Effects of loudspeaker directivity on perceived sound quality - A review of existing studies

The directivity of a loudspeaker system is often regarded as a prominent factor in the overall subjective quality of the reproduced sound experience. Much literature is available on the topic, and currently a broad field of opinion exists amongst designers. This paper provides an overview of the available literature, as well as an extended investigation into listener-based research. Results indicate that for such a widely debated topic, conclusive measurement data with regard to human listeners is limited and therefore a proposal for more informative listening tests is presented.