Passive vs Active...Again!
My wife and I have made the rounds and have listened to numerous speakers now, not as many as we'd like, but as many as we could within a 3-hour drive. We liked some both active and passive, but it seems most of the active speakers we saw are not that pleasing to the eye (eg: Genelecs).
Not having a dedicated listening room, our room itself is a big problem. We have lots of hard surfaces to deal with.
If we go with passive speakers and the associated gear to go with it, we will need to spend a whole bunch of money on acoustic treatments.
We have a ton of artwork as well and with already limited wall space, we would rather look at the art than a bunch of sound-absorbing panels.
So here's my question: Will active speakers, that may come in cheaper, with room correction software (DSP) be able to tame the sound to a pleasing level in my lively room, or do I go with passives and break out the Rockwool!
Just a side note, I had some Martin Logan Spires in a very similar style room, that was much larger with little acoustic treatments and they sounded pretty good. But in this house I don't have the room to pull the speakers 3 feet of the back wall.
I know there is no perfect answer here, but appreciate any feedback, thanks.
sandthemall - very creative, some great ideas, thx! dinov - +1 atmasphere - thanks Ralph, that's what I kinda though.yogi42 - Paradigm 120 h - yes, I saw these when they first came out and I'd love to hear them, problem is, where?
kingharold - https://www.deqx.com/products/hdp-4/ - stuff like this is really cool but I don't think I could figure out how to use it. I bought a microphone online and downloaded Room Perfect. I got so confused I returned the mic and deleted the software!
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OMG! Have you seen this: https://www.deqx.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/DEQX-User-Manual.pdf Completely out of my level! Don't they make anything automatic anymore? |
@atmasphere , You can put dipoles closer to the wall but you have to use effective sound deadening behind the speaker. My Sound Labs are three feet off the front wall. The wall behind the speakers is covered with 4" thick acoustic foam. @cindyment , Line source (floor to ceiling) dipoles not only limit reflections off the floor and ceiling but also off the side walls. I have been using DSP since 1995. It will not fix certain room issues and yes, the optimal tune is at the listening position in terms of time and phase but then it always is isn't it? DSP provides speaker control not room control. Subwoofer management is IMHO the most significant benefit. It allows you to put the subs where they work best and still sinc them with the main speakers. You can use up to 10th order filters and get away with it. Next is in room EQ. Location and size are determined by phase/time and relative volume. Phase/time are not so much a concern with one way ESLs but the relative frequency response of the two is. The exact same speakers will have different frequency response curves because they are in different locations. Then there are differences in tolerances of the many components. With serial in room measurements you can tweak the frequency response curves so the the two are within 0.5 dB 100 Hz to 12 kHz. (a lot of work) Switching the EQ on and off by remote at the listen position discloses a wife noticeable increase in image specificity. Voices that were once difficult to distinguish are now separable. Same for massed horns and orchestras. The sense of an instrument with space around it is heightened. This is what I call the 3rd dimension not how far back on stage a voice or instrument is. The images are no longer flat as if spattered against a glass pane. Another interesting occurrence with a system tuned this way is balance becomes more critical. I find myself tweaking the balance several tenths of a dB from one recording to another to get the energy centralized. Before balance was a set it and forget it issue. IMHO DSP will improve any system and it might be the only way to get to the absolute sound. |
