Hi Mikeak,
With all due deference to SirQuack, the advice on the first reflection zones is wrong, based on bogus information often intended for studio control rooms.
"Secondly, you have FRZ's (first reflection zones) which are placed on the side walls and ceilings to tame the first reflection to the listener. Otherwise, the sound that arrives, direct and indirect, is skewed at your ears."
When you place absorbers to kill the first and secondary lateral reflections from the main left and right front speakers, you greatly lessen the spacious character of the stereo soundstage. MOre than 20 years of research at Canada's National Research Council led by Dr. Floyd Toole established this beyond question. A normal mix of reflective and absorptive surfaces is ideal. Axiom goes to great lengths to design its speakers to have excellent on- and off-axis frequency responses, and when you damp the lateral reflections, you significantly alter the mix of on and off-axis delayed sounds that normally reach your ears and give a speaker a wide and spacious soundstage.
Concert and recital halls never install absorption panels on the side walls because the lateral reflections are key to giving the hall a spacious pleasant sound quality.
You don't want everything reflective, of course, but it's essential to maintain the lateral reflections if you wish to preserve the speaker's essential balance and spatial character.
Regards,
Alan
