Dutch & Dutch RoomMatching

Why RoomMatching?

Picture this. You’re listening to the finest-sounding speakers you’ve ever encountered. Now imagine placing them in your bathroom. How would they sound there? Not quite as impressive, right?

This might be an extreme example, but it highlights a vital point. The acoustics of a room have a huge impact on sound quality. The challenge is managing the interaction between loudspeakers and the room in real-world environments, which is no easy task.

That’s where Dutch & Dutch have turned their attention. Instead of pushing conventional loudspeaker design to its limits, they created RoomMatching. This unique suite of technologies integrates the room into the listening experience. Tackling room acoustics is where truly amazing improvements in sound quality are waiting to happen.

We’ve installed many pairs of Dutch & Dutch speakers and seen RoomMatching in action in lots of different rooms. It’s a game-changer for anyone serious about achieving the best sound.

Room Interaction

Among all the components in an audio setup, loudspeakers are the most important. They’re the heart and soul of the system, with the biggest impact on the sound you hear.

Even the finest speakers can disappoint if they don’t work well with your room’s acoustics. The sound quality you experience depends on two key factors.

  1. The quality of your loudspeakers
  2. How they interact with your room’s acoustics

When a speaker produces sound, the waves interact with the room’s walls, furniture and other surfaces. This can muddy the bass, create echoes or introduce other unpleasant distortions, reducing your listening pleasure.

Designing a room with perfect acoustics can solve this problem, but for most people, that’s neither practical nor possible. Thankfully, there’s another way.

RoomMatching

Whether your room is large or small, treated or untreated, whether your speakers are near a wall or tucked into a corner, the Dutch & Dutch 8c delivers flawless sound.

The 8c was designed with room interaction in mind. RoomMatching is a collection of acoustic and digital technologies that enables the 8c to adapt effortlessly to any space.

We know that every room is different, which is why we offer in-depth installation and calibration services for the 8c. From setup to fine-tuning, we ensure your system delivers outstanding performance.

Acoustics First

When thinking of speakers that adapt to a room, you might immediately think of Digital Signal Processing (DSP). While the 8c does use DSP, it is first and foremost an acoustic solution.

Dutch & Dutch believe that acoustic challenges should be resolved through great speaker design rather than relying solely on DSP. In the 8c, DSP is the finishing touch, not the foundation.

Here’s how the 8c achieves its outstanding acoustic performance.

  • Cardioid Midrange. The vents on either side of the 8c’s cabinet emit out-of-phase mid frequencies, forming a cardioid pattern that drastically reduces unwanted wall reflections.
  • Constant Directivity. The 8c’s tweeter is set within a specially designed waveguide, ensuring high frequencies are directed just as precisely as the mids. This consistency results in directivity above 100 Hz.
  • Boundary Coupled Bass. The twin woofers on the back of the 8c work with nearby walls to enhance bass precision and reduce time-smearing.

These innovations ensure the 8c complements your room acoustics beautifully, even before any DSP room correction is applied.

DSP Second

The 8c’s acoustic design delivers excellent sound even before DSP is involved. But the DSP takes things to the next level by tailoring the speaker’s performance to your room’s specific dimensions.

Using the Dutch & Dutch Ascend app or a web browser, you can input details like how far the speakers are from the walls and the size of your listening area. That will get you to about 90% of peak performance, using nothing more than a tape measure. From there, you can measure the room using a measurement microphone and free Room EQ Wizard (REW) software, which connects directly to the 8c for fine-tuning frequency response.

At Strictly Stereo, we can take care of this whole process for you as part of our complimentary installation service, ensuring that your speakers are perfectly calibrated to your space. If you would like to learn how to set up and calibrate the speakers for yourself, we can show you how.

Easy Placement

Unlike most speakers, the 8c thrives when placed close to walls or even in corners. Its combination of cardioid midrange, boundary coupled bass, advanced waveguide and DSP ensures easy placement without compromising sound quality.

A Real-World Solution

Most speaker designs ignore room interaction because it’s a complicated problem to solve. Most manufacturers aim to create speakers that perform well in lab conditions, where room-related issues are removed. But your listening space isn’t a lab.

The 8c loudspeakers are different. They adapt to their environment, working in harmony with your room instead of fighting against it. With technologies like cardioid midrange and boundary coupling, the 8c delivers exceptional performance in any environment, large or small, treated or not.

These speakers don’t just sound good. They sound perfect, wherever you place them.

Learn more about the Dutch & Dutch 8c and 8c Studio.

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