Q&A # 282 - April 9, 2002

Staff

Q I am interested in setting my turntable on a wall mounted stand to avoid the vibrations from the wood floor in my older home. Is there something about the construction of the stands sold by the manufacturers that make them worth the prices they charge? The local metal fabricators can assemble wall mounted stands for a fraction of the cost. Thank you for your assistance.

A Walls are just as subject to vibration as the floors. All you need to do is make your turntable stand have lots of dead (non vibrational) mass. You can do that by making a frame that you can fill with sand. You can experiment by taking a small plastic garbage bag and filling it with sand. Set it on top of where you have your turntable now and shape it into a level pillow. Then put your turntable on top of the bag and level it. If that works for you, make something a little more stylish for permanent use, such as a wooden frame that will hold the plastic bag of sand, and with a felt cloth on top of the bag.

Q I am from good old blighty! (England for the uninitiated!!)

My System comprises of:-
Pioneer DV737 DVD player
Yamaha DSP A2 amp
B&W 601s2 fronts
B&W CC6 s2 centre
B&W DS6 rears
REL Storm series 3 sub
Cabletalk cabling

My problem is, I am now ready for the next stage of my upgrading quest. Do I change the speakers to something like the M&K K series speakers (I want to retain my sub)?  Having made preliminary inquiries, I was told that I will have to change my amp (Harmon Kardon and Denon have been suggested). Or do I go for the big one and invest in a projector and screen? If so what model would you recommend in my price range (of approx �2,500) although this is flexible if a big jump in quality is to be expected. Also could you please recommend a screen, electric or manual (up to approx �500)?  Thanks in anticipation.

A It looks like you have a pretty good system already, so I would indeed suggest your getting a projector and screen. In your price range, the Sanyo PLV-60HT projector would be perfect, along with a Stewart Grayhawk wall mounted screen. Get the projector first, then put it where it will be used, turn it on, and see how large the image is on the wall when you have the zoom lens all the way out (largest size), or at the lens setting you want the image to be. Order a frame-mounted screen to fit that size. Mount the frame on the wall, and away you go.

Q I need help with bass management. I currently own a Denon AVR-4802, Paradigm Studio 100 front, Studio CC, and Studio ADP, PW-2000 sub. I use my 4802 for half music and half HT. In the system setup, I have the front speakers set as "Large", since the Studio 100 can handle very low frequency, and the center and the surround set to "Small". The PW-2000 is connected to the subwoofer pre-out. With the 4802 setup, when a subwoofer is selected, the user is given a Subwoofer mode setting, either LFE THX, or LFE+Main. According to the 4802 manual, and I quote:

"Selection of the 'LFE THX' play mode will play the low frequency signal range of the channel selected with 'Large' from that channel only. Therefore, the low frequency signal range that are played from the subwoofer channel are only the low frequency signal range of LFE (only during Dolby Digital or DTS signal playback) and the channel specified as 'Small' in the setup menu. THX is recommended in this play mode so that bass interference is less likely to occur in the room."

Based on my interpretation of the above, since I have the two fronts set as "Large" (the Studio 100's range is 39 Hz - 22 kHz), the subwoofer should not be getting any bass when I am in stereo mode, right? However, no matter what I am playing, either radio, or CD music, the PW-2000 still get activated!!

Now, I don't think a radio program, or any CD music produces a lot of low frequency below 39 Hz, so why is my sub is turned on all the time in stereo listening, and bass get channeled to it? The only way I can defeat the bass from the sub is to set the gain on the sub to zero.

A Although bass management menus let you direct the bass specifically from channels where you have small speakers, to the subwoofer, that does not mean you won't get any bass in the subwoofer pre-out even if all speakers are set to "Large". The subwoofer pre-out will continue to get a general mix of the low frequencies regardless. There is a setting for "None" in the subwoofer menu, but what that does is send the low frequencies that would have gone to the subwoofer, to the main speakers (or wherever you direct them to in the menu setting). I am not sure that the subwoofer pre-out, at that point, would not receive any signal at all. You would have to test this for your receiver. Other than that, just turn the subwoofer volume control down as you do now. I suppose manufacturers could add yet one more button on the remote for "Subwoofer On/Off".

Q I have an old Electrophonic 1972 stereo console with a Garrard record player and 8 track player . The 8 track works fine. The record player had a ceramic cartridge that stopped working and I replaced it with a Shure 94E moving magnet cartridge. Now with full volume it sounds like low volume. I have seen a preamp on the market that when connected to my original stereo amplifier will boost the volume for the new cartridge. Will this work?

