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The Bacch-SP 3D Sound Experience | Stereophile.com From the BACCH website: A couple of months ago, I had an amazing experience at the local distributors for the Bacch system in Hong Kong, and then, when I went back again last week, was again gobsmacked by it. However, given that I'm really nowhere near an expert, I'm wondering if anyone else here has tried this recently, as I'd really like to validate what I experienced! I've noticed that there was an earlier thread on this a few years ago, started by Snilsen, but nothing else since then. For those of you that haven't heard of this before, the BACCH system was created by a "rocket scientist" at Princeton University, and essentially removes loudspeaker crosstalk so completely that you hear exactly what a binaural microphone at the position of your head would have heard during the original recording session. I was fairly skeptical of this prior to my visit to the distributor, but within 30 seconds of trying it out, realized that BACCH is truly something quite special. We ran through most of the Chesky demonstration disc, and a few of the highlights were: 1. For musical (especially band) pieces, you really can identify exactly where the different instruments are in the soundstage - everything is so clearly delineated that it was more than a little spooky. Perhaps the best way to describe this would be that without the BACCH processing a band sounded like they were standing in a line on a stage between and slightly to each side of the speakers. With the BACCH turned on, suddenly it seemed like some of the musicians were (seriously) right up next to you, and some were further away than the speakers, and some were off to my immediate left or right. Utterly amazing. 2. The soundstage is so wide and "3D-like" that even though a two-speaker system is used, I could "hear" instruments coming from behind me! 3. With the Chesky distance tests, whenever he says the phrase "... right up beside you!", I could really hear his voice right up against my ears! Very very creepy... Like having headphones on instead of speakers, but without the in-head sound and an incredibly deep and wide soundstage. The problems I noted though, were: 1. The price - in Hong Kong they are selling it for more than HKD300,000 - that's about USD50,000! 2. I think one would need a very treated room to use it effectively. The room the distributor had was almost perfectly dead (full absorption). 3. I think it really only works when you are in the pre-set-up listening position, i.e., this is a one-listener system. 4. It does require a bit of set-up, albeit a very quick one - they stuck little in-ear microphones in my ears, and took readings for about 5 minutes, after which we were off to the races! 5. I also think it requires true binaural recordings to work properly. Again, I'm really not experienced enough to be able to say for certain, but I thought it was fantastic. I'd really like to hear the opinions of others who've also heard it themselves! By the way, if any of you are based in Hong Kong, I highly encourage you to go check it out. The chap running the distribution company is incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. He runs this part of his business more like a hobby - he actually spent more than an hour just showing me the system even though I told him up front I wasn't likely to buy one (at least in the near-future!). Art
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