New loudspeakers & room digital correction service

[SwissBear]

Hi everyone,

I would like to introduce a new service provided by a young fellow in the field of room correction: https://www.homeaudiofidelity.com/

As some might know, I spent quite a bit of time studying these topics of active correction. I started with a Trinnov Amethyst, tried Dirac, then Acourate and finally REW/RePhase.
Only this last solution gave me total satisfaction because it allows for making very clean corrections, with minimal phase, easily portable to all players ...
May I recall that a well-done active correction allows:

1. A guarantee of perfect tonal rendering, ie a reproduction of the sound matching the recording, by correcting the interactions of the speakers and of the room
   
2. Faithful reproduction of the sound stage by correcting the phase errors essentially introduced by the speaker filters
   

Thierry has developed a more refined technology. Compared to a traditional correction, which only corrects the direct field of the speakers, Thierry brings two complementary elements:

1. Correction of the reflected field; This correction ensures a faithful reproduction of the sound which takes into account the reflected field created by the walls, the ceiling, etc. The impressive characteristics of this addition is the homogeneity of the sound reproduction throughout the room
   
2. A crosstalk canceling that allows a much wider sweet-spot
   

In total, the corrections produced by Thierry have many advantages:

1. They are just as easy to use as other manufacturer's 'ready to use' corrections.
   Just make the measurements and Thierry takes care of the rest
   
2. They give, with respect to standard corrections (with two pulses, as produced by Acourate or rePhase), a complement of soul to the music. The perfect three-dimensional reproduction of the sound stage gives the illusion that the orchestra is in the room. It is both magical and strongly addictive ...
   

Congratulations to Thierry and my best wishes to him for success

[petrik]

Looks interesting. Perhaps I could give it a try although I am quite happy with the filters that I have created with Acourate.

Did you get the standard filters or the ones with cross talk correction?

[SwissBear]

Did you get the standard filters or the ones with cross talk correction?

I have got both. I personally prefer the ones with x-talk cancellation.

[Hifi_swlon]

Interesting idea. I've often wondered if there are people in the UK that specialise in this sort of thing.

First thing that springs to mind is it's quite expensive, well relative to the cost if something like Acourate. But then again time and expertise has to be paid for, and it looks like repeat business is much cheaper - which is a good idea.

Might get in touch at some point and arrange a sample.

[SwissBear]

First thing that springs to mind is it's quite expensive, well relative to the cost if something like Acourate. But then again time and expertise has to be paid for, and it looks like repeat business is much cheaper - which is a good idea.

Well, on both my systems, this unique correction technology was kind of a game changer...

Two sides to the coin as always:

1. on the defensive side, active correction was about how to make the systems work correctly. On one of my systems, the interaction of the B&W 802D3 with the room is so important in the bass range that active correction was not an option. On the other one, the Voxativ Zeth have kind of reversed amplitude curve (treble higher than bass in the direct field) which make them quite difficult if you do pinch them in order to have a correct sound stage. In both cases, active correction with REW/rePhase made the audition perfect, the amplitude curve very linear, and the sound stage very well reproduced.
   
2. on the offensive side, what Thierry's unique correction technology brought to the game, was this reflection field correction. And the impact on the sound reproduction on both of my systems was huge. Not only have I kept the benefits of the defensive approach above, but I have gained an impression of realism, linked to the additional technologies he is using, which make the third 'dimensionality' of the sound stage incredible.
   

If you are listening to classical/acoustic music, this correction technology is an absolute must have IMHO.

Having said that, and relative to the price of the systems, the value brought by these corrections largely exceeds its cost

[Celts88]

First thing that springs to mind is it's quite expensive, well relative to the cost if something like Acourate. But then again time and expertise has to be paid for, and it looks like repeat business is much cheaper - which is a good idea.

Well, on both my systems, this unique correction technology was kind of a game changer...

Two sides to the coin as always:

1. on the defensive side, active correction was about how to make the systems work correctly. On one of my systems, the interaction of the B&W 802D3 with the room is so important in the bass range that active correction was not an option. On the other one, the Voxativ Zeth have kind of reversed amplitude curve (treble higher than bass in the direct field) which make them quite difficult if you do pinch them in order to have a correct sound stage. In both cases, active correction with REW/rePhase made the audition perfect, the amplitude curve very linear, and the sound stage very well reproduced.
   
