Wisdom Audio pack a hifi geek in a box

You can spend all you like on a high-end home stereo system but, if you don't set it up and calibrate it properly, it'll sound like ass.  It's one of the reasons that some top range amplifiers, speakers and receivers have setup systems including microphones to map the room shape, test disks to run frequency balancing and equalisers galore to make sure your jazz doesn't end up coming out as punk-bhangra.  Now us mortals can afford to do the same (without needing to take the manual route and consult with scary, bearded specialists) with Wisdom's Digitally Controlled Analog Brain.

 

Okay, so it sounds like something out of a Fritz Lang film, but in fact the DCAB-1 is a combination electronic crossover, in-room analyser and equaliser.  A serial PC interface allows you to setup and monitor what it's doing, as well as adjust all the different facets of the crossover and equaliser (which has got to be an improvement on juggling a remote and trying to squint at a tiny screen), and then there's a plug-in microphone that analyses the room in real-time.

Unfortunately it looks like the DCAB-1 is only compatible with selected systems from Wisdom Audio's own range at the moment, though we can hope that they extend their brain-in-a-box to third-party setups soon.  I'm tired of my lounge sounding like ass.

Wisdom Audio [via Electronic House]