06-Jul-2017, 22:03
(This post was last modified: 06-Jul-2017, 22:38 by Hifi_swlon.)
I'd given up on SAM, disabled it, and moved on.
That was with the 200, and when I went 250 Pro I tried briefly and ended up disabling it again. I've not really looked back. In fact I've been reasonably vocal about it not adding much.
The past couple of days I've had another play. I was reconfiguring the amp (for the inbound digiOne) and just kind of enabled it on autopilot.
In the interim since I last used it, I've done a few room corrections in Roon, using the freebie REW continuous averaged measurements method documented on the Roon forums. It's pretty good, I've been fiddling with house curves and PEQ just tweaking to dial it in in my tricky room. It's getting very close to how I like it, but I'm still missing a bit of bass slam. Probably I need a sub realistically, or different speakers, or according to some PMC fact owners, more power. None of which are really an option right now especially the sub which is just a setup hassle I could do without and don't want a big box in the lounge. So I was happy that my system sounded much better than it did before, and as always am frustrated at Devialet for not adding some sort of convolution in the amp itself.
Anyway, so I decided to just play with SAM before I disabled it again.
You know what, combined with room correction my first impression was - wow! Completely unexpected, but the extra low bass that the facts put out just got me closer to that 'impact' I was longing for. Whereas previously I couldn't really sense the bass change much, but I felt the soundstage shrunk, the effect here was music just floating from the speakers.
I played with different percentages, and settled on about 30-40. The results meant I could disable a slight extra bass hump PEQ I'd added in Roon (to try and get that slam), and with better results. I played a couple of electronic tracks so loud things went pretty surreal but one thing was absolute - bass impact was way better and sound just floated around me.
So, is the room correction cleaning up my bass peaks and letting SAMs work shine through where previously it was masked? Is it because it's hot today in London? Or as a side effect is it because all the windows and doors are open in the house? Or is it just the 250 Pro can better drive the low frequencies to the facts and I hadn't given it a chance? Or a combination of all things.
Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and it will all have been a dream, but today those speakers went low. No I wasn't getting a 'in a club' sensation of bass hitting my stomach, but it's the best it's been. Food for thought and for more experimentation. Just goes to show it pays to play.
Maybe long term I won't like it but I'll definitely be putting SAM through its paces with an open mind the next few weeks. It might just have won me over. I can't tell you how unexpected this was.
What I did notice, was after a good thrashing the copper plate was pretty hot. I very occasionally feel behind the amp and think - what's all the fuss about with the new copper plate, it never gets hot. I know it was warm today but that was cooking, I guesswith SAM it has to work a bit harder?
That was with the 200, and when I went 250 Pro I tried briefly and ended up disabling it again. I've not really looked back. In fact I've been reasonably vocal about it not adding much.
The past couple of days I've had another play. I was reconfiguring the amp (for the inbound digiOne) and just kind of enabled it on autopilot.
In the interim since I last used it, I've done a few room corrections in Roon, using the freebie REW continuous averaged measurements method documented on the Roon forums. It's pretty good, I've been fiddling with house curves and PEQ just tweaking to dial it in in my tricky room. It's getting very close to how I like it, but I'm still missing a bit of bass slam. Probably I need a sub realistically, or different speakers, or according to some PMC fact owners, more power. None of which are really an option right now especially the sub which is just a setup hassle I could do without and don't want a big box in the lounge. So I was happy that my system sounded much better than it did before, and as always am frustrated at Devialet for not adding some sort of convolution in the amp itself.
Anyway, so I decided to just play with SAM before I disabled it again.
You know what, combined with room correction my first impression was - wow! Completely unexpected, but the extra low bass that the facts put out just got me closer to that 'impact' I was longing for. Whereas previously I couldn't really sense the bass change much, but I felt the soundstage shrunk, the effect here was music just floating from the speakers.
I played with different percentages, and settled on about 30-40. The results meant I could disable a slight extra bass hump PEQ I'd added in Roon (to try and get that slam), and with better results. I played a couple of electronic tracks so loud things went pretty surreal but one thing was absolute - bass impact was way better and sound just floated around me.
So, is the room correction cleaning up my bass peaks and letting SAMs work shine through where previously it was masked? Is it because it's hot today in London? Or as a side effect is it because all the windows and doors are open in the house? Or is it just the 250 Pro can better drive the low frequencies to the facts and I hadn't given it a chance? Or a combination of all things.
Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and it will all have been a dream, but today those speakers went low. No I wasn't getting a 'in a club' sensation of bass hitting my stomach, but it's the best it's been. Food for thought and for more experimentation. Just goes to show it pays to play.
Maybe long term I won't like it but I'll definitely be putting SAM through its paces with an open mind the next few weeks. It might just have won me over. I can't tell you how unexpected this was.
What I did notice, was after a good thrashing the copper plate was pretty hot. I very occasionally feel behind the amp and think - what's all the fuss about with the new copper plate, it never gets hot. I know it was warm today but that was cooking, I guesswith SAM it has to work a bit harder?
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<