2. on the offensive side, what Thierry's unique correction technology brought to the game, was this reflection field correction. And the impact on the sound reproduction on both of my systems was huge. Not only have I kept the benefits of the defensive approach above, but I have gained an impression of realism, linked to the additional technologies he is using, which make the third 'dimensionality' of the sound stage incredible.
   

If you are listening to classical/acoustic music, this correction technology is an absolute must have IMHO.

Having said that, and relative to the price of the systems, the value brought by these corrections largely exceeds its cost

But do you like it 

[petrik]

I received the filters from Thierry yesterday. I have no idea yet does these sound any good but measurements look pretty good. 

Without filters:




With filters:

[Hifi_swlon]

Have no idea because you havent listened to them yet, or you've listened and aren't sure about the results?

Measurements look pretty good, as far as you can tell without knowing exactly what's shown. Interesting he's made a bass slope kind of like the REW default, rather than straight line slope, or B&K type slope. Not saying that's a bad thing - it may well be great I've tried curves like that - just wondered if you guided this decision or it's his default.

I'm actually tempted to use him pending your feedback. Sure I could but Acourate and do it myself - and that probably is a better approach long term - but I just don't have the time/desire right now.

[petrik]

Have no idea because you havent listened to them yet, or you've listened and aren't sure about the results?

Measurements look pretty good, as far as you can tell without knowing exactly what's shown. Interesting he's made a bass slope kind of like the REW default, rather than straight line slope, or B&K type slope. Not saying that's a bad thing - it may well be great I've tried curves like that - just wondered if you guided this decision or it's his default.

I'm actually tempted to use him pending your feedback. Sure I could but Acourate and do it myself - and that probably is a better approach long term - but I just don't have the time/desire right now.

I haven't listened to them yet. I'll try to do listening tests during this week. It will be really interesting to hear are these filters better than the other ones that I have created with Acourate.

I didn't give any guidelines for the target curve. Thierry said that he usually starts with something neutral & according audio standards. If I don't like the tonal balance, then he will adjust the target curve and create an another set of filters for me.

[Celts88]

Have no idea because you havent listened to them yet, or you've listened and aren't sure about the results?

Measurements look pretty good, as far as you can tell without knowing exactly what's shown. Interesting he's made a bass slope kind of like the REW default, rather than straight line slope, or B&K type slope. Not saying that's a bad thing - it may well be great I've tried curves like that - just wondered if you guided this decision or it's his default.

I'm actually tempted to use him pending your feedback. Sure I could but Acourate and do it myself - and that probably is a better approach long term - but I just don't have the time/desire right now.

I haven't listened to them yet. I'll try to do listening tests during this week. It will be really interesting to hear are these filters better than the other ones that I have created with Acourate.

I didn't give any guidelines for the target curve. Thierry said that he usually starts with something neutral & according audio standards. If I don't like the tonal balance, then he will adjust the target curve and create an another set of filters for me.

Petrik

I'm also eager to hear your thoughts on the filters, when you get the time. I haven't done any measurements yet with REW, and really don't think I would do it justice, hence why I'm willing to pay the money for Thierry to do his magic on it.

Thierry had mentioned something on the New Loudspeakers & Room Digital Correction Service computeraudiophile thread regarding house curve

Pkane200 - Will you be able to accommodate a house curve, and if yes, in what format?

Thierry - Our goal is to propose the optimal filters set by default. But if you have some preference in terms of tonal balance we can adapt to different kind of house curve format (text file, picture) The process is to start by our proposal and iterate if it is really mandatory

Pkane200 - Thank you. I would definitely want to start testing with an optimal, flat filter. But, my experience flattening the frequency response did not produce the best results. A very slight house curve (a few dB bump below 70Hz and a few dB gradual roll-off after 5KHz) made a big difference. I'll do some measurements and contact you to do a test with a sample track.

Thierry -  Just to be clear when I said "optimal" I didn't mean "flat" : as you said optimal refer more to what will sound natural in your listening environment. Looking forward to your measurements!

Cheers
John