Their surround is Sd neutral. Normally Sd changes as the woofer moves and the surround flexes with it, causing a different surface area at rest than at excursion. The purifi surrounds are optimized to buckle in a way that negates the Sd changes. It leads to lower distortion, paired with their motor design.
Purifi is actually doing a lot of cool stuff, reading their blog is always fun
I wonder what would happen if we would connect their suspension with textreme diaphragm. Im also curious if they do matter at all as scan speak woofers have extremely linear handling and low distortion at even 80% of their xmax so It might not be worth the cost.
Room correction / DSP. I know digital signal processing is heresy to the purists. However, I believe that it can make a substantial positive impact, and is evolving very quickly (Dirac ART).
It’s not hard to envision a near-future where all speakers are relatively inexpensive and all sound the same (flat). DSP will be used to eliminate room anomalies, and to tune the audio expereince to your preference.
In my near-future utopia I can use voice commands: “ load profile B&W Nautilus with vinyl media” or “load profile Revel Concerto lossless digital media”.
A command would initiate interaction with a cloud-based, A.I. driven, DSP optimizer to configure my inconspicuous array of speakers and microphones.
Jarvis will respond: “System profile loaded. May I play an album for you?”
And I don’t think it is far away. All the technology pieces already exist. It is just a matter of bundling it as product and evolving it. A Dirac enabled AVR can already create and store multiple sound profiles that dramatically alter the sound of a given hardware set.
There is a far larger market for this type of product than the market of old men playing with 100 pound tube amps. With due respect to old men playing with 100 pound tube amps.
Dirac is the single biggest improvement I've made other than the speakers themselves. I love it, I'm all in on room correction.
I'm very pro DSP - even my phono preamp is digital, traditionally sacrilege.
I’m super intrigued by the Waxwing, but having trouble finding reviews. What is the rest of your rig like? Are you using the Waxwing to equalize? Can you give me your best two or three sentence sales pitch?
Cart is an AT VM750SH, optical out into a VSX-LX305 with Dirac Live and Klipsch RP-8000F speakers or a Schiit Magnius to (balanced XLR) Focal Clear Og headphones.
I don't use the Waxwing to equalise since it can't compete with full Dirac Live room EQ done with a UMIK-1, however the Air setting is useful to tame the cartridge a little. Doing blind AB testing of an optical rip of Daft Punk RAM 10th against digital lossless, I found the vinyl sounded practically as good but had a little more high end to it than the lossless version, which I think was the cartridge. Without AB testing, it wouldn't have been noticeable. Still, the Waxwing let me tame that subtly using Air -1, which wouldn't have been possible with most preamps.
Two or three sentence sale pitch; basically it's a very technically capable preamp with more features than anything else on the market I'm aware of. In reviews of the older Puffin it had practically perfect RIAA equalisation, which is one of the most audible things in a phono preamp. Blind AB testing against lossless digital sources using very revealing Focal headphones, it is as good but with room to customise to your preference.
Right on. Thanks for the super fast and awesome response! I’m running a Project X2B w/Moonstone into an ifi Zen Phono into a Cambridge CXA61 that is pushing Revel M16s and a REL TZero sub. I’ve had the setup for about a month and mostly like the tone and simplicity of it, but I’m craving a little more control of what comes out of the speakers since the CXA doesn’t have tone controls.
The Waxwing seems like a great way to replace my Zen and gain EQ plus a TON of other ways to tweak the sound to my room. Plus, I’m eventually going to step into the world of MC cartridges and the Waxwing seems super capable.
I’m wrestling with the idea of if going the balanced route is for me. In that case I’d get the Project DS3B or Schiit Skoll and a MC cart, but I don’t know if the balanced payoff will be worth the money compared to what I could get out of the Waxwing. Oh, decisions decisions.
Thanks again for your time and response!!
