OK, so after reading this thread, I picked up a Behringer DEQ2496 and matching 8000 mic. I liked that I could feed it a digital optical signal and do all the EQ'ing in the digital domain, then output the EQ'ed signal to my DAC. All the horrible things I remember hearing about EQ'ing was due to it being done in the noisy Analog domain...
Anyway, I initially saw that "how to set up a DEQ2496" Youtube vid (the one with the guy with an Aussie accent). I have an Aikido Tube preamp (6DJ8 / 12BH7), a Krell KSA50 Clone, and a Cirrus Logic CS4398 based DAC (all of which I built myself with the help of friends from DIYAudio). My speakers are Apogee Duetta Signatures (restored by me too - no "Apogee buzz" anymore!!)
Anyway, I initially did the Auto EQ low bands only (20hz to 400hz) as the vid shows. Big improvement on the bass (these Apogees are impressive at Bass). For the hell of it, I let it do Auto EQ the whole band from 20hz to 20khz, just to see the response. Once finished, I then modified it a bit to slope the high frequency down toward the 20khz. I was impressed. I liked it enough to keep it permanent "Reference" setup.
Now I obtained a pair of Acoustat Spectra 22 locally that needed a little help. They needed a bit of work on the bias circuit (bias voltage was way low) and panels needed to be cleaned up and a few bias wires needed to be reglued to the grid, causing some annoying buzzes and noises...anyway, got them all dialed in and perfect. For teh hell of it, I then Auto EQ'ed the entire band. I then modified the HF to trail down toward the 20khz just like I did on the Apogees. They sounded great afterwards.
But the biggest surprise was that these cheap (but great ESL BTW) Acoustat Spectras now sound very very close to the Apogees. I was floored. Without the EQ, they sound nothing alike. I am convinced I can take any speaker (that can do the frequency range) and make it sound close to the Apogees with this equalizer. Kinda had a "Bob Carver" moment...
Anyway, I initially saw that "how to set up a DEQ2496" Youtube vid (the one with the guy with an Aussie accent). I have an Aikido Tube preamp (6DJ8 / 12BH7), a Krell KSA50 Clone, and a Cirrus Logic CS4398 based DAC (all of which I built myself with the help of friends from DIYAudio). My speakers are Apogee Duetta Signatures (restored by me too - no "Apogee buzz" anymore!!)
Anyway, I initially did the Auto EQ low bands only (20hz to 400hz) as the vid shows. Big improvement on the bass (these Apogees are impressive at Bass). For the hell of it, I let it do Auto EQ the whole band from 20hz to 20khz, just to see the response. Once finished, I then modified it a bit to slope the high frequency down toward the 20khz. I was impressed. I liked it enough to keep it permanent "Reference" setup.
Now I obtained a pair of Acoustat Spectra 22 locally that needed a little help. They needed a bit of work on the bias circuit (bias voltage was way low) and panels needed to be cleaned up and a few bias wires needed to be reglued to the grid, causing some annoying buzzes and noises...anyway, got them all dialed in and perfect. For teh hell of it, I then Auto EQ'ed the entire band. I then modified the HF to trail down toward the 20khz just like I did on the Apogees. They sounded great afterwards.
But the biggest surprise was that these cheap (but great ESL BTW) Acoustat Spectras now sound very very close to the Apogees. I was floored. Without the EQ, they sound nothing alike. I am convinced I can take any speaker (that can do the frequency range) and make it sound close to the Apogees with this equalizer. Kinda had a "Bob Carver" moment...
Last edited: