Camilla SQ

[michaelagiles]

Thanks for the additional information.

I do not mean any disrespect, but we are all prone to hearing differences where none exist -- especially us audiophiles (it's no badge of shame to members of the general public to say 'yeah, those amps sound the same').  It's established science at this point, with numerous studies showing that to be the case.  There are many reasons for it, including evolutionary biology, but that's wandering way off of the primary topic of your thread.

What I recommend is first establishing whether you can hear a difference in a blind test with Camilla in or out of the signal path with Camilla set flat.  Do you have a friend or family member who could help you conduct an impromptu blind listening test?

Assuming you show an ability to detect the difference in a blind test, then some more exploration of Camilla settings would be in order.  It's quite complex and I am sure that others here are more experienced and proficient with it than I am.

If you get everything set properly to minimize or eliminate any degradation (with the help of said experts), and you can still hear said degradation in a blind test, then maybe that's as far as you can go with Camilla.

If you get Camilla to a transparent state, then you can move on to experimenting with EQ and DSP to improve bass extension.

I understand the power that Camilla has, but I don't have the T&M gear to really fully utilize it (I'd probably make things worse rather than better).  Did you try to accomplish what you wanted using the simple parametric and graphic EQ rather than Camilla?  

As I am sure that you know, at some point, you run into limitations on bass extension imposed by speaker drivers, cabinet design, amplifiers, and the listening room (none of which I know much about in your system).  That's why I own speakers large enough to be buried in (a thought that has probably occurred to my wife on multiple occasions), each of which includes a 15" subwoofer, 15" passive radiator, and a 10" woofer.  As the car nuts say, there's no replacement for displacement.

Thanks all for your input!
Firstly - there is a facility for Camilla to count clipping occurrences and I checked it after about 1/2 hr of play - 5 incidents - so some but certainly not enough to account for what I heard.

re:perceived "improvements" vs only "changes" - yes - I have done this to myself several times (MANY times!) and in fact did so this time. I was enjoying the new bass sound  and it was only on getting accustomed to it and listening to the rest of the music that I heard things I didn't like. It was then that I went back to the FLAT setting to try to find the source of the perceived degradation. And discovered that the process of diverting to another chain of process seemed to be the source. Whether there was any other filter processing involved or not. In my view, testing/measurement is a tool to help us discover a more enjoyable experience, or why we are NOT enjoying the experience as we feel we should. And sometimes this does point us to quirks/anomalies in our own perceptions and preconceptions.

Yes - I have tried both the Parametric and Graphic EQ and found them also not to my taste in this system. In fact I use the para eq in my less revealing bedroom system and find it helpful there.

I appreciate your scientific rigour (Canadian spelling eh!) but really, as Tim says regularly - "Enjoy the music!". I expect that there might be a setting - or series of settings - that will produce a more transparent result and when I have a chance will try to dig a little deeper into this. But for now, I am enjoying the music!
Thanks Again!
MG

Kent - thankfully I am no longer in a position to have to suffer this fate. Try to have fun! A portable system might be the ticket!