Speakers in Rooms
Your room adds more coloration than the difference between a $200 and $2,000 speaker. Reflections off walls create comb filtering that reinforces some frequencies and cancels others, and it changes with every inch you move.
Sound in a Room
When a speaker plays in a room, you hear the direct sound plus reflections off every surface. These reflections arrive with slight delays, creating comb filtering. Some frequencies reinforce, others cancel. The pattern of reinforcement and cancellation depends on the distances involved, and it is different at every listening position.
The Image Source Method
A simple way to model first-order reflections: mirror the source across each wall. Each "image source" produces a delayed copy of the signal. The delay depends on path length, and each bounce loses energy based on wall absorption. With four walls you get four image sources, each contributing a delayed, attenuated copy that mixes with the direct sound.
Room Modes and Placement
Where you place the speaker and where you sit dramatically affects what you hear. Corner placement boosts bass through boundary reinforcement. The "best" speakers cannot overcome a bad room. The comb filtering from reflections dominates whatever tonal balance the speaker itself provides.
Try it: drag the speaker and listener around the room and hear how the comb filtering changes.