Well, as I outlined, it is fairly easy to get B-format material into at least a G series box and should also be into the 806Vx. The trick is knowing how to extract and play the files (and the appropriate hardware to do it), once downloaded, which are, more often than not, in .amb format and thus require some way to play through to the DSP. Hence conversion to .WAV as this does make things easier.

A link to legitimate B-format downloads from the Ambisonia site : www.ambisonia.com Just click the ambisonic logo buttons to get through to the download page or item.

UHJ does not work well for everyone. Even stereo does not for a few. The rear/side phasiness can be distracting on some material. Do you have any test discs, such as Nimbus Records NI1417 - Ambisonic Surround Sound Sampler - or HiFi News &RR Test Disc 2 HFN 015? These are a really big help and the Nimbus disc is most probably still available, although it may require a direct query to Nimbus.

It took me a while to get the best from UHJ and found my 6 speaker setup needed the sides trimmed by -7 dB, even though sensitivities were set in the calibration step for the G61. I found the same using a 565, so it seems the ambisonic speaker sensitivities are set independently for the sides. Hmm! My fronts and rears are the same brand and model (Quad ESL63). Sides are KEF LS50, so I did expect different setting would be needed, plus use of the HF filters. I do not use my CF speaker as it does odd things to imaging in ambisonic, although it's fine for Trifield and Dolby.

For the uninitiated, it's worth emphasising that for ambisonics all the speakers are on the arc of the same virtual circle, which means keeping the sides, if you use them, 90 degrees directly left and right of the listening position, time delayed if required to place them on the circle. I tried the sides at a more forward angle but the result was unsatisfactory, which can be seen in geometrical terms. Ideally for ambisonic, a 5, 6 or 7 speaker layouts should be regular pentagon, hexagon or heptagon, respectively, with the listener centrally placed in the (virtual) circle.

Last edited by Steven Dive; 2017-08-02 14:03.
G61RSL, G98-DH, G01, Quad 606, Quad 306 (x3), Quad-ESL63 (x 2 pairs, F&R), KEF LS50 (S), Quad 10L sub, Martin Logan Motif (CF) + miniDSP