[NigelJ]

I am surprised to see that the front panel, at least on the headstand model, is either a casting or machined and not just a flat aluminium sheet. I wonder if this is also true for the back panel and the rack mount model.

 

[musicday]

I am surprised to see that the front panel, at least on the headstand model, is either a casting or machined and not just a flat aluminium sheet. I wonder if this is also true for the back panel and the rack mount model.

You are right, it all seem to be CNC high quality aluminium.

 

[Edwood]

You are right, it all seem to be CNC high quality aluminium.

Front and Rear panels are CNC machined. Main bodies are extruded aluminum.

 

[Bill13]

I might have to resurrect my old Velodyne HGS-10 Sub. Maybe a mix of my Crowson actuators and the Velodyne sub might give the best of both worlds without upsetting family members sleeping in an adjacent room.

Yes, when we get finally our Smyth -Realiser A16s, some of us may want to engage the whole body {"kick ass"} with A16 + combo of actuators and a subwoofer as well - or in my case, the subwoofer by itself.

IMO, gotta have a big high-power output (below say, 30Hz) sub. Assuming that your adjacent rooms are reasonably well sonically decoupled from your listening room, if you sharply cut off the subwoofer's output above about 30Hz the sub's low rumble sound shouldn't, or might not, wake up the family - or at least not bother the neighbors.

When I placed my big Velodyne DD-15 subwoofer immediately behind the couch (roughly within two to three of inches from the back of the couch), I found that my 15" sub, low-pass filter set to below 30-40Hz, did such a great job shaking the entire body, my Crowson actuators were no longer needed in the mix.

Caveat: The Velodyne HGS-10 sub might not have sufficiently powerful sub-bass delivery below 30Hz, so you may have to add your Crowson actuators to your mix.

BTW, I need to correct my previous posted statement about the DD-15 being placed a fraction of an inch behind my couch - actually this sub is placed approx. 2 to 3 inches from the rear of the couch. I forgot to take into account that the back of the couch is slanted - the top of the couch back is closer to the sub than the bottom part of the back of the couch.

 

[dsperber]

Seeing that picture of A16 units packed in plastic bags and stacked on shelves awaiting very likely shipping sometime in the next few months, causes me to wax nostalgic. I've now gone back and reconstructed my long history with the Realiser and association with Smyth and its SVS products, putting everything in better perspective.

So, in reverse chronological order... documenting about 10 years of enjoying listening through my two A8 units, along with related equipment purchases and upgrades

March 2, 2019 - as of today I will have been waiting just over two years for my A16 since the date I actually placed my pre-order. Not too bad, considering my A8 experience of waiting five years since first learning of the product and inquiring of Smyth as to its availability.

April 2018 - major video equipment upgrade in anticipation of the A16, including 55" LG OLED C7P 4K UHD set. This resulted in the creation of a second digital viewing/listening location in my house, including installation of the Oppo UDP-203 player and Oppo Sonica DAC I'd purchased in 2017 in anticipation of use with the A16. This location also capitalized on my existing 2-channel stereo analog audio equipment, i.e. Threshold T2 preamp, Threshold T200 amp, two Thiel CS3.6 speakers, and DBX 14/10 EQ. Until the A16 arrives I'm for the time being using my original analog-only #0001 A8 (fed from 7.1 analog output of UDP-203) and my 1995-vintage Stax SR-Omega/SRM-T1S headphones/amp.

July 2017 - acquisition of Oppo UDP-203 player, Oppo Sonica DAC, in anticipation for use with upcoming planned second viewing/listening location; while awaiting eventual delivery of the A16 intended for use here (connected via HDMI to the UDP-203).

June 6, 2017 - paid $1055 for remaining A16 balance (including shipping). All paid now for my eventual A16 body style U2.

Jan 30, 2017 - finally decided to purchase an A16, and aplaced my pre-order now priced at $1690 which was a special discount sale price offer (not original Kickstarter, which I never did participate in), with a $700 deposit. I also missed exercising the earlier pre-order special deal before the end of December 2016 when the price would have been an even lower $1450.

Aug 23, 2016 - told "my A8 story" in this A16 thread, including details of my 5-year long wait for that very first "production retail A8" available for consumer purchase back in April 2009. This was post #252 (of what is now 4534) on page 17 (of what is now 303). Still no personal decision as to whether or not I was going to buy an A16 which at the time seemed an unnecessary excess for my situational needs. I did, after all, already have two A8 units.

