Future Tech at Capital Audio Fest 2023 | Special Show Report

[@anthonycharles19]

Thank you Tom your insights for the future of the Hobby

[@scottwheeler2679]

Excellent review of the BACCH.

[@dennisjames7611]

Thank you, Tom. I've been in this hobby for forty years now having have many speakers over the years I recently purchased the Legacy Audio Aeris with Wavlet 11 and this system has been a game changer for me.

[@semccoin]

One limitation of the Wavelet relates to a gain differential between the internal amplifiers and the external amplifier used. I use the Aries Cerat Concero 25 monobloc amplifiers, which are very low gain, and the Wavelet could not do it's setup without erroring out.

[@anthonybertolami3888]

I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation of emerging technologies.

[@davewin1792]

The BACCH SP adio Stereo Purifier sounds fascinating. Owning 300+ classical records from the 50's-70's, and many are quite low key in their presentation. The crazy thing is that Red Seal (digital) RCA recording of Stravinsky's Firebird is shockingly good. Room filling, superb bass, well placed performers. So we know it can be done. This sounds like a wonderful tool!

[@vendelius]

Thank You for this Most Interesting Chat.

[@labalo5]

Congrats to Theoretica team. 😊

[@mikelautermilch8939]

fascinating content, clearly presented. thanks!

[@TheTASmagazine]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ron521]

I noticed most rooms were playing jazz/vocals rather loud. I didn’t see one room playing classical music. I thought that for the buck the PMC transmission line speakers were the best value for the middle class consumer.

[@DaveWilliams-c6k]

Loved the part about Viva Audio! Couldn't agree more with your thoughts. I am biased here, as I look after their international sales BUT I did so after haring them and being 'wowed'.

[@Phloored]

Bach baby, bring it! What a day for a daydream.

[@gtrguyinaz]

I am interested in open baffle speakers.. like Pure Audio Project…. Great concept of thinking outside the box…

[@razisn]

Simple passive open baffle designs have been around at least since the mid 20th century, maybe even earlier. There are good reasons as to why they have remained a fringe technology, some of these having been explained by our host in this video.

[@thomasmartin2219]

I believe Micheal Fremer has a report on an open baffle speaker coming later this week

[@dougg1075]

Very cool and interesting

[@charlesnr]

Its nice to have some new ideas such as the Van S bass trap. But for practical moderate systems, the Gradient Revolution speaker, mine is from 1994 version, now in its 5th version, does much to solve this problem today at moderate, below $10K for a pair. And has been highly discussed by Robert Green many years ago.

[@_944audiophile]

As I watch this video, Class D amplification appears to be re-emerging (see Tidal, Mola Mola, Bel Canto-Black and others) in a big way w many reviewers leveling the A-AB-D playing field. Aurender will be using the Putseys modules in the soon to be released AP20 all in one model. Size/heat/dynamics make the “new” Class D amp offerings, very appealing!

[@thomasmartin2219]

The size benefits of class D are very real, indeed. This, of course, is a key reason why almost all embedded bass amplifiers are class D. Class D has the potential to be more cost effective, too. Sonically, I would put it in the incremental gains department, which is not the subject of this report. I mentioned class A/B at the outset simply to indicate that there are common technologies that can sustain high market share for very long periods. This can be due either to infrastructure (as was the case for a while with Class D, but less so now) or unexamined logic or both. I am proposing that the big but solvable problems generally have “both” as the barrier. This is what we have, I believe, with speakers and processors (and recording techniques).

[@glenncurry3041]

Great review! Get some exposure to some of the more unique concepts.

[@josenebrus8183]

Thank you Sir for a wonderful report of the Capital Audio Fest 👌 you did a fantastic job 👍

[@dougg1075]

I wonder if AI will effect the industry. Love the weathered look of the 002’s

[@semccoin]

Could explain the difference between the Aeris on Legacy Audio's website and the Aeris XD you referenced in the video? I know what the XD means in the lower models (powered subwoofers option) but these are standard in the Aeris.

