Best Chair for Listening
- Thread starter Tom6to1
- Start date
I have two beautiful antique oak and leather chairs from the 1890's. They were in bad shape when I found them, so I refinished the wood and searched out antique leather to replace the old worn out stuff. They are big and heavy with lots of hand carved detail work in the oak. When I first set eyes on them I knew they were the chairs for my stereo room. When you sit in them you feel like a king or queen sitting in your throne.
These Ekorne rocking chairs are next to impossible to acquire these days. It took me looking all over the US for that one in the early aughts.
And if I did that, I’d STILL be down there, and need the pizza delivery guy to flip them through the windows to me
My chair is very much like that ... found at an estate sale ... only complaint is it sits a little too low and need to make a platform for it.Threads like this made me look into a chair specifically for that. I found Flexsteel furnture in that search. 'Taint cheap but dayum they're sweet.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
One with a low back so as to prevent reflections drastically changing the frequency response and blurring the imaging. You want a chair. Similar to one in a concert hall. It must be comfortable and hold you up right so as not to altar the pick-up pattern for high frequencies of the ear. Yes ears are not omni directional, especially in the top to octaves. You don't want your Eustachian tubes clogging up while reclined and listening either. If you want to use a high backed recliner just realize how much you are altering the sound. If I recline the top octave is easily attenuated close to 6 db. Now if I lay flat it comes back. If I tilt my head forward above 30 degrees I gain more sensitivity in the top octaves.. But then I have been this way since the middle 50's when I started my music lessons and started listening seriously.
So in effect I have my own built in treble controls. +/- 6db and might be more.
So in effect I have my own built in treble controls. +/- 6db and might be more.
Yes to all this...
Kodaline
Super Member
Pardon the books on the floor. One big la z boy. My only regret is the salesman sized it for me in work boots so it's a titch tall in bare feet. He commented this was the first time he ever did a room layout for a customer with no TV involved. This is in my living room, opposite the stereo, and I read, listen to music, and sometimes nap there.
Oh, I remember sitting in those ... not Ekornes, but not bad at all.
JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
It's a lot more comfortable if you turn the Ottoman around.
I'm a Poang owner. I've had an Eames knockoff (I always though it was a little to low) and a leather recliner. The Poang is just as comfortable as the other two. But, it's ridiculously inexpensive even when going for the TOTL leather cushion. I also have the matching Ottoman.
Ikea has replacement cushions in a variety of fabrics and colors including leather. I wore out the first set of cushions.
Vintagecheap
Active Member
I had a pair of favorite chairs before I got married, but the wife didn't like them so I gave them to a friend, who still has them. I still sit in them when I visit him a few states away. They are KEM Weber Springer Chairs. We called them "The world's most comfortable chair" before we knew the name of them. Now that we are going through a divorce I'm sure she's sorry we didn't keep them, lol. I certainly can't afford them now. You feel almost weightless sitting in one, and the spring steel legs feel very strong, so no worries about them breaking. Pic from the web
pworm14
Active Member
Finding the right chair is not easy!
Our listening room is only 13x11, so size matters, and I just don't care for overstuffed, giant furniture. Also weight, because, if I'm in there listening to music I move the chair into the sweet spot most of the time.
Also, low back only for me. I have a highback recliner (which I absolutely love) in the living room and have WAY to many naps in that thing. Don't need that if I'm in there listening to music.
Anyhow, this is what we have in the listening room currently. It's comfortable enough, and really, easy enough to move but not ideal.
This is actually what I want in there. Westnofa Siesta. Super comfy and super light (easy to move). Problem is, a new one is about $2,500! Not in the budget. Saw this one for $500 on FB marketplace but no response from the seller.
So, I will continue to keep an eye open for something compact, light, for a reasonable price, that I like.
Our listening room is only 13x11, so size matters, and I just don't care for overstuffed, giant furniture. Also weight, because, if I'm in there listening to music I move the chair into the sweet spot most of the time.
