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Romy the Cat
Boston, MA
Posts 10,168
Joined on 05-28-2004
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Post #:
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6
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Post ID:
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25884
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Reply to:
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25882
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I am with Mr. Robbins on it.
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 JJ Triode wrote: | I listened to this talk up to the beginning of the question-and-answer session. I am surprised that this method would really capture the essence of Romy's almighty DPOLS condition. It seems to me that Robbins is very much centered on imaging alone, apart from the initial bass optimization (with just one speaker) and it concerns me that he is committed to one specific, girl-and-string-bass recording. I can imagine a system having OK bass and a good center image and still sounding terrible in many other ways (frequency balance, tonal texture, coherence of large orchestral or choral works, you name it.) Robbins seems to claim that everything else is sorted out automatically once bass and imaging are "locked in" his way.
Well, maybe they are, and I can certainly believe that the Robbins approach would achieve a big improvement over the random or wrongheaded setups widely found in both homes and audio showrooms. But Romy described DPOLS as a unique pair of points that bring a sudden, vast improvement in sound, an improvement that is lost if either speaker moves even a centimeter from its dead point. Robbins seems to describe a more forgiving algorithm, though again, the realities of DPOLS and the Robbins setup may be more similar than the descriptions. |
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JJ, I disagree with you, at least in my expectations. What Mr. Robbins describes to me feels exactly as DPOLS. He might use different terminology, but the result is very much the same. This micro-interactions between speakers and the room is very complex subject and no one who know what the subject all about would understand it, you just need to experience the DPOLS yourself once and then you have an idea what is all about. In fact, in western audio society, among what I came across and among the mainstream of audio participant’s, Mr. Robbins probably the only one who talk about it publicly and presumably practically consulting. Sure, there are zillion companies the offers this or that methodology of speakers’ setup and they mostly beneficial audio perspective but what Bob is talking about is very much next step forward. In fact, if you have the playback in the DPOLS then the frequency response become irrelevant and you might have +-15dB amplitude distortions and you will not be bothered.
I am considering hiring Mr. Robbins to set my playback to DPOLS. It might be challenging and there are many other factors that suggest me that I should not be doing it as it is waste of money. What Bruno said and what my former experience tells me that the DPOLS setting is extremely fragile and very easy to look it. You literally can change an interconnect cable and the things start fall apart. The said irony is that in some cases the reverse the interconnect cable back will not fix the problem. (!!!!) do not ask me to explain it, I cannot. In my case it is particularly very vulnerable as I have 14 independent active analog channels running. If a cathode of one of the tube loos emission for instance and the canals drops a fraction of DB will I lose all my DPOLS and all money that I paid to Robbins. Also, I have my kids constantly harassing my playback, they latterly chew my horns not to mention they miscalibrate anything imaginable. So, I feel it is a complete waste of money to do it in my room and with my playback.
Still, I am very much considering it to use Mr. Robbins as with my current life I do not have a couple days during which I can extract myself from my family and to indulge myself by speakers moving and attentive listening. I feel that outsource this task would be good and the money I paid to do it would be a good motivation to preserve the configuration. Sometimes it is nice to play off my own jewishness… :-). Also, I would like Mr. Robbins to explain to my wife how fragile the configuration is and that my instance that kind do not go to our listening room without me escorting them is not a manifestation of my domestic dictatorship but very reasonable requirement to protect the investment. I am willing to play upon her virtual Jewishness as well.
There is another point that I would like to bring. Mr. Robbins is greatly misunderstood when he is talking about imaging. The moronic industry players completely vandalized the subject of imaging and they presented it for years as some kind of listing commodity. The reality is that imaging is a tool, a byproduct of playback, that just need to be properly used as it reflects some other characteristics that very hard to measure (like a perception of room/speakers’ phase interactions). I have been advancing these subject years. For instance, the is a methodology that I developed that permits to find the DPOLS strictly by mono image plays by stereo systems. The loser your spikers to perfect DPOLS Gspot the smaller mono image is and the further it moves away. If you have a mono image that make your closely recorded violin player to be imaged as it 100s feet away then do not switch your playback to stereo as what you will hear will make you ruin your life and you will understand that you never before hears any sound from playback. It is still not about sound; it is the physiological impact that sound has to awareness. It defines foe you that it is the plaice you need to be in so many ways. I literally can write a book how to observe the distance of that mono image, but who would understand it…
"I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche
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