Successful immersive sound reinforcement requires a large sweet area in which the audience is presented with a balanced sound. In smaller venues, state-of-the-art surround sound reinforcement employs point-source loud-speakers producing direct sounds that decay at a rate of 6 dB per distance doubling. In contrast, simulation studies and listening experiments using simulated line arrays have proven that a dual-target design should be pursued for the direct sound decay: 0 dB per distance doubling to preserve the mixing balance and -3 dB to preserve the envelopment at off-center listening positions. This contribution presents a listening experiment comparing different distance decay settings of eight surrounding miniature line arrays of 65 cm total length in a 10.3 m 12 m room. The experimental results verify the findings of previous, more theoretical studies.
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