Actually, I think in your listening room the DSP would work incredibly well. Your room is, shall we say, acoustically challenging. I bet it would work wonders.
Industry news: the next crack in the ice....
- Thread starter Pat McGinty
- Start date
-
- Tags
- class d
Actually, I think in your listening room the DSP would work incredibly well. Your room is, shall we say, acoustically challenging. I bet it would work wonders.
After you come up for a listen, if you like them, and if time permits, it would be fun to drag them (The Meadowlarks) down to your house and give them a try in your room.
Small rooms are tough. The corner placement of the speakers disposed of most of the demons at the get-go at least. When I had them on one wall it was complete pandemonium!
That would be cool, not to mention interesting. I've not heard Meadowlarks, living as I am in relative audio isolation (most of the time...).
If you come up reasonably soon, you could hear two different generations of Meadowlark, circa 1999 and 2019.
GuyK
Junior Member
This would be waaay cool. But is not likely to ever be that simple here, either, as I have too much of my music library tied up in vinyl. Some of the old vinyl I have has been released in a digital format, but the life has been sucked out of it in the process (some of my favorite older piano pieces, especially), and so I'm probably not ever going to get rid of it.
I actually have no desire to replace my LPs with digital versions anyway. I enjoy the whole theatrical production that is involved in listening to vinyl. A really high percentage of my record library has never been reissued in digital format anyway. Why would they? It wouldn't be commercially viable, nor do I blame them for not doing so.
That would be really interesting. I'm sure you will have a good session with "what is" and then follow it with "what will be".... if you can manage to contain the curiosity long enough.
I don't think my current system in my listening space is too problematic at the moment, at least until things get really rockin'. Once I get my audio shelves built and the system moved to the opposite side of the room I can give more thought to the room itself. The current arrangement is a bit of a an interim holding pattern.
I've heard enough if what powered speakers can do already to know that the Kites will leave the Shearwaters in the dust. Directly coupling an amp to a woofer I've experienced before, and it's astonishing how quick and dynamic a woofer becomes. I've never heard a traditional amp/speaker combo that comes anything close to it. And I have heard a LOT of gear. You will be shocked at how quickly and precisely that woofer will move. It will also shock you how much more realistic and just plain "right" it sounds compared to your usual. Everything starts to sound a bit leaden after you have heard that.
Again, my only concern on these is tone and just plain midrange magic. Will the DSP muck up the signal more then all the other benefits will improve things. I'll let you know in about 2 weeks.
Someone has to be the brave pioneer. My budget dictates it won't be me....I've heard enough if what powered speakers can do already to know that the Kites will leave the Shearwaters in the dust. Directly coupling an amp to a woofer I've experienced before, and it's astonishing how quick and dynamic a woofer becomes. I've never heard a traditional amp/speaker combo that comes anything close to it. And I have heard a LOT of gear. You will be shocked at how quickly and precisely that woofer will move. It will also shock you how much more realistic and just plain "right" it sounds compared to your usual. Everything starts to sound a bit leaden after you have heard that.
Again, my only concern on these is tone and just plain midrange magic. Will the DSP muck up the signal more then all the other benefits will improve things. I'll let you know in about 2 weeks.
I imagine there could be a tradeoff of some sort adding that DSP layer in there, possibly more so when you're dealing with your analogue source. Of course that really shouldn't matter any more than with a digital source except that if it all stays in the analogue realm the conversion/reconstitution process never needs to happen.
I keep thinking about all of that huge dynamic range and what it means. As I mentioned in your other thread, I already have trouble dealing with the dynamic range of a lot of my LPs. I'm listening to a Polskie Nagrania pressing of Penderecki's "Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St. Luke" and the dynamic range is more than my ears can accommodate - at least with my wife running a laundry across the hall. I find a level that feels right for the very quiet passages (ie. much of thew work) and then suddenly I'm blown out of the room. Amazing and surprisingly deeply moving work and the recorded sound is wonderful.
I hear ya. And you have expressed much of what concerns me too. Can this be too much of a good thing? Are we getting too close to the actual reproduction of live music to be able to enjoy it at home? Has the equipment become too good? Interesting problems to have!
I'm guessing that's an album I won't find on Tidal!
A large chunk of my library consists of recordings you won't find on Tidal or even on CD, one of many reasons why I never gave an inch when CDs came along.
BTW this is my current mess. The power amp is on the floor in front of the dresser. I've designed some shelving to go on the opposite side of the room next to the desk and computer. 40" long x 48" high, threaded rod and 7/8" birch ply I think. The dresser is supposed to be where the RCM goes!
DSC_3514 by fiddlefye, on Flickr
^^^ I would call that a hot mess, but in the most positive possible implications of that phrase!
Some nice stuff there.
Some nice stuff there.
Thanks! I hate stacking gear. Everything was in a nice unit when my study/listening room was on the main floor. Good spacing, decent ventilation etc. Then I got married again, my study became a TV room, the system itself twinned to become a vintage system in the living room and the shelf stayed downstairs... I'm going to start a thread on this as I need some advice about the shelving, connectivity etc.^^^ I would call that a hot mess, but in the most positive possible implications of that phrase!
Some nice stuff there.
Last edited:
Something I was pondering while not dropping off to sleep last night. My system as it stands is still more more resolving than any of my sources and I think it distinguishes between them fairly clearly. It is rather forgiving of imperfect source material, however. When a lot of one's listening is to older vinyl that is a necessity. I wonder how the super-powered (take that both ways) speakers and DSP etc. handle that situation? Even less than good CDs have potential to become challenging at times.
Every new piece I have added has made the system both more revealing, AND less bothered by imperfect source material. You know it's there, but it just plays it. It doesn't accentuate the issue like some "detail" oriented systems would. The one thing I have promised myself is that I would never let the system determine the music I would play.
Good news. You are into some rather new and uncharted waters, though. I hope that the trend keeps up and only gets better! I'm with you on the system function. If I can't play an old and less than perfect LP from the 60s or whatever that contains amazing music then my system is not terribly useful to me.
It's really neither that new or particularly uncharted. Maybe only around these parts.
My ASR phono preamp, for instance, sounds like it isn't even there. It just feels like you are plugging the cartridge into the side of your speakers.
I've heard reports about that phono pre...It's really neither that new or particularly uncharted. Maybe only around these parts.
My ASR phono preamp, for instance, sounds like it isn't even there. It just feels like you are plugging the cartridge into the side of your speakers.
Wow. That’s a beast!