Has anybody heard the PSI Audio C214 - Digital Active Active Base Traps?
In my room with too much bass - I’m thinking these might be better than adding subs to my FR20s.
May still want subs, but if they can clean up the bass in my room that would go a long way.
Hmm. I’d like to see some before and after sweeps showing its effectiveness. A passive tuned membrane trap in the 40Hz range, for example, is way larger than this thing.
Those were mentioned in another thread. It is very interesting tech. Kind of like noise cancelling headphones.
The price of admission is pretty reasonable for the portability and possible performance gains.
It seems they are a staple in the recording industry in small mixing rooms or rooms that have a bass beast that cant be cancelled due to other means.
A pretty pricey solution to a room problem I’ve found over the years is best addressed through speaker positioning. In particular positioning that tends to minimize the formation of standing waves, which is the real problem leading to room boom. I have a penchant for aesthetics, but when I set that aside for asymmetric positioning of my speakers relative to my room boundaries to prevent the formation of standing waves I’ve had better luck than using bass traps (passive in my case but I don’t think the strategy I describe matters active versus passive bass traps). Dare not to spend money by first experimenting with positioning to break up the geometry that leads to to LF standing waves.
Correct but many of us are limited by various non adjustable factors including room size, shape, windows, limited acceptable use of other “traps”, etc. Plus it’s cool tech. 
Yeah, I was thinking maybe before spending money on traps I should try significantly rearranging my room setup or possibly change to another room (not sure my wife would like me taking the room I have in mind).
As Baldy said, this seems like cool technology and if I got subs first I would be playing with the phasing to try to cancel LF standing waves - that’s what these are designed to do.
If they work as advertised they may actually be less costly than the passive acoustical treatments I may need to achieve similar results and be a lot smaller.
I find it disheartening that a device whose efficacy could be easily shown by the manufacturer with a set of before and after measurements (with a caveat saying example only) chooses to go solely by the “trust us” model. Too much of that in the hobby. Some stuff is hard to prove, I can accept that and that all of it ultimately gets judged by us in our own systems, but cheeze Louise! - this one is a simple before and after impulse response sweep. Even companies that make passive acoustic treatments usually have test data for their panels and other devices. The couple of sites that actually did “review” it also chose to go by purely subjective ‘wow this thing made my system sound better” routine, or spoke of amplitude reduction numbers without saying how they measured them. Cripes almighty, does no one out there know how to use REW?!
This may be of interest to you, replete with tests and graphs:
You may want to try the Synergistic Research Black Box
It’s shocking the difference it can make in the right room. Less money than the PSI active trap.
Thanks Paul - maybe I can get a deal on a Master fuse (to replace the one that blew on me last week) if I buy a Black Box too.
In any case, I like the idea of being able to adjust the attenuation/absorption that the PSI Audio trap offers. It would be nice if I could try both to determine if the extra money is worth it.
I stand corrected. Thank you Elk. I can’t figure how I didn’t find this myself with a simple Google search.
Cable company will let you try it out and return if you are not satisfied.
You are very welcome.
There is too much out there to catch everything.
I, too, like test results especially when this relevant and measurable.
One thing to keep in mind is that this product is aimed at the pro-market. Studio pros have no interest in something unless it is demonstrably making their recordings better/easier.
A large expense like this takes away from purchasing other pieces of equipment, paying staff, etc. If it doesn’t work, back it goes.
Ironically, the only place I can find the AVAA C214 is proaudiola and they only show them in a bundle of four ($15,800). I sent a text to proaudiola to see if they would sell singles, and since they are near me if I could test one in my room.
I also reached out to the Cable Company, thanks Paul172, to see if I could get a Black Box from their loaner library.
Based on the review of the SR Black Box that luca.p just started I’m leaning towards saving a couple thousand bucks, but it would be nice to hear both in my room before making a decision.
Vintage King also has them if you happen to be close to one of their stores
Looking forward to your reporting on your experiences…
TIA.
Thanks Baldy!
I just ordered one from them - they said they are selling faster than they can get them. Their next shipment is due next week, so I should be able to pick it up in 7 to 10 days.
They also offer a 30 day trial. I told him I was going to A/B it to a Black Box and he said he is anxious to hear a review compared to the Black Box.
They are pretty easy to deal with. Mostly professional gear but that is where I bought a set of 8C’s a few years ago.
Look forward to hearing your report/comparison.