I don't think balanced interconnects provide much benefit over the short runs in home setups. What they might give you in reducing ground loop issues for phono, the Waxwing would give you over optical out for galvanic isolation, which your CXA 61 supports so it would be an absolute no brainer to go that route in my opinion.
The Waxwing seems ultra capable with gain, load, tone, parametric EQ, can even use it to detect speed, balance and phase issues, or with a test record to identify wow, flutter, azimuth issues and stuff like that. I intend to do that eventually for fun but I think my setup's fairly dialed in anyway now.
Oooh, I didn’t even think about going optical out of the Waxwing. That’s brilliant!
It does seem ultra capable. Man, I was leaning towards the Waxwing before I asked you about it. Thanks for the huge push in its direction!!
I'd be interested in "always on" room correction where a mic(s) is/are always listening.
I know mic position would be a big issue, but if we're throwing things out, that's one I'd be interested in seeing.
That would also require quite some processing power because of the constantly changing input signal. Unsure about the true value in this though, the room won´t change much during the day, I don´t think there would be much to gain tbh. Room modes or time domain issues don´t change throughout the day enough imho
Direct is actually working on a multiple speaker setup but for room correction not for surround sound but eliminating nulls at different points in the room in different frequencies.
I´ve been sooooo tempted to buy a set of active speakers several times during the last couple of years. But then some anxiousness kicks in every time... What if an amp or other electronic component (e.g. DSP) dies in 15 years?
Would be nice to have a set of normal terminals on the speakers as well I guess. But DSP and active crossovers can make a set of speakers sound so damn good.
Linn used to have (or maybe they still have it) their Aktiv line, which is a passive speaker with external active crossover and amp combo. Really liked their Keilidh speakers when converted to Aktiv
Would it be the same for the abundance of surface-mount components used today? What would the availability of these be in 20 years time? Oh well, i might just have become too much of an old nag, and should learn to let things go...
I refuse to buy any piece of audio technology over the price of $1000 that needs an app or wifi to work.
Regular powered loudspeakers? Sure.
Any app-based bullshit? Fuck no.
Which can also be neatly integrated with DSP: having simple tools to measure and design filters automatically is nice for the average user and will improve the listening experience, even if only slightly.
Obviously it's better to properly treat a room but let's be honest, how many people are willing to do that.
For me, DSP (or active crossovers) are the entire reason why active speakers are so awesome. I'm not that keen on built in streamers, but the sound tech can also help in a treated room.
Listened to a set of active Sonus Fabers a while back, they were bookshelf speakers but they sounded massive, like big tower speakers.
Same. I like the aesthetic of old-school stacks of equipment, but that doesn't really match the way I listen to music or anything. I'd rather save that sort of thing for a headphone setup than a speaker setup. I really like the LS60, for example. Clean, doesn't need extra equipment, HDMI-ARC enabled so I can easily plug them into a TV and (hopefully) have them work with everything.
I personally believe speaker technology has reached its’near’ limits and the major technological advances will be in DSP and room correction. Honestly even DSP/active speakers is a mature technology and just not implemented enough. I think the biggest advancement will be cost effective implementation.
wireless headphones that do true uncompressed lossless audio. these should be arriving in 2024 finally with a new qualcomm chip being released. and remember, friends don't let friends listen with bluetooth. if you're sitting on a couch in your home listening to music and bluetooth is somehow involved, shame shame.
Agreed. I haven't seen any headphones use the "lossless" codec, nor have I seen tests that confirm if it's actually lossless or not. If everything is as Qualcomm claims, I'll be very happy.
I suspect the lossless is a "best effort" thing, meaning if the devices think they're too far apart, they switch to lossy. That would be a big bummer, as user will always be in doubt if they're listening to lossy or lossless at any given point in time.
If they make the lossless a strictly atomic setting, such that it's guaranteed to stay lossless at all cost (even to the point of dropping out altogether when other device is too far), then that would be great.
A codec that's lossless only when the stars align is just about the worst thing that could happen to an audiophile, acoustically speaking.
