Placing Bybee iQSE V2s: Part 1, loudspeakers

Bybee V2 below the midbass driver on my loudspeakers

The Bybee V2. One of the most powerful and versatile bits of audio tweakery I have ever had the pleasure of discovering. They are truly universal devices. They can be used on loudspeakers, on power cables, inside components like DACs, amplifiers and power conditioners (we incorporate them on our Dark Matter Stealth power conditioner) and in your listening room.

In this series of blogs, we intend to cover our and some of our listener experiences using these devices in the afore mentioned locations. This is the first in the series, and we will cover the lessons we have learned using them on our loudspeakers. Hopefully some of the things we have learned can shorten the time you will spend experimenting.

What The V2 Brings To Your System & Room

In every application of the V2, there is a common thread of sonic benefit. Clarity with low level resolution and speed, all with an even tonality. The sound is never forced or mechanical, unless of course that is how it is meant to sound. For acoustic instruments and the human voice, there is an ease and flow to the music that is quite simply more lifelike. Piano music is simply stunning. The complexity of music is there before you with openness harmonic complexity, dynamic richness. It makes you shut the analytical part of your brain off after the initial shock passes. You sit, for hours, in musical ecstasy.  The effect improves when given more time, taking 24 hours to reach 90% of it's effect and 3-5 days to attain the remaining 10%. For those of you with less patience, the first effects are heard within 30 minutes.

For loudspeakers, the V2 is especially helpful with tonal accuracy, immediacy, detail, air, space, imaging, and soundstaging.

Bybee V2 between the midrange and high frequency driver.

The Front Baffle

This seems to be a universal, positive placement option. It makes sense if you understand how these devices work on the oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere.  Clarity with low level resolution and speed, all with an even tonality.  Some users recommend placing one between the midbass/midrange driver and high frequency driver. Additional benefit can absolutely be gained by adding more; one between each driver, one above the topmost driver, and one below the bottom most driver. Essentially "sandwiching" each driver with a pair of V2's.

In my particular case (so far), I achieved the best results with one centered on top of the speaker, and one just below the 12" midrange driver. My speakers are highly efficient, and use a horn-loaded air motion transformer for 1k on up. AMT drivers are unique in that they force air outward towards the listener by "squeezing" either end of the accordian shaped diaphragm together, rather than vibrating the diaphragm back and forth like a typical driver. The motion of the AMT propels the sound outward with much more force, perhaps making it more sensitive to what the V2 does. In any event, placing a V2 too close to the horn loaded AMT was too much of a good thing. It started overpowering the 12" midrange. With a little experimentation, I found a good balance of not too close, and not too far. 

Bybee V2 placed just above the high frequency driver.

The Top Of the Enclosure

This worked in my particular speaker's case, and may work for yours as well.  Having a larger placement area for the V2 allowed me to tune the strength of the effect. Placing it close to the front baffle had the strongest effect. Placing it further back on the top of the enclosure did two things; It added to the overall air and space of the presentation, while attenuating the effect on the high frequency driver, which in my case was necessary. 

This worked best in my situation. A V2 centered on top of the speaker.

Enclosure Sides

The V2 can actually shape the soundstage. This becomes evident when you start placing them on the top and sides of your loudspeakers.  Want a more spatious sound? Try moving the V2 to the side of the enclosure, keeping it positioned at the same height as it was on the front baffle. Also keep it closer to the front of the speaker. Placing it on the outer facing sides of the enclosure offers a more spacious sound, but it can also hollow out the center image. Placing them on the inside facing walls of your speaker enclosure will focus the soundstage towards the center.  At this point, you are starting to transition from a speaker tweak to a room tweak, and placing the V2 on the walls (our next topic) might be a better option.

In closing. The Bybee V2 can take your musical enjoyment to unimaginable heights. This can be done with as few as two of the devices placed optimally on your loudspeakers. The benefits they produce far outweigh the cost of upgrading speakers, isolation feet, or speaker cables. They are a "must try" tweak for those who have already optimized their speaker placement, room acoustics cabling and power conditioning. We absolutely encourage you to try them, and we fully stand behind the Bybee V2's with our 30-Day Money Back Guarantee.

