what's your focus on ?

Rodney Gold said:

We all focus on various parts of our hifi as to improve or change or whatever
Mine at the moment is advanced bass control and digital room correction

what's your focus on right now?

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3D audio, I upmix everything into Auro 3D and have never been more satisfied in both the SQ of movies and music.

DasguteOhr said:

The Drivers+DSPAmps cost 1800$+DIY Energy and Woodwork extra, you build a
Loudspeakersystem who beats all under 20k$ easy...

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For sure, and that's why I am quite excited by the prospect. I must try to keep costs low though, so Lowther and other big name drivers are out of the question. I will be using the computer for crossover duties for initial tests, together with my M-Audio sound card which can do 4 channels.

DasguteOhr said:

Ok look at Hawthorne Audio they have 15" Fullrange driver combinated with AMT Tweeter
at 95dB/1Watt sounds good.

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I heard great reports about their Augies. Their build quality for the speakers are really good looking too. Many builders use the Eminence Alphas, but since I need 4, I'll probably be looking out for a cheaper alternative.

Incorporating a good AMT or Ribbon tweeter in a 3-way would be ideal, but I know that integration might be several levels more difficult, so one day, but we'll take it step by step.

DasguteOhr said:

I promise you will never find one single Driver,who sends the same Energy to the Music
like Bastanis speakers.Good luck
I had Lowthers,AER..Tagband etc no Way

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I'm sure it sounds great - looking forward to getting my audiophile set up as my Pro Audio Monitoring already was (Fostex Active Bi-Amped Bookshelf Monitors - PM0.4, each side separately powered by two 18W amps, one for each driver, the crossover before the amp - it can also use balanced connections - sounds fantastic and great for mixing) - funny how in Pro Audio this is the norm but not in audiophile-land... It should be! So where is this the norm in any subset of Audiophile-land? Perhaps in the realm of the 'Ultra High-End' or the European/Asian/Japanese Audio-Maniacs?

I did see some Tang Bands having great reviews and there are lower cost drivers from them too. What was the thing(s) that bothered you with the Lowthers, TBs and AERs?

Thanks a lot Stephan!

witchdoctor said:

3D audio, I upmix everything into Auro 3D and have never been more satisfied in both the SQ of movies and music.

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Not yet experimented with Auro or Atmos but I have several Ultra-HD 4K Blu-Ray movies with Atmos. For now they get defaulted to Dolby surround.

Surround is a great experience, but for music I prefer music that is itself already mixed for surround rather than tack on an artificial layer of DSP processing which creates a surround (it does this well, mind you, but it doesn't serve the art very well) which is not what the artists/producers intended.

My canonical surround audio are the multi-channel DSD music that I have, including this, which was re-worked specifically for surround by the Legendary Bob Clearmountain, who actually also worked on the original album, so he knows the material very well:



So, while I can turn on my SS amp's DSP and make any song in a surround experience at home (and I did this a few times when I first got the amp and got my 5.1 set up), it is a bit of a gimmick, I vastly prefer surround from the material itself. For that reason, I am unlikely to do the same artificial conversion to surround with Auro 3D or Atmos or any other technology.

If music material starts becoming common specifically for these new technologies that will be another matter. So far though, surround is unfortunately not as widespread as stereo (ah ah ah), so I don't have my hopes set too high.

If you haven't yet heard 'Avalon' in surround, Run, Fly, Fight, Swim and get it!

YashN said:

Not yet experimented with Auro or Atmos but I have several Ultra-HD 4K Blu-Ray movies with Atmos. For now they get defaulted to Dolby surround.

Surround is a great experience, but for music I prefer music that is itself already mixed for surround rather than tack on an artificial layer of DSP processing which creates a surround (it does this well, mind you, but it doesn't serve the art very well) which is not what the artists/producers intended.

My canonical surround audio are the multi-channel DSD music that I have, including this, which was re-worked specifically for surround by the Legendary Bob Clearmountain, who actually also worked on the original album, so he knows the material very well:

View attachment 29484

So, while I can turn on my SS amp's DSP and make any song in a surround experience at home (and I did this a few times when I first got the amp and got my 5.1 set up), it is a bit of a gimmick, I vastly prefer surround from the material itself. For that reason, I am unlikely to do the same artificial conversion to surround with Auro 3D or Atmos or any other technology.

If music material starts becoming common specifically for these new technologies that will be another matter. So far though, surround is unfortunately not as widespread as stereo (ah ah ah), so I don't have my hopes set too high.

If you haven't yet heard 'Avalon' in surround, Run, Fly, Fight, Swim and get it!

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I'll have to get that disc, thanks. I have never really listened to much music mixed in surround as I like to stream but am definitely open to it.

DasguteOhr said:

Hello YashN,

The Drivers+DSPAmps cost 1800$+DIY Energy and Woodwork extra,you build a
Loudspeakersystem who beats all under 20k$ easy...

Ok look at Hawthorne Audio they have 15" Fullrange driver combinated with AMT Tweeter
at 95dB/1Watt sounds good.
I promise you will never find one single Driver,who sends the same Energy to the Music
like Bastanis speakers.Good luck
I had Lowthers,AER..Tagband etc no Way

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I enjoy my Hawthorne Audio Rainier MK III.

Been working slowly for the past 2 years since moving here, just to finish putting things in place ( new rack, new LP storage units, cd/cassette bookcase storage). Still working on getting different/bigger front speakers and a big-ass subwoofer . Just sold my Micro Seiki TT and Blackbird cartridge, and replaced it with a Revox B791. Everything takes so much longer to get done when you are physically disabled and have to depend on others to do things for you. It's very evident that no one else on here is living on Social Security either, so having very little money to put into the hobby is the biggest obstacle I have. I have to sell something to be able to buy anything else. It is what it is.

16hz lover said:

. It's very evident that no one else on here is living on Social Security either, so having very little money to put into the hobby is the biggest obstacle I have. I have to sell something to be able to buy anything else. It is what it is.

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You're not alone here with a focus on SS checks . However my hobby focus (~ 60 yrs now) has been on making those improvements and new equipment as able when able. This forum gives us a insight from others, more financially capable, of evaluating system improvements which greatly expand our knowledge to make wiser choices within our means.