Erin's Audio Corner (my new review YouTube channel/website)

[ErinH]

The 8C is one of the most accurate loudspeakers that you can buy at any price (Stereophile measurements, Soundstage measurements). Its directivity control is perhaps the best I have ever seen measured. One cool thing it is doing is using phase cancellation to control directivity down to extremely low frequencies, much more than any other speaker its size. Most speakers use cone size to control directivity at lower frequencies, but that necessarily makes them pretty large. The 8C uses ingenuity, and one thing that will help with is room modes since the bass isn't bouncing off of every surface.

One absurd claim from their literature is that it supposedly makes music sound "as it was intended." The problem with that is that most music was likely mixed on audio systems less accurate than the 8Cs. So it isn't likely sounding like whatever the sound engineers mixing for. In reality, most sound engineers mix for a wide range of systems, and there isn't a single 'intended' sound. That is just another audiophile myth.

James, have you gotten a chance to hear them yet? Just curious. Like you, I was really impressed by the measurements and also curious how a speaker like this would compare to a 'regular' monopole speaker. I only briefly got a chance to listen when these were being setup. I haven't connected them to my setup so haven't listened to anything of my own. Gonna have to go hunt for cables in my attic to make it happen.

 

[shadyJ]

James, have you gotten a chance to hear them yet? Just curious. Like you, I was really impressed by the measurements and also curious how a speaker like this would compare to a 'regular' monopole speaker. I only briefly got a chance to listen when these were being setup. I haven't connected them to my setup so haven't listened to anything of my own. Gonna have to go hunt for cables in my attic to make it happen.

I haven't heard them. They do look interesting, and I am looking forward to your review.

 

[ErinH]

Ahh. Ok.

 

[ErinH]

Well, these are the first set of speakers I've busted out iZotope's Imager to verify that was I was hearing wasn't wrong... the stage on the two songs listed in the photo below have things in them that stood out enough to make me question if what I was hearing was on the track or if the speaker/room was causing something to be incorrect. Spoiler alert: The speakers/room are not at fault. The tracks are just played back at a higher fidelity in terms of imaging than I am simply used to. And it threw me off enough to look at an actual "stage map" of the tracks through editing software.

For example:
On Chord Overstreet's cover of We've Got Tonight, when the vocalist starts singing his voice starts sharp to the left-of-center. I thought maybe this was a room issue caused from the asymmetrical shape of the room wrt to the speakers' position. But, it's actually on the track that way. I've heard this song quite a few times and haven't caught that before. Doesn't mean it was never there on other setups. Just means that it caught my attention.

Another example is: The sax on the Superette track (from Phil Woods' Here's to My Lady) is about 6 to 7 feet to the right of the speaker and according to the imager. I thought maybe it was some artifact or something... surely these speakers don't throw an image *that* wide. But, turns out, that's correct because the content is about 90° out of phase and should pan hard right. These speakers *do* throw an image that wide. Paint me very impressed.

If you wanna demo the tracks, here they are. Very good songs.

 

[ErinH]

This made me LOL (in a good way)...

I decided to use my MiniDSP UMIK-X tonight to measure the Dutch & Dutch 8c's in-room response at the main listening position in my living room. Now, currently the DD8c isn't positioned in the *best* spot. It was the initial setup to see how it's performing; just part of the iterative process of finding the best location and aiming. From the data, I could bring them out from the walls and it would help to level off the boosted LF Additionally, as you can see in these photos, the MLP is about 1-2 feet off the rear wall which is certainly not "ideal" and may be causing the broad dip in the lower midrange. Though, that's easily fixable with a couple shelf filters. With that said, the "null" might even be caused by the couch itself. I plan to re-measure with me in the seated position, holding the mic, to see if that changes anything. I know for a fact my HT seating causes issues around 400Hz that are simply not there when I am in the seat.

But, again, this is just the "ad-hoc" response and isn't intended to represent what I will arrive at in the final configuration. The point of me sharing this is to show the DD8c's the measured response at the MLP is about ±1dB above the transition frequency in my room (~400Hz). The low frequency extends to about +10dB at 20Hz (good thing; you can always shelve the response). This, out of a set of "bookshelf" speakers. Crazy.

I can only imagine how good these are going to sound once I position them more optimally and use the built-in DSP to correct the response below the Schroeder frequency
.
MiniDSP UMIK-X used to measure the response made my life super easy as well. Loving that thing.

(side note #1: the laser shown on the speaker is via a laser level to make sure the microphone was positioned at the correct axis, between the tweeter and the midwoofer)

(side note #2: the HF boost is interesting... will have to investigate, but not something I'm worried about as there is no audible 'hiss' from these speakers that this might otherwise indicate. If I had to guess right now, I'd lean toward the calibration of the UMIK-X as the microphone is super small and that is around the point where I would expect it to break-up, if it's like a standard electet in that sense)

(side note #3: my dog does a good job at absorbing 2kHz

)

 

[VMPS-TIII]

The D&D 8c is $100.38 a pound and you have to buy a minimum of 116 pounds for stereo.