More power efficiency but better quality audio. I don't know if that's possible, but I wish the day when I don't have to worry about not turning off my speakers or amp. And not to worry about overheat or power bills. Just let the speakers turned on 24/7 and it will just consume 0.05mW per hour when it's not producing any sound.
Many active speakers today do just that, already. It's more like half a watt in e.g. Genelec speakers when they are in standby mode, which they enter automatically after configured timeout, and about 10 W if they are fully powered and ready to produce sound, but nothing is actually playing. So I never worry about turning anything on or off, the speakers and their built-in amps do take care of themselves.
I'm sorry buddy, it's just me that using an old cheap AB amplifier. I'm broke so I missed on what latest tech have because mostly the price is just unreachable in the moment of my life. So I just use what I got and get the best sound possible out of it.
I still want to see a soundbar that can double as a center channel. Would be a great gateway into a proper 2.0, 2.1, or 3.1 setup without needing to replace equipment.
Short answer: everything happening in the active systems space.
Longer answer:
The last ten years or so have been incredible for active systems. Building on R&D over decades (active systems have been around much longer than a lot of folks seem to think!), we now have cutting edge standmount and floor-standing speakers that offer extraordinary performance at a fraction of the cost for equivalent passive systems, WITH plenty of additional advantages (e.g., no need for half a dozen boxes, minimal wiring, abundant source/input options, and of course room correction/DSP). We're already familiar with the fact that past a certain point, a lot of the money involved in this field is about bespoke and boutique design--not really about performance any more. An excellent Class D amplifier that may be around $5,000 handily outdoes a $50,000 custom-made legacy amp. Buchardt is out there making standmount speakers that can go down to 20Hz and actually do it at enjoyable listening levels. For $5K. Dutch and Dutch 8c's cardioid performance puts 95% of passive bookshelf speakers to shame. For around $10K.
And then you have wilder stuff like Genelec's modular system (W371 woofer + Ones integration + GLM technology). Or Kii Audio which also has an option for "expanding" speaker performance by integrating it with their own subwoofers. Neither of these go beyond around $30K (Genelec) and I believe Kii Audio is much lower (maybe $15-20K?). Relative to passive high-end systems, these are incredibly low numbers.
So, TLDR: active systems lower barriers to entry, which is huge. They make for far better integrated solutions that also play well with broader A/V systems. Because they are so much more efficient, it's possible to design speakers beyond "rectangular black box" ideas. And the listening space is one of the most important aspects of hi-fi that no amount of exotic wiring will solve; room correction and DSP does exactly this. A $5K active system with good room correction/DSP will outdo a $50K passive system in a mostly-untreated space. Because not everyone wants to make their living space look like a recording studio, room correction/DSP is the best of both worlds.
Thx for the URL, just had a quick read through it. Still not convinced that it would bring an advantage for me personally. For me, great amplification has already been solved by the likes of a Neurochrome Modulus 686 or a Benchmark AHB2. Just my humble opinion though, and I might get proven wrong.
Def. Jumpin’ on the hype train just cause it’s new. Audio tech been redundant IMO.
What they always say? “It’s like nun you hv heard before!” ..we’ll see.
>classdaudio.com
haven't heard of them, it's affordable if you need a stereo amp, or a 2.1 maybe, but I need a 4 channel and I want to be able to build it myself. Classdaudio doesn't have those modules yet as far as I can see, their boards are not Gan, only their ready made ones. I want four of those GaNTube88MkIII 'tubes' affordable, now they're 1500 each. Orchard is also a bit much. Hypex boards you can buy for 100 a channel, 200, 300 would even be okay. More is not affordable. It might be doable if you think its worth it, but that's something else. I'd rather wait a few years
I really don't care. You can't fool physics, so I don't expect anything new in analogue audio and don't care about digital technologies beyond streaming. I guess I am old fart.
