I need some feedback/advice. Both Chris Martens and Jonathan Valin in AVguide forums have spoken very highly of the Shakti Hallograph Sound Field Optimizer. In his comments, Mr. Valin states that they "have a profound effect on the size and clarity of the soundstage (and on the imaging within the stage)..." But then he goes on to say while they worked quite well with conventional direct radiating speakers (Magico Minis and Ascendo Ms) producing "profound, unmistakable, adjustable and repeatable" differences, he was "unable to clarify anything with the omnidirectional MBL 101 E loudspeakers."
I am thinking of ordering the Hallographs. I have Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1 speakers whose CDT tweeter has 300 degrees of dispersion -- thus almost omnidirectional. While this is true of the tweeters, it is not true of the midrange drivers which are conventional direct radiating ( and there are two on each speaker). So is it possible that due to the near omnidirectional nature of the Gallo tweeters, the Hallographs would end up having no appreciable effect with them? Or does the fact that the midrange drivers are conventional direct radiating, that they could, indeed, have a considerable effect?
I understand that Shakti does give a 30 day trial period during which to decide. But since I live in Italy and I have been told by the distributor here that he does not offer this option, I cannot take of advantage of Ben Piazza's "try before you buy" policy. Furthermore, due to the high pricing here in Italy, in conjunction with the dollar/euro relationship, the price on these comes to 1900 dollars, more or less; so I would not want to spend that kind of money for the Hallographs if there is a chance that they will be ineffective due to the near omnidirectional nature of the Gallo tweeters. Can someone there at AVguide please advise me on this?
My understanding is that these devices not only widen and deepen the sound stage, but they also tame the room and help clean up any room anomalies, thus rendering greater tonal balance, decay, clarity, resolution, etc. Now if this is true, then I would like to know if perhaps they would still be of benefit to me from this latter standpoint even if it turns out that they might have little effect on the soundstage and imaging. From this stand point they seem a viable alternative to still more room treatment.