Yes, I posted the EQ settings early in this thread, and referred to it as subtle.
Not just one listener.
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Avatar Control Group Tests.
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[0084]
In order to determine the actual physiological effects of the reverb, eq and amplitude settings in accordance with at least one embodiment, the present invention tested several groups of individuals in three separate control groups, testing the physiological effects of UMU technology using Avatar computer software and bio-signals.
Not to be argumentative, but getting a patent has nothing to do with the question of whether or not something works. There are plenty of patents for perpetual motion machines. Seriously. A patent is granted to anyone that can prove it is unique and not stepping on the toes of another patent.
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Good point about the patent process.
But the tests themselves do prove there is a positive and objective physiological response to this technology. Add to that, all the overwhelming positive subjective reviews that are in circulation.
I would’ve liked to have seen the tests include the physiological responses of the test subjects when listening to DSD as well, which is very close to an analog signal.
I imagine all that’s true. Mark’s good at making good sounding gear. He has quite the ear.
From the patent as to what is claimed:
“. . . to produce an audio output signal that has more beneficial health response on human physiological functions than an unprocessed PCM digital signal or a base measurement without any audio signal, as measured by at least one bio-sensor attached to at least one listener.”
It will be interesting to see what the market thinks if the product ever reaches the light of day.
It is an interesting claim given that one never knows what EQ and reverb is going to be present in a given audio signal.
Saying by at least one obviously doesn’t mean that they only used one test subject. Especially when they stated otherwise.
“the present invention tested several groups of individuals in three separate control groups”
The product has already reached the market, and is available for sale.
And, it is, at the very least, aesthetically pleasing to my eyes:
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It does look pretty.
Can one turn the function on and off?
Dunno….
For the longest time I subscribed to the philosophy of keep it simple stupid. For years I used cd players with volume controls, thereby avoiding extra boxes and cabling, which not only simplified a signal path, but the money saved allowed me to spend more on the front end component, which was an Accuphase cd player. It wasn’t until a dealer loaned me a 20k Accuphase preamp that I realized I was missing out on a lot by not having a quality preamp. Couldn’t afford the Accuphase so ended up purchasing the PS Audio BHK preamp, which was and is a stunner for the money.
All this brings me to why I’m so fascinated with the Maria integrate, it exemplifies the KISS philosophy.
If I understand this correctly, some of the eq that’s going on is tailored to the speaker it’s going to be mated with, and I believe they’ll tailor it to other brands of speakers as well, and not just their own. This can only be done by the manufacture, and not by the end user.
Mark is an interesting guy, eccentric to say the least. At our dealership, we had many company representatives that promoted their wares at our invitation-only seminars. His talks were disjointed and meandering. I didn’t know if I was in the presence of genius or something significantly less.
He did convey, however, a passion for products that honored the music, and he is a pretty decent musician (bassist) in his own right.
I think his “gift” lies in his ability to enlist the ideas and designs of others (like John Curl) and make a unified system. In the early days, that included his preamp and amp in a complete SOTA system.
His gear was bookended by a modified Studer tape deck that did15ips and speaker system that
featured 24” Hartley subs, dual pair stacked Quads, and Decca ribbon tweeters. His HQD system.
We didn’t install many of those. Size and cost were certainly limiting, and the eight Class A amps produced a lot of heat.
However, that out-of-box thinking and mending together of diverse talents has served him well and he has survived and flourished through the years. One of the few industry notables that blossomed without being adept with a soldering iron.
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I would say Mark Levinson is the Steve Jobs of audio. Both were idea guys who thought outside of the box, and neither were hands on engineer types.
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I do not see any speaker tailoring in the patent, only fixed EQ settings. The reverb setting is also fixed.
I suggest one spend a little time on the Daniel Hertz website if interested in these Maria amplifiers at all.
The “built in EQ” is not what I find interesting. I am not in the market for less boxes these days, but I think the more expensive model (Maria 800*) looks to have a compelling use case for those that want a sophisticated yet still relatively simple loudspeaker system with bi-amped speakers. Less boxes but the potential for relatively high performance at less than high-altitude pricing.
*“Maria 800 is the 4 channel model with active crossovers and time alignment enables for driving bi-amplified speakers.”
“Maria is a single chassis, all in one audio electronics solution, replacing the DAC, preamplifier, power amplifier, headphone amplifier and interconnect cables, fully programmable active crossovers and time alignment are enabled.”
FWIW.
PS, time for a dedicated thread @Elk / @Audioholic?
Good thinking!
Thanks.
“Daniel Hertz Audio” or “Daniel Hertz Maria Amplifier” might be a better title for the thread topic though.
I’ll leave that up to you and @Audioholic
Cheers.