Q&A - #12 - May 12, 1997

Q Bought a DVD player a couple of weeks ago, finally accumulated some movies and went into an upgrade frenzy. All according to plan, I know. Yesterday finally got my AC-3 system hooked up, watched my movies over again and was flabbergasted by the sound. But...couldn't seem to play back "Goldeneye" in 5.1 digital. Damn menu on the front would default to Dolby Surround no matter what I did. I fretted all night about it. Tonight, I stumbled onto Stacy Spears' review and it, blessedly, told me how to find the 5.1. It was spectacular -- the best of the bunch!! And the neighbors didn't even call the police. Just wanted to say, thank you, thank you, thank you.

A During the startup phase of DVD, I am sure there will be many frustrating little things that have to be learned, and they won't be in the instruction manual. Glad we could help.

Q I'm going to buy a new center-speaker but I don't know which one to get. I've been looking at the B&W CC6 and Mirage MC-4 which seem to be in my price range. I'm especially careful selecting the center-speaker since I'm going to replace my front and surround speakers later and then want to have matching sound on all speakers. When choosing the center-speaker I also choose my future surround and frontspeakers. Do you have any advice on this subject?

A We have listened to the B&W CC6 and the Mirage (MC-2), and were happy with both of them. The B&W CC6 in particular has received acclaim world-wide. However, as you mentioned, it is imperative to have a tonal match with the rest of the system. Before you buy the center, go and listen to the B&W DM-602s and 603s, as well as the Mirage 390is and 490is. If you plan to have AC-3 and/or DTS, it will be best to have full range speakers in the rear as well as the front.

Q Hey guys . . . what about the monthly LASERDISC movie reviews? Why did you switch to the DVD format already since it won't catch that fast, and as you probably know, there are still MUCH MUCH more releases of LASERDISC editions than DVD ones?

A The April movie reviews had a special edition just for DVD. We did not get the photos back in time to publish the April reviews for laserdiscs, but we will include them in the May reviews. As soon as DVD really catches on, we will incorporate the DVD reviews in with the LD reviews. What we are doing right now is letting readers know which of the new DVD movies are worthwhile. Many of them appear to be releases of earlier films, but pretty soon the studios should start releasing new movie DVDs along with the release of the LD.

Q I have been shopping lately for home theater equipment and am now completely bewildered, particularly in the speaker department. I have a couple of questions so here goes: 1) I looked at HK, Onkyo, Rotel, and Marantz for A/V receivers, all with the capability of Outboard AC-3 processors. I am leaning towards the Marantz SR-96. I read through all your Q&A looking for references to Marantz equipment, and saw it mentioned several times in questions. However, you never seem to address it. Do you dislike Marantz equipment? How does it stack up against other manufacturers? From your answers it seems you prefer Yamaha.

2) The choices of speakers seem even more bewildering. Here I am leaning toward the McIntosh SL line (SL-6 or 4). However, while shopping I noticed most speaker power ratings are at 8 Ohm levels. The McIntosh are listed at 4 Ohms. Should this make me wary? The SR-96 publishes a 4 Ohm rating as well as 8 Ohm power rating in the specs table, Does this mean that I should be fine?

3) I was going to buy the SL-6s (or maybe SL-4) for my Left and Right channels to begin with, then go back and add a center channel and sub later as cashflow allows. I was going to use "Phantom" center channel mode in the meantime. How good of a performance can I expect during this interim period without a center channel speaker?

4) Also, I was going to use some bookshelf speakers (Infiniti Reference 2000.3) that I currently own for the surrounds. However, these speakers are 8 Ohm speakers. If I bought the McIntosh for the front left and right, that means I would have 8 and 4 ohm speakers mixed on the same receiver. Does this present a problem?

5) My wife is the movie nut, and I listen to music constantly. The salesman suggested the McIntosh as a speaker to use for Home Theater that had a more musical quality for stereo listening. Is this guy just blowing smoke or what? I did notice that the McIntosh he suggested were less expensive than the first speakers I was looking at, so that makes me more inclined to believe him.