A Yes, that will work, and in fact, phono preamps are exactly for that purpose. Ceramic phono cartridges put out around 250 millivolts. Moving magnet (MM) and moving coil (MC) phono cartridges deliver much less, say around 5 millivolts. You should not have to spend a lot of money for your preamp. The Parasound PPH-100 is only $120.

Q I have an M&K 750 THX speaker system (minus the rear channels). My original plan was to use my Rega Ela speakers as rear channels until I could add on the two M&K Surround 550s. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the M&Ks are 4 ohm. So can I use my 8 ohm Regas as rear channels or am I asking for trouble? Everything is being powered by a Sony 90ES integrated amp by the way.

A Yes, actually your 8 Ohm Regas will be an easier load than the 4 Ohm M&Ks, so go ahead and use them.

Q The bottom line of my question is this: If my standard aspect HD-compatible TV will only format signals from the input described as 480p in the standard aspect mode can I derive any visible enhancement in resolution of video from anamorphic DVDs by replacing my current interlaced DVD player with a progressive scan player? If so, which player?

Our 60 inch rear projection standard aspect HDTV (Mitsubishi VS60805) was the last addition to our home theater system close to two years ago. Progressive scan DVD was not on my mind then. Subsequently, a little bit of knowledge became a dangerous thing. I brought home a progressive scan DVD player, a Pioneer DV-37 purchased without benefit of reading The Progressive DVD Player Shootout, with high hopes, but also with some nagging compatibility anxiety that I shared with the shop that sold me the player. The DV-37 was hooked up to the 480p inputs (Y, Cr, Cb) with component video cables and set to 4:3 screen size. The video from the first several anamorphic DVDs looked different from our original player (Sony DVP-S330), but it was hard to call the image better. After reviewing the manuals, and a visit from the AV shop, we concluded that the TV does not allow formatting video in the widescreen mode from the 480p input, and the DV-37 was apparently letterboxing the widescreen image from the anamorphic DVDs by a process that dropped scan lines (1 of every 4?). Telling the DV-37 to deliver video to a 16:9 TV produced a �stretched� but noticeably higher resolution image. Too bad it wasn�t watchable. The shop took back the DV-37, but I was left wondering whether some other solution to this problem was possible. After reading, and re-reading, The DVD Player Benchmark and The Progressive DVD Player Shootout(s) and the recent  Q&A I�m still wondering. You seem to favor Faroudja DCDi players such as the Philips DVD Q50 and Panasonic DVD-RP56, but you mention that they lack aspect ratio control so they�re not going to help, right? It seems like a similar question to mine was asked in the 3/16/02 Q&A and you recommended the RP56, but a review of this player on another site (http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-6342369-1304-6145312.html) did not like the RP56 on a 4:3 television. What about the Kenwood DV-5700? Yet another site implied that the Toshiba SD-5700 might be a solution to my problem, but your original Shootout was not enthusiastic about this manufacturer. Or do I need to wait for Shootout #3?

A I think manufacturers made a big mistake selling 4:3 HDTVs, when 16:9 is the HDTV standard. But that is moot, since you own one. Even though some players will do better at letterboxing an anamorphic DVD, you will always be faced with the same loss of scanning lines, no matter how good the letterboxing is. If watching DVDs is a big part of your life, then I would suggest having a service technician adjust the vertical scan of your TV so that it is in a 16:9 rectangle instead of 4:3. This will reduce your TV in terms of 4:3 watching obviously, but it will create a 16:9 HDTV for you. Then you can set your progressive scan DVD player to 16:9 output, and the picture should be good. Some of the 4:3 digital TVs now have a setting in the menu that does this reduced scanning height automatically. Be sure to check and see if yours does have it before you go to the trouble of hiring a TV technician.

Q I've just purchased Linn Ninkas for front right/left floor-standing speakers, Katan (rear left/right speakers, corner mounted), a Linn Trikan centre speaker and Linn Sizmik sub. I have also a Sony DVD player and am now looking for a suitable amp. Could you advise me on this? My budget is �500 because the speakers just cost me a packet!

A The Rotel RMB-1075 at $1,295 USA is one of the great bargains in multi-channel power amplifiers. Since it is manufactured in the UK, where you are located, you should be able to get it within your budget.

Q Will one get a better picture in a RPTV that has 3-2 pulldown by using a progressive scan DVD player, or would an older non-progressive player work just as well?

A Most TVs don't have very good 3-2 pulldown (the ability to distinguish between film-based and video-based sources) built in. The chances are that you will get better results with a good progressive scan DVD player.

� Copyright 2002 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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