Q&A # 249 - August 14, 2001

Staff

Q I am planning to buy an A/V receiver. However, with no decision on what standard the industry will adopt with regard to DVD-Audio or SACD, should I postpone my decision? When do you think the the companies will come to an agreement?

A As resolution of audio and video increases, the content providers become more and more paranoid. However, for DVD-A and SACD, the players all have 5.1 analog output jacks which you connect to the 5.1 analog input jacks that are present on just about all new receivers, so it won't be a problem, other than having to deal with all those cables.

Q I just purchased a new Mitsubishi 55" Widescreen HDTV (WS-55819) which has a display mode that can be set to either "film" or "video". What exactly does this mode change?

A It changes the way the fields are displayed. For a video source (the evening news), there are 60 fields and 30 frames per second, but for film (a movie being shown on TV), there are still the 60 fields, but only 24 frames. Setting it wrong produces artifacts in the picture. Try both settings with a live TV sports program vs. a movie to see what the artifacts look like.

Q I currently own an interlaced-only DVD player with component outputs (Sony DVP-S530P). Will I see a noticeable improvement with a progressive DVD player?

A Yes, and the improvement will be as big as going from composite video to S-Video. Remember, though, you will also need a TV capable of showing progressive scan video. Also, if you buy a progressive scan DVD player, you have to set its component video outputs to progressive scan. The default is probably interlaced output.

Q I own a 5-disc carousel CD player. Will I hear a noticeable improvement playing CDs in this unit vs. a DVD player?

A The ability for DVD players to handle regular CDs is improving, but it depends on the presence of dual lasers (one for CDs and one for DVDs) in the DVD player, so just look for that feature when you buy the DVD player.

Q I have been reading your statements on HDTV, DVI, and the content providers limiting output. I bought a Pioneer Elite Pro 610 last Christmas and in April acquired a DishNetwork 6000 for Sat and OTA HD programming, and now find myself very concerned with stranded technology. I would like to know more about the lawsuit and how one might get involved with the class action suit. I am also one of those people waiting on your suggestions for a progressive scan DVD for my upgrade strategy. Thanks for a very informative site.

A We will try to get more information about the class action suit and post it here. Maybe the threat of boycotting their motion pictures at theaters and their studio programming on TV, with notification to their advertisers as such would also get some action. Any copyright protection scheme the content providers devise will be broken by hackers no matter how sophisticated it is, so if they would just give us uncompromised programming and spend those tens of millions of dollars for copyright design on prosecuting violators instead, life would be good for all of us.

Q I have Bose 901 series VI speakers and have been looking for an appropriate amplifier? I've been recommended a Luxman 505 amplifier. What is your opinion about this?

A The 901s are 8 Ohms nominal, but I could not find the sensitivity. If it is less than 88 dB/w/m, then get something around 100 watts per channel. Otherwise, if they are, say 90 dB/w/m or above, just about any amplifier will be fine.

Q I've been shopping around for a receiver and have noticed differing specs on D/A converters. There is 96kHz/24-bit and also 192kHz/24-bit. How does the higher figure make for better sound, and is the difference in sound quality between 96kHz and 192kHz significant?

A There are some very expensive lower resolution DACs and some very inexpensive higher resolution DACs, and the harmonic distortion specs of the lower res DACs could actually give you a better sound. The higher res DACs are only valuable for conventional CDs (44.1 kHz - 16 bit) when upsampling is employed, i.e., the digital signal is upsampled from 44.1 - 16 to 96 - 24 or 192 - 24 and then decoded. And that assumes good algorithms for creating the additional samples. If the music is recorded at 96/24 or 192/24, that is a completely different story. Both of those will be much better than 44.1-16 and also 44.1 - 16 that has bee upsampled.

Q I have a Kenwood VR-407 receiver which has front speaker output nominal impedance of 8 to 16 ohms indicated at the back panel, and I have recently purchased  PSB Image Series 6T front speakers with nominal impedance of 6 and minimum of 4 ohms. Is it okay to connect these speakers to my receiver? Is there any danger of possibly damaging either the speakers or the receiver?

A It will be OK as long as you do not turn the volume up too loud. You would likely damage your speakers before the amplifier. Perhaps turn the bass control down just a bit.

� Copyright 2001 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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