New high-end speaker trend from EU: active with digital XO and DSP.

Are active speakers with digital XO/ DSP/ DAC the future of high-end audio??

  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .
Glareskin said:
Wow, I didn't know this brand. From Australia right? I like all the adjusmen toptions on the back. And the Scan-Speak tweeter is already guarantee for superb high. I can imagine that by design this is a top speaker!
This is excactly what I like about the Shark: I get to know stuff I never see in the Euro-scene:D
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They really are a top speaker. The woofers are all designed in house by Stuart Ralston/SGR Audio. The knuckle test on the side of the cabinet is like rapping your knuckles on concrete.
 
sharkmouth said:
They really are a top speaker. The woofers are all designed in house by Stuart Ralston/SGR Audio. The knuckle test on the side of the cabinet is like rapping your knuckles on concrete.
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LOL! That's one of the first tests I do, it's a tall tale sign do build and whether or not it's worth hearing. There are many higher end speakers out there that pass that test. It's good when you get to see the structure of a speaker cabinet and exclaim, "why that cabinet has more braces than a children's dentist office"!:eyebrow:
 
sharkmouth said:
Doug, none taken!!!!! :D If you look at the picture you will see that my room setup is so that all the dial & switches are at 0 or off. All except for one switch, that is the room eq. for an 80hz blowout in the room as measured by the manufacturer. In a few weeks I have bass traps coming & then that switch will get turned off too. Then the speaker will be running with no room correction & be at neutral in all settings.
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Didn't even notice that Kev! I'd be tweaking those knobs all the time!!! ;)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
MusicDirector said:
I would not mind digital room correction at all, but I'd want it as a separate component piece, not built into the speakers. I also can't stand having to plug in speakers to a wall outlet or what have you. I'm old school, just give me regular speakers and let me deal with or live with any problems from there. Proof that I'm old school: I'm currently working on a major upgrade to my daily driver system turning it into a 90% high-end system which is almost done, but I still prefer my early 70s vintage system.
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Isn't all this contradicting your signature: I'd rather listen to music instead of gear? You like to deal with problems? It sounds like you are an audiophile like the rest of us :P
Nothing wrong with that. You can still like the music first and also enjoy the gears. Is your preference also in seventies music? Mine is.
 
This guy has it all correct. After years of obsessing, he decided to forget about it and just listen and enjoy music.
Very cool meeting him in his brocante HQ...all kinds of vintage goodies and tons more not shown below. Many Thorens and Japanese TTs. Leak/Fisher amps. 45,000 pieces of Vinyl in storage!

Even more interesting was having a Tonemeister show up, a guy who has worked all over the world. This is a higher art form than recording engineer.

Ali-Charles-Baba

and https://plus.google.com/photos/1112...ms/5546180127275257233?banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1
 
wisnon said:
This guy has it all correct. After years of obsessing, he decided to forget about it and just listen and enjoy music.
Very cool meeting him in his brocante HQ...all kinds of vintage goodies and tons more not shown below. Many Thorens and Japanese TTs. Leak/Fisher amps. 45,000 pieces of Vinyl in storage!

Even more interesting was having a Tonemeister show up, a guy who has worked all over the world. This is a higher art form than recording engineer.

Ali-Charles-Baba

and https://plus.google.com/photos/1112...ms/5546180127275257233?banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1
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It is a very interested museum of Hi-Fi audio equipment indeed. But honestly, audio has come a long way. Even in the last decade the progress has been huge. And most of all: more accessible for many people. As an example my 35k set would have cost over a 100k for equivalent sound 10 years ago. And I know, the vintage sound has a lot of qualities but the sound now is more complete. Now we combine details, dynamic range, precision, timing, sound stage and every aspect you can think of in one system where in the vintage systems it was mostly good in one or a few aspects. And to get back on topic I think that having everything digitally in a speaker, eventually with just an iPad in your hand for control, could be the next step for sonic improvement and reduction of price.
 
I think you might be right. How about a speaker with the slot for cd/buray/lp, you decide whether to download it to the memory or play it instantly on the ipad. Two speakers, no wires, just pure bliss.... my my!
 
sharkmouth said:
I think you might be right. How about a speaker with the slot for cd/buray/lp, you decide whether to download it to the memory or play it instantly on the ipad. Two speakers, no wires, just pure bliss.... my my!
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Yes I think you get the picture. However in my mind I see the slot for the cd/blu-ray/lp in the mailbox. The postman delivers my new music unpacked and it will be ripped automatically in the mailbox. After ripping the disc will be shredded and drops, automatically of course, in a garbage can. Well, it's either that or Spotify....
 
Someone starts shredding my dics/lp's, there's gonna be some sore noses!!!:exciting::reallymad::panic:
 
Interesting article on the internet with the following quote:
Although high-end passive speakers can contain high-end crossover components, LoPiccolo says that, by nature, passive crossover components and passive speakers have some intrinsic drawbacks. “Passive crossover systems dissipate heat, and can lose as much as 30-percent of the amplifier’s power,” LoPiccolo states. “And as the crossover components heat up, the performance of the speaker changes. So a movie may sound differently toward the end than it did in the beginning,”
And this is not about digital crossovers or DSP's, let alone piezo recorders to correction of speaker movement but just compares the active vs passive principle.

 
I listened to the Grimm Audio setup at RMAF 2013. They were great, especially for being so compact. And the fact that amplification is included because they are self powered, makes the setup really clean.
 
Cypress Audio said:
I listened to the Grimm Audio setup at RMAF 2013. They were great, especially for being so compact. And the fact that amplification is included because they are self powered, makes the setup really clean.
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You are the first I am in contact with who really heard the Grimm's. So which other speakers from the absolute top class have you listened to? It would be good to learn where you have placed them.
 
Now tested in Audio: the new Linn Exakt.

The Exakt is a speaker with built-in DAC, digital cross over and a connection to a dedicated Exakt Klimax DSM with improved analogie inputs. The result is a relaxed sound that sounds good with audiophile and non-audiophile material!
20131027105511_Linn_Klimax_Exakt_4.jpg

788_4_large.jpg
 
Does it amplify in the digital domain? Ultimately the source will be connected with digital cables to the speakers.
 
wisnon said:
Does it amplify in the digital domain? Ultimately the source will be connected with digital cables to the speakers.
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I guess you mean the Linn Exakt. Yes everything is in the speaker. As you can see in the above pictures the connection is through what they call a Linn Exakt Link which is just a network cable.
CL098BU-2_007.jpg
 
I voted: I don't know.

Because what I truly believe and what is the actual reality are two differing opposites.

- Physical acoustical room treatments is the best way to improve sound.
- DSP/X-Over active loudspeakers is second best.
- High-end audio (now and in the future) will always include the purist audiophile: No signal degradation, the shortest path (straight wire), no noise (pure blackness), no any sort of DSP EQ or digital this or that, and simply the old proven standard of keep it simple all the way. ...And stay that way analog all the way; from input to output. ...Vinyl and reel-to-reel tape.

See; it's not what we believe that makes this world turning the way it does, it's what we do. ...And what sells!
 
Not sure about that. DSP done by Spatial and apparently Dirac combined with controlled directivity and open baffle bass virtually take the room out of the equation. Combine that with DIGITAL amping in the digital doman and conversion to analog in the speaker with electronic X-overs??? I think we have a winner there. That is the next evolution of Emerald Physics/Spatial audio. iPod via a base station connected to an all in one/all singing-all dancing Speaker sytem by digital wire….
 
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