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EQ's... why doesnt everybody have one?

Just browsing around the systems on this site, i knoticed that very few have equalizers. I realize some claim they introduce unacceptable noise but i would hardly call my Furman Q-2312, at %>.01 20Hz-40kHz, unacceptable. This $200 piece of equiptment ($100 on sale at musiciansfriend.com) replaces several thousand dollars in assembling a perfectly linear system in perfectly linear room, and in my opinion, accomplishes the task better than any room design could no matter how well engineered. It brought my system (onkyo reciever, NHT SB-3 speakers and Sony CD changer) to a level i could not have dreamed. It extends the SB-3's frequency response by at least 10 Hz to a satisfying 30 Hz without any rolloff or sacrifice in clarity, but the greatest improvement was definately in the Mid-range, around the SB-3s crossover frequency of 2.6kHz. The clarity of vocals, strings, guitars, brass... anything in this range rivals that of uneq'd systems costing well into the thousands of dollars... my total cost; $800. One of the more supprising differences is a marked improvement in immaging, it think this might have to do with eliminating several resonances in the right channel caused by my back wall (the left back wall has a curtain over it). The second my dad heard the difference he got on my computer to buy one for himself, he couldnt even wait to get back to his own, he then kicked me outa the listening chair and wouldnt get up for the better part of an hour.
-Dan-
dk89

Showing 9 responses by kr4

kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
"This $200 piece of equiptment ($100 on sale at musiciansfriend.com) replaces several thousand dollars in assembling a perfectly linear system in perfectly linear room, and in my opinion, accomplishes the task better than any room design could no matter how well engineered."

Well, there's the point. It's not possible for an amplitude-domain GEQ to accomplish this.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
Eldartford wrote: "Kal...Maybe it ain't perfect, but the $300 Behringer DEQ2496 does a job which needs to be heard to be believed. Really!"

I do not doubt it. I have used the Rives PARC and the Audyssey and the Velodyne SMS-1 and all of them were very effective. However, it is not possible for any of them to do what acoustic treatment can. That said, good electronic EQ is an almost necessary adjunct to room treatment since some room problems cannot be solved acoustically without great bulk or expense. Nonetheless, your EQ cannot correct for a real null.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
The Rives is as close to transparent as a line stage except, of course, when you intentionally manipulate the frequency response. ;-)

BTW, I am, at present, running the analog SACD outputs into the A/D of a Meridian Ref861 with room correction and, as I have found before with the Denons using Dlink/Firewire, the value of the RC excedes any minor loss of ultimate transparency.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
I have reviewed the Meridian 861 twice and I just had mine updated to the latest version. However, I have not yet had the time to install it and take advantage of the EQ.

One reason that you might not have been impressed with show demos is that you always get a full Meridian system and the character of their speakers is probably what you heard.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
Dan wrote: "I owned a TacT for a while and, while I never had great results with it, I continue to believe in the technology and think Peter Lyngdorf is one of the few genuine geniuses in high-end audio."

TacT is now run by the original software developer (see BOZ) and Peter Lyngdorf showed a new device under his own name at CES. It is similar to the TacT but differs a bit in hardware and in its approach to multisite measurements.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
Unsound asked: "Does a high quality digital room correction device that only effects sound below this point exist?"
There are subwoofer EQs such as the R-DES and the Velodyne SMS-1 and, of course, you can use the Behringer and z-systems units only in this range if you choose.

Autoll said: "The meridian 861 might be there, but the lack of owner devotees is scary for the price. And their source cost is insane. "
The MRC in the latest generation of 861s only works at these lower frequencies. There are many devoted owners of this marvelous device but they don't hang out here. Cost insane? Well, that's subjective as there's nothing really comparable on the market.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
The TacT system is as described but it also permits use as a parametric EQ in addition to the autocorrection.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
Well, it has no automatic procedure but you can take a measurement sweep with TacT (or another measurement system) and set the PEQ from that. Not the most convenient system for it.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
Jafox wrote: "With simply using the Bypass switch on the Rives, there is a significant improvement with the unit in the loop. The reduction of the bass peaks brings on a huge clarity especially in the mids. However, when I remove the Rives and the one Purist Dominus IC from the system, there is a substantial increase in dynamic contrasts."
Could there be a correlation between the "reduction of the bass peaks" and the implied loss of dynamic contrast? Just wondering........

Kal
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