Reaching Out for Some AS Community Opinions & Recommendations

Hello Fellow Audiophiles!

I'll be perfectly honest upfront, for me posting the following few questions here, I'm outside my range of knowledge or experience with the current world of 120/240V audiophile systems & technology. I reside is in the world of high-end SQ on the 12/18V side of things. I know this site has nothing to do with car audio! Fortunately, our 2 worlds can coexist as I believe 99% of us share the common intrest of music/sound and hearing it reproduced in its purest & most realistic form. With that being said, I have a few questions that I'd like to get your opinion on as they relate to your world, but can be used to reshape and enhance mine. Appreciate any feedback in advance!

So, I'm not to sure how many follow or will know about the latest in the aftermarket automotive audio & competition scenes but let me tell you a little about my side of things so you understand why I've come to you. I currently have 2 trucks, one being purely SQ and the other being SQ+/PL, that I show & compete with. The SQ truck is at the top and I compete at a Pro 1 level. The system is a full Audiotec Fischer BRAX Matrix Series build which all their pieces are hand built to spec, in-house at the AF headquarters in Germany. The primary BRAX components of the system consists of (18) speakers from 1.1" to 10", (5) Amps & (1) DSP. I take my equipment, the music reproduction and competitions seriously as this build cost me just shy of $150K and I want it to be the very best it can be. This is where this community comes into play as I want to explore totally different opinions & options that are completely outside of strictly car audio platforms. 

Question #1 & #2 go hand in hand...

#1 - Reference/SQ Tracks

In order to tune my system across all 5 amps & within the DSP, myself or 3rd party tuners have to listen to several typically used tracks in an isolated/noise barrier room first to then try and duplicate the horizontal & vertical stagging, impact, phase as well as bringing CDT in as close as possible. I have enough noise and R2L & U&D stagging tracks, useful but boring. I would love to try different and (I've) never heard of tracks to expand the tune out. What are some of your favorite or known best tracks that display all/most of these factors? Lyrical & Non-Lyrical?

Question #2 - Reference System

To listen to the recomended tracks above, what components would you suggest to create an above average reference sound system. I need/want to create my own reference room but have no idea where I should begin or look. ** I'm not looking to drop another 100K as I'm sure you could easily do, but I figure around 5K to 7K?? Honestly, I don't know.

Question #3 - Streaming Services

I currently use Tidal (with their top-tier plan for the Masters) for competitions and everyday listening. Is there something better/newer out there than the typical advertised ones we all see everyday?

Question #4 - DAPs

All of my competition tracks are coming from my Astell & Norma MKII and out directly to my BRAX DSP. The Norma does what it's supposed to but I also know it's out dated to today's DAPs. I've been looking at the latest ones from A&K, FiiO, Sony, etc. but what are some of your recommendations??

That's it, for now... I hope this received well and I can get some honest opinions & answers. Again, I appreciate any Audiophile, be it 120/240V or 12/18v! Thank you for you time - Peace!

A few snapshots of my BRAX competition build...

AWESOME!  A couple of thoughts:

You do not strike me as a price-sensitive person, and you want the sublime.  With that in mind, I think you should spend more that $5-7K on a home reference system.  Keep in mind that you can keep it or resell it in a way that is not possible with a truck music system.  The best thing to do is visit a local boutique stereo store and ask to hear some things at different price points, then decide.

I have an A&K DAP that is very good. But I found that more important than the player are the ear buds.  Etymotic has great buds for a few hundred dollars.  If you want higher end, custom In Ear Monitors (IEMs) are super, I have Ultimate Ears.  If I had to do it over again, I would probably skip the separate DAP, and get a DragonFly DAC to plug into my phone.  Also on the portable music, make sure you are not listening to lossy (below CD quality of 16/44) files

47 minutes ago, PeterG said:

AWESOME!  A couple of thoughts:

 

You do not strike me as a price-sensitive person, and you want the sublime.  With that in mind, I think you should spend more that $5-7K on a home reference system.  Keep in mind that you can keep it or resell it in a way that is not possible with a truck music system.  The best thing to do is visit a local boutique stereo store and ask to hear some things at different price points, then decide.

 

I have an A&K DAP that is very good. But I found that more important than the player are the ear buds.  Etymotic has great buds for a few hundred dollars.  If you want higher end, custom In Ear Monitors (IEMs) are super, I have Ultimate Ears.  If I had to do it over again, I would probably skip the separate DAP, and get a DragonFly DAC to plug into my phone.  Also on the portable music, make sure you are not listening to lossy (below CD quality of 16/44) files

Thank you PeterG for your response and input.

Yours and anyone else's feedback I get off my 4 questions is not so much for my individual personal use but will be researched and used within my 12V competition systems. I'll check out the DragonFly and see if it is possible to incorporate into the my vehicles. In the case of a personal reference system, this simply would allow me to sample tuning & demo tracks and eliminate the need to pay for 3rd party tuning services.

Again, I do appreciate the feedback!!

7 minutes ago, firedog said:

Look into a pair of  Kef LS 60 Wireless. Basically a complete high end system in your price range. 

I agree but I don't think you will be satisfied by "simple" stereo system like this, even if supplemented with a pair of subwoofers.

stereophile.com/content/kef-ls60-wireless-loudspeaker

Multichannel should be considered.

I concur with Kal.  The LS60 is a great speaker but not competition class!    

I have an article I am working on that will address part of your series of questions.  But lets cover a few other things first.

First Tidal and local files are going to do you fine.

You have to pick a room where you are going to setup the system.  A car is what we call near-field listening.  You may want to consider a near field system for you use.  A lot of studio recording designs are near field.  

Once you have the room selected you can listen and measure it to understand the influences presented by that space.

Kal also mentioned multi-channel.  If you read some of the Immersive Audio articles you should find some inspiration there.  My Dolby ATMOS system is 7.1.4. That is 12 channels with seven speakers around the listener in a near field design.  There are four speakers in the ceiling and one sub woofer.   DSP corrections are applied to the system!

You seem to have the tools so just keep going.  

RJF