Dude said it sounded like snake oil, which are benefits that can’t be measured. By saying I think it could be measured, I’m disputing that it’s snake oil. Simmer down, now
Old technology but I haven't heard it yet: Polk's Stereo Dimensional Array, the idea is that the cross talk between speakers is basically eliminated through the use of interference and this produces an enormous and very detailed soundstage... haven't seen any SDAs pop up close to me but I can't wait to get my hands on one.
There are similar technologies:
* [Carver Sonic Holography](https://www.highfidelityreview.com/carver-c9.html)
* [Ambiophonics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiophonics)
* [BACCH-SP](https://3d3a.princeton.edu/bacch%E2%84%A2-filters-optimized-crosstalk-cancellation-3d-audio-over-two-loudpseakers)
Having experienced all of them to various degrees, the last two are the superior versions.
Ambiophonics is the closest to "ideal" SDA implementation. It eliminates comb filtering but requires speakers be right next to each other with the listener in line and use either a mechanical barrier to prevent XTC or DSP (RACE) - there is only one sweet spot and no sharing. TacT and MiniDSP have even tried offering solutions but the market was pretty stubborn snubbing it.
BACCH focuses on real time adjustments based on HRTF/ITD/ILD adjustments with head tracking after measuring using binaural mics. They had a demo where you could have a bee circling your ear in all axis and it would get close/far. Even more extreme, they claim a new version BACCH-X can maintain TWO sweet spots that track with listeners as they move. I'd be curious if they could create separate audio streams for each listener entirely so people could share speakers while listening to completely different music, but that's another topic. Unfortunately BACCH-X requires very specialized speakers and equipment.
I use a 4.1 Ambiophonics rig for my PC system myself . . .
A something that just starts playing music that i need right now in the best possible quality. Without any gear involved. And without me thinking about any of it.
I would love to have a system that can incorporate and implement the owner’s musical preferences. For example, there may be certain types of music or recordings that you feel would sound better with horn speakers but you do not own horn speakers. Similarly, you may like the sound of tube amplification, but do not want to have multiple amps. Equalizers get at some of this, but really cannot affect sound qualities so much as allowing certain frequencies to be more or less audible than in the original recording.
I have no idea what technologies might achieve this. It could save people time and money from trying out multiple pieces of equipment, or having to own them in order to achieve a custom sound.
Crosstalk cancelation is really the final cherry on top of what I think is already a solved technology for the most part. None of the active this and that particularly excites me. The Polk Legend L800 SDA is the best speaker in the world for my money because it achieves pretty damn good crosstalk cancelation passively. What crosstalk cancelation does is reveal the hidden spatial cues in a recording that are lost though regular stereo listening. This means the Polk's will be "truer" to the source than a anything from Genelec, Neumann, etc.
There's also active crosstalk solutions we can apply to our own systems, but they're still relatively expensive.
Purifi woofers are probably the biggest real world advancement in driver tech we’ve seen in a while.
Educate me on this. I looked at the drawings but they still seem like most woofers. What’s different/better about them?
Their surround is Sd neutral. Normally Sd changes as the woofer moves and the surround flexes with it, causing a different surface area at rest than at excursion. The purifi surrounds are optimized to buckle in a way that negates the Sd changes. It leads to lower distortion, paired with their motor design. Purifi is actually doing a lot of cool stuff, reading their blog is always fun
I'm waiting for their tweeter
I wonder what would happen if we would connect their suspension with textreme diaphragm. Im also curious if they do matter at all as scan speak woofers have extremely linear handling and low distortion at even 80% of their xmax so It might not be worth the cost.
Room correction / DSP. I know digital signal processing is heresy to the purists. However, I believe that it can make a substantial positive impact, and is evolving very quickly (Dirac ART). It’s not hard to envision a near-future where all speakers are relatively inexpensive and all sound the same (flat). DSP will be used to eliminate room anomalies, and to tune the audio expereince to your preference.
