Is DEQX a game changer?

The comment to use steep crossover slopes is for those that can bi amp that still have their crossovers in place.... sorry for any confusion.

Andrew (Drewan77) --- been following the last several posts. As you know, I just bought the PreMATE. Larry, the DEQXpert, set it up. Interestingly, he cut the self powered sub woofer off at 120 Hz and let the speakers' passive woofers take it from there until they crossed over to mid-driver at 200 or so Hz.

Based on Larry's measurements, my sub woofer is pretty flat down to about 13 Hz, which is pretty low. Kinda weird, but the speaker's woofers are covering about 80 to 100 Hz of bandwidth. So, the bottom line here is that the heavy bass lifting is being handled by the sub woofer.

There is an added plus ... namely that it takes "pressure" to delivery power off my amp and shifts it to the subwoofer, which has a built-in amp rated at 3400 watts max-Q. I've tripped my circuit breakers plenty of times.

All-in-all, I think my speakers sound better than before. When I cut the PreMATE out of the circuit (P0 button), the sound presentation is muddy and imaging is smeared. When engaged, sharper imaging, better transients, nicer sounding musical presentation.

I would like to explore and play with the PreMATE's considerable functionalities. Problem is that the owner's manual is not very user-friendly and is accessible only on-line or off a disc. Plus, I am not very tech or computer wise.

Sure wish I could spend some more time with Larry the DEQXpert.

Bruce

Hi Bruce. If you mailed me your configuration file I could have a look at how it's been set up (its a .mzd file stored in the DEQX folder on your PC/Laptop). This would allow me to see all your measurements and how Larry set it up. If the file is too large we could use Dropbox or similar (my working config file is 9MB but this has measurements for 4 sets of speakers and 3 types of Sub, yours should be much simpler)

This doesn't mean I would change anything unless you wanted me to but if you then asked questions about any of the features, I could modify the file, save another version and send it back to you to load and try out
Cheers
Andrew

Though I myself find a stand alone dedicated device like the DEQX much more appealing than software loaded onto a computer, it is interesting that though Stereophile gave the DEQX an enthusiastic review, in the very same edition they gave a preferential nod to the far less expensive DIRAC software program (that also seems to be able to better handle 24/192).

Unsound ... not sure if this post is responsive to what you just posted. In my case, I am using the DEQX principally for its time alignment and room EQ functionalities in analogue mode. And as many have already posted, the DEQX works very well in these functions.

Yes ... the DEQX PreMATE has an onboard DAC. In fact, as I posted somewhere above, my "redbook" ARC Ref CD-8 CDP is hooked up to the PreMATE via two modalities: (1) analogue through my ARC Ref 5 SE preamp in "normal" analogue fashion and (2) digitally via the digital output of CD-8 directly into the PreMate's XLR input. In the later case, my CDP is acting merely as a transport and the PreMATE is the DAC.

I have not come to a unequivocal view as yet whether I prefer the analogue or digital hook up for my CD-8. The ARC CD-8's onboard DAC is based on a Burr Brown 1792 (I think) chip and is very good. The DEQX's DAC is based on a Burr Brown 1795 (I think) chip and is also very good and sounds very similar to the CD-8 albeit a little different. Just not sure which I like better.

My point is that while the DEQX PreMATE can do a more than just time alignment and room EQ, the foregoing functionalities are its signature