A calibrated binaural manikin and tape record/playback technique is described from which meaningful subjective and objective characteristics of the acoustical “atmosphere” of locations in spaces are extracted. Analysis of the source‐path(s)—receiver(s) transfer functions in space, frequency, and time domains together with psychoacoustical paired comparisons using headphones and properly calibrated, single‐source anechoic music played in several auditoria showed the following: (1) “Apparent source width” (ASW) can vary significantly throughout a space and, among other things, is a function of listening level and the running, short‐time, cross‐correlation coefficient between the ears for frequencies below about 2 kHz. (2) In general, when the sound source is located on the axis of symmetry of a room, listeners are likely to feel more surrounded by sound (large ASW) when they are seated some distance from that axis (t=2.90, df=49, significant at the 99.5% confidence level).