Sound reproduction apparatus and sound reproduction method

An apparatus for reproducing a stereophonic sound to a listener facing a listening direction, using at least one speaker, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory storing a plurality of transfer functions defining propagation characteristics of sound propagating between the speakers and listening positions;
• a filter for separating low frequency components from an input signal at a filter frequency;
• means for delaying high frequency components of the input signal relative to the separated low frequency components by a delay time;
• and
• a stereophonic sound signal generation processor for:
• selecting, from the memory, at least one of the transfer functions based on an angle between the listening direction and a direction to one of the speakers;
• and
• generating, based on the selected transfer function, a stereophonic sound reproduction signal by processing the separated low frequency components,
• wherein the delay time reduces echo between the high frequency components and the low frequency components and causes a perceived sound image position of the sound perceived by the listener to match a physical position of the at least one speaker.

A method for reproducing a stereophonic sound to a listener facing a listening direction, using speakers, the method comprising:

• storing a plurality of transfer functions defining propagation characteristics of sound propagating between the speakers and listening positions;
• filtering an input signal to separate low frequency components from the input signal at a filter frequency;
• delaying high frequency components of the input signal relative to the separated low frequency components by a delay time;
• selecting at least one of the transfer functions based on an angle between the listening direction and a direction to one of the speakers;
• reproducing, based on the selected transfer function, a stereophonic sound signal at the listening position by processing the separated low frequency components and the delayed high frequency components;
• and
• reproducing the stereophonic sound signal with the speakers,
• wherein the delay time reduces echo between the high frequency components and the low frequency components and causes a perceived sound image position of the sound perceived by the listener to match a physical position of the speakers.