Last post I mentioned how pleased I was with Amarra Symphony media player.
Symphony also contains a room/speaker digital correction system, licenced from Dirac.
I guess that is why Symphony is so expensive as I presume they pay licence fees to Dirac.
I trialed Dirac, and while I liked what it did, I didn't like its in-built processor, which I thought stifled dynamics.
I thought maybe it could be a lot better combined with a good player like Amarra which is why I gave it a go.
I reported in my last post how impressed I was with the sound of Amarra in its own right, and now I can report on the integration of the room/speaker correction function , named IRC in Symphony.
It took me quite a while to figure out how to get everything functioning properly- in essence you measure the room, configure a "target" filter, which in theory fixes all your problems , apply the filter to the Amarra player and away you go.
Of course its not that simple, as choosing the right target for the room/speaker and, most importantly , your taste, takes quite a bit of trial and error.
The default suggested target has a slight downward leaning slope towards the high frequency. "Flat" response is actually not desirable at all, tending to sound a bit peaky in most systems.
I used the system first on my Lipinski studio monitors , with active subs underneath, and they actually measured very well. Indeed the suggested target was not much different from the actual measurement, and it was no surprise that with IRC switched in there was not much difference , and not worth using.
Next I tried IRC on my stacked AR-LST vintage speakers. LST stands for laboratory standard transducer , and back in the 70's and 80's they were regarded as highly accurate monitors.
They didn't measure quite as well as the Lipinski's, but still very respectable and would put most modern speakers to shame. The target filter for the AR's had a bit more correcting to do, but i couldn't find the happy medium of correction and retaining the sound I've come to enjoy with the AR's. They are driven by six tube amps, and are something I listen to for enjoyment, rather than critical listening. I could make some fine corrections with the IRC, but overall I preferred the sound unaltered.
At this stage I was ready to give up on Symphony with IRC and just buy the standard Amarra without IRC.
A friend mentioned to me that he had heard an electrostatic set up that used an OTL direct drive set up, and it was the best system he had ever heard, a big call, but I trust this guys ears, and it got me thinking to build an OTL direct drive amp for my own stats.
So I pulled the stats out from storage and set them back up to listen to while I pondered on an OTL design.
I have to say I was quite disappointed with the sound as I've gotten used to the very precise imaging and accuracy of my monitor speakers. Sure electrostatics are clear as a bell, have a big soundstage, but there is always that "electrostatic" sound, the midrange sounds just a little light , male vocals need just a bit more "weight", in comparism to a moving coil speaker. The light weight of the stat speaker certainly gives extraordinary speed and detail, and I guess like all speakers you have to acknowledge they have strengths and weakness's. And if the stat is full range, bass is compromised, and if it is a hybrid, its difficult to integrate the bass driver with the stat panel.
But before I put them away I thought I'd see how they measured in the room with Symphony. Now I suspect it has a lot to do with how stats load a room, but the measurement was not very good. So this would be a good test to see how well IRC would deal with such a problematic result.
It made a dramatic difference, in fact it was a totally different speaker, much better integration, better bass, better mids, better treble, better everything!
This was with the default target, and after a few hours listening I decided to try a different filter, as I was now beginning to better understand the relationship between target and result.
After a couple of hours I had it pretty good, and I was very impressed with my new non- electrostatic sounding speakers!
Further substantial gains were made over a couple of days using the DEQX parametric equaliser to fine tune the final sound to taste . This is very easy to do with the DEQX as one can sit in the listening position and adjust the EQ in real time.
The sound now is nothing short of very impressive, I could rabbit on about it, but I want to finish this blog so I can go and listen!
The interesting thing is that IRC really didn't do very much for accurate speakers, and yet it transformed something that I now realize was incompetent , into something that is far better in most ways than the "competent" speakers, it's certainly more interesting and enjoyable to listen to.
Perhaps conventional, accurate, well designed moving coil loudspeakers are working close to their optimal design and there is little to be gained from digital correction, apart from room influences.
It is a fact that many of the finest regarded speakers are quirky in nature- electrostatics, horn speakers, ribbons, etc - all have many enthusiasts, because they do most things well, but the same enthusiasts would admit that they have weakness's. Digital sound processing (DSP) can possibly make them near perfect, perhaps better than any "conventional" speaker. I certainly believe that electrostatic speakers benefit greatly from DSP, in my experience.
I believe DSP is the future of hi-fi, I'm an old tube guy, and I still believe there will always be a place for a tube pre-amp in any system, but DSP will make tremendous inroads into our listening experience and , importantly, pleasure.
I cant wait to see what the next few years will bring.
Like everything, it takes patience and some understanding to get the best from a system such as Symphony. Its important to understand that you still have to achieve what is subjectively "best" for your ears. There is no "correct" target , and there is no easy solution. But when it works it is sublime.
