You'll probably find this thread to be of interest. My comments in it were as follows:
-- Al
01-07-12: AlmargRegards,01-07-12: Johnnyb53I would add that there are problems with the 11/89% ratio in at least two other respects:
There are other things I don't agree with. For example, Amar Bose arrived at an 11/89% ratio of direct-to-reflected sound based on his measurements of Boston's Symphony Hall. The thing is, Symphony Hall is one of the most reverberant concert venues in the world.
1)A recording of a performance in a hall will already have captured both direct and reflected sound. And if the recording is well engineered, that will have been done in a reasonably proper ratio.
2)A given ratio of direct to reflected sound that is produced by the speakers and the listening room will be perceived completely differently than the same ratio would be perceived in a concert hall, because the delay times between direct and reflected sound arrivals are vastly different in the two cases.
Putting aside issues related to quality of implementation, the basic concept itself is fundamentally flawed IMO.
Disclaimer: I have never heard a Bose speaker. I also have no desire to.
-- Al