May 8, 2016 - made my first post way back near the very start of this A16 thread, which was post #7. First awareness of this newly announced product. Couldn't decide about Kickstarter this early, or even if I needed a third Realiser.

Jan 2013 - major equipment upgrade, including purchasing my second A8 this one HDMI-enabled, wall-mounted Panasonic 65VT50 plasma HDTV to replace my credenza-seated Sony 34XBR960 CRT HDTV, Stax SR-009/SRM-007tii fed via XLR from DAC, Audio-GD NFB9 DAC fed from optical output of A8, Oppo BDP-103 player (to decode multi-channel to LPCM for feeding A8 via HDMI), Yamaha RX-V867 AVR.

Oct 2009 - Detail description of A8 and SVS in major article by Gary Reber in Widescreen Review #143, "A Revolutionary Virtual Surround Headphone Technology". This is really a followup five years later to the original article (of the same name) and interview with Stephen Smyth that Gary Reber had written back in Sept 2004.

April 2009 - called up to Calabasas to Smyth offices there, to purchase the very first serial #0001 "production retail" A8 unit available for sale. This ended a long 5-year wait for this day to come. This first generation of A8 units were designed and manufactured to be analog-only and did not contain HDMI input/output capability at all. Nor could they be optionally be upgraded later to provide HDMI input/output, something which was offered at a price for the hardware modification to a later generation of A8 units which had been designed and built with an optional HDMI hardware upgrade in mind. My initial setup included this A8, a Yamaha RX-V863 AVR, an Oppo BDP-93 to convert multi-channel to LPCM for feeding 7.1 analog to the analog-only A8, and a Sony 34XBR960 CRT HDTV. I listened through my 1995-vintage Stax SR-Omega/SRM-T1S fed directly from the RCA headphone output of the A8 (i.e. no external DAC).

Sept 2004 - original article on A8 and SVS and interview with Stephen Smyth, by Gary Reber in Widescreen Review #88. This is when I first learned about SVS (I had been using Dolby Headphone for years) and this began my long 5-year wait before I could finally have it. Obviously Stephen and Michael Smyth had been working on the technology for years before this.


NOTE: I have the PDF versions of both of those WSR articles I mention above. If you would like one or both please PM me and I will get them to you.

 

[musicday]

Is anyone going to use closed back headphones with the A16? I know that open back will give.best results, so anyway anyone going to use high end headphones? I am going to use the Empyrean and I am looking at Stella as a closed back version of it will be good enough with the Realiser.
Pioneer SE-Master 1 would have been a great choice for me also, but sadly the earpads are not genuine leather ( hard to replace ) and that cause swear and heat after short listening sessions.

 

[Zenvota]

Is anyone going to use closed back headphones with the A16? I know that open back will give.best results, so anyway anyone going to use high end headphones? I am going to use the Empyrean and I am looking at Stella as a closed back version of it will be good enough with the Realiser.
Pioneer SE-Master 1 would have been a great choice for me also, but sadly the earpads are not genuine leather ( hard to replace ) and that cause swear and heat after short listening sessions.

I use a pair of MrSpeakers Alpha Primes with OOYH to great results, while not quite the capability of a pair of Audeze EL-8s(with Dekoni LCD Velour pads), they provide a much larger soundstage than Hifiman HE-400i(also with dekoni lcd velours), Sennheiser HD650s, or Stax SR-207.

You should absolutely use more capable headphones for binaural convolution and in addition I can wholeheartedly recommend fully conditioned hifi systems as providing signficant boosts in fidelity, realism, and a larger space due to better rendering of the room impulse responses.

 

[Bill13]

Jan 30, 2017 - finally decided to purchase an A16, and placed my pre-order now priced at $1690 which was a special discount sale price offer (not original Kickstarter, which I never did participate in), with a $700 deposit. I also missed exercising the earlier pre-order special deal before the end of December 2016 when the price would have been an even lower $1450.

I hesitated & almost missed this pre-order A16 deal - lucky to have gotten in on 25 Dec 2016.

Anyway looking forward to using the A16 with my Raal Requisite SR1a ribbon headphones which are totally open 'ear-speakers' -- hope the A16 will do the calibration & generate the PRIR measurement file OK -because these Raal ribbon headphones are quite different from typical headphones.

 

[Chillzone21]

Hifiman Ananda + DIY 170w Class D Speaker Amp is rocking hard on the A8. Beat the Stax combo I used to have.