If you are curious, contact us to get started by emailing sales@tweekgeek.com

Which Streamer Is Right For Me?

Choosing an audiophile level music streamer can be confusing. Especially when adding the dimension of feature sets with sound quality. I do not intend for this to be an ultra-detailed breakdown of each brand of streamer Tweek Geek carries, but rather this is a preliminary guide to help one determine which features are important, and which brand offers those features for your needs. All of these products are fantastic and well reviewed. There are sonic differences, but the differences in features are wider and need much consideration when dropping a few grand. We are here to help in that case. If you want to discuss sonic differences, shoot us an email or give us a call.

sales@tweekgeek.com | 303-653-6341

All Streamers

All of the streamers mentioned below have the following features:

• Roon Ready
• Stream Tidal, Qobuz, and internet radio
• DSD capable

Regarding MQA compatibility, all of the streamers will pass MQA, it's up to the DAC in most cases to unpack and play it as MQA. If one is intending to use Roon as the "remote control" software, Roon does have the ability to take the MQA file and convert it to PCM, or pass it through as MQA to the DAC. So technically all streamers can stream MQA for playback to any DAC.

Auralic Streamers 

AURALiC has split their line into two types of streaming products: The Aries G1 and G2 are dedicated streamers only, and the Vega G1 and G2 are primarily DACs, but have ethernet jacks built in so that they can be used as streamers as well. So why bother with the Aries streamers at all? I liken this to the question of separates vs. an integrated component. With the Aries you get a dedicated power supply and more circuitry devoted to the streamer. That and a few other features listed below distinguish the Aries from the Vega line of products.

The AURALiC Vega G2 DAC

Vega DACs

• Built in DAC
• No Storage
• Ethernet only
• Proprietary "Lightning" app can be used instead of Roon

The AURALiC Aries G2 Streamer

Aries Streamers

• Wireless capable with no additional hardware
• Airplay capable - great for streaming nearly anything from a browser window. SoundCloud, YouTube, tons of great content.
• Large front panel display
• Proprietary "Lightning" app can be used instead of Roon

Innuos Streamers

The unique ability for Innuos streamers to act as server (Roon core) and streamer (Roon endpoint) along with internal storage and a CD ripper make the Innuos products a self contained streaming solution. If it weren't for the wireless network connection needed to connect your remote control (Android or iOS phone/tablet) you could almost do without an internet connection entirely. Of course you may run in to issues when trying to retrieve metadata on CD's you are ripping, but for playback, you could disconnect from the internet entirely.

The Innuos ZENith Statement Streamer

• Ethernet connection only
• Run Roon Core AND Roon Endpoint
• Internal Storage
• Built-in CD Ripper

Innuos is the only brand Tweek Geek currently carries that does not have it's own controller app. You must use  a third party app like Roon to operate.

Lumin Streamers

Lumin has been in the streaming game longer than Innuos or Auralic. as a result, their product is probably the most mature. Their proprietary app is also very well thought out, and may preclude the need for purchasing Roon. Some units have outboard power supplies, and some have transformer coupled outputs. There are usually a number of digital inputs to choose from as well, so that older DACs, or DACs that have no (or lesser quality sounding) USB inputs.

The U1, and U1 mini are streamers only with no DAC. The D2, T2 and flagship X1 are their newest products.

• Ethernet connection only
• Model X1 has an outboard power supply
• Models D2, T2, A1 & X1 all have built in DACs
•  As a result, they can stream MQA

The Flaghsip Lumin X1

We hope you found this information helpful. Please visit the Tweek Geek web site, email or give us a call if you need more information on any of these amazing music streamers.

