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Q I have seen the good reviews for the Denon DVD-1600 DVD player and
am considering a purchase of this product. I intend to use this for a home
theatre system (including a HDTV) and for playing CDs. My question is what is
your opinion of this player versus the new Sony DVP-NS755V for this purpose or
is there another player in this price point to consider?
A The Denon 1600 is one of several new players, including
Panasonic, JVC, Kenwood, and Samsung, that does not have the chroma bug.
However, we have not tested that
particular Sony for the presence or absence of the bug.
T
Q I have a Pioneer VSX-305 receiver. I lost
the remote when I moved a few months ago and I cannot get any universal to
operate the surround channels properly for me. Is there some way to reset the
channel volumes to their default/factory settings without the remote?
A Take your universal remote
to a dealer that has your Pioneer receiver, and ask permission to program your
remote using the one they have for the 305.
T
Q In November I purchased B&W
CDM 7NT + CNT and the new Integra DTR 7.2 , but I feel while it sounds great and
has plenty of power, I might benefit from adding the Rotel RMB-1095 to the setup
as the 7.2 has pre-outs. My question is, what benefits might I expect to
gain in going from integrated 100 watts rms to 200 watts rms external
amplification? Are there any drawbacks and are there any other amplifiers I
should look at that compare to the Rotel?
A All receivers will benefit
by using an outboard power amplifier, but the Integra has a good amplifier, so
you probably don't need to go with outboard for all channels. Probably a three
channel will be fine, using it for the front left/center/right pre-outs. Rotel
does not list a three-channel amp on their website, but there are a number of
companies that make them, including Adcom (GFA-5503 - 3 x 200 watts into 8
Ohms). Outlaw Audio makes a five-channel amp (Model 755 - 5 x 200 watts into 8
Ohms)) that is only sold on the Net, so it is about the same as other companies'
three-channel, namely $1,299.
T
Q Can you please give me some
recommendations on non-progressive scan DVD players and specific things to look
for?
I have a non-progressive scan TV that I will be keeping for awhile, and I want a
DVD player that is matched to it. I don't want to spend extra for a progressive
scan player.
I read your DVD shootout, but a great deal of it centered on the de-interlacing
for the progressive scan picture (Sage, Genesis chips, etc.), and that didn't
really apply to my situation. What are the best chip sets for non-progressive
DVD players? Which machines are they in? I am in the $200-$500 price range.
A Progressive scan is in
just about every new player now, so you would have to go out of your way to find
one that does not have it, and possibly end up with an inferior player. You
would not be paying extra for that feature. I have a $159 Toshiba player here,
and it has progressive scan. In your price range, I would suggest the Denon
DVD-1600. It has eliminated the chroma bug. When you get a progressive scan TV
eventually, you can still use this player. Non-progressive players don't have
deinterlacing chips in them.
T
Q I have a computer in one room that I'd like to
use to play DVDs and MPEG4s on my home theater system in another room. This
would require between 60 and 80 feet of cable. I have digital DD audio output
(coaxial) and I can choose between S-Video, composite, or component for the
video. I used to use a 20 foot S-Video cable when I lived in a smaller house,
and this provided good quality video, but I've heard 20 feet is about the
maximum for S-Video. What is the best choice for the video and what kind of wire
should I use to make the audio cable?
A Use heavily shielded cable
with 75 Ohm connectors for your DD cable. S-Video may require you to use an
S-Video line amplifier to bring the signal back up. In the meantime, you can
just try the cable without it and see if the video is clean or noisy.
T
Q I am replacing my floor
model Infinity front speakers with in-ceiling Polk RC80is. I don't have near the
bass I had with the floor speakers, and I'm not getting a full sound. I have a
Yamaha sub, but for music it doesn't sound good. Any suggestions? I have Polk
RC60i's for the rear that sound OK
A This is probably a placement issue. The floor
adds some bass loading that could be missing from the ceiling placement. Also,
the ceiling mount speakers undoubtedly have less enclosure volume. Lastly, you
use the entire ceiling as a front baffle, whereas with the floor-standers, you
use just the baffle of the speaker enclosure. All these things greatly affect
the sound. Some ceiling treatments (sound absorption - sound dispersion) could
help. Replace the subwoofer with something more substantial, such as a 15" or
18" driver and plenty of power.
T
Q I am assembling a dedicated home theater room and
would like an opinion as to the benefits of a good multi-channel amplifier like
the Rotel 1095 vs. three separate 1080 two-channel amps. Would I expect the
three separate amps to outperform the single multi-channel unit by a wide margin
for dynamics and power, or am I just wasting money? I am planning to run 4
Ohm speakers all around. I drive my systems hard and am looking for top
performance. I trust no one else's opinion but yours and any help would be
appreciated.
A In this case, I think you would be wasting extra
money. The 1080 is basically the same type of design as the 1095, with the same
rating per channel (200 watts), but two channels in the chassis instead of five.
Get the 1095.
T
Q Some receivers have a variable crossover point
setting that can go as low as 20 Hz. I'd like to set the crossover for mine
around 50 Hz, so that the speakers can help out with the bass. Most receivers
seem to have a large and small speaker setting and a sub on\off. Can I get the
bass to go to both the subwoofer and the speakers? Or does having one on (say
speaker's large) negate the other? I'm really confused by this.
A Setting the crossover usually involves both the
subwoofer and the speakers, because if they didn't you might end up with a hole
between the low-pass cutoff and the high-pass to the other speakers. Not all
receivers are the same in their bass management, so you just have to check the
user's manual at the dealer to see what any particular one does when you set the
speakers to "Large" and Subwoofer to "On" vs. "Off". Also, only a small number
of receivers now have the variable low-pass down to 50 Hz and below. The rest of
them still default to 90 Hz or 120 Hz and don't allow you to set it lower. To
me, variable low-pass is very important, because above 50 Hz, you can tell where
the bass is coming from (localization), and even most bookshelf speakers will
respond to 50 Hz. So, 50 Hz low-pass is probably the best choice because of
this, and it will make your receiver amplifiers perform much better since a
large amount of the amplifier energy goes to the very low frequencies. In this
case, turn off the bass (below 50 Hz) to the other speakers. That is what I do,
and I never get any amplifier clipping, even though the house shakes from the
deep bass (which comes just from dedicated subwoofers at 50 Hz and below).
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