Give Up on Bacch?

@treepmeyer

So it sounds like you’ve made your decision, to keep the unit for now & eat the $200 if you have to?

I evaluated similar technologies at length back in the 90s, when I was a tech journalist & consultant, and ultimately found those precursors to work best with (and sometimes ONLY with) beamy speakers positioned to optimize nearfield response. Not surprisingly, the quality of the experience varied greatly. The two systems that gave me the best results were ESL-57s and a Sonigistix planar-magnetic desktop system -- for just those reasons.  Obviously, I was already living with a narrow sweet spot.

This technology is still interesting to me today, and earlier this year, while actually considering a purchase, I researched in depth the B-SP’s underlying design concept and Theoretica’s claims. What I found was that, although details have changed, the fundamental idea remains the same.

Back in the day, installation meant at most measuring the filtering characterics of each listener’s pinna and/or optimizing speaker positioning to mitigate unwanted reflections. Straightforward, but sometimes time-consuming.

So, not having had a hands-on opportunity myself, I had to ask: how elaborate are these "implementation" procedures you’re talking about? And how hard is it to fine-tune this implmentation to provide satisfactory results?

Given that so many people have had such different experiences with Theoretica’s purifiers, I’m eager to learn what you find with your particular speakers.

@OP .....I'm as curious to read your observations as @cundare2 , but have no dog nor wallet in this stage of your conundrum....

Any experiment generally has a cost.  Considering the overall $'s involved, think of it as getting to drive an F1 McLaren for 2 weeks.... 🤷‍♂️👍😎

...we'll certainly have a good idea of where you'll Be in that time.... LOL*

Man, this has been painful.  Installation was Monday and Edgar himself called me.  We didn't get far because a) my Peachtree Gan1 requires a coax which the RME supplied with the Bacch system does not support.  I have an old analog HK Signature power amp, but that was no good either because the Bacch wants to output balanced.  No go.

b) Edgar assumes that his customer will reside in the Apple universe.  I do not.  I made a decision  45 years ago not to succumb to Apple's nanny state.  I maintain that stance.  The practical consequence is that I do not have an iPad or iPhone to control the Mac Mini, nor do I have a suitable keyboard. 

Edgar said that he doesn't know anything about Android and that I am on my own,, although he said there are apps that may be helpful.  I ordered a cheap Monoprice xlr to rca interconnect and agreed to reschedule the install.

Where to begin?  First, I would have to sell my Ric Schultz-modded Peachtree  Gan1 that I like very much.  Either that or spend $1000 just for the coax interconnect.

Second, I guess I have to buy an Apple keyboard just for the setup.

Third, yes, there are apps for Android devices to control Mac Mini's remotely, but the best ones cost $30/month.  There are other options, but you need to be computer savvy.  I'm not an idiot, but this is distinctly unpleasant.  I am over my head.

I wanted to be convinced to keep the Bacch4Mac system, but I'm afraid that there are too many hurdles.  I will unfortunately not get to implementation. 

Not much of a report.  Sorry.  I'm thoroughly bummed.

Audiophile know thyself is my motto - you seem very self aware and that is always good. Best to you in your chase of better sound

The Bacch4Mac is up and running, sort of, but I need some more advice.  First, though, I'd like to make clear the Edgar is a pleasure to work with.  He is patient and, of course, very knowledgeable.

I'll keep it and explain the pros and cons for me later, but because I am going to keep it there are some consequent choices to be made.  First, I had to swap out my modded Gan1 power dac for an old HK Signature power amp.  I could either upgrade the Babyface Pro interface for $1100 to get a coax out that the Gan1 requires.  Alternatively, I could sell or repurpose the Gan1 and buy a power amp that supports an xlr input from the Babyface pro.  I have in mind Orchard Starcrimson monoblocks.  TMR has a used pair for $1500.  I like the modded Gan1 very much but am open to an alternative.  However, I have no experience with other power amps.

Second, I had to disconnect my sub  as the Babyface pro has no sub-out.  I really need the sub as the speakers are Spendor SP3/5r2 (newer version of ls3/5a).  Edgar said I could route the speakers through the sub using its high-pass filter, but this would be suboptimal because of the crossover: having a digital crossover integrated with the Bacch dsp would be better.  The Babyface pro upgrade mentioned above would allow me to integrate the sub with the dsp digital crossover.

Thus, the $1100 Babyface pro upgrade would allow me to keep the Gan1 and better integrate the sub.  Is it worth it?  Is the sub's high-pass filter sufficient?  Maybe I should take this opportunity to try another power amp and put the $1100 toward that end.

Your thoughts would be helpful.  Edgar's solution is simple: just upgrade the Babyface pro.  End of story.  However, I'm not sure.  I really could use a dealer to work with and advise me.  That's not the role Edgar wants to play, nor should he.

There are other issues the Bacch implementation prompts, such as the streamer, the dac and the webcam.  But I'll post about them later.  And then there are  my initial impressions of sound quality.  Like just about everything concerned with the Bacch, the answer is complicated.  More later.  Thanks.