Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

@kota1 , The TACT was SOTA until just recently and there are still some things the newer processors won't due. It's major problem is that it's ancient processor is not fast enough so you have to make sure you are operating it near 0dBfs, something I am used to doing. But, you are right in that it is time to move on. I was going to get a Trinnov Amethyst but it's bass management is no where near as sophisticated as the TacT's. The new DEQX processors were announced 6 months ago and supposed to be available right about now. They just updated their web site so it should be any day. As soon as they are released I will be getting a Pre 8. 

A system is 95% speakers and acoustics and 5% everything else. The TacT has served me very well over 20+ years. Very few items are constructed as well as it is and it opened up a whole new world for me. I have been using very complex digital "powered" speakers for 20 years. It taught me that the only way to know what a room is doing is to measure it. My media room was almost a perfect residential music room. I designed it to be that way except the Tact showed me I had made one glaring error. I put a window too close to the right hand loudspeaker and somehow it was skewing the treble on that side. I had the window removed and the hole sided over, big improvement. I never would have known had I not measured it. I thought as long as the wall was reasonably flat it would be OK. I put blinds over the window and that did little to nothing. 

Lastly, there are certain rules behind applied sciences that one violates at their own risk. While in medicine the 1/2 life of medical "fact" is 5 years, science such as acoustics are ancient, proven and well established. Unfortunately the math is beyond most of us because we do not have that training. This allows some of us to make thing up as we go along and the rest of us have no idea what is going on. This is how mythology is created. It is prudent that if one of us is aware of the science, to point this out.

I guess it's a good thing I got a math degree before physics.

@mijostyn , I had an issue with the window too. I hung a pair of Acoustic Lens diffusors and it worked perfect, I’ll try and upload a pic but as you see they let the light right through:

Small room acoustics is not science it’s an art when you consider the amount of refinement audiophiles expect in there finished product.

This is a perfect example of the OP. There is so much myth and knowledge that is totally baseless in any sort of audiophile knowledge foundations that there is no way audiophiles can claw their way up the hills of acoustics, electronics, material physics, and psychoacoustics, as well as psychology to reach the relativistic goal of audio nirvana at your listening position.

I use a Lyngdorf MC 60-2 with their program called "Room Perfect" these guys are really on to something including psychoacoustics. Trinnov is trying to linearize the room, impossible when you understand how much we don’t know. I went with Lyngdorf because of this exact issue.

@mijostyn

I put a window too close to the right hand loudspeaker and somehow it was skewing the treble on that side. I had the window removed and the hole sided over, big improvement. I never would have known had I not measured it. I thought as long as the wall was reasonably flat it would be OK. I put blinds over the window and that did little to nothing.

I had a similar problem, rather than remove the window I did some creative room treating. This also was in line with Anthony Grimani’s "acoustic recipe" in the video I posted earlier. This is a 3D diffusor that has an absorber mirroring it on the opposite wall. As you see it doesn’t block the light either, win/win. I’ll post the measurements I just took after installing my new preamp later: