(as previously mentioned, I'll share my experience of the Primare SPA22 with Apex)
Deciding to have another go at a possible upgrade for the Apex my attention turned to high-end brand Primare and their modular a/v amp SPA22 in particular. Primare have a good reputation and if anything in the world of multichannel audio aimed at downscaled simplicity, this would be it. There are no excessive features, no calibration, no extra channels, no bling-bling or gadgets. Just top-of-the-line DAC's, processing and high-class 5-channel amplification. Thats it. The quality of the unit is unmistakable, with build and finish better than anything I've encountered prior (at an asking price of approx €3200 nothing less is to be expected). Hooking it up to the Apex I started feeling excited again, despite my two previously disappointing experiences with other brands.
However, at the risk of sounding repetitive I've once again stumbled upon a product that doesnt beat the Denon AVR-3808A with its Audyssey calibration system, at least not in certain aspects. Namely for movies. For music (especially in multi-stereo 'Party' mode) it performed admirably. Detail, musicality, focus and timing - its all there. Delicate voices were beautifully rendered and made me open my eyes to what the Apex are capable of. This part of the performance was pretty much what I expected since Primare's roots are in high fidelity stereo. These positive aspects were an improvement over the Denon, but not enough to justify the investment. The Denon is still good with music, only not as refined as the Primare. The disappointment came as soon as I popped in the first blu-ray disc to try out some movies. Immidietly I had an eerie sense of deja-vu, cause once again I was left with a multichannel experience somewhat 'subdued' with a slight 'anemic' character compared to the lively and more powerfully engrossing Denon. Surround-envelopment almost vanished in comparison, as if held-back. Despite careful calibration using my soundpressure level meter I hardly ever got the impression that the rear pair of A10's were an active part of the soundstage. The sense of space came off as withdrawn because of this and on top of that my AW-12 subwoofer lost some of its potent impact. It was almost as if it wasn't a natural part of the equasion anymore, as it is with Denon. Turning channel-levels upward to aid the situation only resulted in an ill-balanced soundstage. While certainly not a reference-machine the Denon have that unified 'completeness' to the sound and present movies with a reassuring sense of fullness and vibrancy in every single speaker. In contrast to how the Primare performed with music it just didnt seem to make the most of Apex with movies. Rather bizarre.
However, all this is very similar to my recent experience with Pioneer SC-LX83 and Anthem MRX700. Doesnt necessarily mean these units are bad they simply have a different approach than what I'm use to. One that might be considered more 'accurate' and 'correct'. But if their way of presenting sound takes me out of a movie experience as oppose to drawing me in its hardly desirable.
Suppose it had to take me a few trials until it became clear to me - all of these machines are missing the very reason behind my continued disappointments; namely Audyssey MultEQ XT and Dynamic EQ. Its now apparent what Audyssey accomplishes with the Apex in my listeningroom and how much it appeals to me. Though it certainly comes down to personal taste and preference the difference I'm experiencing is nevertheless substantial. I believe the biggest contributor is Dynamic EQ (not to be confused with Dynamic Volume) which basically acts as an advanced 'enhancement' of sorts, one that adds carefully processed 'loudness' that never lends itself to sound gimmicky. Instead, it keeps all active channels in complete balance at all times, projecting details of a broad frequency range and presenting them clearly in a way the other machines dont. No single channel is allowed to either dominate or sound subdued to another, a virtue I find extremely enjoyable. This makes movies sound a lot more believable to my ears. This balance is exactly what I find missing in the other units. And in my opinion it never gets overblown or bloated either. Once again, it may not be 'correct' but it sure is effective. In a word, it makes the Apex speakers sound bigger, more spatial with greater dynamic impact but without pushing them too far. With the other machines its as if only half their capabilites are being put to use. The engineers at Audyssey clearly know a thing or two about listeningrooms and speakers. Nowadays I run the full 8-point measurement of the calibration with impressive results. The only adjustment I've ever had to do was to change low-frequency cut-off from 60Hz to 80Hz for the center A40, then set Audyssey to 'flat' reproduction.
Might as well face it, I'm too fond of Audyssey MultEQ XT and Dynamic EQ and how it performs together with Apex. Makes it difficult abandoning it for something else, however fine of a machine it might be (and the Primare SPA22 is a fine unit). Like one of my friends said last night "give it up, you already found your perfect match" and I guess he's right. If theres going to be a next time I'll go with something that utilize the more advanced Audyssey MultEQ XT32, also with Dynamic EQ. Perhaps an Onkyo, Integra, NAD, or possibly another Denon. I'm obviously an Audyssey fan, and while I know people who dislike it I apparently love it. After three disappointments in a row I've come to the conclusion that it makes the most of my speakers. And surely an even better receiver with Audyssey are bound to bring improvements. Guess I been looking in the wrong places.
For the record, there are a few functional aspects I found disappointing with the Primare SPA22 as well: non-flexible speaker distance settings (10cm steps), rough volume control, slow lock on digital audio inputs (bitstream especially – between 4 to 8 seconds!), crude OSD. Dont want anyone to get me wrong because in some aspects the Primare SPA22 is a fine machine. Build-quality is outstanding and music reproduction great, its just that in other areas I find it lacking compared to what I already have. I bet some people would love what it does though. High-end or no high-end, it just aint my cup of tea. Wish it could have been otherwise.
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