Q I read that you have a pair of Carver's for your mains. I own a pair of the Carver AL-IIIs and absolutely love 'em. My problem, however, is trying to match a decent pair of in-wall speakers for rear surrounds. What are you using with your pair (if any) and what can you recommend?

A Fortunately, I have two pairs of Carver ribbon speakers, one pair for the front, and one pair for the rear. I also have a pair of ESLs (electrostatic speakers) in the main home theater lab that I use for the front mains. Matching them for a center is the problem, but Martin Logan makes an ESL center, although it uses cones with the ESL panel for part of the audio spectrum. There are some ribbons that you can use for rears and center, made by Bohlender-Graebener   (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_4/bohlender-graebener-220dx-center-channel-november-2000.html ),  Newform Research    (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_4_1/newform.html), and Eminent Technology    (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_4_1/eminent.html). Swans Speakers makes some hybrid speakers using ribbons for the upper range that could work too (see also http://www.swanspeaker.com/drivers/index.htm).

T

Q I have Toshiba DVD player, Onkyo TX-SR500, and a set of B&W speakers. Recently it seems that in playback the receiver just goes off (not completely but it blinks and there is no sound) for a second and comes back on. It can be anytime during playback.

A You may be overloading your amplifier with the speakers by playing them too loud. If it happens at low volume, then it is time to take the receiver to the repair shop.

T

Q I am putting together a home theater/music system. So far I have RBH Signature speakers, 1044se for front, 441se for rear and center, and a 1044sep powered sub. I have an Odyssey Stratos HT-3, three channel amp, and a pair of Odyssey Stratos Monoblocks with the Extreme uprade, caps and power supply. I now am looking for a descent a/v pre-pro that is good for music, but also will provide most of the surround formats as well. Used is okay. Any suggestions?

A If you can find one used (good luck!), the Anthem AVM-20 covers all the bases. Otherwise, the Onkyo TX-SR800 receiver comes close and makes a very affordable preamp/processor, using the pre-outs to drive your outboard power amplifiers.

T

Q I recently (last week) bought a Panasonic XP30 DVD player, which has built-in DD and DTS decoders. My receiver also has these decoders (Sony STR-DE945). I can't seem to find any useful information on whether I should be letting the DVD player or the receiver do the decoding. Can you give me some information with regards to my receiver's
decoding quality, and should I consider upgrading it to something else?

A Use the Toslink optical output of the DVD player to send the digital bitstream to your receiver, and let the receiver do the decoding, because this will allow the receiver's DSP circuits to be used. Sending decoded 5.1 from a player to a receiver via the 5.1 analog pre-outs on the player usually bypasses most of the receiver's features.

T

Q I am very confused regarding the overall (and I realize how simplistic I am being) quality regarding resolution, contrast, etc. among all the high definition viewing devices out there. Among rear projection, Plasma, and front projectors can you give an overall rating? I am trying to see if the $6,000 BenQ projector is worth getting, or if for that money a Plasma TV is better.

A If you want to watch TV in a room that cannot be darkened sufficiently, then consider a Plasma TV or LCD flat panel TV. Projectors only work well if the room is dark. Plasma has the best contrast of the flat panel TVs. DLP projectors have better contrast than LCD projectors. Plasma and LCD flat panel TVs are nice and bright, but you can't get an LCD flat panel TV larger than 40" yet, while Plasma goes to 63" so far. The BenQ 8700 (DLP front projector) is very good, and several of our staff are considering them for purchase right now.

T

Q I am planning on getting a newer HDTV (the Samsung HLN617W) and I am looking for a good video selector (I was looking towards the JVC JX-S777) that uses the best connections possible. Do you have any suggestions or rankings on which connections give the best quality picture so that once I get a good video selector I will be able to use the optimal cables?

A For a complete set of connection switches, you will need to get two of them, one for component, and one for DVI. So far, the two types don't come on the same switcher.

T

Q  I have a NAD T762 and an outboard 925THX amp powering Paradigm SA-35 in-walls as front left and right with two Paradigm Studio 100s as surround, and a Paradigm Servo Subwoofer and center channel. I currently have the center channel and the surrounds horizontally bi-amped while the front in-walls are connected to the T762 speaker outputs since they cannot be bi-amped. I don't seem to have enough power to drive the speakers, and the system sounds timid. Could you recommend an amplifier that would do a better job?

A You could get a Outlaw Audio 770 seven-channel (7 x 200 watts) and use that to handle the woofers in your bi-amped speakers, while still using the 925THX amp for the tweeters. Two of the remaining channels on the Outlaw could drive the front left/right mains, and the other two could be saved for when you go to 7.1 surround.

T

Q I have a Panasonic RP-82 DVD player hooked up to a Panasonic 36HX41 HD set using Z series Monster component cable, and when I watch movies in progressive scan, sometimes I get these light gray lines which scan diagonally across the screen. Sometimes they are there for a minute or less, sometimes up to 5 minutes. Any ideas what would cause this?

A Sounds like a video ground loop. They can come from anywhere in the connections that are part of your A/V system, including satellite input. One by one, you have to disconnect things in the system and see what effect it has on those diagonal lines. You may have to go to a component video isolation transformer. Jensen has one called a Video Humbucker Ground Loop Corrector (http://www.jensen-transformers.com/). We have not tried it out yet, but will get one sometime for review. They are expensive, but sometimes necessary.

About Secrets Register

Terms and Conditions of Use