Stressless chair- leather or Microfiber??

[bebop86]

Guys- Looking at the Ekornes Stressless chairs for my room- I just found one that is almost new on craiglist - It is the Mayfair model in the microfiber material- Is this a good model to get and is the microfiber Ok VS. the leather- thks

 

[Purite Audio]

Probably less reflective than leather so preferable,
Keith.

 

[rblnr]

Don't have the answer other than have had a stressless chair forever, and a sofa in our HT -- both in leather -- for several years as well and they've both held up great.

 

[amirm]

You are going to be sitting in that chair for many, many hours. I would opt for comfort than audio fidelity.

I have always had the leather so can't speak for microfiber. I don't think I have ever seen their stuff in microfiber.

 

[Rhapsody]

We have three leather Stressless chairs in our listening room....I would only buy leather in a Stressless, but everyone's taste is different.

 

[treitz3]

I would personally go with microfiber for audio reasons as well as comfort but with one caveat. When we went to go get our seating, we tested three or four different types of microfiber cloth. 3 failed my test, only one passed and that's the fabric we chose. The test was to take a fingernail and swipe like a knife into the fabric, use a coin to scrape the microfiber and something like the top of a recessed ball point pen to try to scuff the material. The three that failed had irreparable marks that we could not buff out scrubbing with a bristle brush. The one fabric had a resilience to not be affected by the damage. You simply needed to wipe your hands across the material to get it back to what it looked like from the factory.

The reason I mention this is because IME I always sit down with my keys hooked to my belt buckle, my dog has claws that will cause potential damage and I have a kid that could care less about whether something remains new looking whist playing with his toys. In other words, I needed something that could stand the test of time. YMMV as well as your needs but I thought I would throw that bit of trivial poop into the equation so that your decision might be a little bit more well informed.

I did not prefer leather due to the noise it makes while moving or repositioning during a listening session, the fact that (to me) it always seems cold when you first sit down and then there was the potential for reflective qualities. When I added all of those parts into the equation, I choose not to go with leather even though I love it.

Tom

 

[JackD201]

Tropical climes, microfiber. Temperate climes, leather. Sweat and leather sucks.

 

[Fitzcaraldo215]

Probably less reflective than leather so preferable,
Keith.

I would need audio measurements of each in order to make my decision!!! Yeah, right.

But, you may be correct that leather would be more reflective, although leather will last a lifetime. I have not looked at these, but, in general, it is also best to avoid ones with backs near or above your ears, comfortable though that might be for reclining. I did not think of that when I bought my current motorized recliners. I just live with it that way.