Q&A # 270 - December 28, 2001

Staff

Q My husband and I recently bought our first DVD player. We bought it from a friend who was upgrading his equipment, so we got a very good price on a 2 yr old Sony DVD/CD player for which he paid about $1200. Of course, we didn't have a receiver or sound system, so we purchased a new Sony Receiver and an Energy Take 5 Home Theatre System, which we have read is a nice, affordable system. Although we are both, we think, relatively intelligent, we would definitely flunk "surround sound," if we had to take a test. We have read the manuals over and over, and still most of it is unintelligible to us. We just keep reading the words one at a time, trying to make sense of what they mean. I suppose they try to write these things for the average user, but I find it incredible that anyone can understand this stuff. We got everything hooked up and running, but not without some desperation. Actually, I am surprised we even got that far.  But we know that there are wonderful things behind all the buttons on the remote, we just don't know where to start. Could you please recommend some books or articles that we can read to help us understand how to use this equipment to its fullest - in "layman's" terms? Hopefully, the recommended readings will be geared to the audio/video impaired.

A Well, you know there is an old saying, "There are no bad students, just bad teachers." And that is the problem. Instruction manuals are notorious for being unclear. Part of the problem is that they are written by people who know the product inside and out, so they leave out the details. Also, much of the mass market stuff is made in Japan, and things get lost in the translation to English. I have a book a publisher sent to me to review, and the subject is home theater. Frankly, the book stinks, so I am declining to review it. And, this is the third problem, namely, that instructional material is mostly written by people who may be intelligent and good writers, but they don't know how to explain things lucidly. That is the main reason I started Secrets. If I had been an electrical engineer or a computer jock, Secrets would probably be as obtuse as most other publications, because those types of people are too close to the technology. But, I am a biologist, so I need electronic things explained in laymen's terms too, just as you do. We are writing a book in response to so many readers asking us to put some of our explanatory articles in a printed form. That is about the only suggestion I can make. I have not seen any book already out there that does a good job of telling us how to really use all the features that home theater setups are capable of.

Q Since editors can have their pick of the equipment, would you tell us what you have for your system?

A Although much of what I have is permanent, there is also a lot of stuff that is transient because it is being reviewed or has been reviewed and is still here on an extended loan if I want to keep it for awhile (and if they will let me). But here goes:

Lab 1 (Home Theater)

Theta Casablanca II Processor (permanent)

Various Toshiba DVD Players (permanent)

Rotel RMB-1095 Five-Channel Power Amplifier (permanent)

Theta Dreadnaught Five-Channel Power Amplifier (loan)

Cinepro 3k6 SE Gold Six-Channel Power Amplifier (loan)

Threshold ES-500 Electrostatic Speakers (permanent)

Krix Esoterix and Centrix Speakers (permanent)

Velodyne FSR-18 (2) and HGS-18 (1) Subwoofers (permanent)

Mirage BPSS-210 Subwoofer (loan)

M&K MX-5000THX Subwoofer (loan)

Audio Control Phase Coupled Activator (permanent)

Sony 10HT LCD Projector (permanent)

90" Stewart Grayhawk Screen (permanent)

PS Audio P1200 AC Conditioner (permanent)

Nordost and BetterCables Interconnects and Speaker Cables (permanent)

 

Lab 2 (Audio)

Sony CD Player (permanent)

Audio Alchemy CD Transport (permanent)

Perpetual Technologies P-1A and P-2A (permanent)

Balanced Audio Technology VK-5i Preamplifier (permanent)

Balanced Audio Technology VK-75SE Power Amplifier (permanent)

Magnepan MG1.6/QR Planar Magnetic Speakers (permanent)

Sunfire Subwoofer Mark IV (2) (permanent)

Furman IT Reference AC Conditioner (permanent)

Nordost and BetterCables (permanent)

 

Lab 3 (Audio and Home Theater)

McCormack Audio CD Transport (permanent)

McCormack Audio DAC (permanent)

McCormack Audio Passive Preamplifier (permanent)

Various Toshiba DVD Players (permanent)

Denon DVM-4800  DVD-V/DVD-A Player (loan)

Balanced Audio Technology VK-5i Preamplifier (permanent)

Balanced Audio Technology VK-500 Power Amplifier (permanent)

McIntosh MC602 Power Amplifier (loan)

Carver Amazings Platinum Mark IV Ribbon Speakers (permanent)

Carver Amazings Silver Mark IV Ribbon Speakers (permanent)

Monitor Audio Studio 20SE Speakers (permanent)

Faroudja NRS Digital Video Processor (loan)

Runco PVP-11 Digital Video Processor (loan)

Zenith Pro 1200X CRT Projector (loan)

Stewart 87" 1.3 Gain Screen (on order for permanent installation)

Tice Audio Power Block IIIA AC Conditioner (permanent)

Nordost and BetterCables (permanent)

These are the items that we reviewed, and that I liked so much, I wanted to buy them or have them on extended loan. Of course, there are thousands of products that I have never had the chance to hear or see, and I am sure that if I could, I would like to buy or borrow many of them too. Also, the above products are just the ones that I liked. Depending on your tastes, your might very well prefer other items instead. That is why there are so many successful manufacturers out there who build products very different from one another.

Q In the past, I've been with the understanding that nothing should be placed in the AC circuit before the power amplifier. With these new Balanced Power AC conditioners, has that changed? I'm considering the B-P-T products. As an example - with the use of multiple Aragon 8008BB amps for a HT system - would using a BPT product be a detriment to the amp's capabilities? What are your opinions?

A The idea behind not recommending anything be between the AC socket and the power amp is that power amplifiers are hungry for current, and some conditioners can't supply the current, so deep bass would suffer. With the new conditioners, they supply mucho current and are not a problem. Just be sure to get the big one, i.e., one that supplies at least twice what your power amplifier is rated at. In fact, the PS Audio P1200 may actually be better than the wall because it is a voltage regulator as well as balanced power, which means it keeps the voltage at 117 Volts even during transient demands. The smaller ones are balanced transformers for use with front end items like CD players, DVD players, and preamplifiers.

Q I have a Panasonic DVD player (RP-56K) connected to a TEAC DD receiver. I am using Bose surround speakers with a Sony center speaker. My problem is that at certain times during a scene in a movie, especially when a TV or computer screen is in the picture, I hear a distinct high pitched noise coming from my center channel. I have never heard this noise from my non-digital Sony receiver and was wandering if this is a glitch within my new receiver. Since I have had this receiver I have changed my DVD player from a Hitachi to the Panasonic and the noise was still heard from my Hitachi.

A This may be some electrical noise that is being inducted from the TV into your speaker during scenes when the TV picture tube deflectors are working hard. To find out, put the center channel speaker on the floor instead of on top of the TV. It may actually be coming from the TV too, and just sounding like it is coming from the speaker. Other than that, it may be some oscillation in the receiver. A simpler answer is that we have heard of people complaining that a microphone picks up the "whine" of a picture tube and it makes its way into a soundtrack. By coincidence, Re-Eq seems to tame the phenomenon. Someone told us that on "The Spy Who Shagged Me", you can hear the "sound" of a CRT display through the whole picture (allegedly).

Q I'm trying to decide whether to buy a new Plasma TV or Rear Projection TV (RPTV). If you throw out the novelty factor and thin design of the plasma sets, how does the picture quality compare between the two? I'm looking at the Pioneer Elite Pro-720 64" rear projection set, but should I sacrifice screen size and pay a little more for a 50" Plasma?

A Most likely, the RPTV will have better black levels than the Plasma, but you really cannot "throw out their thin design" because that is their selling point. When you take into account that the Plasma will be on a wall, and an RPTV will be sticking out into a room several feet, you would need the 60" Plasma to even begin competing with the 64" RPTV if screen size is critical to you. Frankly, I love Plasma screens and can't wait to own one, but I want a BIG unit, at least 60" and preferably 72" when (if) they become available. I think they have a tremendous future because they take up almost no room space.

Q With video connections on the back of most receivers, is there any enhancement or processing of the video signal as it goes through the receiver?

A There is no processing. These connections are for your convenience so that when you switch to your DVD player, the video from the DVD player goes to your TV. When you watch satellite TV programming, the video from your satellite receiver goes to the TV. However, there is a good possibility that going through the receiver can result is a loss of video resolution because your really need 150 MHz bandwidth to pass them through and most receivers don't have such a large bandwidth. What I do is connect each video source directly to one of the inputs on my TV, and just switch TV inputs when I change sources.

Q Now that receivers are as expensive as separates, is there still a difference with separates to warrant their purchase?

A There are still some advantages to separates: (1) You can mix and match transports, DACs, processors, and power amplifiers to suit your tastes; (2) You can get much more power in separates (600 watts per channel if you like) than in receivers; (3) Large power supplies are kept away from sensitive preamp circuits in separates.

Q I have an Integra DPS 9.1 on order. It downsamples 96/24 DAD's (Classic, Chesky discs) to 48/16. Is there any way to defeat this? Seems to me there should be a service menu or software patch to take care of this. Have you heard of one? I can't afford a Camelot and can't get an Arcam. The other Japanese models don't seem to have the audio qualities that this one does. I read your video reviews but don't have a progressive scan TV.

A This is a copyright issue that is still dragging performance down for us consumers. The problem is that the player manufacturers sign an agreement that they won't do certain things when they build their players. Fortunately, there are companies out there that do custom modifications to players and receivers, and they can do this because they did not sign any agreements. You will need to go to one of these to get your player modified. Try MSB Technology http://www.msbtech.com. They have a 24/192 output upgrade for any player.

� Copyright 2001 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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