Hey @atmasphere
I am with you in terms of absolute audiophile-ness. Separate dac/amp/speakers offer absolute control over every aspect of the reproduction. Powered speakers however reduce clutter, improve efficiency and even let us do things with cabinets we couldn't do otherwise, not to mention perhaps let us better tune for room placement.
The digital powered speaker is in a way the ultimate integrated however. Just put a coax or Ethernet cable in and out comes music. That has to be appealing to many.
Still, my real question for this thread was more about whether or not the digital input speaker has evolved very much since I first became aware of Meridian.
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wider isn’t worth the extra floor space.
@arion
That's what I was wondering. :) Thank you.
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Do Vanatoo’s count?
@mapman - Yes, are you using the digital inputs?
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The ideal width for our 120Hz line array is about 39”. In theory a flat 39” baffle will support our line array down to about 120Hz without baffle step or cancellation. That creates other problems along with being too wide for most home system. So we folded the baffle into an asymmetrical “U” shape. The inside of the back side is shaped to minimize cavity resonances. There a bit more to it but that’s the basics.
Hi Mike / @arion ,
I’m familiar enough with dipoles to understand the convenience of the U shape. I’m just dreadfully curious if you ever had flat prototypes and if so if you felt they were worth the excess floor space.
I’m asking in large part due to the very positive experience I’ve had listening to the SF Stradivari Homage and some gomments Troels Gravesen has made about how they seem to ignore the room they are in and impose the acoustics of the recordings.
Best,
Erik
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So my counter question to you would be: what do really want; a nice and bundled, plug-and-play speaker package, or do you want to explore where active qua active (as separates) config. can really take you?
For this thread my real question was whether a digital input speaker system had an ecosystem or broad adoption. I think you misunderstood my curiosity about the industry as being a request for help changing my system. I have the former and no real reason to do the latter.
I can build whatever I want to build, Goddess willing and the river don’t rise, with time and effort. I was more curious about whether the Meridian (or possibly earlier) innovation of a purely digital input speaker had gone anywhere.
I have to say, the idea of simplifying a stereo to 2 high end speakers and an Ethernet cable seems pretty appealing. Whether I would go that route or not is a different question than where we are today as an industry.
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Hey @arion Since you like to jump in here and talk about your tech, I'm a little curious about something. Your towers are relatively narrow baffles, especially when compared to the famous Infinity Reference. Now, I don't want to set this up as an Arion vs. 30 year old technology, with questionable crossovers, but the IRS was (I believe) a dipole with a very wide baffle.
I'm curious if you've experimented with wide baffles and what you found as a result.
Among my interests is also wide baffle design speakers so that's why I'm asking.
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Hey Mike / @arion
If you meant me, I’m not Eric.
Yeah, I have a pretty good idea of the magic you have to do in order to get your speakers dialed in. As a fan of active crossovers, DSP and AMTs and line sources I think you are in a very fun place to be.
Best,
Erik
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@phusis
I’m way past wanting to have multiple stacks of amps in my home so when I think of an active speaker, I think of an all in one unit that has built in everything. The OP was not about active crossovers by the way, but active, digital speakers. Meaning, the amp is built into the speaker and it has a digital input.
Yeah, I know what I could do with digital crossovers, I’m just not about to run a stereo amp, or more, per speaker here.
I’m currently planning a fully active 3-way center channel using a plate amplifier. The only thing that stops me from building it is the kitchen remodeling that I have to do first. 😁
Best,
Erik
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I respectfully and strongly disagree with the broad statement that DSP applied makes music sound like crap.
I have to agree with @arion here. I'm sure you can find a DSP based system somewhere that's terrible, but my recent experiences are much more positive than negative.
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@jdbsi I don't need backchannel information on Meridian. It was more of an open discussion I thought would be cool and useful.
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@leadcrew I think these are really interesting _especially_ if you can do DSP on the bass sections alone. The best of all worlds, IMHO. The approach Vandersteen takes, to use a high pass filter before the main amps and compensate in the sub is outstanding.
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Hey @djones51
That’s the kind of interesting feedback I was looking forward to. :-) In particular I was wondering how the ecosystem would play out. Meridian’s use of (I think) Ethernet cable enabling fully digital, active home theater systems had a tremendous amount of promise, but probably because it was entirely proprietary never really had a chance. The idea of speaker-only stereos is also potentially very appealing to the High end and to the main stream. My neighbors LOVE their in-ceiling speakers. I personally would love to get more of my living room back. :-) So the idea of high end speakers with no home server at all, no roon, no PC, no streamer sounds great.
Honestly I find myself split among too many ways to explore my audiophile hobby, but for me that also means building.
I like to play with coils and caps and have had a lot of fun with them but the next toys I sink myself into will be all active.
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@ghdprentice Yeah, I expect the same for Theta Digital honestly. I don't know all the details, but it feels as if the HDMI licensing issues combined with the R&D needed to keep up with the latest standards and enhanced features made the switch far too difficult.
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Well, I'm all sorts of different types of audiophile when it comes to active vs. passive. I like my passive speakers exactly because I can pick my amp.
If I make an active speaker I pretty much have to give up my analog soul to a lot of choices made for me by the plate amp maker. An A/D converter, the DSP engine and the amplifier.
I also really really want to make an active speaker... so I think I'll get my build on with a center channel.
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