The Dark Matter Stealth Gets A Significant Upgrade

Tweek Geek has been manufacturing Jack Bybee's power conditioner under license for over 10 years now. It has undergone so many changes that it is unrecognizeable from the first conditioner Jack B. produced. In fact the first conditioner consisted of inexspensive wire, three bybee purifiers, a surge protection circuit and 4 Hubbell AC receptacles in a wooden box.

Not only have Jack's original AC Purifiers improved greatly, and I mean GREATLY, but the wiring, receptacles, the addition of other AC enhancing products, advanced filter networks, even the chassis have improved. You wouldn't recognize it sonically or visually.

Every change along the way has brought a significant improvement. We were very content with the performance and up until recently, we weren't sure adding more filtering/conditioning devices to the circuit would improve things. Which brings us to now. We have indeed found 2 simple upgrades added in parallel to the circuitry are worthy of being called an upgrade. Read on to find out what they are.

Dark Matter Stealths in Silver and Black.

Adding The Bybee V2

The Bybee V2 is the latest device to come from the mind of Jack Bybee. It's totally passive, meaning it does not need to be soldered into a circuit to be effective. It is a small device that has a tiny amount of current running through it in order to generate a consistent field effect. That current is provided by 2 watch batteries and is said to have a life of over 20 years. We place the V2 inside our conditioner, after all other series level power filtering and conditioning has been performed, and right before the power goes to the Furutech GTX-D NCF outlets. 

Bybee V2. Ugly, But what it does for the sound will astonish.

Adding Dark Matter Qubes 

DMT stands for Dark Matter Technologies. This is my invention. Jack helped me develop it. It comes in a few different formats, strengths and sizes. From the Qube to the Mandala.  We use the Qubes inside the Stealth. Placing one on each AC receptacle, another on the power inlet, and two more on top of the epoxy box that holds the Bybees and other filter networks. 

The Results

I am not going to post an upgrade to a product unless it is significant. As tempting as it is to make a small change to make something "old" in the audiophile world "new", I can't do that. I want this to be a worthwhile upgrade to owners of the previous generation, and for new owners I want this to create an irresistible value proposition. 

For existing owners looking for a word to quantify the end result of the upgrade, shocking would be the word I would use (no pun intended...). I would explain it like this: Remember the first time you heard what a Bybee Purifier or tweak could do? How it opened up your audible world to new details, and levels of musical enjoyment. It's like that, again...

Breaking it down

I want to be clear on the improvements you will hear over your existing Stealth, or in comparison to the last generation. 

1. Low level resolution - You will hear more. More low level detail, more expression in a singer's voice or instrument. The resolving power of the upgrade is deep, and musical.
   
2. Image density - This was a very pleasant surprise. There is more fullness and solidity to images. It is as if low level phase information was a bit smeared before, but now is totally locked in. You will notice low level phase information you've never heard before.
    
3. Soundstage expansion - We usually talk in terms of soundstage width, height, and depth. Now I want to introduce a new term, Immersion. With the upgrades, you become immersed in the sound. It's all around you, enveloping you in blissful music. It goes beyond width, height and depth because the sound is all around you.

Bottom line - In my opinion, this upgrade doubles the effectiveness of the Dark Matter Stealth. I can think of no better way to improve any Dark Matter Stealth owner's system. If you don't own a Dark Matter Stealth, now would be a great time to consider investing. I say with complete confidence that this is one of the best power conditioners on the audiophile market today.

Dark Energy Power: New Discoveries in Power Conditioning

We're moving! This blog can now be found on the Tweek Geek web site

Using Roon Parametric EQ To Smooth Out Your In-Room Response

If you stream your music and use Roon as your music management software, you have access to a very useful set of tools, one in particular is the parametric EQ. I have put this to good use in minimizing some bass issues I have in my nearly square (19' x 20' x 9') listening room. I wanted to share how I did this. It takes a laptop, Roon (of course), a Mini DSP 2x4 HD with the optional USB Microphone ($280). It also requires a free software program called Room EQ Wizard.

