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.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

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.

Pretty amazing what it can do, eh?

It seems that the fine-tuning abilities are almost endless.

 

[gorman]

Much as I would want to (a lot), I can't justify the amount of money. I hoped that ART could have trickled down to Denons but that's looking less and less likely... :-/

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

90 Days Later: Revelations with the StormAudio ISR Fusion 20 AVR - Why it's great for perfect and imperfect rooms

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

The new subs from NextLevel Acoustics arrived, so I had StormAudio do a remote calibration on the ISR Fusion last week. What are your thoughts on having your sound system calibrated by someone unable to hear the results?

Coming from many years with an Anthem it didnt even occur to me that the PEQ could be used in conjunction with Dirac ART.

Dirac Live ART Remote Calibration on a StormAudio ISR Fusion 20 AVR

 

[JStewart]

The new subs from NextLevel Acoustics arrived, so I had StormAudio do a remote calibration on the ISR Fusion last week. What are your thoughts on having your sound system calibrated by someone unable to hear the results?

Coming from many years with an Anthem it didnt even occur to me that the PEQ could be used in conjunction with Dirac ART.

Dirac Live ART Remote Calibration on a StormAudio ISR Fusion 20 AVR

Found it on your YouTube channel but had a problem with the link here.


Storm really likes spread out Dirac measurements. Were they completely random (other than measurement #1) within the measurement area or is there some reasoning behind their placement? How was the area size determined for the measurements?

Happy to see Matt apply PEQ before Dirac. I’ve done that since getting an HTP-1 and now I know it’s ok.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

They were definitely precise locations. The primary objective was to have no two measurements on the same X, Y or Z axis. All were at a slightly different height, and each one was offset from all the others in each direction. The primary position was based directly on my ear height + tweeter height, and everything else was calculated based on distances and tweeter height offset. Because my bed later are all at the same height, it made that part a little simpler, but measurements were equally distributed above and below the tweeter height with no two measurements at the same height. They were all equally distributed in front and in back of the primary position, but no two measurements were equidistant from the primary measurement or the LCRs, etc.

Even if it had occurred to me to use both PEQ and Dirac, I probably wouldn't have done it out of fear I'd be doing too much processing. I was always concerned about that using a MiniDSP for my subs going into ARC Genesis, but it seemed to be common practice. The Storm just makes it simpler being all in a single unit, and much more powerful.