Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Smyth Realiser for 2CH music?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Smyth Realiser for 2CH music?

post #1 of 4
6/26/12 at 9:05am
Thread Starter 

I'm in the middle of deciding between a rather expensive headphone or speaker setup, and then read about the capabilities of the Smyth Realiser. 

 

This is in regards to listening to regular old 2CH music *only*.

 

My question is, while it can clone a home theater setup well, can it clone a very high end 2CH audiophile setup w/ tube amps?  And by clone I mean in all respects, especially standard terms we use to describe headphones, such as warmth, musicality, emotional involvement, lushness, etc.  Most of the reviews I've seen have *only* addressed soundstage, which I'm not too concerned with.  I'm aware it can't reproduce bass and that's no problem for me.  I'm a bit skeptical it can do this, since I'd say someone would have come up with the idea to render having to buy expensive speaker setups obsolete a while ago, but I guess there's always a chance.

 

I did do a search through the big SVS thread, and this question was asked several times, but I never saw a satisfactory answer.  I'd ask in there as well, but they seem to be deeply involved in their own discussions.

Reply

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

post #2 of 4
6/26/12 at 12:41pm

I have a Realiser, and no, it cannot duplicate a speaker system 100 percent in all respects. Realisers are aimed primarily at people who, for whatever reason, need to use headphones instead of speakers but would prefer the latter in an ideal world. If you have the room and the money for a high-end speaker system, by all means go that route. On the other hand, for people like me who would prefer speakers but live in a thin-walled condo and don't have the space, budget, or neighbor tolerance for them, the Realiser is a dream product. Mine, coupled with excellent headphones and electronics, duplicates a high-end ($100K+) system maybe 85 percent in all meaningful respects except base impact. For that I intend to add a tactile transducer, which I've heard does a decent job.

Reply
post #3 of 4
6/26/12 at 1:05pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks! Very interesting.

 

So, as a person who prefers speakers, a hypothetical $6500ish speaker setup vs the Smyth, would you think that the Smyth is going to offer me better or worse 2CH music sound quality especially in regards to those traits I listed in the first post, assuming both the speaker setup and the cloned setup were tailored towards those traits?  I don't have neighbors or anything else as factors.


Edited by CountChoculaBot - 6/26/12 at 1:30pm
Reply
post #4 of 4
6/27/12 at 5:31am

This depends on the relative quality of your would-be speaker system or headphone system, as well as the quality of the system where you would get your Realiser measurements taken. For a Realiser to, um, realize it's true potential, you need excellent (~$1000+) headphones and related equipment. If you're willing to spend that kind of money and you have access to a very high-end system in a room with good acoustics where someone who knows what they're doing can take your measurements, the Realiser almost certainly will give you better sound overall than a $6500 speaker system. I was fortunate to get my Realiser measurements at Sensorium AV in NY on a $100K+ system, the owner of which was trained by the Smyth people. Not everyone is in that situation though. Some people fly to LA to get their measurements done by the Smyth people themselves on a high-end system they have there. Alternatively, they can tell you if there's a Realiser dealer in your area with a good system.

 

Hope this makes sense.

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Headphones (full-size)

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Smyth Realiser for 2CH music?