I will assume you know how to install software on your laptop, and the tutorials below will help you get the Room EQ Wizard  and the microphone set up and talking to one another.

I still strongly encourage you to use acoustic treatments to mechanically reduce room-born acoustic issues first, then use the digital tools to help out further. Why? a parametric EQ can't really eliminate certain acoustic issues like slap echo, and by minimizing other issues before applying EQ you use less processing power for the digital EQ. You may only need to apply 4 EQ curves instead of 6 or 7 by making use of acoustic treatments.

Some tutorials on setting up Room EQ Wizard

• Getting Started with REW: A Step-by-Step Guide (PDF file download)
• Auto EQ with REW - This is how you would take the measurements obtained with REW and turn them in to EQ curves that you could then, manually input into Roon's parametric EQ. In the numbered set of instructions, you would only need to follow down to step 2 for our case, because you aren't using the MiniDSP as the DAC. Unfortunately Roon's Parametric EQ operates on both audio channels, so one has to measure both speakers, get the "average" curve in REW, and then calculate the EQ filters to plug into Roon's EQ.

Below is the first measurement I took of the Studio Electric M4 monitors I happened to be using at the time. Since Roon applies the EQ to both channels (there is no separate right or left EQ) I had to measure both speakers, then get an average. One could also measure both speakers simultaneously.

Room EQ Wizard Frequency Measurement In My Listening Room

Below are the measurement curves for the Right (red), left (green) and average (blue). Once I had these, I then selected the Average curve to EQ.

Left, Right, and Average In-Room Measurements for the Studio Electric M4

Below are the EQ curves Room EQ wizard calculated. I set it up so it would produce within +/- 3dB between 80hz and 1000 hz. You can see the highest frequency for an EQ setting was 616 hz.

Calculated Parametric EQ Settings for the M4 from the averaged FR curve.

Once I had the numbers, it was a matter of drilling down into Roon's parametric EQ settings for the streamer I was using (Auralic Aries).

Main Menu>Settings: Selecting the streaming device to apply EQ Settings to.

In the Drop-down menu on the Auralic Aries, selecting "DSP Engine"

The Parametric EQ settings are manually entered from the REW calculations. 

Once the EQ parameters were set in Roon, I was ready to listen.  Within Roon, it is easy to turn the EQ on and off. However, there is usually about 5 seconds of silence when switching between the two. Still, it was quite audible to hear the EQ'd vs. non EQ'd sound. I preferred the EQ being on. It smoothed out the bass response and got rid of a little too much midrange bloom. The already great sounding M4 was even more holographic in it's imaging properties, and even more natural sounding in my listening room.

Your mileage may vary, but in my opinion the software based DSP in Roon is a great tool for making good sound even better. With the software based DSP, I can use my own DAC and streamer, I get to keep my own equipment, but now get the benefit of a flatter in-room frequency response through software EQ in the digital realm. Being wise with the use of EQ is important, one can definitely overdo the effects, mostly by boosting too much, and lifting the gain into distorted territory. So it does require some care and knowledge to get the right balance of boost and cut on EQ frequencies so as not to cause clipping of the signal.

Helpful Video

Cutting Vs. Boosting EQ

I hope you find this helpful.  Enjoy!

Tweek Geek Summer Intern Alex Tells The Story of His First Encounter With Hi-Fi

"Kramerica's Intern" episode from Seinfeld. Not too far from an internship at Tweek Geek...

I've been lucky enough to find some help over the summer with an intern. Part of what he will be doing will be writing blogs from a perspective that I simply cannot give. One of a young person who loves music growing up in the post-CD world. His first blog entry covers his exposure to high resolution sound through better than average gear.

It's great to have been able to snag such a smart, hard working and talented young man. It's even better that he understands the reason for listening to music through a good system. We've already had some great discussions on the technical and philosophical aspects of our hobby, and I look forward to reading his contributions on Tweek Geek Speek.  

