Finding the Sweet-spot

As a DIY audio, finding the sweet-spot is more exciting and challenging at the same time. This is because you can do it by yourself matching and upgrade the audio system based on what you think they will be improve.

There almost no limit in this action, only self-satisfy and enough is the finish line.

I have made many DAC, where at this point, I know how to make a DAC that will be sound marvelous, or just right.

And I have them all.

The problem now is the other chain need to maximized like what I did with the DAC.

So, in this post, I shared my listening session activity, changing and replacing DAC, tuning speaker cross-over (again) and set up the room, which all of them are the culprits to finding the sweet-spot.

My listening room is far from ideal; I am trying to make this audio room as homey, accessible to others parties in house. Because this is our living room and most activity are happened here.

This living room as listening spot has some benefit for the room acoustic because of the high ceiling and spacious room. Probably around 4 meter x 6 meter x 4.5 meter in size. The large and tall buffet made from plywood, thick and double layer curtain with thick large carpet makes all of those items works for room acoustic treatment.

The only drawback is the wall behind the sofa. The plain wall reflects the sound coming from the speaker that makes it bounce back to the listener. I bought a tall bookshelf together with drawers for shoes and bags which they make the room hold out the sound reflection better. Some painting and photo in canvas hanging on the wall makes the room ideal as living room and as listening room as well.

For the amplifier, this 300B amplifier already meets my childhood dream. Building high voltage amplifier using expensive 300B tubes are always on my wish list. Slowly but sure, I got at this stages that immerse with this beautiful build amplifier by myself.

Same like DAC which I have many of them right now, all with different kind sound signature. They are not for comparing each other's, but to enjoy them differently.

In the past, my system uses the tone control to adjust bass and treble, to suit the sound to the speakers. This is the easy way and nothing wrong with them.

But as the purist audio, finding the sweet-spot to make the sound balance in tone need special attention with the cross-over points of each driver from the speakers. This is including modification of the cross-over circuit inside the speaker. Recalculating the cross-over point to suit to overall sound is a pain.

The result?

It is so much better than only rely on the tone control.

Active tone control and setting up the cross-over have the same principal, they are adjusting the mid-point of the frequency and the slope to make it flat. But active colorized the signal, thrown the other signal away, while in the speaker cross-over, it adjusts naturally by the limit of each speaker driver's parameter.

The result?

Hard to do and if we do it, it is hard to get it right.

We loved to hear the difference from what we think it is better.

We bored when only dial up and down the tone control and preferably pass the direct signal though the speaker and make it optimal in the cross-over network.

Because it sounds different.

Even when it is hard to do and time consuming.

Finding the sweet-spot.

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