Yesterday @RayDunzl and myself were guests of the Suncoast Audiophile Society's monthly meeting. At that meeting AJ of Soundfield Audio fame did a wonderful demonstration with two of his latest prototype speaker designs. Both are fully active designs incorporating plate amplification w/dsp, a direction he has taken with all his current work IIRC.
AJ appears a big fan of just a slight bit of added openness using a couple extra paths to enhance playback. Both speakers can optionally use switchable and level adjustable rear firing ambiance drivers.
Adding to the total demo package were a small set rear speakers using the old standby Logic 7 processing to add just a bit more ambiance. I'll admit to my own personal preference of using some rear enhancement during much of my home stereo playback. Thru-out the day, AJ would occasionally switch one or both of the ambiance paths on and off to highlight a point, or at a members request.
The first speakers up for demo were small stand mounted monitors with a waveguide tweeter and 8' woofer. I'll guess at the rooms dimensions of approximately 40 x 25, a bit large for such a small monitor unassisted by any subwoofer, but the speakers were able to deliver an amazing amount of quality bass into such a vast space. On the top, his choice of tweeter and crossover design was quite smooth sounding to my old ears. They had an impressive ability to totally disappear and created very wide and deep soundstaging with great focus when I took my turn in the sweet spot chair. With the rear drivers active, they added not so much as extra depth but more like turning on the air around the performers in the reproduced space.
The other speaker was a much more ambitious product, a floor standing four way with what appeared to be a open baffled 12" coaxial driver on top, 2 12" front firing cardioid mid-woofers on the bottom, and a large servo controlled rear firing subwoofer on the back. Now these guys could really push some db into that large space. They added that special dynamic impact that only designs capable of delivering large wavefronts of air can bring to the party. While playing some symphonic pieces I was immediately reminded of the power that a large orchestra can create when attending a live event. The smoothness in the treble range that greatly impressed me with the small monitors was again present in these larger boxes, seems to be a design quality that AJ puts a high priority on.
AJ played all the various types of music using both Tidal, his personal files on the hard drive, and a bunch of CD's (some provided by club members) as sources. Anything that the attendees requested was played and handled with aplomb by these reproducers. Up on the anti-shrine were just a couple small components, a Mytek Pre/DAC (Brooklyn I think) and a Emotiva Pre/DAC used alternately for various sources. A older Harman Kardon receiver was on hand to Logic 7 process and drive the rear surround speakers.
First I'd like to thank the members of the Suncoast Audiophile Society for the gracious invitation to their meeting. Pizza, snacks, and drinks were provided along with a genuine hospitality that made us both feel at home and welcome. If you live in or are visiting the south Tampa area and are interested the club can be contacted here,
https://www.meetup.com/Suncoast-Audiophile-Society/
Also a big thanks to AJ for contacting us and letting us know about his demo. Had one he-ll of a good time while listening to some great music on amazing sounding speaker systems. AJ can be contacted thru Soundfield Audios website here,
http://www.soundfieldaudio.net/
Sorry I didn't get any pictures, I'm no Amirm with a camera.
Maybe Ray has some further comments on the day and has a few photos to add.
AJ appears a big fan of just a slight bit of added openness using a couple extra paths to enhance playback. Both speakers can optionally use switchable and level adjustable rear firing ambiance drivers.
Adding to the total demo package were a small set rear speakers using the old standby Logic 7 processing to add just a bit more ambiance. I'll admit to my own personal preference of using some rear enhancement during much of my home stereo playback. Thru-out the day, AJ would occasionally switch one or both of the ambiance paths on and off to highlight a point, or at a members request.
The first speakers up for demo were small stand mounted monitors with a waveguide tweeter and 8' woofer. I'll guess at the rooms dimensions of approximately 40 x 25, a bit large for such a small monitor unassisted by any subwoofer, but the speakers were able to deliver an amazing amount of quality bass into such a vast space. On the top, his choice of tweeter and crossover design was quite smooth sounding to my old ears. They had an impressive ability to totally disappear and created very wide and deep soundstaging with great focus when I took my turn in the sweet spot chair. With the rear drivers active, they added not so much as extra depth but more like turning on the air around the performers in the reproduced space.
The other speaker was a much more ambitious product, a floor standing four way with what appeared to be a open baffled 12" coaxial driver on top, 2 12" front firing cardioid mid-woofers on the bottom, and a large servo controlled rear firing subwoofer on the back. Now these guys could really push some db into that large space. They added that special dynamic impact that only designs capable of delivering large wavefronts of air can bring to the party. While playing some symphonic pieces I was immediately reminded of the power that a large orchestra can create when attending a live event. The smoothness in the treble range that greatly impressed me with the small monitors was again present in these larger boxes, seems to be a design quality that AJ puts a high priority on.
AJ played all the various types of music using both Tidal, his personal files on the hard drive, and a bunch of CD's (some provided by club members) as sources. Anything that the attendees requested was played and handled with aplomb by these reproducers. Up on the anti-shrine were just a couple small components, a Mytek Pre/DAC (Brooklyn I think) and a Emotiva Pre/DAC used alternately for various sources. A older Harman Kardon receiver was on hand to Logic 7 process and drive the rear surround speakers.
First I'd like to thank the members of the Suncoast Audiophile Society for the gracious invitation to their meeting. Pizza, snacks, and drinks were provided along with a genuine hospitality that made us both feel at home and welcome. If you live in or are visiting the south Tampa area and are interested the club can be contacted here,
https://www.meetup.com/Suncoast-Audiophile-Society/
Also a big thanks to AJ for contacting us and letting us know about his demo. Had one he-ll of a good time while listening to some great music on amazing sounding speaker systems. AJ can be contacted thru Soundfield Audios website here,
http://www.soundfieldaudio.net/
Sorry I didn't get any pictures, I'm no Amirm with a camera.
Maybe Ray has some further comments on the day and has a few photos to add.
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