Looking For The Perfect Listening Chair

[Nuprin]

It's surprising no one has made an audiophile approved listening chair much like a car seat with the small adjustable headrest (above the shoulders) but in a lounge base and ottoman or recliner.

Or a dentist chair for that matter! It's less than a Stressless Chair.

 

[MikeHorns]

Very affordable and can be doubled for Chi-Gong workout.

 

[perfusionist]

I was dead set on buying a Ekornes stressless Mayfair medium for my main listening position until I came across this post. I didnt think about the seat height / ears being above seat level. Looks like this post saved me. I am considering the Human scale freedom chair now.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I was dead set on buying a Ekornes stressless Mayfair medium for my main listening position until I came across this post. I didnt think about the seat height / ears being above seat level. Looks like this post saved me. I am considering the Human scale freedom chair now.

The Human Scale Freedom chair is for me the most comfortable office chair I have ever found. I love the chair! I was considering it as well for my listening chair.

I decided against it, however, as a listening chair, because I don't think it is quite cushy enough for me. So maybe just verify for yourself that it is comfortable enough to sit in for several hours at a time.

 

[cjfrbw]

I practiced dentistry, so I can vouch for the dental chairs. I used to nap in them all the time when the office was empty, and they have a wide range of controls for body position.

However, the ESP karma might be a little too much for the sensitives.

 

[perfusionist]

The Human Scale Freedom chair is for me the most comfortable office chair I have ever found. I love the chair! I was considering it as well for my listening chair.

I decided against it, however, as a listening chair, because I don't think it is quite cushy enough for me. So maybe just verify for yourself that it is comfortable enough to sit in for several hours at a time.

What do u have now for your main listening chair?

 

[TrackingAngle]

The Stressless chairs are great, looked at a bunch of them a few months ago. I also looked at several knock-offs, they are pure junk.

Finding one which is low enough in the back is tough for me because I'm short, but should be lower than your ears in the upright position.

You might also want to see what your local Elran dealer has, they make some nice stuff too.

The bigger Ekornes chairs are too tall for me as well but the smaller sized one is perfect and my head is above the chair back. Not sure if they manufacture it anymore though....

 

[treitz3]

I totally agree and I feel it should not recline either. You want to position the chair in the right spot and it should not roll, move or recline IMO

Eh, I'll have to respectfully disagree with you one that. If it were a dedicated listening position/chair in a professional demo room? I would agree with you 100%, as the typical listening times are relatively shorter than those listening sessions at the house can be. This would also hold true with speakers whose characteristics are hyper-focused in a very narrow, specific sweet spot. Not all systems have this kind of limitation though, some variance of listening position is okay without degradation of the imaging.

While the main reason for choosing the chair I did was for the sound, another important factor for the reason I choose the chair I did was specifically for comfort on longer listening sessions. Some listening sessions (for me) end up with me falling asleep on the listening chair. For those sessions, a non-moveable/fixed chair was a no-no. Comfort comes second to the end result as to what hits these ears but it did remain high on the priority list whilst searching for "the" chair.

While I can certainly have the chair fixed and as a "dedicated" listening chair, I do enjoy (especially on those albums where you want to just relax and enjoy the music, not be critical about listening/evaluating) propping my legs up a tad and listening with a stiff adult drink on my side. Especially when the whole point of your day is to listen to 2 albums of live performances (both of which are double LP's) back to back.

If you do the math on that? That's quite a bit of listening time and for me....this may be just the beginning of the listening session for the day, as I usually will pull out more music to enjoy after that. Being stiff backed in a "proper and immovable" listening position for that amount of time makes me cringe just thinking about it.

So, while I will agree to agree with you (to a point), I will also respectfully disagree with your statement. It depends and priorities can vary.

Tom

 

[perfusionist]

Eh, I'll have to respectfully disagree with you one that. If it were a dedicated listening position/chair in a professional demo room? I would agree with you 100%, as the typical listening times are relatively shorter than those listening sessions at the house can be. This would also hold true with speakers whose characteristics are hyper-focused in a very narrow, specific sweet spot. Not all systems have this kind of limitation though, some variance of listening position is okay without degradation of the imaging.