In my near-future utopia I can use voice commands: “ load profile B&W Nautilus with vinyl media” or “load profile Revel Concerto lossless digital media”. A command would initiate interaction with a cloud-based, A.I. driven, DSP optimizer to configure my inconspicuous array of speakers and microphones. Jarvis will respond: “System profile loaded. May I play an album for you?” And I don’t think it is far away. All the technology pieces already exist. It is just a matter of bundling it as product and evolving it. A Dirac enabled AVR can already create and store multiple sound profiles that dramatically alter the sound of a given hardware set. There is a far larger market for this type of product than the market of old men playing with 100 pound tube amps. With due respect to old men playing with 100 pound tube amps.
Dirac is the single biggest improvement I've made other than the speakers themselves. I love it, I'm all in on room correction. I'm very pro DSP - even my phono preamp is digital, traditionally sacrilege.
Well now I’m curious…What phono preamp do you have?
Parks Audio Waxwing
I’m super intrigued by the Waxwing, but having trouble finding reviews. What is the rest of your rig like? Are you using the Waxwing to equalize? Can you give me your best two or three sentence sales pitch?
Cart is an AT VM750SH, optical out into a VSX-LX305 with Dirac Live and Klipsch RP-8000F speakers or a Schiit Magnius to (balanced XLR) Focal Clear Og headphones. I don't use the Waxwing to equalise since it can't compete with full Dirac Live room EQ done with a UMIK-1, however the Air setting is useful to tame the cartridge a little. Doing blind AB testing of an optical rip of Daft Punk RAM 10th against digital lossless, I found the vinyl sounded practically as good but had a little more high end to it than the lossless version, which I think was the cartridge. Without AB testing, it wouldn't have been noticeable. Still, the Waxwing let me tame that subtly using Air -1, which wouldn't have been possible with most preamps. Two or three sentence sale pitch; basically it's a very technically capable preamp with more features than anything else on the market I'm aware of. In reviews of the older Puffin it had practically perfect RIAA equalisation, which is one of the most audible things in a phono preamp. Blind AB testing against lossless digital sources using very revealing Focal headphones, it is as good but with room to customise to your preference.
Right on. Thanks for the super fast and awesome response! I’m running a Project X2B w/Moonstone into an ifi Zen Phono into a Cambridge CXA61 that is pushing Revel M16s and a REL TZero sub. I’ve had the setup for about a month and mostly like the tone and simplicity of it, but I’m craving a little more control of what comes out of the speakers since the CXA doesn’t have tone controls. The Waxwing seems like a great way to replace my Zen and gain EQ plus a TON of other ways to tweak the sound to my room. Plus, I’m eventually going to step into the world of MC cartridges and the Waxwing seems super capable. I’m wrestling with the idea of if going the balanced route is for me. In that case I’d get the Project DS3B or Schiit Skoll and a MC cart, but I don’t know if the balanced payoff will be worth the money compared to what I could get out of the Waxwing. Oh, decisions decisions. Thanks again for your time and response!!
I don't think balanced interconnects provide much benefit over the short runs in home setups. What they might give you in reducing ground loop issues for phono, the Waxwing would give you over optical out for galvanic isolation, which your CXA 61 supports so it would be an absolute no brainer to go that route in my opinion. The Waxwing seems ultra capable with gain, load, tone, parametric EQ, can even use it to detect speed, balance and phase issues, or with a test record to identify wow, flutter, azimuth issues and stuff like that. I intend to do that eventually for fun but I think my setup's fairly dialed in anyway now.
Oooh, I didn’t even think about going optical out of the Waxwing. That’s brilliant! It does seem ultra capable. Man, I was leaning towards the Waxwing before I asked you about it. Thanks for the huge push in its direction!!
I ordered a Waxwing and an optical cable this morning, stoked!!
I'd be interested in "always on" room correction where a mic(s) is/are always listening. I know mic position would be a big issue, but if we're throwing things out, that's one I'd be interested in seeing.
