software and when Edgar was doing remote training sessions going over software setup and how to use the various modules he kept mentioning that my home-theater styled powered recliner wasn’t ideal due to the fact that the big bulky headrest reflects unwanted sound to the pinnae of the ear. I was concerned with getting a chair without neck and head support that would leave my fatigued after long listening sessions. I also wanted it to swivel so I can adjust my position where needed when doing custom 3D XTC ear based filters based on measurements which includes off axis head-tracking related measurements by swiveling to the far left or right easily. I settled on the Lucy Swivel Chair and I absolutely love this chair. It’s a very well made and comfortable chair. It’s available in burnt orange or black genuine top grain Italian leather. I paid $1200 it lists for $1599 😉

https://www.zurifurniture.com/common/images/products/large/lucy_orange_lifestyle_ID_259_plp_1.jpg

@roxy54 it is indeed, height adjustable, (my speakers are fairly tall), reclines, has a small headrest and a foot rest. Quite comfy. 

@mewsickbuff 

Is that some type of barber’s chair?

@ DeKay 😁! Here's my chair and I've nodded off a few times  :)                 713wv0Vw4FL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg (177×300) (media-amazon.com)

@classicalpiano 

I looks like you have a beautiful system, but between those two huge puffy sofas on either side and the glass and steel table in front of your listening chair, there must be some strange absorption and reflection going on.

https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/7QXhsGfndPPu

Sorry I had to send 3 separate links to pictures. One is THE chair, another a view from behind the chair looking toward the speakers, and another from between the speakers looking toward the listening position. I hope this gives a good visual

https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/ooiaSFCtvQyQ

https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/eJAm42E3Jest

• I have a need to sit in a rocker, and after 50 years of listening critically in many chairs, I have found a comfortable yet supportive chair that embodies most of the best qualities for listening, reading and relaxing. It is the center chair, an Amish custom made glider (not rocking using noisy springs) chair with low shoulders and covered with a soft cloth fabric. You do not have to rock when listening seriously, but who does that all the time?! I found leather reflects sounds, messing with image, musical timber and tilts the audio spectrum upward toward excess treble. The chair is 2 inches wider to accommodate this somewhat "wide load" lol! If I figure out how to download pictures I'll do so! Google Schrocks Heritage Furniture for details. Ask for Jimmy. 330-893-2242. For about $800-900 you cannot go wrong!

When my Stressless Recliner finally got worn & ugly enough for my wife to insist I get rid of it (it also began to squeak), I simply substituted a nice, luxurious, padded, non-reclining chair I had in the living room. The fabric is just rough enough to keep me in the perfect position. It adds a nice bit of deadening to the room. It also puts me at the perfect listening height. I've been living happily ever after.

Poang chair for me, with an ottoman and customed back support.  Without back support, the chair was not confortable but the back support transforms it to a lazy-man recliner.

I use a Eames lounge chair replica that my wife gave me for Christmas.  It's nice and works fine. 

IMHO, you never want anything that rises above your shoulders.  I inherited a pair of Stressless lounge chairs with Ottomans.  They are sized differently.  The smaller one was ideal, in that it comes up to the bottom of my neck.  Even though I am a large "audiopile", I find it comfortable for listening, and less sleep inducing than the larger, higher backed model.

+1 @mbmi      Don't use a high back chair.  Padding behind the ears doesn't fix room boundary issues by simply shutting off  reflected sound from the rear.  The room has to be fixed.

@69zoso69 

No problem. It happens to all of us.

Superbeets. 

@roxy54 I stand corrected. It’s only 18k.

https://www.dwr.com/living-lounge-chairs/chieftains-chair/6779.html?lang=en_US

It’s been a long day. I should post when I’m dog tired and can’t see straight.

@69zoso69 

He didn't say it was 20k. He said he would spend 20k on a DAC.

@recklesskelly 

I hear you brother. When I bought my chair 8 years ago it was only 3k.

I nearly fell out of the damn thing when you said it was 20k. 

I try to buy things that appreciate over time, hard to do with audio gear. 

@69zoso69 

That is a really beautiful chair!

I will spend $20K on a DAC but there is no way in heck I am spending $5 to $8K on a chair that gets sat in 2 hours a day. Heck I have a standup desk and have had one for the last 15 years. 

The Chieftan has been an excellent chair for me. Mid-Mod styling, roooomy and very comfortable. 

https://www.thechieftainchair.com/

@mwatsme - Agreed, and I've got a Herman Miller one.

I had a zero-gravity chair for a lot of years, but having something directly behind my head really messes up the sound and it's so much better now without any kind of headrest. 

I don't have a pic of mine, but for 25 years just for headphones see below. It is too tall for speakers, but crank it back and I can be out in 10 minutes, so it stays upright for listening!!!!

2 Ikea poang chairs and one very nice upholstered rocking chair.

Ekornes Stressless

They are available in about 20 different sizes and configurations and 60 or so leathers. (Fabric too)

Full disclosure, I sell Ekrones chairs.

The back of the chair CANNOT be higher than your shoulders.......A comfortable swivel Barrel Chair is the best for optimal, unobstructed sound.

The Felice Rossi looks like it would work well with open baffle speakers.