This wraps up my PSI AVAA C214 review series. Three videos, ten studios, two years of testing, and a whole pile of viewer questions I haven't gotten to yet.

So I sat down and went through the comments on all three AVAA videos (the main review, the interview with PSI Audio's R&D manager Yvan Becher, and the engineer feedback session) and picked out the ones worth addressing properly.

Here we go.

"Can I just move my speakers away from the window?"

@djlawris asked about a room where a big window sits right behind the speakers. Wouldn't it be smarter to rotate the setup so the window ends up on the back wall or side wall instead?

I get why that seems logical. But here's the thing most people don't realize: you don't get to choose your listening position in a home studio. Your room chooses it for you.

The low end response, the room mode pattern, that's what determines where you need to sit. And the only way to get a decent bass response is to find the spot where all those room modes balance out against each other.

Sometimes that means the window ends up right behind your speakers. In my own studio, I'm literally looking at a window behind my monitors right now.

The real issue in the room we discussed wasn't even the window's location. It was how the window was constructed and how it let bass escape. A single layer of drywall can cause the exact same problem, by the way.

So yes, the compromise of having a window behind your speakers is sometimes the necessary compromise. Sound comes first.

"Can I stack two AVAAs in the same corner?"

@Alpha asked whether stacking multiple units in the same high-pressure zone would scale the effect.

Short answer: more units equals more absorption. I compared one unit versus two in the review, and the difference was clear.

But stacking two units right next to each other in the same corner? I didn't test that. My instinct says it's not ideal because each unit creates its own zone of absorption around it. I'm not sure how two units would interact when they're right up against each other.

You're better off spreading them across different high-pressure zones in the room. That way each unit is doing its own job in its own spot.

"Didn't Bag End make something like this years ago?"

@kniferideaudio brought up the Bag End E-Trap, which has been around for a while.

Yes, the E-Trap exists. But the mechanism is different. The E-Trap works through feedback. You get two channels, so you can target two specific frequencies. You tune each one yourself by setting the frequency and the Q.

The PSI AVAA works differently. It reduces the impedance of the air. Think of it like the unit turns the wall into something sound can slip through more easily. Like a hole that only exists for bass frequencies.

The big practical difference: you have to manually tune the E-Trap. The AVAA is passive from a control standpoint. Switch it on, done. It works on any frequency within its 15 to 160 Hz operating range, as long as there's enough sound pressure where the unit sits.

"The price needs to come way down."

@MontecitoMusicandMedia said the cost makes it a niche product.

I saw a lot of comments like this. And I understand the reaction. But here's some context.

In high-end studio construction, roughly 80% of the budget goes toward controlling everything below 100 Hz. A studio that costs a hundred thousand dollars to build? About eighty thousand of that is just for the low end.

Bass control always costs money and space. There's no shortcut around that.

The AVAA does a lot of what you'd want a shortcut to do, especially when it comes to saving space. It's not magic. It won't fix your entire low end with a single unit. But for rooms where you physically can't fit more passive treatment and you have the budget, it's absolutely worth it.

Not for everybody. But definitely not overpriced.

"Does it work on the whole 15–160 Hz range?"

@Tisc-a asked whether the AVAA absorbs everything between 15 and 160 Hz, or only specific problem frequencies.

It technically can work across that whole range. But in practice, it only absorbs frequencies that have high sound pressure where the unit is placed.

So if you park it in a corner where one particular room mode creates a big pressure buildup at, say, 63 Hz, that's the frequency that gets absorbed the most.

In some of the test rooms, one single room mode got heavily damped while the rest of the range barely changed. In other rooms, the effect was more broadband because multiple frequencies had high pressure at that spot.

It all depends on where you put it and what's happening in that location.

"Can you get Thomas Jouanjean for an interview?"

@Mihowill asked if I could interview Thomas Jouanjean, the well-known studio designer.

I'd love to. I was in touch with him a few years ago but haven't reconnected since. If anyone out there can help put us in touch again, I'd really appreciate it. I have a lot of respect for his work and I think he'd have plenty to share, even for us home studio folks.

"What's the difference between the C214 and the C20?"

@mokshagames was confused about the two AVAA models.

The C20 came first and uses analog electronics. The C214 uses digital processing, basically a small computer inside the unit. Apart from the form factor, they work the same way and should give you the same results.

PSI Audio switched to digital to make things easier to update and maintain going forward. So if you're buying new, you'll most likely get the C214. But if you find a C20 used, it should perform identically.

"Will these help with tracking, not just mixing?"

@fredfox asked whether the AVAA improves recordings, not just the monitoring environment.

Definite yes. In the engineer interviews, two of them specifically mentioned that the AVAA reduced boominess on vocal recordings when performers got too close to the microphone. The proximity effect became more manageable.

One engineer also said it made it much easier to select and layer low-end samples (kick drums, 808s) because the phase relationships were cleaner in the room.

It's acoustic treatment. It improves everything you do with sound in that space. Recording, mixing, sample selection, all of it.

"Rotation has a larger effect than placement?"

@audiorick mentioned something from the interview with Yvan and wanted to experiment with rotating the unit.

Careful with that interpretation. Yvan didn't say rotation matters more than placement. He said rotation also matters once you've nailed the placement.

Location in the room is still the main thing you need to figure out. Find the high-pressure zones for the frequencies you're trying to control, and put the unit there.

But once you've got the right spot, it is worth experimenting with rotating the unit or even flipping it upside down. That changes where the microphone sits in relation to the pressure zone, which can squeeze out a bit more performance.

Placement first. Rotation second.

"Is that a deepfake?"

@brubecktime thought the frontal shots in the last video looked AI-generated.

Ha. No. That was me, recorded on my phone at my brother's place. The audio was rough because I didn't have a microphone, so I leaned heavily on the "Studio Sound" feature in Descript. Pushed it a bit too far, clearly.

The teleprompter probably didn't help either. I usually improvise from bullet points, but because this video cut between my segments and the engineer interviews, I needed a full script. That changes the delivery.

Lesson learned. I won't push the AI audio cleanup that hard again.

The bottom line: if you're considering the PSI AVAA C214, placement is everything, it works on tracking and mixing alike, and no, the price isn't out of line with what bass control actually costs in any serious studio.

That wraps up the AVAA series. Thanks to everyone who followed along. This was a lot of work, but I wanted to make sure I got everything out of the material I collected across those ten studios.

The biggest lesson from testing in ten different rooms? Every room has its own low-end personality, and figuring out where that sweet spot is makes or breaks everything else you do after. If you want a structured way to find yours, consider checking out the Acoustic Treatment Essentials bundle. It walks you through speaker placement, bass trap construction, and absorber positioning from start to finish.