Video Diary: StormAudio ISR Fusion 20

I have the StormAudio ISR Fusion 20 in-house for the next several months. I am still in the process of getting it tweaked out. I'm taking the deep dive on this one. I'm spending some time with setup and calibration on my own, getting initial impressions on the user experience and sound quality, the ease of use and calibration, lots of thoughts. In May I have a pair of NextLevel Acoustics subs arriving, and once those are in-house and I've got them setup, I'll have Matt from StormAudio do a remote calibration on my system so I can get the full capability of the unit.

I'm doing kind of a regular video diary on my time with this unit, more random stream of consciousness, so you can all see the process as it goes along and how it's going. My first thought is that this is NOT your typical big box store AVR. The setup is not quite as straightforward, but it's also very powerful and flexible, and I'm getting things figured out. It's been a long while since I've used Dirac, so I'm also having to relearn that interface, which has changed quite dramatically.

The official review will come later, but this thread will become a playlist of my video diary over time, so make sure you follow along!

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

The 1-week check-in:

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I've been spending a lot of time getting comfortable with the ins & outs of the ISR Fusion and playing with various calibrations and filters. I have some time before my new Next Level Acoustics subs arrive, at which point I'll have StormAudio do a remote calibration of the unit for my room.

The next installment:

 

[JStewart]

Congrats on your new device!
I saw elsewhere you’re sporting a new JVC NX700, too!
Awesome endgame setup you’re putting together. Thanks for sharing the journey!

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Congrats on your new device!
I saw elsewhere you’re sporting a new JVC NX700, too!
Awesome endgame setup you’re putting together. Thanks for sharing the journey!

Thank you, but “end game” doesn’t exist.

I had a dust blob on the NZ700 but JVC swapped it out quickly and painlessly, Kris Deering is coming out Friday to calibrate the new unit.

The Storm is a trial run, I’m going g to have it in to evaluate for a few months and then I think I’ll be getting at least one of their processor/amp combos, if not both.

I’m doing a lot of off the cuff, experimentation videos on my channel and will do a more polished, official review for here.

It’s impressive stuff for sure. I’ve been surprised at how easily I’ve been able to dial in incredible performance.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I spent a good chunk last weekend taking all new measurements and tweaking target curves for Dirac Live Active Room Treatment (ART) as well as Dirac Live Bass Control.

So impressed with how good I have been able to get my room sounding even without deep knowledge of Dirac. ART is the real deal for those of us without the "perfect" room. If you haven't heard what it can do, you should find someone nearby with a StormAudio processor and get a demo.