Due to WAF and because my audio room is also our living room, speaker placement is very constrained. They are symmetrically placed with respect to the TV and stereo cabinet by about 8-9 feet apart, but the distance from rear of the speakers to the wall behind is 12 inches only. To compensate, digital room correction (DRC) is necessary and I've worked with Mitch at https://accuratesound.ca/ to build a DRC convolution filter to compensate (note that I am not in any way affiliated with Mitch or his business except as a very satisfied customer). The filter is loaded into Roon (my EVO432 streamer is a Roon core) and so all streaming music is modified by it. Music now sounds INCREDIBLE - stable, centered images; balanced across the entire frequency range; and 3-dimensional (extends wide beyond the L-R speaker boundaries, and extends deep between the speakers). DRC is highly recommended.
A note that I use Dirac DRC for the TV sound, implemented through a separate hardware box. The Dirac implementation is perfectly good for TV/movie watching, but IMHO is not sufficiently powerful or precise for dedicated stereo music listening, which is why I used Mitch's help as described above. One example of Dirac's limitations is that it cannot correct for phase misalignment in the bass region which is present in any asymmetrical room and/or speaker placement. But, Mitch's approach does correct for this while still avoiding any "pre-ringing".
@emergingsoul . Thanks for the input! I know of the Transparent brand but have not tried them. Currently I'm following my local Vitus dealer's recommendations and guidance towards Furutech and also another brand from Poland, Albedo. Both are excellent products - both physical build quality and impact to sound IME.
I have a transparent power isolator that I feel very good about. Extremely heavy. I like it because it does a great job with all the magnetic interference and does not constrain Power as other power conditioners do. I Think it does the things you're looking for and may be worth looking at. I also have a bunch of power cords and speaker and interconnect cables from transparent. They make the stuff in Maine and that seems like a nice place.
@emergingsoul Thanks for the compliments! The speakers are very good and I recommend them for sound (and aesthetics). I am actually thinking about trying a some other power distributor to replace the power plant. A couple of reasons.
First, I've had the PSA for many years.... I have the itch to try alternative solutions. And yes, PSA consumes lots of power as I keep it on 24/7, though I'm only using about 15% or so of its power capacity at the moment since the only gear plugged in are my streamer, DAC, TV and other miscellaneous (digital) bits.
Second, I've installed a Furutech NCF duplex and am auditioning a power cord from the same line on my preamp. They replace Shunyata Delta level cords, and it's been a positive change so much that I'll keep the cord after the audition is done. All that to say that I'm considering a Furutech NCF (passive) power distributor to replace the PSA.
Love the space. What are your thoughts about the power plant you're using? It does take up a lot of space and I think it uses a lot of energy when it's not use just because it's plugged in.
@toro3. Thanks for the complements. Good eye, yes indeed it's a BDI piece and I would recommend it. I've had it for a few years now and it is the perfect piece to hold my separates. It's got 4 bays across, and air flow is very good. I use the rightmost for the PowerPlant and Preamp as you can see, and the leftmost for the streamer and DAC. I commandeered the middle two bays for the amp and a few miscellaneous items like my MiniDSP and other sundries. That amp weighs almost 200 pounds (!) and so I added the two oak blocks, painted black, that you can see in that photo that extend under both metal supports of the cabinet as insurance to take its weight. Previously, I had a ~100 pound Pass X250.8 there and didn't need the supports. You can also see I did surgery to the back of the middle area so that the amp can extend out the back as it's longer than the depth of the cabinet, and removed the back plates on the left and right most bays for better air flow and cable connections.
What a great looking space. Love the overall style and the way those windows brighten up the room. Unsure if that’s the same BDI credenza I’ve been eyeing, but it really ties everything together.
@sandrock - thanks for your great question. i just now modified my system description to explain why it's setup this way and how i dealt with it using digital room correction. happy to discuss or answer questions, or take further input.
