Nest Music Theater Description Updated 14Oct23

I'm a mid-range DIY audiophile and my Nest Music Theater (NestMT) is the sweetest, most recent, and most customized system I've built. I prefer less expensive but very real "live" sound. I've listened to and tested many speakers in my life and definitely prefer high efficiency full range dynamic drivers. I've described variants of this system before but this is a comprehensive new writeup to reflect its current refined state. Only with the addition of the center channel this year have I renamed it from NestT to NestMT.

The Nest Music Theater is a high efficiency 3.1 audio system featuring custom designed and built back loaded horns, somewhat derived from the D37 cabinet design and employing  the fine Japanese Fostex 168e∑ 6.5" full range drivers, as L & R mains. The mains are augmented by a pair of high efficiency Russian Viawave SRT-7 ribbon super tweeters to hit the highest highs. The center channel is a pair of custom designed and built Onkens employing similar, but smaller 4", Fostex FE108e∑ full range drivers. The lowest frequencies are delivered by a musical 600 watt HSU ULS 15-Mk II sealed subwoofer.

I am driving the DRC BLHs with a custom hand-built 8 watt 300B (Czech KR Audio power tubes) single-ended-triode integrated amp (all tubes - power/rectifier/pre-amp) and I'm driving the DRC Onkens with a 20w push-pull Willsenton R8 loaded with modern Mullard EL34s. I deliver stereo line level to the sub and drive the super-tweeters in parallel from the 300B amp (as they are the same impedance as the mains). I mostly listen to digital sources and behind the stereo stuff is a sweet liquid sounding Chinese Denafrips Pontus discrete ladder (R2R) D/A connected via AES and behind the center channel signaling is a keen pro Dolby DP564. Sources include: 1) a bit-perfect FLAC or DSD stream from a tiny JRiver MC Linux PC modded for timing and media via a Topping 10S,  2) vinyl from a Project Carbon turntable & DS2 TubeBox pre-amp, through a German 192KHz/24bit AME A/D, and 3) YouTube/Vimeo via optical out from the Sony TV.  I use a mini-DSP DDRC 22D signal processor which uses DIRAC measurement and correction to yield a keen and balanced stream to the DAC. I also employ unique time delay gear, the Felston DD740, to delay and sync the center channel for processing delays incurred in the mini-DSP & DAC combo. I've dampened room reflections acoustically with rugs and installed great theater seating. Audio is augmented by a keen 77" Sony XBR-A9G OLED video monitor - excellent virtual concerts.

These are the discrete 20-20KHz sound pressure level sweeps of each of the mains, center, and subwoofer in the 3.1 system. Listeners integrate these seamlessly to experience a wide, consistent, and dynamic soundfield. This system includes no feedback whatsoever and renders source signals directly to my ears; it is the best I've done and is my reference. To me it is better than most theaters at which I hear concerts, though its location directly below our master bedroom sometimes keeps Kala awake.