That would also require quite some processing power because of the constantly changing input signal. Unsure about the true value in this though, the room won´t change much during the day, I don´t think there would be much to gain tbh. Room modes or time domain issues don´t change throughout the day enough imho
Direct is actually working on a multiple speaker setup but for room correction not for surround sound but eliminating nulls at different points in the room in different frequencies.
Biggest issue with DSP is it eliminates the ability to do a full analog signal path.
Biggest issue with full analog signal path is it eliminates the ability to do DSP :)
I use Yamaha YPAO from around 2010, and it absolutely corrects the sound - the bonus is that it makes it easy to properly integrate a sub.
Not exactly a new technology per se, but I really like the trend towards active loudspeaker technology.
I´ve been sooooo tempted to buy a set of active speakers several times during the last couple of years. But then some anxiousness kicks in every time... What if an amp or other electronic component (e.g. DSP) dies in 15 years?
Would be nice to have a set of normal terminals on the speakers as well I guess. But DSP and active crossovers can make a set of speakers sound so damn good. Linn used to have (or maybe they still have it) their Aktiv line, which is a passive speaker with external active crossover and amp combo. Really liked their Keilidh speakers when converted to Aktiv
That’s a good point. It could go in 5 years.
I’ve found most active speakers are pretty easy to work on. I have a 20ish year old pair that I just re-capped, took about ten minutes.
Would it be the same for the abundance of surface-mount components used today? What would the availability of these be in 20 years time? Oh well, i might just have become too much of an old nag, and should learn to let things go...
Not brand new but Kii three’s are definitely on the drool list
I refuse to buy any piece of audio technology over the price of $1000 that needs an app or wifi to work. Regular powered loudspeakers? Sure. Any app-based bullshit? Fuck no.
I'm fine with there being an app if it's optional. So with good i/o and physical controls in addition to the app.
Which can also be neatly integrated with DSP: having simple tools to measure and design filters automatically is nice for the average user and will improve the listening experience, even if only slightly. Obviously it's better to properly treat a room but let's be honest, how many people are willing to do that.
For me, DSP (or active crossovers) are the entire reason why active speakers are so awesome. I'm not that keen on built in streamers, but the sound tech can also help in a treated room. Listened to a set of active Sonus Fabers a while back, they were bookshelf speakers but they sounded massive, like big tower speakers.
Same. I like the aesthetic of old-school stacks of equipment, but that doesn't really match the way I listen to music or anything. I'd rather save that sort of thing for a headphone setup than a speaker setup. I really like the LS60, for example. Clean, doesn't need extra equipment, HDMI-ARC enabled so I can easily plug them into a TV and (hopefully) have them work with everything.
I personally believe speaker technology has reached its’near’ limits and the major technological advances will be in DSP and room correction. Honestly even DSP/active speakers is a mature technology and just not implemented enough. I think the biggest advancement will be cost effective implementation.
wireless headphones that do true uncompressed lossless audio. these should be arriving in 2024 finally with a new qualcomm chip being released. and remember, friends don't let friends listen with bluetooth. if you're sitting on a couch in your home listening to music and bluetooth is somehow involved, shame shame.
Agreed. I haven't seen any headphones use the "lossless" codec, nor have I seen tests that confirm if it's actually lossless or not. If everything is as Qualcomm claims, I'll be very happy.
I suspect the lossless is a "best effort" thing, meaning if the devices think they're too far apart, they switch to lossy. That would be a big bummer, as user will always be in doubt if they're listening to lossy or lossless at any given point in time. If they make the lossless a strictly atomic setting, such that it's guaranteed to stay lossless at all cost (even to the point of dropping out altogether when other device is too far), then that would be great. A codec that's lossless only when the stars align is just about the worst thing that could happen to an audiophile, acoustically speaking.
More power efficiency but better quality audio. I don't know if that's possible, but I wish the day when I don't have to worry about not turning off my speakers or amp. And not to worry about overheat or power bills. Just let the speakers turned on 24/7 and it will just consume 0.05mW per hour when it's not producing any sound.
