Hello visitor and welcome to my virtual stereo system!
I am 39 year old physicist leaving in Amsterdam the Netherlands with a wonderful and understanding wife, a 5.5 years old daughter and a cat. I listen music all day every day (iTunes+Shure SE535 at work and KOSH at home). Currently, my favourite musicians are Patricia Barber and Loreena Mckennitt, but I enjoy any genre as long as it is good music (from jazz and classical to pop, rock, and metal). My other hobby is drumming, though I do not play as much as I used to (i.e. 30-60 minutes per week).
Regarding my Hi-Fi believes, I am very found of Accuphase electronics, a firm believer in subwoofers, and do not believe all the hype about cables. With speakers it is more difficult! I was in a long term relationship with the Focal Utopia Micro Be & REL Stentor combo, then I was briefly in love with the Dynaudio C1 monitors. I have fantasised about Avantgarde speakers for a very long time, and till recently I did not find a dealer that was willing to let me audition them in my system. Currently, I own the Avantgarde Uno speakers, but as one would expect, now I have other fantasies, e.g. Avantgarde Trio, TAD CR-1 & Evolution E1, Marting Logan Summit X...
Finally, in case you wonder, I have named the system after ambassador Kosh Naranek (the vorlon in the Babylon 5 series) - a "metaphor" for the elusiveness, beauty and frustrations found in this hobby.
Thanks for stopping by and do not be shy, let me know your honest opinion about my system and hi-fi believes.
i tried again yesterday and this time with good results! (finally!!!). yes. like what you described, the imaging is more precise and i also felt the sound stage is deeper. i followed exactly the "Voicing B" instructions and this time, the difference is for the better. Although I did the same thing exactly before, not too sure why it didn't work well previously. The only difference I made was:
1) I pull my speakers just a bit more forward 2) Adjusted the toeing-in to a lesser degree 3) Reduce the tilt of my speakers (Cremona M), by adjusting the spikes
my speakers are rated from 40hz - 30khz. the difference between the L and R channel are not much in this range. Looks like 1 or 2 db max for me. However, from 30hz below, the difference is up to 6db. I am talking about the "After Voicing L-R" Analysis here.
i have yet to get the REL StentorIII. Still considering!!!!
i did played around a few times with the dg-38 but still not improvement.
anyway, it is flat. even after voicing and all. it seems that the voicing protocol (a,b or c) do not adjust the equalizer at all. i tried adjusting them myself though my own understand of the dg-38.
my speakers (cremona m) are rated to 40hz. however, the equalization is all the way down to 20 hz. so perhaps pushing the last octave to flat equalization isn't such a good idea and stresses on the speakers too much. thus creating a muddy sound.
i try to target a flat voicing response as what is rate for my speakers (40hz - 20khz).
for the equalizer, i adjust it so to minimize the L-R speakers difference. Coz only in the equalization can u adjust 2 channels independently.
just my thought but u must be aware i have yet to succeed making the dg-38 sounds really good:(
Thanks for the response. I tried voicing B again and it still doesn't seems to work well. I suspect you are hearing a big difference because the DG-38 integrates the REL Stentor3 and your speakers together. However, mine is just a pair of floorstanding so perhaps, there is nothing much to integrate? I will try again when my sub is in and see if it helps in setup.
i used Voicing C (Compensation using speaker characteristics). let me try using B and see if it makes a difference. one thing which confuses me so much is the meas recall button. what is it recalling??? especially when i am using voicing C where i have the speaker's profile and room profile:( thanks for the tip. I will try this weekend. did u try to adjust the profile with the stylus or just leave it? i saw the picture of your speaker's profile and thought that you used Voicing C actually.
been reading up on subwoofer these 2 days. maybe leaning to 2x F112 from JL Audio. seems that there are some argument that low frequencies does have some directions (especially if the room is big) and it maybe worthwhile to do a stereo step up for subs as well. just need to find the space i guess!!! have u heard these before?
Thanks for sharing your setup. I also have an Accuphase setup and recently got a DG-38. However, it seems confusing to use and somehow, the manual is just too basic. I followed as per the instructions, measuring the speakers profile first, then the room, then the compensation. I always felt that it sounded muffled and the sound without the EQ is better. Any tips on how you use the DG-38 and your experience?
I have a B&W 805 Signature setup in my room as well. Looking for a subwoofer to pair up with it. Actually looking at a B&W DB1 and also a REL Stentor3. How do you like the REL? Would you say it is suitable as a stereo setup with bookshelves speakers?
I agree with you that the PS-1220 is really expensive!!! I added a Shunyata Hydra V-ray2 to my Accuphase system and it sounded really good. Perhaps you can consider that as well;)
