SVS Ultra Tower w/ Dirac vs. Audyssey results

4595 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by keeney143, Mar 29, 2021

Talley

Discussion Starter · Jul 27, 2015

Now that I have my Dirac Live Full w/ my XMC-1 I wanted to give some input.

First of all. Review the chart to see the response. Since my X4000 is down I used a previous test however nothing has changed meaning I ran each in my room w/o treatments. Obviously the Audyssey is a base target curve and so I ran Dirac the same way. It's direct target curve. I ran a little lower on the dB only so I could copy/paste and overlay over eachother.

I will say this. The Audyssey/SVS Ultras sounded bright... not ear wrenching bright but it was bright while the Dirac sounds more natural and this can be seen in the 3k-6k range. Overall the Dirac is a slightly bit flatter and also digs deeper (22hz vs 26hz) Both of these test were done w/ the port open on the Ultra Towers. Movies are much more energetic w/ the port open for deepest extension.

I do have a nasty null in the 63hz-73hz range but this is more speaker placement. I'm slightly limited and no matter what I do it's there (I've tried a 2'x2' square and same results each time) I'm thinking it's a cancellation either from the front wall or the backwall. Dirac also tamed the peak that audyssey did not at 300hz and 800hz.

Again I removed any temporary treatments to make the tests equal so this is in a bare room w/o any bass traps. Maybe bass traps will help this null? Below that my room response is great and there is no resonance in the room until under 22hz so I'm very happy w/ my room response on the low end. I know moving to a dual sub and crossing over at 80hz will finally fix my null because my sub in the center does this too but does not do this near the corner. I know dual subs outside each main and crossing over at 80hz will remove most of the issues.

Without a doubt... the imaging that dirac creates is awesome. I'm much more happy with Dirac and I really enjoy the audio capabilities of my system now. This is not to say that Audyssey did not do a good job either. Both results are pretty close really. I do really enjoy the ability for adjustments to each speaker or groups and sub's target curves as I see fit. This is a plus!

If there are any questions please ask away.

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FargateOne

· #2 · Jul 27, 2015

Thank you to share.
I am trying to figure if Dirac (nanoAvr DL) would be a better option than Antimode Dual Core for my sub + YPAO for the other 5 channels of my HT.

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Talley

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 27, 2015

FargateOne said:
Thank you to share.
I am trying to figure if Dirac (nanoAvr DL) would be a better option than Antimode Dual Core for my sub + YPAO for the other 5 channels of my HT.

Sorry I can't help ya on that. I don't have a fair back to back test on the sub... although I can show you this image below.

This image shows how I was able to select my own curve and it put it right on the spot. 6dB+ at 20hz from 0dB at 80hz. With the Audyssey my results varied and it was mainly perfectly flat to about one or two dB down at 20hz from about 60hz.

The results of Diract custom curve capability created one hell of a soundtrack during movies with good LFE. This HSU sub has really waken up and can slam one massive punch. So much I feel really that I don't need another sub thats how good it felt!

Dirac transformed a struggling to sound right audyssey where I had to perform manipulation of sub dB increases to achieve desirable results to an out of the box Dirac 4 mic position test and a simple 6+db @ 20hz curve on the sub and wow.... LFE is perfect!

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Talley

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 27, 2015

The only complaint I have with Dirac and maybe it's something I haven't figured out yet is the ability to extend the bottom end. Right now I can only go down to 18hz. Not a major deal which in the end would save the sub better from over excursion but Audyssey did get me 13hz response in my room at -3db where the Dirac is only 16hz at -3db. Although the sub is only rated for 16hz response on the ported side so It's probably matched good.

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AudiocRaver

· #5 · Jul 28, 2015

Your measurements look great. Wish we could come over for a listen.

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Talley

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 28, 2015

AudiocRaver said:
Your measurements look great. Wish we could come over for a listen.

Well it's just a chart and unfortunately has no indication of how it sounds. As you can see from my other thread I have a nasty resonance at at 70hz null. I think it was some cabinets I moved into the room. I'm going to remove some of the furniture and test again.

I also have to treat my upper wall area and ceilings. I'm sure it'll sound good when I'm done, it sounds pretty good now but I have to align the speakers properly and stuff too which I haven't done.

Lots of tweaking to do still but it's coming together nicely. I want to thank everyone here for the help they have given me as I'm really enjoying the whole HT experience. We are watching 2-4 movies a week right now and LOVE it!

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Elijahscott82

· #7 · Mar 26, 2021

Can you wire the 8” woofers separately to a different amp? I see these are really 4 ohm speakers. Lots of power for all those drivers on receiver power. Is there a way to disconnect them from the crossover and use the lower binding posts for the woofers and the mtm on the top binding posts?
id like to run the 8’s on a minidsp and different power amp if it’s possible.

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