Is DEQX a game changer?

Bifwynne: ...He didn't touch the original time alignment adjustments...

Bruce: Your previous post said you moved the couch so this will have changed the relative positions of speakers/subs and therefore alignment to some degree (we are talking milliseconds so any rearrangement will have affected this)

Andrew (Drewan77) ... I get you point. But, Larry does this for a living and no doubt has volumes of anecdotal experiences upon which to base his judgments.

Perhaps, just for laugh and giggles, you and I can try to recheck the time alignment measurements of my speakers. We both may find it to be an interesting exercise. I don't want to mess with Larry's room EQ work though.

So far, I think the biggest bang for the buck lies with room EQ. That is what has the greatest impact on imaging and soundstage and tonal presentation.

I concede that time alignment makes for purer, more "honest" tonal reproduction, but nothing messes up what comes out of the speakers more than a screwed up FR, further twisted by room effect. IMHO.

Bruce, I agree with you. Time alignment and room eq can be adjusted independently - whenever I have moved the listening seat slightly, it had an impact on the timing but very little on the eq and I have hardly ever changed that. If your sub sounds like it integrates perfectly and bass is natural - that is what really matters

The working DEQX file can have the time alignment tweaked (via the configurator) but eq is adjusted via the control panel and only affects the configuration if it is 'saved to DEQX' and then the original file is saved again. That's one of the features of this software, you can play about endlessly if you want and return to any previously saved version

12-04-14: Bifwynne
So far, I think the biggest bang for the buck lies with room EQ. That is what has the greatest impact on imaging and soundstage and tonal presentation.

I concede that time alignment makes for purer, more "honest" tonal reproduction, but nothing messes up what comes out of the speakers more than a screwed up FR, further twisted by room effect. IMHO.

Hey BIF.
And that nails the crux of crossroad I find myself facing. Bypass the passive XO in my 3-way speakers and go with digital XO into an 8-channel DAC to time align the speakers and the subs, plus room correction with Acourate? This means do without the beloved preamp and select from a handful mostly non-audiophile 8-channel DACs...
Or just use Acourate for room correction, keep the preamp in the chain and focus on upgrading my DAC...decisions, decisions!

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.

Glad you are having such good results with the DEQX!

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.