Sometimes writing down the problem helps.
Why was I letting Dirac control the whole frequency range when my problem was lower down ?
Fired up the live calibration tool and redid my filters to a far more conservative range - only in the 50 - 750 hz region.
Whaddya know, the newly added but lost sound stage width is back. and not the boomy bass.
Slaps head, and admits I was stoopeed.
img link
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YjzIuFzqW1F4rcJf1
ciao
gr
Yes the Dirac was probably overdoing it, now it'd be much more enjoyable to listen to.
Sorry for the delayed update :
I visited @Sound_cycle home on a lazy Sunday morning. We started with my wav files and Apple music played via Intel Nuc. Few observations
1. The room is wide open on the sides, I had a belief that, no matter whatever changes we did, the bass is going to be the Achilles heel. It is going to be pretty difficult to get an accurate bass response & get minute differentiation of bass nuances , owing to the listening geometry.
The previous system WITH Marantz PM 6004 was pretty inaccurate in many ways as expected. When I heard the new system with Saga and Vidar that complaint was addressed effectively.
Wow, the accuracy of bass response was very evident from the first song , from the complex drum sequences to a thumping discotheque songs the bass was mind blowingly impressive. The reverberation was very well controlled and making a distinction between two slightly dissimilar beats was pretty easy. It is pretty enjoyable and I'd recommend this for any bass heads, as there's no need for Subwoofer & the Floor standers were more than enough.
2. Saga really overshines my Chinese Tube buffer by quite a margin, let me remind adding a Chinese tube buffer improved the SQ very significantly over the Marantz Stereo amp. The layers of music are very well delineated giving you an immersive experience similar to having Surrounds.
Each and every instrumentation in the music is very clearly elucidated in a definite perceivable improvement over the Chinese tube buffer. In simple terms The resolution is much better with Saga over the Chinese tubes . More near to the live concert experience.
3. The vocals, especially slightly husky male voices are very accurate in presentation. The Saga does a pretty good job as a preamp where it is pretty neutral without any undue colouration, which it can be blamed for. This is a signature DNA of most Schiit DACs in general.
4. The highs are adequate, slightly rolled off but in a pleasing manner. The sound is not fatiguing so listening for longer hours should not be problematic.
Some amount of digital glare does creep in, which may be perceived as harsh occasionally.
5. Most important impression in the listening is that lovely subtle suspense that Saga brings to the table especially to the songs you've listened N number of times before. You're waiting how this interlude is going to sound or how this vocals going to sound. Very enjoyable.
6. Vidar matches very well, runs reasonably hot and we need to be careful during Hyderabad summers. It has the adequate power to drive most of the speaker systems. There's no doubt that it deserves all the praise it gets in the reviews.
7. This combination really rocks, I honestly couldn't make out the difference between active tube buffer switching which probably needs more careful listening sessions. Honestly, It does not matter as long as you are loving it. I'm looking forward to a listening session at my house when time permits, so it'll be more objective experience. I'm looking forward to buying Freya, so I guess it would be a good demo for me before buying.
I can see its a remarkable upgrade for @Sound_cycle from his previous system ; more importantly its achieved keeping the most important factor in sound reproduction constant, that is the Dali Zensor 5 Floorstanders.
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