While the main reason for choosing the chair I did was for the sound, another important factor for the reason I choose the chair I did was specifically for comfort on longer listening sessions. Some listening sessions (for me) end up with me falling asleep on the listening chair. For those sessions, a non-moveable/fixed chair was a no-no. Comfort comes second to the end result as to what hits these ears but it did remain high on the priority list whilst searching for "the" chair.

While I can certainly have the chair fixed and as a "dedicated" listening chair, I do enjoy (especially on those albums where you want to just relax and enjoy the music, not be critical about listening/evaluating) propping my legs up a tad and listening with a stiff adult drink on my side. Especially when the whole point of your day is to listen to 2 albums of live performances (both of which are double LP's) back to back.

If you do the math on that? That's quite a bit of listening time and for me....this may be just the beginning of the listening session for the day, as I usually will pull out more music to enjoy after that. Being stiff backed in a "proper and immovable" listening position for that amount of time makes me cringe just thinking about it.

So, while I will agree to agree with you (to a point), I will also respectfully disagree with your statement. It depends and priorities can vary.

Tom

I like your phrase on your signature! So true.

 

[Audire]

We use Hancock and Moore recliners. They are very comfortable - all day seating - and well made.

 

[kswanson27]

The bigger Ekornes chairs are too tall for me as well but the smaller sized one is perfect and my head is above the chair back. Not sure if they manufacture it anymore though....

I'll be receiving my Ekornes Admiral chair in a few days. It's a medium size and the bottom of my ears are about three inches above the back. I'm 6 feet and small change.

 

[Elliot G.]

Eh, I'll have to respectfully disagree with you one that. If it were a dedicated listening position/chair in a professional demo room? I would agree with you 100%, as the typical listening times are relatively shorter than those listening sessions at the house can be. This would also hold true with speakers whose characteristics are hyper-focused in a very narrow, specific sweet spot. Not all systems have this kind of limitation though, some variance of listening position is okay without degradation of the imaging.

While the main reason for choosing the chair I did was for the sound, another important factor for the reason I choose the chair I did was specifically for comfort on longer listening sessions. Some listening sessions (for me) end up with me falling asleep on the listening chair. For those sessions, a non-moveable/fixed chair was a no-no. Comfort comes second to the end result as to what hits these ears but it did remain high on the priority list whilst searching for "the" chair.

While I can certainly have the chair fixed and as a "dedicated" listening chair, I do enjoy (especially on those albums where you want to just relax and enjoy the music, not be critical about listening/evaluating) propping my legs up a tad and listening with a stiff adult drink on my side. Especially when the whole point of your day is to listen to 2 albums of live performances (both of which are double LP's) back to back.

If you do the math on that? That's quite a bit of listening time and for me....this may be just the beginning of the listening session for the day, as I usually will pull out more music to enjoy after that. Being stiff backed in a "proper and immovable" listening position for that amount of time makes me cringe just thinking about it.

So, while I will agree to agree with you (to a point), I will also respectfully disagree with your statement. It depends and priorities can vary.

Tom

Tom, My exact point is if you are serious listening then all the things I said are true. If you want to fall asleep in your listening chair so be it however that does not make it the right chair to listen to music with. MY chair is extremely comfortable but I have no interest in sleeping in my listening room. I bought a bed for that purpose

 

[RDSChicago]

The Human Scale Freedom chair is for me the most comfortable office chair I have ever found. I love the chair! I was considering it as well for my listening chair.

I decided against it, however, as a listening chair, because I don't think it is quite cushy enough for me. So maybe just verify for yourself that it is comfortable enough to sit in for several hours at a time.

I have used a leather Freedom chair with the headrest for my office over the past 10 years or so. I love its self-adjusting properties and all-day comfort. I can’t see it being used for listening. I wouldn’t want to sit so upright while relaxing to music. Being a mid-century modern furniture fan, I use the Saarinen Womb Chair and ottoman by Knoll. Love it for listening. Designed in 1948. If you don’t feel like spending $6,000 for the Knoll officially-licensed brand, knockoffs are available for a fraction of the price.