[@thomasmartin2219]

I think the Aeris XD on the Legacy site is the product we saw and heard. The main change is the increase in the bass amplification power.

[@mitchdowning8188]

The human ear is designed to gather sound and the human brain has the capability of deciphering a lot of that information in ways that are not yet fully understood. Horns and ears have some similarities, but it does not follow that a horn should be aimed toward an ear. When we listen to live music our ears are gathering a broadly dispersed sound field often made by many individual sound sources. Proper reproduction would involve a wide broadcast of sound to fill whatever listening space is provided. One major weakness of most omni-directional speaker designs has been that narrow dispersion dynamic cone or dome (tweeter) drivers are being used. My observations here are based on the performance of Sonab speakers, which are (IMO) among the best examples of the early implementation of "omni" speakers. Using horn loaded mid-range drivers to deliver sound on the vertical plane is a much better solution to generating the needed sound field. Having designed and tested several prototypes of speakers involving these design principles, I am encouraged to find that new ideas about enhancing spatial presentation are gaining acceptance among audiophiles.

[@bayard1332]

Maybe I missed it, but your ghosting of Clayton Shaw's new open baffle Caladan speaker is, to me, a giant glaring omission.

[@thomasmartin2219]

I believe Michael Fremer covered this. To appear later this week. We have to divide and conquer. And even then invitations are rare and things get missed.

[@thomasmartin2219]

Fremers coverage of the Caladan is up on The Absolute Sound on KZbin now.

[@garysmith8455]

I am a STICKLER when it comes to recordings made in the natural acoustic of concert halls and churches. As is common , many MONO channels/microphones just doesn't do it PERIOD, it is artificial and sorry to say, turns a fine concert hall with award winning acoustics into a dog gone recording STUDIO, AND sensationalizes the orchestra, chorus or pipe organ. On the other hand, a two channel recording is expensive AND time consuming for recording engineers to record in TRUE STEREO = two mikes, two channels and get it RIGHT! Those recordings of acoustic ensembles or orchestral/symphonic performances are rare and far between! It is those, that will make our home audio systems really come to life and shine ❤. Final comment? If it is MORE then 2 channels, it is NOT true stereo..............period! Two microphones, two speakers, TWO EARS 🙂.

[@razisn]

The way I understand what that Bacch processor tries to do is convert 2 channel speaker listening to how headphone listening sounds in terms of soundstage breadth by mitigating normal crosstalk and phase differences due to both of our ears hearing stuff coming from both speakers (please correct me if I'm fundamentally wrong here). That's pretty funny given the recent trend in many headphone amps or dacs to introduce what they call cross-fading (crosstalk and phase differences), implemented either through DSP or in the analog domain, to make headphone listening more akin to speaker listening... My belief is that neither speaker nor headphone listening is any 'truer' than the other with regards to the 'soundstage' presented. Btw microphones (and there so many kinds of those) 'hear' things very differently than our ears do.

[@danielgeiger7739]

Re the BACCH basic assumption, that makes perfect sense; I'm baffled that anybody would think otherwise. So the processor is similar to a Unsharp Mask in photography. The question is, is it advantageous or are we going into the yummy phase of audio, like overly sharp and saturated images being preferred by the general public. -- Why go for active bass traps rather than standard DSP? Re Beatles print, done that myself through Etsy print on home made absorption panels (not diffusion), but print is easy. -- Bass time correction is interesting. I disconnected my sub again after fiddling a long time but getting horrible out of sync time between main speaker and sub.

[@scottwheeler2679]

It’s a huge step towards greater accuracy and greater realism. There is no downside

[@danielgeiger7739]

@@scottwheeler2679 I assume you refer to BACCH. Thought a bit more about it, and hearing instruments to left and right (90 degrees) is not realistic, unless you are part of the musicians. That is why I made the analogy to over sharpening and saturation in photography. It might be more "thrilling" "exciting" etc. but not more realistic. Yes, I understand sound reflection, but that is a secondary source that helps placing the instruments away from the midline, but 90 degrees is over-"correction". my 2c.