Also, low back only for me. I have a highback recliner (which I absolutely love) in the living room and have WAY to many naps in that thing. Don't need that if I'm in there listening to music.
Anyhow, this is what we have in the listening room currently. It's comfortable enough, and really, easy enough to move but not ideal.
This is actually what I want in there. Westnofa Siesta. Super comfy and super light (easy to move). Problem is, a new one is about $2,500! Not in the budget. Saw this one for $500 on FB marketplace but no response from the seller
.So, I will continue to keep an eye open for something compact, light, for a reasonable price, that I like.
RunOutGroove
Super Member
Probably not the response you're looking for, but why not a IKEA Poang chair? Those things are comfortable, light, stylish with a small footprint and definitely affordable. In fact, I bet you could find one in great shape ultra-cheap or even free in your local Craigslist, Facebook, Nextdoor, etc ads. I really feel like these things are as well designed and as comfortable as many designer type chairs and the only reason that they aren't more highly thought of is because they're so inexpensive, sold by a mega-conglomerate retailer and are as common as dirt. They even look very similar to the chair in that second photo. Is the workmanship as good as an expensive chair like that, probably not but I wouldn't say that they're poorly made either and for what they cost, particularly on the used market, if one should break you really aren't out much. I've had one for years and the only wear on it is a bit of the leather on the ottoman is scratched up due to an old girlfriend's evil cat... and even the highest quality leather furniture would suffer the same fate, so it isn't like the quality of the thing is even in question. These things definitely have a mid-century modern vibe to me and wouldn't look at all out of place among really quality furniture from that era. I would say that hypothetically, if they had been designed by some famous industrial designer or architect back in the 50s or 60s they would likely be sought after as great examples of furniture design and be a collectable piece, just the way that so much Eams, Brauer and the like are...Finding the right chair is not easy!
Our listening room is only 13x11, so size matters, and I just don't care for overstuffed, giant furniture. Also weight, because, if I'm in there listening to music I move the chair into the sweet spot most of the time.
Also, low back only for me. I have a highback recliner (which I absolutely love) in the living room and have WAY to many naps in that thing. Don't need that if I'm in there listening to music.
Anyhow, this is what we have in the listening room currently. It's comfortable enough, and really, easy enough to move but not ideal.
View attachment 2704576
This is actually what I want in there. Westnofa Siesta. Super comfy and super light (easy to move). Problem is, a new one is about $2,500! Not in the budget. Saw this one for $500 on FB marketplace but no response from the seller
View attachment 2704577
So, I will continue to keep an eye open for something compact, light, for a reasonable price, that I like.
pworm14
Active Member
I do like the Poang, and have actually checked them out. Great chair and definitely comfortable, and would fit the vibe. I just don't want a highback in there. Our little Rocket loveseat in there is lowback also, so I'm wanting the chair to be lowback too.
This Manhattan is something I'm looking at too.
Saw it on sale for $395 recently too. Maybe?
RunOutGroove
Super Member
That loveseat thing is totally stylish in my book... as is that Manhattan chair. I dig the headrest though, particularly if it's going to be the chair that I'm going to chili in and listen to music (and for me, read, watch TV and invariably fall asleep in!). I do understand the acoustical reasoning for not wanting a headrest, but I'm not convinced that I would notice much of a difference... though I'm certainly not making the claim that others don't.
pworm14
Active Member
For me personally, I don't think the highback would make much of a acoustical difference.
This is my reading, TV, nap chair. It's out in the living room (No TV back in the listening room). I spend way too much time dozing in that chair.
Edit: I also like the West Elm chair posted by @FauxHall back on page 1 of this thread. Might have to look for one to check out.
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I think I shared this in another thread but here is a pic of my Ekornes chair that was part of an audiophile on line estate sale earlier this year. Everyone was bidding against each other over a lot of great gear that no one paid attention to the “leather recliner and ottoman” that I was able to score for $40……
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