Stereo Setup - Dirac ART or Genelec GLM?

[decryption]

I am tossing up between these two setups for my ~15sqm study desk setup (speakers on each side of desk, subwoofer under desk):

• Denon X3800H - $2499
• Dirac ART Bundle - $1193
• SVS SB1000 - $899
• Polk R100 Pair - $1099
• A$5,690

vs

• Genelec 7350A subwoofer - $2179
• Genelec 8330A pair with GLM kit - $3050
• SMSL N100 (for AES/EBU XLR output) - $670
• A$5,899

I've always wanted a set of Genelec speakers - but Dirac ART would do wonders (I assume) in my relatively untreated room? Anyone have experience running Dirac ART in stereo mode?

 

[Mort]

Disc Art is probably not worth it for one subwoofer.

You can find a cheaper option for digital out than the smsl.

To my knowledge no one here has both GLM and Dirac ART to compare.

Consider used genelec, they are built like tanks.

 

[delta76]

$2499 for x3800h is insane. Look for deal or even used one. In Europe it is ~$1100

 

[decryption]

$2499 for x3800h is insane. Look for deal or even used one. In Europe it is ~$1100

It is sometimes $2000, but that's just life in Austraila - not much competition for high end electronics like this as it's all sold via the one distributor who seems to fix the prices.

Consider used genelec, they are built like tanks.

Not much used stuff around in Australia! I set alerts on the common sites and they don't appear that often.

Still undecided - the Denon is easier to connect to the computer, but the Genelec is a speaker I've coveted for a while. Will have to think about it some more.

 

[AudioJester]

If your using PC as a source, dirac ART should be coming to PC this year. No need for the Denon. Start with KH120ii or 8030/8020, then add any sub if needed.

 

[decryption]

If your using PC as a source, dirac ART should be coming to PC this year.

Oh hell yeah. Might just hold out for that.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

$2499 for x3800h is insane. Look for deal or even used one. In Europe it is ~$1100

(2499 australian dollars = ~1400 Euro.)

 

[delta76]

(2499 australian dollars = ~1400 Euro.)

Yeah should have mentioned that. Most of us will just assume $ = USD. I was wondering why he listed so high prices

 

[pehu63]

I am tossing up between these two setups for my ~15sqm study desk setup (speakers on each side of desk, subwoofer under desk):

• Denon X3800H - $2499
• Dirac ART Bundle - $1193
• SVS SB1000 - $899
• Polk R100 Pair - $1099
• A$5,690

vs

• Genelec 7350A subwoofer - $2179
• Genelec 8330A pair with GLM kit - $3050
• SMSL N100 (for AES/EBU XLR output) - $670
• A$5,899

I've always wanted a set of Genelec speakers - but Dirac ART would do wonders (I assume) in my relatively untreated room? Anyone have experience running Dirac ART in stereo mode?

Well, bit biased here, I have genelec 8030 with a kali sub, totally happy. Room mode compensation in a DSP.
I would guess that the polk does not come close to the genelecs. Check spinorama.org.
BTW, spinorama.org says that 8030 is better than 8330, but no SAM.

Room treatment, advise from Toole is (1) get speakers with good spinorama, and (2) only do some compensation below schroeder frequency, 200hz.
And personal preference tweaking, if your ego really needs it.

So, I would shoot for either 7350+8330+GLM, or 7360+8030+GLM.
The 7350 does not have high pass, not compatbile with 8030.
The 7360 is fairly expensive.

 

[Mort]

Anyone have experience running Dirac ART in stereo mode?

yes, posted more here. For Stereo with one sub, DiracART would not be worth the cost or the additional time over GLM. It should be noted before the DiracArmy jumps on me, that mine is not the primary use-case for DiracArt which often is multi-sub and multi-channel.

