Room correction - what device works best?


Looking at room correction and all the threads I found seem old. What are the current options for excellent 2 channel sound. Comments on DSpeaker, Lyndorf, DEQX, Audessy, Rives and others welcome. I have option for using in digital domain or putting between pre and amps. Would of course prefer great sound at lower price. Also prefer something that does not take a year of obsessive fiddling to get right. Have a very large family room, so room treatment options limited. Current system is Ayon Cd5s (transport, DAC and pre combined), Nuforce Ref 20 mono amps and Von Schweikert VR55 speakers. Is most of the bang for buck in correcting for room modes or is speaker phase issues also necessary? Eventually in may have subs but not now.
Thnaks
128x128gammajo

Showing 3 responses by swampwalker

Gentlepeople-
I find this thread to be fascinating because I am not technically inclined but I believe that implementation of digital room and speaker correction may be in my future for several reasons:
1. I'm not a purist.
2. I mostly listen to digital files served wirelessly from a MusicVault server to a Modwright/Logitech Transporter.
3. My Transporter is beginning to fade away, I fear. One of the displays has quit. The work around is to use one of the smartphone/tablet apps, but it reminds me that this is an orphan product with limited; probably very limited repair potential.
4. The dac in the Transporter is limited to 24/96 and while I currently have a relatively low % of hi-rez files I'd like to think that will increase over time.
5. The wireless connection is a weak point because the router and server are upstairs in the SW corner, while the Transporter is downstairs in the NE corner. I know that there are solutions, but still, moving the server so it can be hard-wired to the player/DAC seems like the most foolproof approach.
6. The DEQX or similar device with a DAC could be inserted between the server and my pre-amp w/o having to add an additional A/D step.
7. I am running open baffle speakers w a single driver plus whizzer cone and dual on-baffle subs with the single drivers and subs driven off separate amps. The subs are driven by plate amps which take a speaker level signal from the tube amps that drive the mains. It seems to me that there are ample opportunities for phase and time alignment problems with such a configuration, yet overall, this is the most satisfying system I have had. My system is listed for a more complete description.
8. My system is in my living room, which constrains main speaker placement and rules out any significant room treatments.
9. I don't live too far from Almarg, who has kindly offered to be let me hear for myself what the DEQX product can do, once he gets it dialed in.
10. My speakers do not weigh 300 lbs and I have a large screen porch next to the LR, which I can use for the initial speaker correction analysis.

I'd love to hear thoughts from any of you as to whether or not the DSP approach makes sense under these circumstances. I know there is no substitute for hearing it, but I'm still early in the thinking stage. I'm also curious if anyone has any thoughts about frequency response correction vs. the observations of those who say that a perfectly flat FR sounds "un-natural".
"It is well documented that multiple subs can achieve better results than an equivalent single sub in appropriately sized rooms. Typically smoother frequency response from spreading room nodes and higher output/lower distortion from twice the woofer radiating surface."

Onhwy61- I think the key word is CAN. You can definitely get higher output from twice the radiating area (and twice the amplifier power). With careful placement you SHOULD be able to get smoother frequency response. However, it seems to me that it is at least theoretically possible to 1. place the subs so that they reinforce the same room nodes, or 2. create additional nodes. Not likely, but possible. For example, #1 could be achieved by placing both subs in the front corners of the room. If a node were located at the listening position, it would be re-inforced. OTOH, if the subs had a phase switch, setting one to 0 and the other 10 180 might cancel that node. #2 seems least likely but also at least theoretically possible. I'm not an acoustician, so if I am wrong, someone please correct me.