 

[brad225]

Tom, My exact point is if you are serious listening then all the things I said are true. If you want to fall asleep in your listening chair so be it however that does not make it the right chair to listen to music with. MY chair is extremely comfortable but I have no interest in sleeping in my listening room. I bought a bed for that purpose

I never go into my listening room with the intention of falling asleep. I often drift off into the music and it just happens. That was one of the main reasons I wanted a head rest that didn't interfere with the music. At least when I'm awake.

 

[twitch]

I never go into my listening room with the intention of falling asleep. I often drift off into the music and it just happens. That was one of the main reasons I wanted a head rest that didn't interfere with the music. At least when I'm awake.

I'm with Brad, the thought of being 'locked in a vice' is just plain ridiculous ......

 

[treitz3]

I will echo that agreement. It's definitely not like I plan on going in there to sleep. My plan when I sit down is to listen to music!

With that said, when you have a wonderfully sweet sound emanating from a perceived empty space within the room and you are listening for hours on end....then the sun goes down and you turn the lights off, it's nice to listen and close your eyes to really experience the music, with zero interference from any visual aspects.....and then the inevitable sometimes happens. Next thing you know, it's way past your normal bedtime and you wake up in the listening chair.

That's not irresponsible listening to me (unless you are listening to vinyl), that's what I refer too as "a slice of heaven here on Earth". I rarely ever feel more relaxed or at ease (with absolutely no stress at all) than I do after a long, great sounding listening session where I wake up in the listening chair. In fact. sometimes, I'll wake up and feel so relaxed that I will listen even more....because I do not want the bliss to end.

Tom

 

[Yeti]

If I can nod off in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on those seats, a Stressless will be no aid to keeping awake.

 

[perfusionist]

After a lot of reading and trying out different stuff, I narrowed down to American leather Burke recliner.

here are some pics:

super comfortable sitting position with ears above the chair back, swift reclining mechanism when needed.

Other chairs that I tried :
1. Human touch pc420 and 600 - the zero gravity position was awesome but I won’t be listening to music in this position .
2. Stressless chairs - tried the Mayfair which Was super comfortable but my ears were inside the chair level. Sunrise wasn’t as comfortable.

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

I will echo that agreement. It's definitely not like I plan on going in there to sleep. My plan when I sit down is to listen to music!

With that said, when you have a wonderfully sweet sound emanating from a perceived empty space within the room and you are listening for hours on end....then the sun goes down and you turn the lights off, it's nice to listen and close your eyes to really experience the music, with zero interference from any visual aspects.....and then the inevitable sometimes happens. Next thing you know, it's way past your normal bedtime and you wake up in the listening chair.

That's not irresponsible listening to me (unless you are listening to vinyl), that's what I refer too as "a slice of heaven here on Earth". I rarely ever feel more relaxed or at ease (with absolutely no stress at all) than I do after a long, great sounding listening session where I wake up in the listening chair. In fact. sometimes, I'll wake up and feel so relaxed that I will listen even more....because I do not want the bliss to end.

Tom

100 per cent! That and when you fall asleep in a chair with no head support you wake up with a sore neck. Listening to music is not a job, its what I do to get away from one.

 

[kach22i]

Does anyone have experience with the Corona Chair by Poul Volther? It does have a matching ottoman footstool.

Carnal-Knowledge-Jack-Nicholson-Art-Garfunkel-Carol-Kane-1971 – DC's

Link to knock-off with video (below), the woman with book as shown sits lower than Jack Nicholson (above).

The Corona Chair

Replica Poul Volther Corona Chair Comfortable easychair from 1964 Available in soft cashmere or semi-aniline leather Pair with the matching Poul Volther Corona Footstool sold separately POUL VOLTHER CORONA CHAIR An iconic and timeless classic, the celebrated Poul Volther Corona Chair has...

www.stin.com

The problem I see, is no place to put arms but in own lap.

I really like the red leather Freedom Chair that "RDSChicago" posted a few posts above.