11-Jul-2021, 12:42
@Focus Fidelity - It is great to see you contributing to this forum. Welcome.
Regarding Devialet SAM, I note that you have checked what Devialet say about SAM on their website, but unfortunately their website leaves out some key information.
The website does a reasonable job of describing the principles of SAM, but misses out the practical implications of the SAM % feature. I shall try to fill in the gaps:
Once you have a Devialet amp with the SAM profile loaded for your specific speakers, via the remote control it is possible to select SAM on / off, and with SAM on, you can adjust the "SAM %" anywhere from 0% to 100%.
What the Devialet website fails to explain is exactly how SAM on / off and SAM % work.
When SAM is on, irrespective of the SAM % setting, you get the full phase and timing correction, so in theory, the movement of the bass drivers should exactly match what is required per the input signal (music). So SAM % has zero effect on phase and timing correction, this aspect is either on or it is off.
The SAM % is designed to compensate for bass roll-off. So it provides a degree of bass boost at the frequencies where the speakers naturally exhibit bass roll-off, with SAM % providing additional boost at the lowest frequencies as the SAM % is increased.
One additional and beneficial feature of SAM is that it knows the maximum permitted movement of the bass drivers, and will prevent this ever being exceeded. So using SAM with Focus Fidelity does at least provide protection against potentially over loading the bass drivers.
In my case I made the room measurements with SAM on, but set to 0%. So in theory I should listen with SAM on and set to 0%, and leave Focus Fidelity to provide accurate bass. That is the theory, in practice I am finding that some music benefits from a little additional SAM %, but this is track / album specific. This is working out well for me at the moment.
I can see that it is at least possible that better results might be obtained by measuring the room without SAM, and leaving Focus Fidelity to deal with everything. It is also possible this could sound worse of course, and I suspect that the end result might be different between individual users / speakers and SAM profiles.
As an aside, I am not a huge fan of Devialet's Sweet Room. It works fine in terms of offering PEQ on all sources, so this is good, but in terms of usability it is very poor in my view. (and it is a little buggy) Maybe you could provide Devialet with a bit of advice or a consultancy? Focus Fidelity software is far more sophisticated than Sweet Room and yet it is far easier to use, so Devialet have something to learn from your efforts I think.
Regarding Devialet SAM, I note that you have checked what Devialet say about SAM on their website, but unfortunately their website leaves out some key information.
The website does a reasonable job of describing the principles of SAM, but misses out the practical implications of the SAM % feature. I shall try to fill in the gaps:
Once you have a Devialet amp with the SAM profile loaded for your specific speakers, via the remote control it is possible to select SAM on / off, and with SAM on, you can adjust the "SAM %" anywhere from 0% to 100%.
What the Devialet website fails to explain is exactly how SAM on / off and SAM % work.
When SAM is on, irrespective of the SAM % setting, you get the full phase and timing correction, so in theory, the movement of the bass drivers should exactly match what is required per the input signal (music). So SAM % has zero effect on phase and timing correction, this aspect is either on or it is off.
The SAM % is designed to compensate for bass roll-off. So it provides a degree of bass boost at the frequencies where the speakers naturally exhibit bass roll-off, with SAM % providing additional boost at the lowest frequencies as the SAM % is increased.
One additional and beneficial feature of SAM is that it knows the maximum permitted movement of the bass drivers, and will prevent this ever being exceeded. So using SAM with Focus Fidelity does at least provide protection against potentially over loading the bass drivers.
In my case I made the room measurements with SAM on, but set to 0%. So in theory I should listen with SAM on and set to 0%, and leave Focus Fidelity to provide accurate bass. That is the theory, in practice I am finding that some music benefits from a little additional SAM %, but this is track / album specific. This is working out well for me at the moment.
I can see that it is at least possible that better results might be obtained by measuring the room without SAM, and leaving Focus Fidelity to deal with everything. It is also possible this could sound worse of course, and I suspect that the end result might be different between individual users / speakers and SAM profiles.
As an aside, I am not a huge fan of Devialet's Sweet Room. It works fine in terms of offering PEQ on all sources, so this is good, but in terms of usability it is very poor in my view. (and it is a little buggy) Maybe you could provide Devialet with a bit of advice or a consultancy? Focus Fidelity software is far more sophisticated than Sweet Room and yet it is far easier to use, so Devialet have something to learn from your efforts I think.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