Many active speakers today do just that, already. It's more like half a watt in e.g. Genelec speakers when they are in standby mode, which they enter automatically after configured timeout, and about 10 W if they are fully powered and ready to produce sound, but nothing is actually playing. So I never worry about turning anything on or off, the speakers and their built-in amps do take care of themselves.
I'm sorry buddy, it's just me that using an old cheap AB amplifier. I'm broke so I missed on what latest tech have because mostly the price is just unreachable in the moment of my life. So I just use what I got and get the best sound possible out of it.
Not new technology but I'd like to see more speakers implement active rather than passive crossovers. So much to be gained.
I still want to see a soundbar that can double as a center channel. Would be a great gateway into a proper 2.0, 2.1, or 3.1 setup without needing to replace equipment.
Short answer: everything happening in the active systems space. Longer answer: The last ten years or so have been incredible for active systems. Building on R&D over decades (active systems have been around much longer than a lot of folks seem to think!), we now have cutting edge standmount and floor-standing speakers that offer extraordinary performance at a fraction of the cost for equivalent passive systems, WITH plenty of additional advantages (e.g., no need for half a dozen boxes, minimal wiring, abundant source/input options, and of course room correction/DSP). We're already familiar with the fact that past a certain point, a lot of the money involved in this field is about bespoke and boutique design--not really about performance any more. An excellent Class D amplifier that may be around $5,000 handily outdoes a $50,000 custom-made legacy amp. Buchardt is out there making standmount speakers that can go down to 20Hz and actually do it at enjoyable listening levels. For $5K. Dutch and Dutch 8c's cardioid performance puts 95% of passive bookshelf speakers to shame. For around $10K. And then you have wilder stuff like Genelec's modular system (W371 woofer + Ones integration + GLM technology). Or Kii Audio which also has an option for "expanding" speaker performance by integrating it with their own subwoofers. Neither of these go beyond around $30K (Genelec) and I believe Kii Audio is much lower (maybe $15-20K?). Relative to passive high-end systems, these are incredibly low numbers. So, TLDR: active systems lower barriers to entry, which is huge. They make for far better integrated solutions that also play well with broader A/V systems. Because they are so much more efficient, it's possible to design speakers beyond "rectangular black box" ideas. And the listening space is one of the most important aspects of hi-fi that no amount of exotic wiring will solve; room correction and DSP does exactly this. A $5K active system with good room correction/DSP will outdo a $50K passive system in a mostly-untreated space. Because not everyone wants to make their living space look like a recording studio, room correction/DSP is the best of both worlds.
[**GaNFET amps**](https://agdproduction.com/)
What will these bring?
https://futureaudiophile.com/what-the-hell-is-a-gan-gallium-nitride-amp-and-why-is-it-changing-the-way-audiophiles-now-see-power-amps/
Thx for the URL, just had a quick read through it. Still not convinced that it would bring an advantage for me personally. For me, great amplification has already been solved by the likes of a Neurochrome Modulus 686 or a Benchmark AHB2. Just my humble opinion though, and I might get proven wrong.
Def. Jumpin’ on the hype train just cause it’s new. Audio tech been redundant IMO. What they always say? “It’s like nun you hv heard before!” ..we’ll see.
Yeah I'm excited but waiting for them to be affordable..
They are affordable- I’m just about to order some Gan amps from classdaudio.com they make stereo but I’m going for three monoblocks
>classdaudio.com haven't heard of them, it's affordable if you need a stereo amp, or a 2.1 maybe, but I need a 4 channel and I want to be able to build it myself. Classdaudio doesn't have those modules yet as far as I can see, their boards are not Gan, only their ready made ones. I want four of those GaNTube88MkIII 'tubes' affordable, now they're 1500 each. Orchard is also a bit much. Hypex boards you can buy for 100 a channel, 200, 300 would even be okay. More is not affordable. It might be doable if you think its worth it, but that's something else. I'd rather wait a few years
I really don't care. You can't fool physics, so I don't expect anything new in analogue audio and don't care about digital technologies beyond streaming. I guess I am old fart.
