McIntosh MEN220 Room Correction System


Has anyone tried or demoed this piece of equipment and what were your impressions? This is a 2 channel(or main front LR channels) specific inquiry.

I have and I was actually taken aback by the positive effects. Devices like these are not a one size fits all solution however it takes a series of measurements of your room and develops a virtual 3D model of your room. The system then develops a filter that exactly measures the in room frequency response of your room, speakers and speaker placement. This filter is optimized for your seating position or for a broader sweet spot.

I used to be firmly planted in the no tone control camp until, dare I say it, I got tired of changing out cables and constantly tweaking speaker placement along with various room treatments that always seemed to create a new challenge when solving the last. We have all seen a lean system placed closer to room boundaries to reinforce bass and vice versa. If you have not heard this device or others like it, you owe it to yourself to at least demo it, preferably in your own room, to see for yourself. Your room and speakers may interact perfectly and that would be really cool if they did however for the vast majority of the rest of us, this is a really amazing device.

Your thoughts and impressions, pro or con are welcome. There is one nimrod I would prefer remain out of the dialogue, he or she knows who they are although they are likely not open minded enough to venture out of the home theater forum to benefit from the typically excellent dialogue and idea exchange found on this site.
ghasley
Tone controls are starting to creep in - The D'Agostino preamp comes to mind, but old habits die hard. Many (most?) audiophiles believe that the inclusion of tone controls taints the circuitry, hence their absence from the great majority of high-end components. I don't think anyone doubts their effectiveness in compensating for poor recordings or room acoustics, but the rationale is more about EQ ruining timing and phase relationships, whatever that means.
I have heard a very convincing demo at RMAF and as one with a troubled room, I causes me to think, a strong maybe. But my inner dilemma is, do I fix the imaging and sound field, or do I lose the truth in the music? My concern, and I couldn't get a straight answer, does the digital reconstruction take anything away? In the hotel room, I would say, no. But I would like to investigate more. Hopefully you will get some responses here that shed light on the subject.

PS:I hope wasn't the one:0
Think about why tone controls and other corrections were in disrepute during the analog era. It was due to the introduction of noise, phase-errors and distortion because of the faults of the physical reactive elements required. Digital processors are dependent on the programming and their speed/capacity but both are evolving quickly. Consider also that the signals we are concerned with are the product of similar devices from their A/D conversions at the microphone and throughout production.

Bottom line, DSP is potentially transparent.
It is almost sacred to keep the circuit as short and error free in "better" audio hear.
I say be sinful and spend your money on what you like. Its your freaking house and your freaking ears and it your fundamental right to pursue happiness. So I say do what makes you happy as long as you don't hurt anyone in the process. You might invite a "true? audiophile to listen and they may feel slighted by lip service but you know his ears will really be dancing!
Theo, LOL, don't worry, its not you! Kal, thanks for joining in. Your insight is eternally welcome and you have displayed in many of your writings a fearless willingness to call it as you hear it. Much respect. I've owned some incredible equipment over the years and my room(s) always created issues that required treatment, drastically in some of them. The MEN220 and products like it make me wonder if that quest I've been on for the perfect(for me) setup would have turned out differently. I have it inserted presently with a mid priced integrated and the transparency, frequency response and lack of smearing is stunning with the device in versus out. I concur with Kal that the techonology is potentially transparent today.