My motivation was the hope that Alex will make music a part of his life that he will take time to appreciate it thoroughly, that it will help him in some way be a better person. So without further adieu, I would like to introduce Alex.

My First Hi-Fi Experience

Hi, I’m Alex and am a 19 year old Physics Engineering student at a small engineering university in Golden, Colorado. For better or worse--with Mike’s influence and insanely intricate audio setup--I have seemed to develop a “need” for high end audio. I say for better or worse because listening to high end equipment completely changes my perspective and appreciation for music. Even songs that I have given little attention to sound so much more refined and expressive--I’m probably preaching to the choir here, though, so I’ll move on. I say for worse because that quality of audio isn't cheap! I was lucky to have Mike as a neighbor, or I might not have been exposed to high-end equipment. I’m only about two weeks into this summer internship with Mike and am learning all the “tweeks” he uses to get to that point of audio nirvana.

Mike recommended, for my initial post, that I share my first experience with high-end equipment. I was maybe 15--so really only about 5 years ago--when I borrowed a pair of Mr. Speaker Ether headphones and an LH Labs Geek Out DAC/Amp. The first song I played was Pink Floyd’s Any Colour You Like. I had never experienced music like this. On a side note, I learned what open back headphones were because, as it turned out, my dad could hear everything I was playing just as clearly as the TV show he was watching.

That was my introduction to high-end audio. What fully hooked me was Mike’s set up with the B.M.F.s (nicknamed as Big Mother F*****s in my neighborhood) and an array of components. I would dog/house sit for Mike, and he would give me full reign to listen to his setup. The first time I was there, I must have sat for at least two hours listening to pretty much anything and everything. His setup sounded crazy good. Mike told me the goal of an audio system was to have the listener “enveloped by the music”. The actual speaker locations seemed arbitrary to the listener because the music could be heard throughout the entire soundstage of the room. I think I started listening to 90s groups like Blind Melon, then jumped to some modern indie, and then went down to 70s, finally stopping with 1980s New Wave. All of it sounded incredible.

Below are a few of Alex's musical selections when he first listened to the Tweek Geek system.

  

 

Getting Your System (And Yourself) Tweak Ready

How to Get Your System (& Yourself) Tweak Ready

Why This? Why Now? 

My own experimentation, plus years of feedback from many customers who have implemented many different tweaks (successfully and unsuccessfully) has prompted me to write a bit on the nature of audio tweaks and getting your system to a point where you should be able to discern differences.

The Nature of Tweaks

We call them tweaks because 1) they are usually unconventional 2) the improvements may be subtle and 3) sometimes they don't work as expected. They are the finishing touches to a well put together system and listening environment. They can take your listening experience to new heights, and that is the goal.

A word of advice: If someone is selling an audio tweak and does not offer a money back guarantee, run. Even if they demonstrate it at a show, offering "show discounts", don't be tempted if there is no return policy.

Becoming Tweak Ready

I cover much this topic in a previous blog called The Three Foundational pillars of ANY Audio System. Below are excerpts from that post:

Pillar 1. Clean Power 

A single, dedicated AC circuit helps deliver more current, and less noisy power to your audio components. It won't eliminate all noise, not even close. But it does put a little "distance" between your audio system and the other devices in your home. A dedicated line is still vulnerable to electrical noise pollution that leaks onto the grid from the outside world, radio frequency Interference from wifi, cell phones, etc. and from the noise generated by the audio components themselves. Placing all of your audio components on a single circuit also lowers the chances of a noisy ground loop plaguing your system.

For some components, this may be enough, but for the majority of components further noise reduction by way of power conditioning will help. But before we go there, Why not try reducing the electrical noise coming in to  your house from the outside grid, and also from within the house to your breaker box?  So, in order here is what I recommend for creating clean power to your audio system.

