After a 15-year career with two of the UK’s top pro audio manufacturers, Chris Allen has launched Room Sonics, providing room optimisation and loudspeaker line-up services for audio professionals and high-end hi-fi users.

With the Covid pandemic driving artists and producers to work independently and often in acoustically challenging spaces, Allen identified a need for an independent room optimisation and loudspeaker line-up service that would help both achieve the best possible results.

‘My career with Prism Sound and PMC Speakers has given me a great deal of experience and thorough insight into modern day professional workflows and domestic hi-fi set-ups,’ Allen explains. ‘As an independent consultant, I provide genuinely impartial advice to help resolve many of the issues people face, especially when they are working and listening in spaces where the acoustics and speaker set-ups are less than ideal.’

With technical and commercial responsibilities at both Prism Sound and PMC, Allen has worked with numerous world-class recording, mixing and postproduction studios to specify, supply and commission high-end audio equipment. Among these are the BBC, Dean Street Studios and Abbey Road in the UK, Zhejiang Conservatoire in China and Studios 301 in Sydney. He has also worked with award-winning artists and producers such as Tommy Vicari, and Greg Wells. Allen intends to use his experience to help people find solutions that meet their needs, without necessarily incurring huge costs.

‘Audio professionals – and many domestic hi-fi users – are investing a great deal of money in instruments and equipment that has been beautifully designed to deliver musicality, a clean signal path and remarkable audio quality,’ he says. ‘However, the true performance of that equipment is often limited by the room it is being used in.

‘You might experience too much or too little bass, distracting flutter echoes and long reverberation times, or you might be settling for disproportionate speaker-to-listener arrangements and other challenges. Many of these issues can be easily overcome with the right advice and mitigation. It is amazing how much improvement can be achieved through simple adjustments without needing any additional investment in more boxes or products.’

Room Sonics uses recognised acoustic measurement software to identify issues and tailor solutions that fits the customer’s needs and budget. ‘Often all that is required is a better set-up in a given space for the loudspeakers and the listening position,’ Allen says. ‘However, if a problem is particularly severe, Room Sonics can advise on additional solutions such as acoustic treatment, and recommend the best products to achieve the desired result.’

As well as room optimisation, Room Sonics offers a loudspeaker line-up service suitable for postproduction and music mixing, including voicing, gain-matching, time-alignment and subwoofer integration for stereo, surround and immersive audio formats such as Dolby Atmos.

More: www.roomsonics.com