The amount of exposed glass, drywall and bare flooring in the room will increase the amount of reflected sound and exacerbate problems like slap echo and ringing. Conversely, furnishings like carpeting, drapes and upholstered furniture will reduce the amount of reflected sound in the room.

The ratio of direct-to-reflected sound and the decay characteristics of the listening environment will have a large influence on the ultimate sound quality of any loudspeaker system. Dedicated room treatments like absorbers, diffusers and bass traps can greatly improve the sound quality of any listening environment, and are encouraged to extract the absolute best performance from any high-end loudspeaker system.