• A dedicated line feeding your audio system
• Noise filtration on the power coming in to your home
• Noise filtration on the circuits in your home going back to the main breaker box
• Noise filtration/conditioning of the power feeding your audio components directly

Pillar 2. An Acoustically Friendly Room

You need a room that is friendly to listening to music. One that is not too absorptive, and one that is not too reflective. Too much absorption and the sound is lifeless and dead. Oddly enough, loudspeakers are tested in an anechoic chamber. No reflected sound occurs in an anechoic chamber, and therefore only the sound the loudspeaker makes is measured. That's great for taking measurements, but some people take this logic to their listening room and try to make it as absorptive as possible. Not a good idea. You need a combination of absorption and diffusion. Diffusion is the controlled scattering of soundwaves. You do not want sound waves bouncing off a wall directly to your ears. It's better for the sound to be scattered in random directions. This allows for the sound radiating from your loudspeakers to reach your ears before any direct reflected sound can reach your ears. Reflected sound when it reaches a high enough amplitude can smear the timing of the original signal, leading to a blurred stereo image and a smearing of fine detail.

3. Speaker Placement

Not all of us have the luxury of a dedicated listening room, but here are some minimum guidelines for getting your speakers to sound as good as possible in your space.

• Avoid placing your speakers close to walls behind or to the sides of them. Get your speakers out in to the room. This will help to create a sense of depth in the stereo image, and will help to mitigate boomy bass.
• If your room is rectangular, try placing them along the shorter wall first. Again, this helps with bass frequencies.
• If your room is square, try placing your speakers off-center or at an angle to the wall behind them. This will help mitigate standing waves.
• A good ratio for speaker width to listening position is 1 (width between the centers of speaker front baffles) to 1.3 (distance from speaker baffles to your ears). So if you have your speakers 8' apart, try placing your listening position at 10' 3".
• Speakers that are of equal distance to the listening position have proper phase and timing with one another. 

In summary, Clean power, proper speaker placement, and acoustic treatment of the listening environment will set one up to more accurately evaluate changes to their audio system. I consider these three things step one in building a great audio system.

Getting Yourself Tweak Ready

Dark Matter Technology Wallflowers

Once you have your audio system in place and you are confident that the sound you have is good for the long haul. Get familiar with your system, and get a playlist/set list of songs that you can use as your reference tracks. Keep notes on what you are hearing on your reference songs. Why you chose the song, what to listen for. Every recording has different strengths. Female vocals, guitar, string bass, air and space. Really get into the nuances and subtleties of these. Commit them to your long term memory (not your auditory memory silly. That's impossible). Once you have the subtleties of your playlist songs committed to memory you are "tweak ready". You will be able to evaluate and discern changes to your audio system with much more confidence.

Bybee's Internal Quantum Signal Enhancer is a popular tweak.

Testing Tweaks

Simple right? Install, listen to test tracks, reject or accept right? Not exactly. It can take many days to determine if an audio tweak is adding to the listening experience or not. Here is how I usually go about testing a tweak in my system:

1. Listen to system for an hour or so, going over the test tracks and letting my mind and ears get into listening mode.
2. Insert the tweak. Listen for any immediate changes. If no immediate changes, leave the room and come back in 30 minutes, an hour, 24 hours. The thing is don't make a snap judgement. Some of my best tweaks took time to settle in and do their thing. Sometimes the change is subtle, and the difference won't be heard until step 3.
3. Remove the tweak and listen. Again much like above. If you don't hear a change upon immediate removal, try leaving and coming back at different time intervals to see if any change is evident.

If you hear a change, wait. Sometimes the change is merely different, and not necessarily better. Discerning this again takes time. Live with the tweak in the system for several days. If it continues to improve your listening experience, it's a safe bet that the tweak is for you. Sometimes listening over several days reveals the "improvement" causes listening fatigue over time.

By following this road map, and making your system tweak ready, should have every confidence in your system's abilities to discern the effectiveness of any tweaks you may be tempted to try in the future. Not only that, your system should sound darn good just as it is. But alas, the audiophile is not just an enthusiast, but also an explorer and mad scientist. Forever pushing the boundaries of what is sonically possible.