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Active vs Room Correction?

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AnthonyS

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Thanks all, a great introduction to the forum and great insights, if a little complicated to get my head around all of it :)

It seems room correction and bass management trumps an active pair of speakers so I've readjusted my short list set up appropriately. I'm just wondering whether it's worth considering the LS50 Wireless 2s now as a cheaper alternative. They seem to have proper bass management from reading though the manual, along with a few preset EQ settings for putting the speakers close to the wall. I am only about 2 metres from the speakers and subwoofer, though they are all backed up against a wall. The Bluesound POWERNODE also seems to give bass management but no room correction. It's even cheaper again but assume not worth considering compared to the other options?

Will room correction really be of noticeable benefit being that close to the speakers (to be worth the extra cost and less power)? I imagine I hear a lot of the speakers rather than the room being that close and having them pointed at me – except for the lower frequencies which can be managed through low and high pass filters?

So looks like 2 or 3 options – just not sure I've got the advantages and disadvantages of each clear if anyone can lean in?

1. KEF LS50 W2, no room correct but EQ preset for positioning them close to the wall and bass management, plus 280 watt amp on mid bass driver and 100 watt A/B amp on tweeter

OR go for one of the following paired with LS50 metas for an extra ~AU$1000:

2. TDAI-1120, room perfect and complex bass management but 'only' 60 watts at 8ohms then 120 watts at 4ohms, which may have a slight effect on power or volume?

3. NAD M10, Dirac live and bass management 100 watts at 8/4ohms; this means the TDAI-1120 is actually more powerful at 4ohms??
 
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Eruditarian

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I'm in a very similar place in consideration to you @AnthonyS !

I'm curious with those options - what about powernode + LS50 Metas + some sort of upstream DSP like REW on a PC as an input source for room correction? That's something I was considering from a cost perspective given those other amps are significantly more costly than the powernode, granted they are prettier too :).

Also, is there any issue with combining upstream room correction (like REW at the source), with components that may have their own room correction, like a KEF C62 sub?
 

abdo123

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I'm in a very similar place in consideration to you @AnthonyS !

I'm curious with those options - what about powernode + LS50 Metas + some sort of upstream DSP like REW on a PC as an input source for room correction? That's something I was considering from a cost perspective given those other amps are significantly more costly than the powernode, granted they are prettier too :).

Also, is there any issue with combining upstream room correction (like REW at the source), with components that may have their own room correction, like a KEF C62 sub?

I think you guys are sleeping on the MiniDSP SHD power, i would definitely buy that if i'm looking for all-in-one box.
 
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AnthonyS

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Thanks again all. I bought the TDAI-1120 amp for it's voicing, room correction and bass management after reading through this thread and others. In Australia it ends up being the same price as the MiniDSP SHD power with shipping and import taxes, plus it has HDMI eARC so I can use it for TV audio. If I didn't want HDMI and were in the US I would have chosen differently. I'm still a little worried about its power output but leaving the speaker decision until I figure out more about what would pair best with it. It seems to provide a good level of power at 4 ohms, just not so much at 8 ohms. The LS50 Metas drop to 4 ohms so it may be ok with them. I was told not to pair it with Dynaudio speakers as they need a lot of power, but heard that about the KEFs too..
 
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AnthonyS

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I'm in a very similar place in consideration to you @AnthonyS !

I'm curious with those options - what about powernode + LS50 Metas + some sort of upstream DSP like REW on a PC as an input source for room correction? That's something I was considering from a cost perspective given those other amps are significantly more costly than the powernode, granted they are prettier too :).

Also, is there any issue with combining upstream room correction (like REW at the source), with components that may have their own room correction, like a KEF C62 sub?

I think that's a good/cheaper option, from what I've read. The amp doesn't appear to be as good as the M10 and the room correction isn't going to be as easy and seamless. I found the M10 is discounted now as the new one is coming out so it's not that much more than the new POWERNODE, at the moment anyway.
 
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