A bookshelf speaker that weighs 58 pounds might need significant stands and maybe anchors? You would not want something like that to fall over on a child. I imagine moving them around is a bit of a workout?

 

[ErinH]

The D&D 8c is $100.38 a pound and you have to buy a minimum of 116 pounds for stereo.

A bookshelf speaker that weighs 58 pounds might need significant stands and maybe anchors? You would not want something like that to fall over on a child. I imagine moving them around is a bit of a workout?

 

[slipperybidness]

Doggie does not look impressed by your shenanigans!

 

[ErinH]

Well, after months of back and forth, looking at expenses and trying to predict the future, I finally did it…

I have acquired a Klippel Near Field Scanner!!!!


As some of you have seen me say before, it takes me 10+ hours; sometimes literal days. The NFS will cut that time down significantly and provide even higher accuracy data. I should be receiving it hopefully within a few weeks. I am awaiting a shipping date from Klippel but I just sent payment for shipping/import fees this morning.



It's going to take me a long time to pay this off... at my current YouTube revenue rate it may be 10-15 years (I have literally been averaging $10/day; which is nice but it is nowhere near enough to make a living from). So, it should be apparent (if it wasn’t already apparent) this isn’t about money for me but about passion. Frankly, if I were in this stuff for the money then I would just throw up subjective reviews like so many of the other reviewers and knock out a review per week. That’s not a knock against those guys… plenty of people watch and appreciate that content. But that’s not my goal with my channel/site. For me it is about gathering evidence (data) and using that to help draw meaningful conclusions about what we as listeners like and prefer and then use that knowledge along with future data to help inform in order to make purchase decisions that make more sense for us. I am trying hard to do my best to provide objective and subjective; that's my real goal. And I think I do a good job but the NFS will allow me to take it to a new level. This isn’t my full time job but I work just as hard at it as I do my day job.


As I've said before... if I can just break even, this is a great way for me to pass the time in a meaningful way. I get to play with cool toys. I get to make more friends. I get to learn. I get to grow. And, maybe, if this passion doesn't wane (it hasn't in my last 15 years) then it'll be a hobby for me after I retire from my real job. And the community benefits with great data. The data can never replace hearing something yourself (because tastes can change, etc). But I am a proponent of good data to help us build a better understanding and filter out the junk from the "maybe" pile.



Now, I’m all in on this and payment is being taken care of on my end. However, I have started a PayPal contribution page for those of you who have the means and have found my efforts useful enough to warrant contributing to the cause in order to help me at least offset some of my costs. I know times are tough for everyone so if you can’t or simply don’t want to contribute, hey, I get it. Like I said, it’s already a done deal. But if you are able to help just know that I am extremely grateful for anything you can help with.



If you want to help contribute to the cause the link is below:
Erin's Audio Corner Klippel Near Field Scanner Fund

 

[shadyJ]

Dang! I am jealous! Congratulations Erin, that is very cool!

 

[ErinH]

Thanks James. I'm pretty excited about it.

 

[theJman]

It's going to take me a long time to pay this off... at my current YouTube revenue rate it may be 10-15 years (I have literally been averaging $10/day; which is nice but it is nowhere near enough to make a living from).

Sadly, about the only people getting rich from youtube are the exec's at google who already are. It's clear you do this because of passion, it's obvious in your work and the amount of time you put in.

 

[Coachorr54]

I just followed your facebook page and asked to join. This looks like some pretty cool stuff.

 

[ErinH]

Looks like it's in Memphis. Now I gotta work with customs brokerage to make sure it gets here without any hiccups.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Looks like it's in Memphis. Now I gotta work with customs brokerage to make sure it gets here without any hiccups.

Waiting...

 

[ErinH]

Waiting...

me, too.

I read the tracking update wrong. It hadn’t even left yet. It’s a German company shipping it so the website tracking info is not what I’m used to.

it now is in Atlanta and I have given the proper customs documents over the the broker. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get an update.

 

[ErinH]

 

[ErinH]

The build begins. Table is assembled. I gotta make a hardware store run to get a concrete drill bit so I can bolt this thing to the floor.

 

[ErinH]

And now bolted to the floor.

 

[Pogre]

This is pretty damned cool. Reading about the 8C sounds like it blows everyone's balls off when they hear it. A full range stand mount? I'd love to check that out.

For now I'll just munch on some popcorn whilst I watch you put the Klippel-bot together. Drilling concrete right off the bat. Fun fun, lol.