Is DEQX a game changer?

Lewinskih01 .... you wrote:

"I can't remember the scope of time alignment in your system. Is it subs-to-main speakers, or are you using the active XO in the DEqX and aligned your mains drivers and also the subs? This would help put your comment above into perspective."

Yes, Larry the DEQXPert time aligned as best he could my self power sub and my front speakers. I say "as best he could" because my speakers' woofers are in opposite polarity from the tweeter/midrange. I seem to recall he had to make compromises.

My DEQX is the PreMATE. It does not have an active x-over function. The HDP-4 is the top of the line unit and it does have active x-over capability.

Now ... as regards time alignment ... I may have overstated or perhaps understated its importance. Larry did time alignment on his first pass two months ago. During the second pass the other night, he fine tuned room EQ. There were additional improvements achieved as I mentioned above.

Your question touches on the narrower point re the importance of time alignment as a stand alone attribute. I'm not sure I can honestly answer the question because Larry corrected both attributes on his first pass: time alignment AND room EQ.

I'll defer to Andrew (Drewan77). Andrew is super facile with his DEQX and can probably speak to the importance of time alignment as a stand alone attribute. I imagine he would have to do a "with" and "without" comparison.

My bottom line is this: my system sounds better WITH the DEQX in place. Larry "tamed" my speaker's time alignment shortcomings and room EQ effects. Perfect -- NO. Better - YES.

Personally, I think a "DEQX-type" unit is a must for a serious hobbyist who dropped a lot of bucks into their rig and who cares about the sound of the music playback.

I question out loud how folks who spend a small fortune on top of the line speakers can even know how good their speakers sound if they have a screwed up room. So, even if one owned time aligned speakers like Vandies or GMAs, all the time alignment in the world will not fix a screwed up room.

question out loud how folks who spend a small fortune on top of the line speakers can even know how good their speakers sound if they have a screwed up room. So, even if one owned time aligned speakers like Vandies or GMAs, all the time alignment in the world will not fix a screwed up room.
Bifwynne

Amen!!
(& I have written & said such a thing before too many times to count now). Good to see Bruce echoing the same now.....

here's a cut & paste from a (cheeky) post (cheeky parts scrubbed) from back in 2012 when one Audiogon member started a thread called "Room Treatment made me cry.....a little" - he had discovered the huge benefits of room treatment....

03-26-12: Bombaywalla
Amazing and not expected, at least not this level of improvement and emotional connection.
I'm very happy for you now that you are so emotionally connected to your music during playback. Good job!

........ it's been written & said (if you attend audio shows, informal gatherings at friends' places, dealer's showrooms, etc) that the room is perhaps the most important interface to a music playback system. You could get 1 item each from every Stereophile A list OR TAS's best of the best OR from your favourite audio mag and you could connect those components together in your listening room & you will find that your sonics are not A-list at all; in fact, not even close until you treat your room. You could have trolled the A'gon archives for tomes written on this subject to find that the room is the inital/final frontier w.r.t. playback. Anyway, I/we are happy that you learnt this ......... Enjoy your music...........
Bombaywalla

Lewinskih01, If I remove the time alignment, imaging and soundstage collapses to a much flatter representation - something I hadn't fully appreciated until I included DEQX in the chain. Recordings which include original acoustics sound quite stunning when DEQX has time aligned all drivers and frequencies

For a three way system + subs you would need to add something like mini DSP for 8 channels as one DEQX unit will only cover 6 channels (ie HDP-4). Use DEQX on the main speakers where the benefits are most significant and another device to time align the subs. Alternatively, leave a passive crossover between treble-mid or mid-bass on the main speakers and use the remaining two HDP-4 channels for the subs

When an initial DEQX measurement is taken, the software will attempt to correct whatever it hears so if there is a passive crossover in the chain and any drivers are out of phase or timing, it will automatically correct that in the calibration it makes. Doing this process outdoors 'anechoically' produces the best results

Subsequent time alignment to subs and then room equalisation will enable you to remove almost all the damage done by your room so whatever speakers you listen to will perform closer to optimum, as Bruce has experienced

FYI:

Just got a letter to Marc Mickelson of The Audio Beat published, here:

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/letters.htm

I hope Marc gets around to reviewing the DEQX.

I can't overstate how important and decently priced this piece of kit is for one's audio toolbox. Considering what some are willing to pay for cables and other tweaks, when one considers what the DEQXC can do, it's a no-brainer decision, IMO.

Bruce

Thanks Bif, very interesting.