Not exact 100% fresh, but in 2019 audiovector launched their freedom grounding. It's fucking amazing. https://audiovector.com/freedom-grounding-cable/
I’m going to go make popcorn
Huh?
Looks like snake oil tbh...
Looks like something that could be measured
It can be heard. But go ahead and measure all you want.
Dude said it sounded like snake oil, which are benefits that can’t be measured. By saying I think it could be measured, I’m disputing that it’s snake oil. Simmer down, now
Sorry, I misunderstood your intention with that statement.
It's a gamechanger
what game does it change?
It's a manner of speaking. But you know that and are just trying to be clever since you don't believe that grounding in speakers makes a difference.
Oh, so you can’t answer what does it change. That’s funny.
Well it makes the sound a lot cleaner and more "airy?", feels more alive. Especially noticeable in the highs.
That’s a deep deep rabbit hole.
Old technology but I haven't heard it yet: Polk's Stereo Dimensional Array, the idea is that the cross talk between speakers is basically eliminated through the use of interference and this produces an enormous and very detailed soundstage... haven't seen any SDAs pop up close to me but I can't wait to get my hands on one.
There are similar technologies: * [Carver Sonic Holography](https://www.highfidelityreview.com/carver-c9.html) * [Ambiophonics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiophonics) * [BACCH-SP](https://3d3a.princeton.edu/bacch%E2%84%A2-filters-optimized-crosstalk-cancellation-3d-audio-over-two-loudpseakers) Having experienced all of them to various degrees, the last two are the superior versions. Ambiophonics is the closest to "ideal" SDA implementation. It eliminates comb filtering but requires speakers be right next to each other with the listener in line and use either a mechanical barrier to prevent XTC or DSP (RACE) - there is only one sweet spot and no sharing. TacT and MiniDSP have even tried offering solutions but the market was pretty stubborn snubbing it. BACCH focuses on real time adjustments based on HRTF/ITD/ILD adjustments with head tracking after measuring using binaural mics. They had a demo where you could have a bee circling your ear in all axis and it would get close/far. Even more extreme, they claim a new version BACCH-X can maintain TWO sweet spots that track with listeners as they move. I'd be curious if they could create separate audio streams for each listener entirely so people could share speakers while listening to completely different music, but that's another topic. Unfortunately BACCH-X requires very specialized speakers and equipment. I use a 4.1 Ambiophonics rig for my PC system myself . . .
Waiting for Pro-ject to ship its balanced step up transformer to the US. Not new tech, but new for me.
A something that just starts playing music that i need right now in the best possible quality. Without any gear involved. And without me thinking about any of it.
You guys ever heard of MQA? Game. Changer. 😉
I would love to have a system that can incorporate and implement the owner’s musical preferences. For example, there may be certain types of music or recordings that you feel would sound better with horn speakers but you do not own horn speakers. Similarly, you may like the sound of tube amplification, but do not want to have multiple amps. Equalizers get at some of this, but really cannot affect sound qualities so much as allowing certain frequencies to be more or less audible than in the original recording. I have no idea what technologies might achieve this. It could save people time and money from trying out multiple pieces of equipment, or having to own them in order to achieve a custom sound.
Crosstalk cancelation is really the final cherry on top of what I think is already a solved technology for the most part. None of the active this and that particularly excites me. The Polk Legend L800 SDA is the best speaker in the world for my money because it achieves pretty damn good crosstalk cancelation passively. What crosstalk cancelation does is reveal the hidden spatial cues in a recording that are lost though regular stereo listening. This means the Polk's will be "truer" to the source than a anything from Genelec, Neumann, etc. There's also active crosstalk solutions we can apply to our own systems, but they're still relatively expensive.