 

[90sNintendoKid]

I would go with the Denon 3800H, Dirac ART and 4 subwoofers, this is what I use. Also if you want to, I can also highly recommend @OCA's A1 Evo Acoustix. If you want to go crazy, I am contemplating using more than 4 subwoofers with ART by using subwoofers to make each speaker full range with Minidsp 2x4 HDs or a Minidsp Flex Hex.............I'm not sure how the subwoofers and speaker subwoofers will interact in terms of cancellation and I am pretty sure I will have fun experimenting with this. @OCA recently released an excellent video on integrating subwoofers with speakers and the Mad Audio YouTube channel released this video and he got better results integrating Buchardt Sub 10s to make his surround speakers full range rather than having them in the ART subwoofer group or separate group from the main subwoofers.

I've been learning a lot about improving my system (4.4.4) over the last years and one of the most important things I've learned is 2 or more subwoofers are better than one and time aligning subwoofers is also extremely important.

 

[Martini]

Well, bit biased here, I have genelec 8030 with a kali sub, totally happy. Room mode compensation in a DSP.
I would guess that the polk does not come close to the genelecs. Check spinorama.org.
BTW, spinorama.org says that 8030 is better than 8330, but no SAM.

Room treatment, advise from Toole is (1) get speakers with good spinorama, and (2) only do some compensation below schroeder frequency, 200hz.
And personal preference tweaking, if your ego really needs it.

So, I would shoot for either 7350+8330+GLM, or 7360+8030+GLM.
The 7350 does not have high pass, not compatbile with 8030.
The 7360 is fairly expensive.

Since the 8030 is not a SAM monitor, GLM will not work with it, however the 8330A will mate well with the 7350.

 

[pehu63]

Since the 8030 is not a SAM monitor, GLM will not work with it, however the 8330A will mate well with the 7350.

Partly true. For correcting room modes below schroeder frequency, the 7360 with SAM will work fine with 8030, as the 7360 has high pass filter.

 

[Oddball]

yes, posted more here. For Stereo with one sub, DiracART would not be worth the cost or the additional time over GLM. It should be noted before the DiracArmy jumps on me, that mine is not the primary use-case for DiracArt which often is multi-sub and multi-channel.

Don't know of anyone on the forum with both GLM and Dirac ART so don't think anyone would have solid grounds to jump in. You are the man for GLM/ART overlap

 

[Mort]

Don't know of anyone on the forum with both GLM and Dirac ART so don't think anyone would have solid grounds to jump in. You are the man for GLM/ART overlap

Ha. In a trivial way. I was only ever able to test one sub, which we know is not the strongest for ART.

 

[Oddball]

I would go with the Denon 3800H, Dirac ART and 4 subwoofers, this is what I use. Also if you want to, I can also highly recommend @OCA's A1 Evo Acoustix. If you want to go crazy, I am contemplating using more than 4 subwoofers with ART by using subwoofers to make each speaker full range with Minidsp 2x4 HDs or a Minidsp Flex Hex.............I'm not sure how the subwoofers and speaker subwoofers will interact in terms of cancellation and I am pretty sure I will have fun experimenting with this. @OCA recently released an excellent video on integrating subwoofers with speakers and the Mad Audio YouTube channel released this video and he got better results integrating Buchardt Sub 10s to make his surround speakers full range rather than having them in the ART subwoofer group or separate group from the main subwoofers.

I've been learning a lot about improving my system (4.4.4) over the last years and one of the most important things I've learned is 2 or more subwoofers are better than one and time aligning subwoofers is also extremely important.

Let us know how experiment goes. In terms of interaction between the speakers and subs, Mini will definitely provide more flexibility than what Mad Audio had.

Couple of comments though.

I am not really fond of videos that don't really to into technical detail and provide REW charts to back up their findings. So would take this with a grain of salt. I have no idea what he did in terms of the overall settings for the preferred setup. Did he support all channels with surrounds when paired with subs? If not then he "wasted" 2 subs just for dedicated channels.

Gets more complicated than that, but then this is not ART thread. From my experience with 4 equal subs, and large bed speakers is that you get great results and localization of the bass (when bass is encoded in specific channel, not LFE) is facilitated by the large bed speakers. ART will never fully allow you to get the low end bass pressure just coming from the specific channel. It will always be a combination it chooses. So at conceptual level, I can't really follow the Mad Audio analysis. But in a given room and system, anything is possible...