6) How far apart should the Watt power output rating of the amp and the Watt power rating of a speaker be?

A There are lots of receivers out there. Many of them are excellent, but only a few have all the features we think are crucial for upgrading: pre-ins and pre-outs, and a set of 5.1 inputs. These features allow you to add AC-3 and DTS outboard processors, as well as add a more powerful amp, either a three channel amp and using the inboard front left/right amps to drive the rear, or a five channel amp to outboard power all five channels. The Yamaha has all of these features and performs well. We have not had the opportunity to test the other brands yet, including Marantz and Onkyo, as well as some others. We have requested the products for review, but have not received them. At this point, all we can recommend is what we have tested here in the lab.

Speakers rated at 4 Ohms need amplifiers capable of delivering more current, for a given wattage output from the amplifier. Although receivers usually give a rating into 4 Ohms, they generally cannot perform like outboard amplifiers, due to modest power supplies. For receivers, it is best to have 8 Ohm speakers, with a sensitivity rating of >88 dB/w/m if you plan to use the inboard amplifiers that come with the receiver.

Phantom center channel operation should work fine if you are sitting generally in the center of the listening area, like the couch at the center of the rear wall. Otherwise, the dialog that is normally routed to the center channel will sound like it is coming from the side if you sit on the side, like an easy chair off to one side of the room. If you can put up with that for awhile (until you can afford to get the center channel speaker), then go ahead with that plan.

The answer to your question about the impedance of the McIntosh vs. the Infinity speakers entails more the tonality balance rather than the difference in the rating. You are more likely to run into a problem of them sounding different rather than a problem of one being rated at 8 Ohms and the other at 4 Ohms. It is usually best to stick with the same brand of speakers all the way around, except perhaps, with the subwoofer, where tonality is not so noticeable. As far as the musicality of the McIntosh goes, that is for you to decide, not the salesman. Everyone's perception of musicality is different, including the speaker designers. Listen to female voices, such as Barbra Streisand and Natalie Cole. Also try some Chopin piano, and some Mozart or Corelli violin. Between these, you should be able to judge the musicality of any speaker. Check some CDs out from the local library if you don't have them in your own collection. Be sure to take your wife along for the tests. Female hearing in the upper frequencies is better than male. Listen for "sibilants" (the "S" in vocals) and high notes in the piano. Sibilants should sound smooth, not like the singer is hissing, and high piano notes should not be harsh. Listen at medium volume. All speakers have harmonic distortion at high volume. Squat down about 4 feet from the speaker. If it has a "seamless" design, you won't hear the tweeter sound separate from the mid/bass. If the speakers are all jammed together against the wall in the showroom, have the salesman bring your choices out from the wall at least two feet and place them on speaker stands if they are bookshelf models. They should be about 6 feet apart, and you should sit about 8 feet away from them to hear proper stereo imaging.

As to watt ratings on amps vs. speakers, they should be similar. If the watt rating of the amp is too low, you will likely encounter clipping, which could damage your speakers. The only problem with having a high power amp and low wattage speakers is that you would need to be careful with the volume control (not to turn it up too high). But even low wattage speakers can handle high power for short transient "peaks" that occur in dynamic music. Above all, listen to as many brands as possible. Speakers have a wider variety of tonality than any other component in the hi-fi, home theater system.

Q Could you please explain to me the pros and cons of bi-wiring?

A What we have found so far, is that bi-wiring speakers makes no difference if you are using high quality cable. Where it probably makes a difference is when you have small inexpensive cable, say 18 gauge zip cord. With bi-wiring, you are doubling the amount of conductor, and thus, reducing at least one of the impedance factors. These impedance factors are well controlled with the high quality audio cables, so doubling them up doesn't produce an audible difference (to our ears, so far). If you are in an economy stage of hi-fi purchasing, just use one set of 12 or 13 gauge zip cord (about $0.30/foot) rather than bi-wiring 18 gauge.

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