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In the Forum: Playback Listening
In the Thread: 2+3 surround sound??
Post Subject: IntentionsPosted by anthony on: 4/26/2025
Romy, I've put so much work into the line level filters that I am very reluctant to set them aside for digital if I was able to.  7 channels each side + 7 immersive channels  + 2 immersive subwoofers = 23 channels total and the Trinnov16 only has 20 channels, so I would have to retain some line level filters regardless, or upgrade to the Trinnov32.  

The big push in my room though is that I want my turntable to be on the same level playing field as the digital, which is the reason behind going to such efforts with room treatments (bass treatments really) to greatly reduce room modal behaviour without resorting to DSP as a band-aid able to be applied to digital only.  So far so good, prior to the final subwoofer channel going in I have an unsmoothed response of +/- 3dB SPL from 30Hz and up without DSP or Trinnov waveforming or any other form of digital EQ, which the turntable is also able to enjoy without need an analogue to digital conversion. 

So my intention at this stage for stereo music is to run a full range signal to Macondo and let the Trinnov process the surrounds.  That is where I will start.  Of course I will trial running Macondo with a the Trinnov processed front signal as well just to be sure I am not missing out on something.

Regarding the Trinnov dacs, my understanding is that they are decent, based on ESS Sabre I think (not sure), and they measure very well.  However, I am able to take a digital signal from the Trinnov and run it through my dac (or two dacs) of preference which is how I intend to proceed for Macondo.

One interesting thing with all this is that I should be able to figure out a way to apply Auro3D processing to vinyl playback.  

I've put a LOT of effort into my streaming setup and Roon playback from Qobuz or Tidal etc. sounds better than file playback off a local hard drive.  In the early days the comparison was not even close but I am definitely there now and streaming even sounds better than cd or sacd playback from my Pioneer LX500 UDP, which when used as a transport is a nice sounding disc spinner.  En-route is a dedicated cd transport of some repute and if I can ever find a CEC TL0 3.0 on the used market for a reasonable price I will grab one of those too.  Will be very interesting to compare high performance cd transports to my high performance digital streaming, but I do like to be able to play whichever format is floating my boat at any particular time, be that vinyl, cd, streaming or blu-ray.

There is more and more music being released in immersive formats that I am keen to try, plus I do like watching concerts on blu-ray from time to time, so the high-end speakers as part of my home theatre is, for me, a must.  I have no intention of using a centre speaker as it will be impossible for something else to emulate the performance of Macondo/Melquiades.

Then there is time alignment.  I understand that Trinnov is the master of precise time alignment, but I think I have an analogue process which is on the same level of precision.  To time align Macondo/Melquiades I am aligning the excess group delay in the passband of each channel.  The group delay for each channel varies according to the filter before it, the number of amplifier stages (some DSET channels are single stage, some or dual stage), the group delay of the transducer/horn combination and the passband of the channel.  Aligning voice coils is not accurate.  Neither is alignment by phase cancellation at the crossover frequency, but aligning excess group delay takes all of the variables into account.  At the moment I am re-building the footer of my horn stack so that I can extend the upperbass horn 13cm (5") further away from the other channels.  This will sit the UB horn considerably forward of the higher channels to enable it to be in a time aligned position mainly due to the extra group delay of the lower frequencies. 

Bill, thanks for the Trinnov tips.  I appreciate both you and Romy sharing your knowledge.

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