 

[Zenvota]

Anyway looking forward to using the A16 with my Raal Requisite SR1a ribbon headphones

That sounds awesome.

 

[Dixter]

I am re-posting a communication from Giles, it has been translated via google so you may need to interpret at little... but the message is clear...

" Hello

You asked to be informed of updates to the launch of Realize A16.

As you may know, the Realize A16 is being certified, Dolby (for Dolby Atmos). At the end of this process, the first shipments of pre-orders will start without waiting for DTS certification, which will be long too. This decoding (including DTS-X) therefore will not be active for the first shipments,and will be unlocked via a future update.

AV-in works in a French menu for the machine, which will then, in France, if all goes well, manual (s) and French menu. This is a point on which we are quite fussy, given the functional ambitions very advanced A16.

Before sending a full update functionality will be published, which will incorporate the changes made since the beginning, as the extension of the Dolby Atmos decoding 9.1.6 (vs. 7.1.4), but also the probable disappearance of decoding Auro -3D, became moribund.

The entire delivery process of all pre-ordered A16 will be long. In France, in order to pre-order. Note that the A16 is sold out internationally. It will take time before a new production.

Realize the A16 will be exposed to Dublin AES Trade Fair on 21 and 23 March.

See you soon.

Gilles Gerin
AV-in "

 

[Dixter]

And for those that can read French...

" Bonjour

Vous avez demandé à être informé des mises à jour du lancement du Realiser A16.

Comme vous le savez peut-être, le Realiser A16 est en cours de certification chez Dolby (pour le Dolby Atmos). À l'issu de ce processus, les premiers envois des précommandes vont commencer, sans attendre la certification DTS, qui s'annonce longue elle aussi. Ce décodage (dont DTS:X) ne sera donc pas actif pour ces premiers envois, et sera déverrouillé via une mise à jour ultérieure.

AV-in travaille à un menu en français pour la machine, qui aura donc, en France, si tout se déroule bien, manuel(s) et menu en français. C'est un point sur lequel nous sommes assez tatillons, vu les ambitions fonctionnelles très avancées du A16.

Avant envoi, une mise à jour complète des fonctionnalités sera éditée, qui intègrera les changements opérés depuis le début, comme l'extension du décodage Dolby Atmos au 9.1.6 (vs. 7.1.4), mais aussi la disparition probable du décodage Auro-3D, devenu moribond.

Le processus de livraison complet de tous les A16 précommandés sera long. En France, par ordre de précommande. A noter que le A16 est sold out à l'international. Il faudra du temps avant une nouvelle production.

Le Realiser A16 sera exposé au Salon professionnel AES de Dublin les 21 et 23 mars prochains.

À bientôt.

Gilles Gerin
AV-in "

 

[Citizen Zombie]

The translation from DeepL is much better:

"Hello

You have asked to be informed of updates on the launch of the Realiser A16.

As you may know, the Realiser A16 is in the process of being certified by Dolby (for the Dolby Atmos). At the end of this process, the first shipments of pre-orders will start, without waiting for the DTS certification, which is also expected to be long. This decoding (including DTS:X) will therefore not be active for these first shipments, and will be unlocked via a later update.

AV-in is working on a French menu for the machine, which will therefore have, in France, if everything goes well, manual(s) and menu in French. This is a point on which we are rather fussy, given the very advanced functional ambitions of the A16.

Before sending, a complete update of the functionalities will be published, which will integrate the changes made since the beginning, such as the extension of Dolby Atmos decoding to 9.1.6 (vs. 7.1.4), but also the probable disappearance of the Auro-3D decoding, now moribund.

The complete delivery process for all pre-ordered A16s will take time. In France, by pre-order. It should be noted that the A16 is sold out internationally. It will take time before a new production.

The Realiser A16 will be exhibited at the AES Trade Fair in Dublin on 21 and 23 March.

See you soon.

Gilles Gerin
AV-in"

"The first 90 percent of the code accounts for the first 90 percent of the development time. The remaining 10 percent of the code accounts for the other 90 percent of the development time." (Tom Cargill, Bell Labs, about software development)

 

[Chillzone21]

Will be interesting to see reviews comparing the older A8 to the newer A16. Will be looking for a secondhand A16 in the years to come.

 

[Sordel]

Will be interesting to see reviews comparing the older A8 to the newer A16. Will be looking for a secondhand A16 in the years to come.

Hard to imagine anyone who gets an A16 wanting to sell it secondhand for the foreseeable future. Indications are that even a second production run may be some way off.