Perceptual movement of sounds moved up or down through multiway loudspeakers set up perpendicularly

Perceptual movements of sounds fed through eight loudspeakers perpendicularly set up were investigated. The loudspeakers, which were mutually separated by 30 cm, were set up immediately in front of 15 observers positioned 4.5 m distant from the loudspeakers. They were required to answer the start point of the loudspeaker through which they perceived that the sound was output at the start, and the end point of that loudspeaker. The results show that the ascension or descension of the sound images was perceived when 1/3 octave bands of noises with center frequencies of 1, 4, and 8 kHz were linearly moved up or down in the range from 60 to 150 cm. The results also show that the perceived moving distance depends on the moving speed, becoming longer than the physical distance at speeds of 10 and 20 cm/s, and converging to the physical distance concomitant with higher moving speed, irrespective of the center frequencies. [Work supported by SCAT.]