It is widely recognized that the intensity of the sound reaching a listener by reflection is different for a diffusing surface than for a specular one, but the practical significance of this fact has not been closely examined. Subjective desirability is influenced by the intensity of the sound reaching listeners from various directions, so presumably diffusing surfaces are not universally applicable. The reflected intensities of the two types of surfaces are compared, basing the analysis on mathematical idealizations. Applying these results to practical situations is necessarily conjectural because our understanding of subjective response is too limited. However, preliminary results suggest that diffusing surfaces are probably more useful as walls than as ceilings. Practical diffusors are far fom ideal, of course, and their deviation from idealness might introduce subjectively significant side effects. The subjective effects of diffusing surfaces is a fertile area for further investigation.
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