Latest TacT RCS 2.0 Response Curve Tweaks

Ah, one of my audio joys - tweaking the TacT response curves. The goal? Perfect sound in my room, of course! Anyways, over the past few days, I've further tweaked the target response of my TacT. Of course, you - my new readers - don't have any reference for the TacT curves I've used in the past, so I'm first posting the curve I was using for the past couple months, and the second pic is of the curve I am using as of today.

Fig 1. Previous TacT curve (green). Right channel in yellow. Left channel in grey. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Fig 2. Current TacT curve (green). Right channel in yellow. Left channel in grey. Click on the picture for a larger version.

In each picture, the green curve is the target curve that I have asked TacT to match. The grey curves are the left channel speaker response without any room correction; the yellow curves are the right channel speaker response (again, without room correction applied). I don't have any measurements to show the result after the TacT room correction has been applied, but I will post them as soon as I have a few minutes to make those measurements with the help of REW software.

In the first figure, my goal was to produce a mostly "flat" response curve across the audible spectrum. We all know by now that a room response that is hotter in the bass and a little rolled-off in the highs produces a more natural sound to the human ear. So, when I say "flat", that's what I mean, and that's what this curve was designed to do. In the bass, notice that I tailored the target curve for a maximum boost at 27 Hz, with a boost of around 1dB still being applied at 20 Hz, and a fairly steep roll-off below 20 Hz.

In my most recent attempt (Fig 2), the goal is for TacT to do its correction only in the bass region (less than about 200 Hz), while maintaining the natural response of the speakers above 200 Hz. In previous experiments where I did not roll off the response curve below 20 Hz, I could literally see that the speakers were working very hard to reproduce the extreme low frequency information. So, I have been progressively attenuating the extreme low frequencies, so that the speakers aren't working so much beyond their natural abilities. Generally, this approach has resulted in faster and more tuneful bass, with less overhang or bloat. Correspondingly, the new response curve has a maximum boost at 39Hz, and by 20Hz I am applying a bass cut of 10dB (!).

My latest curve sounds amazing! The result is a more natural midrange and high frequency presentation - this is a quality that I loved about the Salk speakers to begin with, and now that quality is back in spades. Drums and vocals sound fairly more dynamic and powerful, with the vocals placed more forward in the soundstage than before. Overall, the presentation of the music is more exciting and energetic. In the low frequencies, the bass is ever so slightly more taut and tuneful than before, with even less bass note overhang, though the improvements in the bass are of a fairly subtle nature.

The TacT tweaks will continue, I am sure. Stay tuned!