[@thomasmartin2219]

@@danielgeiger7739 Indeed. But the BACCH does not force the soundspace to be 180 degrees wide to be clear. It just can be 180 degrees wide (or wider). The recording engineers set that parameter for each recording. So, if the performers formed a 40 degree arc, then BACCH could present performers in a 40 degree arc. Or 60 or 80 or whatever. Hope that is clearer.

[@garysmith8455]

Aaaah, bass cancellation...........Not an issue with Martin Logan CURVED electrostatic models from the Masterpiece series.... Anyone ever heard of them 'round here ?? 😊

[@thomasmartin2219]

Indeed. MartinLogan Masterpiece models will not have bass cancellation effects from dipole radiation because they are not, I believe, dipoles in the bass range. Their cone woofer system will have an omni radiation pattern, which, in the context of this discussion creates other issues. Every engineering choice involves tradeoffs, unfortunately.

[@garysmith8455]

@@thomasmartin2219 Yes, bass fills the space, and why I use only one ML subwoofer with mine. But, isn't that why the woofers are on the front AND rear to better integrate with the EStat? Lets not send Joe V. back to his drawing board (O: I learned you were at my dealer recently (Safe and Sound).....small world.

[@thomasmartin2219]

I’m not up to speed on the exact alignment of the Masterpiece bass sections. But generally, you either have the two woofers out of phase as with the ‘stat panel, and you get lateral cancellation, or the woofers are in phase and you get Omni bass. The latter, as I discuss, is possibly problematic for imaging as it represents a change in the directivity of the speaker with frequency, something that clues your ear/brain into the speaker as the source rather than the intended virtual source. It involves a tradeoff, either way. The discussion then revolves around practical ways, and success rates, for addressing the tradeoffs. M-L has gone to some length to address these, though I am not clear that these efforts address soundspace/imaging tradeoffs.

[@garysmith8455]

@@thomasmartin2219 Thanks Thomas for your continued replies, appreciate that, and continue to enjoy your video presentations! Are you going to use any of your visit to Safe and Sound / Burmester listening session in a future production? Or, was that for a magazine presentation? 🙂

[@notathang8087]

Congrats Edgar!!!🎉, I own the Legacy Audio WhisperXDS and I’m in open baffle bass heaven w/ the Wavelet II. I have been using the Bacch-DSP Mac OS software that does purify the signal; revealing all the masked inner detail and without any deleterious tonal shift while providing 3D ambient retrieval and amazing soundstage depth, width, and height. Most will be fine with the audiophile and the Audiophile +. BACCH IS THE SINGLE MOST DRASTIC ADVANCEMENT IN AUDIO REPRODUCTION 3D …and ambient info on the recording, but it increases inner detail and purifies the quality and it’s not subtle. This is 3D from two speakers without the deleterious tonal shifts that come off sounding like other lesser “Pro-level VST EFECTS Plugin” Professor Chourieri deserves the Audiophile equivalent of a Nobel Prize! 🎉🎉🎉CONGRATS AGAIN EDGAR! 🫶

[@reglazingnyc1708]

Thanks Tom for coming my room and detail explanation my speakers Bache audio 002

[@MichaelBeeny]

You had credibility until you started talking about power conditioners. THEY MAKE NO AUDABLE DIFFERENCE.

[@bloodcarver913]

Well, stop talking about AB based amps as you mentioned in the beginning. It shows your age ^^. I'm betting a 100 bucks saying that most of the amps in that show were class D based...which is a modern development that show todays market situation.

[@razisn]

I'm afraid you'll loose 100 bucks..

[@_944audiophile]

Haha… My first “audiophile” amp was the Spectral DMA50. AB, that gave the big Jeff Roland a run for the $$!