This thesis deals with the acoustics of coupled spaces. It is organized along three axes: a physical point of view which considers acoustic fields in stationary and transient conditions, processing of emitted and recorded sound sequences allowing for characterizing the acoustics of such spaces, and finally a perceptual aspect involving the location of a listener. This work aims at providing a more detailed understanding of acoustical phenomena involved in coupled spaces and gives an overall view of the topic through different considerations, from modeling to perception. The study of acoustic fields in coupled spaces was performed by comparing several approaches. Analytical models based on statistical acoustics and diffusion equation were developed and compared with measurements in a scale model at scale 1:20 as well as numerical simulations based on ray-tracing and numerical methods such as the boundary element method (BEM) and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD). Besides, relevant acoustic parameters have been defined, allowing for an accurate description the specifics of decay curves and a semi-automated routine was developed to rapidly analyze both measured and simulated impulse responses. Perception of reverberated sound in coupled spaces is strongly influenced by the multiple sound energy decay rates providing shorter early reverberation as compared to the late reverberation. Two types of perceptual experiments based on listening tests were conducted, one on the ability to discriminate different reverberant environments, the other on the subjective suitability of these different reverberations regarding various musical ensembles.
