Why not horns?

Ralph, yes, if you look at my system you see I have a big problem with time alignment. The woofers are 16 feet long and I decided that a digital delay was worth a try. First I tried a Behringer DCX2496 which was heavily modified to bypass the crappy opamp outputs and poor power supply and digital clock. The results were very good but that left me with another problem...how to deal with the analog input from my phono stage. The DCX does ADC but the mic preamp wasn't very good and bypassing lowered the input impedance too much.

That's when I discovered Pure Vinyl software. It does what the DCX does but using a much higher quality RME or any interface you choose. The cartridge feeds direct to the mic inputs on the RME. I was very skeptical at first, people who I really trust told me there was no way it would work...there wasn't enough resolution at the high end and you would just end up with square waves at higher frequencies...but I tried it and lo and behold it does work. I digitize the vinyl at 24/192, the PV does the RIAA EQ with a wide variety of curves, and I feed it back out at 24/192 to biamp. I haven't played with the plugins very much but you can fiddle with EQ curves and slopes and cutoff freqs and whatever else to your heart's content. PV has a built in 2 way with a variety of slopes and time alignment but with plugins not only can you tweak the crossovers in an almost endless number of ways but you can do it in a few seconds to see what you prefer.

AND, I have a 107 dB or so horns with SET amps and with the vinyl input turned up I have almost zero noise.

I know, the analog purists in the group dismiss this immediately. They've never heard it but are convinced it won't work well so they wouldn't even consider it. That's fine. After many years of chasing the dream I have a system that makes ME very happy. I used to sit and wonder what I could do to improve it, Now I just sit and enjoy the music.

Stop by anytime for a demo.

I know, the analog purists in the group dismiss this immediately. They've never heard it but are convinced it won't work well so they wouldn't even consider it. That's fine. After many years of chasing the dream I have a system that makes ME very happy.

Herman, your system makes you happy and that is all that matters. Congrats to you for reaching this state with your system.

Ok, I'll admit to perhaps being the analog purist at least on this thread. :-)

Let me be clear. I do not dismiss digital processing off hand. I am a software engineer also, with degrees in EE and CS, so I understand most of what is going on with DSPs and other digital equipment. It is a very legitimate approach.

Personally, I have ruled it out digital process in my system after trying it. Admittedly, I have not tried all of the best gear out there, but I have never heard any non-analog source in my system come close to what my vinyl front end produces. I know this sound very well so it does stick out to me when things aren't there. This is where my listening sensitivities have developed and it is something I cannot ignore. I'm afraid that if I were forced to chose between using digital processing to get my horns to sound good, I would move the horns out in a NY minute.

However, Duke's and Atmosphere's points are well taken and I also know and admit that my approach is also compromised. I can address some of the shortcomings with placement of the drivers relative to the others and to the listening position.

There are compromises with everything and choices have to be made. As Nick Doshi often states, "Enjoy music, tolerate equipment."

Big world, Herman. Where would one "stop by" for a demo?

I'm pretty interested in Pure Vinyl. Have been thinking about springing for the upcoming Parasound JC-3 phono section but I just sold my Technics SP-10 because we don't play records much these days. I have another Technics table and I intend to continue the option but I'm not sure I want to tie up that much money. I don't have your time delay issue - mine is only about 16 - 18 inches and could be dealt with physically by just shifting the horns forward. I guess I'll see if my prosound guy keeps our appointment this time. He's had to postpone twice.
What's an RME and how easy is it to choose settings and set EQ? If Pure Vinyl works so well in your system where there is no room for error, I have to think it could make me very happy if it is convenient enough for me to operate. I'm really looking for a "set and forget" circumstance. I've had enough hobby - now I just want carefree use.
The rest of my hesitation comes from a feeling of ineptitude when it comes to computers. They drive me crazy. I finally bought an Imac last summer and that has helped a lot. Windows drove me to the point of wanting to shoot my Dell.

M'Jack, you know I post things like "stop by" and then get to thinking about all of the wackos on the internet (not you) and get nervous about having strangers stop by. Call me paranoid but you never know. John Wayne Gacy seemed like such a nice guy.

RME is a company that makes pro-audio interfaces. There are a lot of options..Lynx, Aurora, Weiss, etc.

Pure Vinyl is pretty easy to use but any software that is flexible is going to have some sort of learning curve. Once set up you just boot it up. It runs on Macs so you are halfway home.

Herman,

Although I am a audio wacko, I am sure you did not mean me. By the way, I do need to get up to you new home to hear the upgrades. I hope the invitation is still valid.

T