Q&A # 255 - October 5, 2001

Staff

Q  I can pick up a Fosgate 4200 amplifier for a price of $600 used or even the 4125 for $350. How does this amp compare to the Acurus A200x3 since I will bridge the Fosgate into 3 channels? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will be using the amp with my Denon 3802 to power some Swan Diva's 6.1 and a C3.

A When you bridge a power amplifier, its ability to drive a low impedance load is reduced. Some of the Diva speakers are lower impedance, but the 6.1s are 8 Ohms so you should have no problem driving them with the bridged Fosgate.

Q I have heard that Pro Logic 2 (DPL-II) is a worthwhile addition to one's HT for listening to stereo or 2.0 channel source material. TV programming would be the most obvious source. Since I already own a Yamaha 2095 I don't want to have to buy a whole receiver to get this latest sound format. Have you heard of any add-on DPL-II decoders being brought to market?  What is your opinion of DPL-II?

A DPL-II is probably the best matrix decoder out there right now. In our tests, it outperformed other matrix codecs with stereo sources. I don't know of outboard decoders yet, but knowing the industry, someone will probably come out with one.

Q I purchased a DVD player a year back and I am having problem with it. It is Sony DVD player and the model number is DVP-S560D. Everything was working fine when suddenly one day, when I inserted a DVD into the player it said "NO DISC". I tried with different discs and I get the same message on my DVD player. The DVD player does not recognize any discs which I insert into it.

A Try cleaning the laser lens with one of the commercial cleaners you can get at Circuit City or other such A/V stores. If that does not work, it is probably something that has become defective. If you bought an extended warranty service contract, now is the time to activate it.

Q By a fortuitous turn of events, I now have two Electro Voice XEQ-2 and one Altec 1631A (same thing, Altec made them all) active crossovers. I came into all three from different sources for a total of $225. They carry a list price, back when, of $1000 each. A friend suggested the best fate for the Altec 604b's would be to crossover as high a possible so as to keep the voices with the low frequency driver, and add super tweeters. Having a spare ST70 (I really don't need one on each high frequency horn), it would not be an expensive or difficult leap to be able to make this happen. I know where I can find a fourth crossover, and that would enable me to tri-amp. Not that I am seriously contemplating such a move, but if I wanted to I would need to get some idea of what would be a good choice for the super tweeter. Or is all this foolish?

A Of course it's not foolish. Having this kind of fun is a major part of A/V enjoyment. There are several tweeters I would consider experimenting with, such as the Raven R1 pure ribbon (http://www.orcadesign.com/raven/ravenr1.htm) which goes to 40 kHz and is just over $200, and the ATD Le-Ribbon (http://www.e-speakers.com/Products/atd-tweeters.html) which goes to 35 kHz and is $139. Of course, there are lots of others to choose from, but these two are a start.

Q If I use a Yamaha RX-V1 receiver to listen to my stereo CDs, with my two SCL Martin Logan electrostatic speakers, without any kind of surround decoding modes or special effects, they will operate normally? What amount of power will be they receiving from the Yamaha? In other words, is it a dangerous move for a electrostatic pair of speakers like mine?

A Even though you would be using only two channels of power amplification with the Yamaha and the ESLs, I consider it a potential problem since ESLs go to such low impedances, depending on the frequency. An impedance of 2 Ohms is not unusual for an ESL, so I would not recommend this unless you listen at very low volume.

Q Does the Panasonic RP61 DVD player have the same Sage chip as the RP56 ? And in your opinion does the Kenwood with the Sage chip give you a better quality looking video ?

A The RP61 is not available at this time. Panasonic is using the Sage chip in the RP56 and the Genesis in the RP91 as well as the H2000, so until the player actually hits the market, we will not know for sure.

Q I have found that by changing the impedance switch at the back of the receiver between 4 and 8 ohms settings, the sound is changed. It appears that the 4 ohm setting give a clearer sound, even though I believe this would limit the power to the speakers. Please advice should I leave it at the 4 ohm setting and why this is so?

A The 4 Ohm setting just limits the voltage to the speakers to a lower value, and this reduces the amount of current that is demanded. Receivers don't usually perform very well with 4 Ohm speakers, so that is why the setting is there. I suspect you were turning the volume up too much with the 8 Ohm setting, and the amount of distortion was increased to an audible level. Leave it at the 4 Ohm setting.

Q Why is it that when I click on the new update for the DVD player shootout, all I get is the old article? How do I access the new information? I must be missing something?

A You have to refresh your browser (hit the refresh button). Sometimes it looks at the cache instead of refreshing, which would give you the old article stored in your computer cache. You may have to just clean out the cache directory. Browsers have a bad habit of making you think you are looking at a new page, when it is actually showing you an old page stored in the cache.

� Copyright 2001 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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