Optimizing Listening Experience Guide

Recommended Pairings for DIAGRAMMaudio® Open Baffle Loudspeakers

Our Open Baffle systems are exceptionally transparent instruments. They don’t just play music, they mirror the character of your entire signal chain. To help you "cook" the perfect sound, we have gathered these recommendations based on our corporate philosophy and extensive listening sessions. Of course, this is merely a starting point.

I. Amplification

Pairing an amplifier with high-sensitivity speakers requires a different mindset. You aren't looking for "raw grip", you are looking for "tonal harmony".

Our speakers are designed with high sensitivity in mind. They do not require massive amounts of power to come alive. In fact, amplifiers exceeding 100 Watts per channel are often more than enough even in large rooms.

In a high-sensitivity system, the "first watt" is the most important. Instead of chasing high wattage, we recommend focusing on the purity and refinement of the power provided. A highquality 35W to 70W amplifier will often offer more texture, air, and musicality than a 200W powerhouse designed for difficult, low-efficiency loads.

• The Damping Factor (Let the Drivers Breathe):

Many modern amplifiers boast extremely high damping factors (500, 1000, or more) to "control" heavy woofers. For our 15-inch drivers, this can be counterproductive. We recommend amplifiers with a lower damping factor (100 or less). This allows the large diaphragms to express their natural resonance and "breath", resulting in a bass that feels more atmospheric, meaty, and alive.

• Tonal Balance (The "Darker" Path):

Because our speakers are highly revealing in the high frequency range, they pair beautifully with amplifiers that have a "darker" or warmer sonic signature.

• The Denon Archetype:

We often point towards the Denon house sound (like the PMA series) as a great starting point. Their characteristic "meaty" low-end and slightly recessed, smooth highs provide a perfect foundation for our speakers.

• The Goal:

Avoid "bright" or clinical amplifiers. A high-precision speaker paired with a highprecision, bright amplifier can result in a sound that is too lean or fatiguing. You want an amplifier that adds "grounding" and "warmth" to the system.

• Vacuum Tubes (The Ultimate Synergy):

Due to our minimalist crossover design (featuring only a single high-quality Jantzen Audio capacitor for the tweeter on the ATMO Model), vacuum tube amplifiers are a natural match. Low-power SET (Single-Ended Triode) designs can drive our systems with incredible authority, offering a holographic soundstage.

II. Power Supply Architecture

While often overlooked, the type of power transformer in your amplifier plays a subtle but vital role in the synergy with Open Baffle speakers.

* EI-Core (Square) Transformers: In our experience, amplifiers equipped with traditional EI-core transformers (often found in classic Japanese designs and high-end tube gear) offer a superior match. Their natural "elasticity" and higher leakage inductance act as a gentle buffer, providing a meatier, more organic low-end and a relaxed, natural midrange.

* Toroidal Transformers: While excellent for high-speed, high-grip control, toroidal power supplies can sometimes feel too "stiff" for high-sensitivity drivers. If your system feels a bit lean or overly controlled, switching to an amplifier with a substantial EI-core power supply can often bring back the "breath" and harmonic richness the music deserves.

III. Gain Staging and how to set up our or similar Acoustic System for comfortable listening

However, there’s one important detail we want to expand on here: Most audio sources (DACs, CD players, streamers, etc.) have a standard line output of around 2V RMS. While this works well with many modern amplifiers, not all amplifiers are designed to handle such a high input signal. Some input stages can be overloaded by this level, which may result in distortion, harshness, or even clipping - effects that are especially noticeable with high-sensitivity speakers.

Besides, modern recordings (especially after the "Loudness War") are often mastered very close to 0dBFS. When the DAC’s reconstruction filter processes these samples, the resulting analog wave can actually overshoot 0dB.

• The Issue: If your DAC is running at 100% volume, these "intersample peaks" can cause microclipping within the DAC’s internal circuitry.

• The Result: You don't hear obvious distortion, but you lose "air," the soundstage flattens, and high frequencies become fatiguing. By backing off the volume in the digital domain (especially with 32-bit processing), you create headroom for these peaks to breathe.

That’s why we recommend not running your source at 100% volume. Instead, try setting your DAC or source to around 80% of its maximum output. This helps prevent overloading the amplifier’s input stage and can lead to cleaner, more natural sound.

Proper gain staging is one of the keys to getting the best performance from audio system.

A Note on Digital Source Purity

In audiophile circles, it’s often claimed that high-efficiency horn-loaded or crossover-free wideband speakers are inherently prone to a harsh midrange and listening fatigue. While acoustic factors of the driver itself can contribute to this perception, significant portions of perceived “glare” may also originate earlier in the digital chain-through phase distortion, intermodulation, and noise modulation introduced by software processing.

Here are two critical steps:

(These steps apply mainly to Windows. On macOS, similar settings are usually disabled or bypassed automatically. However, the recommendation for a digital volume applies universally across platforms).

▌ Step 1. Disable Hidden Windows Audio Processing (APOs)

When we connect any high-end DAC via USB or optical to a Windows machine, the operating system treats it like a generic laptop speaker. By default, Windows inserts hidden layers of processing known as "Audio Enhancements" or virtual home theater spatial effects into the audio stream.

What to do:

Open your Windows Sound Control Panel.

Right-click your active DAC device and open Properties.

Navigate to the Enhancements tab.

Check the box labeled “Disable all enhancements.”

Why this matters:

These background consumer algorithms alter frequency response, introduce massive digital phase shifts, and mangle bit-perfect data streams. They degrade impulse response and micro-timing precision, which can be exposed more readily by filter-free drivers. Disabling them returns your transport to an unmanipulated state.

Note:

If you use WASAPI Exclusive, ASIO, or Kernel Streaming modes, these enhancements are automatically bypassed because the signal skips the Windows mixer entirely.

▌ Step 2. Set Digital Volume Slider to ~50% (-6 dB) for Best Results

Historically, there was concern about lowering digital volume due to quantization noise in the old 16-bit era. Modern DACs boast dynamic ranges of 120–130 dB, so attenuating the digital signal safely preserves resolution without introducing audible artifacts.

Dropping your system's digital volume slider down to roughly 50-60% (a clean -6 dB drop from maximum) helps avoid intersample clipping - a phenomenon where peaks between samples exceed 0 dBFS and clip inside the DAC chip.

The Technical Basis:

The Dynamic Range Evolution

With modern DAC architectures, residual noise floor is virtually nonexistent. You can attenuate the digital signal safely without losing detail.

Intersample Clipping Mitigation

High amplitude near 0 dBFS forces oversampling filters to operate close to voltage limits, increasing switching currents and potentially causing minor power rail fluctuations. Lowering gain reduces this risk, though the effect on jitter stability is minimal with quality hardware.

Psychoacoustic Comfort

The most noticeable benefit of lower digital levels is simply bringing overall SPL (Sound Pressure Level) into a comfortable range. This allows the ear to relax, perceive subtle details better, and experience less listening fatigue - not because the soundstage physically expands, but because the brain processes quieter signals more effortlessly.

We encourage experimentation with your own setup. Every system has its own synergy, finding your optimal sweet spot between 50% and 80% digital gain - on a completely cleaned, enhancement-free transport - will reward you with a clear, detailed, and fatigue-free musical canvas.

We don't believe in "best" brands - we believe in "best" pairings. Whether you choose the warm authority of a Denon-style solid-state or the liquid magic of a tube amp, aim for a partner that respects the natural dynamics of the music.

Trust your ears and feelings. There is no single "correct" setup - but the one that moves you.

Happy listening!

Updated August 22, 2026