Popular Post firedog Posted July 18, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted July 18, 2019 Great article. Audiophiles forget that after say, $500 a component, the diminishing returns curve of SQ vs outlay is VERY steep. For $1000 or $2000 dollars you can get complete systems that are very high quality. So, yes, if you are willing to give up that lowest octave of theoretical low bass reproduction - and at high volumes, you can get great systems for little money. Especially if you are talking about small and medium size spaces. And yes, pro equipment is often very good for very little money - if you don't mind compromising on those audiophile cosmetics. Looking forward to your next article. But a couple of small points: the most obvious answer to many of your issues are active speakers, especially those with DSP. Add a source (even a Raspberry Pi) and you are done. The better ones these days (Kii and Dutch & Dutch) get very loud and do very low bass on their own. But even many high quality "lesser" ones (Audioengine, KEF, etc.) do enough bass - and you can always add a small sub if you want. And as far as bass: I understand what you wrote and can't argue with any of it. But subjectively, my experience is that speakers that do fairly low bass without rolloff (say 30hz; we won't even talk about those that go significantly lower) sound much more realistic and convincing in music that needs bass reproduction (organ, orchestral) than those speakers that "only" do 40 or 50 or 60 hz. And they even sound better than those speakers reproducing rock and jazz where, I agree, there is probably little sound below 40 hz. I'm not sure why that is: maybe they just have better quality of bass reproduction, or saying it another way, they do it more easily, with less strain, and therefore sound better when doing it. ednaz, PYP, tmtomh and 1 other 3 1 Main listening (small home office): Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments. Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three . Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup. Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. All absolute statements about audio are false Link to comment
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