Spatial Computer Black Hole Anti Wave Generator

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?accstwek&1327803219&/Spatial-Computer-Black-Hole
 
 
Really?

Hey, at least the wacko-tweaks are starting to use real words now.
 
 

Actually this is not a wacko-tweak. It is a bass room resonance eliminator that evens out the room response by actively cancelling the resonances that tend to pile up in the room.there are passive means available to absorb this as well  They are known as bass traps. Passive bass traps may be cheaper than active ones but by the time you get enough of them to counter all the resonant frequencies as many will only deal with one frequency the actice bass trap becomes much more cost efective.

So this is along the lines of what? A diaphragm resonator? How does it "know" what it's supposed to do without calibration or analysis? It's obviously not along the same lines as tweaks like say, the Machina Dynamica stuff, but it's claiming to be a one-size-fits-all solution for room treatment. I'm curious now.
 
Quote:

germanium said:

Actually this is not a wacko-tweak. It is a bass room resonance eliminator that evens out the room response by actively cancelling the resonances that tend to pile up in the room.there are passive means available to absorb this as well  They are known as bass traps. Passive bass traps may be cheaper than active ones but by the time you get enough of them to counter all the resonant frequencies as many will only deal with one frequency the actice bass trap becomes much more cost efective.

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Note it has a mike & built in DSP to do the calibration so it is really a one size fits all though there is likely some experience needed in proper setup of this device (not sure how smart it's DSP is). Anouther name for the passive bass traps is tube traps as they are usually tube shaped devices.

I received my Black Hole Anti Wave Generator yesterday, so I can now speak from some experience.
 
My room has been sounding quite good of late, except for a recalcitrant boomy bass and occasional speech intelligibility issues. The front of the room is lightly treated with RoomTune absorbers, the rear wall with T-Fusors.
 
I'd been experimenting with 8" x 1' x 4' foam absorbers in the rear corners to try dealing with the bass boom, with some success. Removing those, and replacing them with the BH device has been an unqualified success.
 
First, the bass response smoothed out considerably. I'd say 90% of the boom is gone, leaving clear, deep bass. Transients are much cleaner now. Drum whacks sound more real and coherent, as do piano notes and plucked bass notes.
 
I was not prepared for the dramatic increase in speech intelligibility. There's also a greater sense of air and space. I don't have an explanation for these last two observations; I'm just calling it like I hear it.
 
This product is easily worth the asking price!
 
(There's virtually no set up required. Just plug in the mic and power cord to the back panel, set the volume control to 12:00 and frequency control to max, phase switch to zero, and push the unit into a corner.)
 
-Tom
 
 

At Oct 2011 RMAF .I was in the Zu speaker room (a friend had asked me to check out their latest and greatest).  The speakers sounded terrible: probably because there were aimed at a sofa in the corner of the room and the speakers were different distances from the listener, but as I was listening on the couch, I saw this 20 inch or so high cylinder that was plugged in.  I unplugged it from the wall outlet and the bass, which had sounded decent, suddenly sounded awful and boomy.  I plugged the cord back in and instantly the bass sounded tight.  It was the only thing about the Zu that sounded good.  Turns out it was one of these Black Hole Anti-Wave Generators.  I tried one out in my room and virtually all the boominess of the bass was gone.  Same tight effect I heard at RMAF.  Now, I have a difficult room and for me (and for a hotel room) it clearly works wonders, but when we tried it in my friend's dedicated listening room, which already sounded fantastic, the effect was very subtle and he decided he didn't need it.  However, for me, it was the price of a good cable and certainly more than worth the price -- and now I don't need to buy or look at any bass traps.  After such a good effect with Spatial's Black Hole, I'm also checking out their Spatial HD equalizer that runs with Pure Music Software on a Mac.  Like the Black Hole, it has a free 30 day trial.  One note: the Black Hole is no longer a cylinder, but this gorgeous piano black cube-like shape.
 

I need to demo one of these puppies...

Two random new members who joined just to post in this thread. Seems mighty fishy to me.

I'm not sure how to counter that accusation. I'm a new signup because I wasn't a member before. I saw this thread as part of my research on this device. (This is just about the only thread anywhere talking about the black-hole). I'm biased only as much as I just handed over my $1300 plus s&h, there are no professional reviews out there, the thing just basically works as advertised, and I wanted to counter the skepticism earlier in this thread with my personal experience.

When a relatively modestly priced piece of audio equipment works so well, I share it. I'm even happier about my Golden Ear Tritons--more so now because their effective built in subs were exciting room modes that I hadn't had as much problems with other speakers. I was about to buy "spring-trap" bass traps, but wasn't all that excited about a six foot tower in my living room's corner. At a similar price to the pair of spring traps I would have needed, and a device that basically can't be seen because of it's smaller size, I felt it worth the try.

I realize that I continue to sound like a claque, but it just isn't so.

obobskivich said:

Two random new members who joined just to post in this thread. Seems mighty fishy to me.

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I'm running out of salt...

I will say this, I have the Spatial Orpheus system with the Emerald Physics 2.7 speakers. I am tri-amping the speakers with 4 Nuforce-Ref-9-V3SE mono blocks for the hi's and mid-range, XPA-2 300 Watt 2 Channel Amplifier for the bass. After years of room treatments and hardware upgrades costing more money than I care to think about, this rig is far and away the most satisfying musical presentation I have ever experienced. The Orpheus system isn't cheap but by audiophile standards it certainly isn't over the top either. My listening room is small 12' by 14' by 10.5' and even after the room correction had been applied I had one peak in the low frequency range that just couldn't be entirely tamed, it would occur on maybe 1 cut on every 10 cd's or so. Not a disaster but still annoying. After speaking with Clayton at Spatial I ordered a Blackhole, my hope is that the Blackhole will tame that last low frequency room anomaly.
Software correction will be applied to frequencies greater than 200Hz and the Blackhole will be used for frequencies of 200Hz and below. I will post an update when I have tested the new configuration.
I was a total purest before the Spatial experience and fully expected a less than satisfying result with the Spatial Orpheus system but as it turned out was the best money I have spent on any audio purchase. I realize I am gushing, don't take my word for it, if you get a chance experience it.
 
Carl

I would be willing to review one if the company would be willing to send one my way. I have serious problems with standing waves, pricing out MiniTraps vs. MondoTraps right now...

I tried just about everything prior to my Spatial experience.  It's amazing that that we spend so much for very small improvements in the electronics, when the speaker and room issues are far and away the major area of distortion in the musical presentation.
 
You can try the Blackhole for thirty days, if you find that it doesn't work for you send it back.
 
Mine arrives Jan 23rd, I have two systems I want to try it with.  One is rather spacious the other not so much.  I will provide updates as appropriate.
 
Happy listening .....

Having experience the huge improvement with the Spatial/Orpheus system made it a bit easier for me to purchase the Blackhole but without that experience I think I might be a skeptic as well.
 
I also have a Deqx HDP-3.0 that I use with a pair of Anthony Gallo Strada's along with one of their TR-3D Subs and the resulting improvements are not insignificant. 
 
Just my two cents ......