McIntosh MX160, (RoomPerfect) which is Lyngdorf.
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DEXQ - https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/is-deqx-a-game-changer?
Linn - https://www.linn.co.uk/sources/network-music-players/selekt If you do not have the need for any analogue sources the Linn is very good. It does not support MQA.I have heard it with SPACE OPTIMIZATION enabled. |
never heard about the DEXQ, will check it out... They do not produce integrates neither preamps with phono anymore right? It’s strange that a turntables manufacturer don’t produce phono inputs for their products... Anyway, found the Majik amps interesting, the multi channel ones also includes internal active crossovers, in order to be used in a multi amplified system? but i presume they are tuned for their own speakers right? |
Not trying to dissuade the OP, but are you sure you need DSP? I spent a lot of time setting up and listening to a few pricey software DSP systems in my system thinking my sound would be improved. After a couple years of using DSP, one day I "accidently" listened without DSP and thought it was much more natural and enjoyable, warts and all, and haven't gone back. |
Jaybee, room correction systems are not all the same, and some room correction systems are very subtitle yet effective. The systems built into the products hardware tend to be the best sounding solutions. The Micromega M series are some of the best sounding integrated amplifiers on the market. The Micromega amps repalced the Devialet and they sound way more musical, the dac is world class, so is the Class A/B amplifier stage. We sell most of the best integrated amplifiers on the market including: the Anthem STR, Micromega, Coda, Naim, Norma, Sythesis Krell and a few others. The Micromega really shines. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ |
@cosmicjazz The Linn system can be used with any speakers, It is a rather elaborate system so I recommend you read a good review or speak to a Linn dealer. I heard the Linn DSM Selekt with Linn speakers but if you do some internet searches you will notice Linn introduced the DSM Selekt to the USA this year demoing with non-Linn speakers, KEF and B&W. There is something about phase alignment of the drivers that works best with Linn speakers and the Linn products (?). They also have some customized configurations for non-Linn speakers for the DSM Selekt. This is the stuff you should speak to a Linn dealer about. I am no expert and getting myself confused here. I was rather impressed with the DSM and was hoping that they would come out with a analog source input module, like the Lyngdorf 3400, but Linn decided to go multi-channel in the expansion modules and not support analog modules. They do have a turntable input but I need tuner and SACD player analogue inputs. If your setup is digital only or digital and turntable, then the Linn with the upgraded DAC is pretty amazing. The Linn SPACE OPTIMIZATION seems more complicated than the Lyngdorf microphone based approach. Linn says the mc approach is not the way to go. I am sure Lyngdorf, Anthem, Deqx et al would disagree. The DeqX preamp was one I also looked into but decided it was a little more complicated to setup. You need to take 1 of your speakers to an open area, preferably a backyard, and run some tests on it so the Deqx can be calibrated for the speakers. Then you need to run some calibration in the room where the speakers are going to reside. Too much work for me and I live near an airport. I also demoed the Lyngdorf integrated and did not like the amp in it, though I liked the preamp section a lot. I thought a separate preamp and amp were the way I would go with room correction. I was also looking at the Anthem STR preamp since it has killer features. However, at the end of the day I found some different electronics that I liked over all the DSP units I heard and decided to scale down my speaker selection so I could use those electronics without DSP. |
The best unit currently is the Trinnov Amethyst. $11,000 with it's microphone. The microphone is sold separately as Trinnov figures most people will have the set up done by the dealer. No guts not glory. It does have a very nice computer interface. Its bass management is better than most but not as sophisticated as the Tact. |
The only way to do effective room correction is with a calibrated mic. You can not guess what the room and speaker are going to do (too many variables) you have to measure it. What are you going to measure it with? A thermometer? yyz illustrates the problem Tact had. The designer Radomir Bozovic aka Boz is the Russian PhD and the father of room correction could not understand how everyone could not think like he could and assumed his system was obvious and self explanatory. It was very expensive stuff so he decided to sell it directly to keep prices down. His instruction manual sucked and the little company got buried in phone calls and very unhappy customers who could not make things work. You had to sit down with the computer and trundle though things until you got yourself on the learning curve. Then the sailing was pretty smooth. If you ran into a brick wall you called Tact and spoke only to Boz. People want plug and play and the Tact units were anything but. But, if you put in the time and learned how altering target curves and delays would affect the sound you could make your system do amazing things. They were a tweaker's paradise. Anyway the company went under and Boz disappeared. My guess is that he owed investors a lot of money. Lyngdorf was a partner initially. You can still see some of Boz's design in the Lyngdorf units. They are easier to use but not as near as sophisticated and flexible. My Tact 2.2X is still going strong and there is nothing on the market yet that I wish to trade it for the Trinnov is close but the bass management is not near as good as the Tact's. I can change high and low pass filters independently one Hz at a time on the fly from the listening position from 20 to 300 Hz, 1st to 10th order! How can you beat that? |
Mijoystyn, Trinov's piece is $10k and is a preamp/dac with room correction, it is not what the OP was inquiring about. Room correction can be awesome the Anthem STR preamp is quite fantastic and a bargain at its price compared to the Amytheist. Most people are not looking for the end all and be all in room correction just to correct some of the room's gross errors, almost all commercial room correction systems can do that. It will then come down to how easy the unit is to use as well as the sound quality of the unit's dac and preampliifer stage. If you look at all the rave reviews of the Micromega M150 you will see why we endorse it, and its room correction system does work and it comes with a calibrated microphone. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Micromega and Anthem dealers |
This is a great topic...I have a second home where I am currently building out an audio/video “room”. In my main home living space I have all separates. This represents a major expenditure over many years. The room sounds perfect to my taste. I have set a significantly lower budget for the second home. I am set on an integrated amp with room correction. I have listened to Trinnov, Anthem, Onkyo and Arcam. A have Sonus Fabre IL Cremonese speakers. Out of those four room correction programs in combination with an integrated amp. I like the Arcam (850) in combination with Dirac Live. The sound field is incredibly dynamic and wide...with warm, natural tones. The room correction software is easy to setup and understand the nuances and manipulate the software to make it not just good but great. Second would be the Anthem (STR). The unit does not have quite the dynamic spun field as the Dirac. Third would be the trinnov. I could not correlate the price/performance to either the Arcam or Anthem products. |
The miniDSP DDRC-24 is a great unit. It serves as a pre-amp and DAC and includes Dirac Live room correction. It's has a small footprint. My only knock is that I wish all inputs/outputs were on the back of the unit instead of front & back. The NAD c658 is a network streamer, DAC and pre-amp all in one unit and also includes Dirac Live. This will be my next upgrade. |