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DSP crossover Vivid Giya

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hvbias

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The mainstream use of DSP I see is in receivers trying to recreate another type of sound like "rock concert", "orchestra hall" or something else where they deliberately create a tailored EQ curve, add digital reverb, etc. These almost universally sound bad even on poor recordings.

When you get to the enthusiast level most people are pretty well educated that trying to create a flat frequency response at the listening position won't sound good and IME this even goes back to the TacT days.

I agree that DSP should be used to create a neutral speaker which is why I'd leave it to the designer to do so. Then use additional DSP to integrate subwoofers. When I've heard the Giya I have never felt they needed something extra done to them beyond the transitional frequency, but YMMV as those were in short listening sessions and I wouldn't discount the advice of owners.

Re- Beolab I never looked into them because I thought they had their own ecosystem to operate? I'm much more attracted to a speaker that can function independently with a variety of software. ie the DSP/amps/speaker is its own black box and just requires any analog or digital input to function, so any software player could be used, further convolution could be done upstream if the user wanted to and so on.
 

Kal Rubinson

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Re- Beolab I never looked into them because I thought they had their own ecosystem to operate?
Nope.

I'm much more attracted to a speaker that can function independently with a variety of software. ie the DSP/amps/speaker is its own black box and just requires any analog or digital input to function, so any software player could be used, further convolution could be done upstream if the user wanted to and so on.
??? Not sure what you are objecting to. That's exactly what the B&O (and the Kii) do.
 

Thomas savage

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Vivid have tried DSP Xovers and have collaborated with a few very well known companies in the past in a pursuit to develop it but they always felt and indeed I believe the listening tests they conducted confirmed the passive version was preferable.

I'm pleased if it s true and they are looking at it again but I would not hold my breath that they change.
 

Rodney Gold

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A lot of audiophiles consider DSP or DRC and indeed room treatment , as "cheating" ... kinda like "why did you buy such expensive speakers/system and have to use tone controls to panel beat their sound/your room?"
 

Purité Audio

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Beolab and Kii as has already been mentioned are already using intelligent DSP, once you hear these speakers it is totally obvious where the future lies.
Keith
 

dallasjustice

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The distinction between digital and passive crossover depends on how the digital crossover is designed. There have been many bad digital crossovers. Just look at meridian speakers of old. IMO, the best digital crossovers are linear phase and each driver time/phase aligned. Vivid uses a ported speaker. That could present a problem for such a design.

The hardware requirement for an optimal digital crossover requires a good amount of digital processing power. I also bet most speaker designers don't want to be in the box business (gain matching their customers' hand picked amps). It limits their customer base; which is already limited.
 
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hvbias

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Nope.

??? Not sure what you are objecting to. That's exactly what the B&O (and the Kii) do.

Like I said "thought" so a misunderstanding on my part :) . I will look into the Beolab now that I know that. TBH the more critical impressions I have read of the Kii (ie @amirm ) says quite a bit to me. Of course I'll arrange an audition with them if possible.

The distinction between digital and passive crossover depends on how the digital crossover is designed. There have been many bad digital crossovers. Just look at meridian speakers of old. IMO, the best digital crossovers are linear phase and each driver time/phase aligned. Vivid uses a ported speaker. That could present a problem for such a design.

The hardware requirement for an optimal digital crossover requires a good amount of digital processing power. I also bet most speaker designers don't want to be in the box business (gain matching their customers' hand picked amps). It limits their customer base; which is already limited.

Why would a ported speaker cause issues with DSP crossovers if it was designed with them in mind? AFAIK ported or not is something that is just determined by the T/S parameters of the bass driver. I would not attempt to rig up a passive speaker to go active.

And @RayDunzl step response of a passive speaker corrected with Acourate was definitely helpful, I'd never ruled out passive speakers and this was another fine data point so thank you.
 

Kal Rubinson

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Like I said "thought" so a misunderstanding on my part :) . I will look into the Beolab now that I know that. TBH the more critical impressions I have read of the Kii (ie @amirm ) says quite a bit to me. Of course I'll arrange an audition with them if possible.
For my reviews of the BeoLab90 and the Kii Three, I used them outside of any proprietary ecosystem. Just need the appropriate formats and interfaces. That said, neither are currently configured for more than a 2 channel setup although I am certain that could change if the manufacturers felt the need to.
 

sbo6

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Really Vivid Giya speakers have the best off-axis response of any passive speaker. I used to own the G3. It's a wonderful speaker. My dealer owns the G1. Its also awesome. My issues with Vivid has nothing to do with the speaker's performance. I honestly don't know whether using a digital crossover could significantly improve the Giya's off-axis. Maybe the on axis could be more tailored to the listener's liking. But the same thing could also be done with Dirac Live or Acourate.

When it comes to digital XOs and active speakers, I really think no current speaker's technology has scratched the surface of what is really possible. That's exciting and depressing, at the same time.

Just curious to better understand what you did not like about the Vivids, was it aesthetics?
 
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