Q&A # 31 - September 30, 1997
Staff
Q I just wanted to comfirm something about the article that Stacy Spears did
on the HSU 12va subwoofer (by the way, great article!). In the article it
stated the sub had two 4" ports having a length of 42". That doesn't make
any sense to me because the entire height of the sub is only around 22".
Am I misunderstanding something here? Was this a summation of both ports
(one being 21" and the other 21" as well giving a total of 42")? I was
trying to figure out what the author was describing here.
A There are two 4" ports that are 42" long each. They go up
from the bottom to the top, then they curve over across the top and then
they come down the other side. Sorry if it was not clear in the original review. I will go back and add that info.
Q 1) On DVD, just about all soundtracks on movies state they are in
Dolby
Digital (DD). On movies that were recorded in mono (The Terminator,
for
example), what process is done to the soundtrack to put it in the DD
domain? Is it not really DD, per say?
2) I want to say that your writers are first rate. I really
appreciate all the effort the staff puts into each and every review,
essay, etc. Thanks! Now for my second question. Like many of us laserdisc
owners, I'm waiting for the right time to buy into DVD. More importantly,
I'm waiting for all the major movie studios to buy into DVD. Do you have
any information on some of the "hold outs", like Disney, 20th Century Fox,
etc., and when they might be cranking out their movies on DVD?
A 1. Dolby Digital is the encoding method used, but it does not have to be 5.1 channels. With LDs we are used to DD being 5.1, but in the case of DVD it just ain't so, because many of the DVDs are old movies, not new ones. I have Terminator 1,
and it is DD but 1 channel or mono DD. DD can be anything from 1 to 5.1
channels. When DVD is mono or stereo DD, from my experience with it, the
decoding is done internally by the DVD player.
2. Disney has joined in, and said they will start doing DVDs. They
hope to have some live action (sorry no animated) films out by
Christmas. Still no word from Fox or Paramount. Now there is something
else coming down that Disney, Paramount, Dream Works, and Circuit City have
signed on, and that is Divx. Divx is a Pay-per-View version of DVD, and if
you follow the Usenet groups, you know it is taking some major heat! From all the
threads, I have not seen ONE positive post. Divx will involve having a Divx DVD player, and obtaining the DVD from the video store for a nominal fee (say $5). You take it home, and for the first two days or so, you can watch it as much as you want. You keep the disc. Now, say a month later, you want to watch it again. So, you connect your system to the telephone, dial up the Divx center, give them your VISA Card number, they authorize a viewing for a fee, you disconnect from the phone line, and watch the movie on the disc you have been keeping on the shelf for the last month. One year later, you do the same thing, paying another fee to watch that same disc you have been keeping. If this upsets you, well, you are not alone, not by a long shot. We will have more on this later.
Q I am very interested in purchasing a DVD player. I was interested in the
Toshiba SD-2006/3006, but I noticed that the second generation of Toshiba
players has come out (the 2106/3106). I have a
better-than-average-home-entertainment-system but nowhere near a
state-of-the-art home theater. Would the ends justify the means going
with the 3106? It has the 3D spatializer, but the rest of the features I
think I really wouldn't use.
But apart from that the BIG question - if "Divx" comes out, are the
current
manufacturers supporting DVD planning to continue with DVDs? Is this a
good time to invest in a DVD player?
A If you have to decide between the first and second generation of the Toshiba
player, you should go with the second generation all the way. There was a
problem with the first generation that clipped all information below 7.5
IRE. The second generation has fixed that problem, and they also allow you to
set the black level at 0 IRE instead of 7.5 for a greater dynamic range in contrast.
What is this IRE stuff anyway? Without getting too deep into it at this point, I will try to explain quickly. With the US NTSC system, black has
been at 7.5 IRE and white at 100 IRE. Black was at 7.5 because when
color TV was created, the technology was not there to properly decode the
composite signal and would sometimes cause errors. If it were to fall below
0 IRE, the image would not be correct. So the 7.5 IRE was a safety net. IRE black is
at 0 in the PAL system, and in Japan, their NTSC is also at 0 IRE. With DVD,
black should have been set at 0 IRE, but it was not done. With the new Toshiba
2107 and 3107, you CAN set the black at 0 IRE! This will give you more dynamic
range with your contrast setting. The question now remains, are they
encoding DVD with black at 7.5 or 0 IRE, but I don't know the answer.
Buy your DVD player now, and forget Divx is what I say. A recent poll at E-Town
had 96.8% of the poll rejecting Divx. Let's hope that the studios read
what people are saying on the internet. Currently, Sony and Toshiba have no
plans to support Divx, though if the public demanded it (yeah, right), they would join.
It also looks like Columbia, Tri-Star, and WB will not be getting
involved with Divx at this time.
Consumers who are not "on the net" probably have no idea that Divx is
coming. It will take printed magazines an issue or two before this is
publicly known. Then some real fireworks should start. Our opinion on this is that if you buy a DVD movie, you should be able to watch it as often as you want, without further charge, the same as with a VHS Tape, LD, etc. How many CDs would you purchase if you had to cough up 25 cents each time you listened to them? When you buy a book, the author still holds the copyright, but you don't get charged another fee everytime you read it. Software purchase is really a license to use it, and there are no additional fees each time you boot it up. This idea of nickel and diming us to death is going to start a consumer revolt. Maybe it is time for one. The movie producers need to be reminded as to who signs their paychecks. Ask yourself this question: "Can I survive without buying movies?" Then the studios getting ready to implement Divx should ask themselves, "What happens to our company, and my income, if customers stop buying movies, or even boycott stores that sell our products?" You can post how you feel about the Divx concept at http://www.unik.no/~robert/hifi/dvd/.
Q I have a Yamaha 3090 with B&W 805 main speakers and a B&W HTM center. I
have a question about whether purchasing an amp like the 5x130watt Adcom
GFA-7000 would add significantly to my system or would I need to use a
combination of the Adcom 5503 and 5500 to get 5x200watts. That's obviously
more expensive but although I am not necessarily looking to bring the house
down with volume, I do want more "presence" for AC-3 and I understand the
B&Ws can deliver if fed well enough. But how well? I heard that you don't
hear a significant difference unless you double the power. As you know the
3090 only puts out 5x80watts. Also, how do Adcom and Parasound amps
compare? Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.
A The GFA-7000 is all in one chassis, while the GFA-5500 and 5503 are in two separate chassis, meaning that they have two complete power supplies. I can get the 7000 (still have one here) to show clipping once in a while (LEDs light up), but Jim Moretti, who tested the 5500 and 5503, never did see the clipping lights when he used them with speakers other than electrostatics. Secondly, the 7000 uses bipolar output devices, while the 5500 and 5503 use MOSFETS. The MOSFET sound is slightly "sweeter". For AC-3 and DTS, which have full range high impact sound in all channels, I would suggest getting as much power as you can afford. So, go for the 5500 and 5503. The only Parasound amp I could compare the Adcoms with is the HCA-1206. It's a six channel amp that was designed when there were non-powered subwoofers available. Now that just about every sub is self-powered, the sixth channel is not used, unless you are tri-amping a pair of speakers (which is a pretty good idea). Soundwise, the Parasound and the Adcoms are very similar.
Q I just bought a Sony CA7ES CD player. It came with a set of plain cables
that I connected, and the sound is tremendously improved over my old JVC CD
player. My question is, should I replace the stock-issue cable provided by
Sony with a better set of cables? I have heard some claim big differences,
and others claim that there is very little difference between cables. The
rest of my setup is a Yamaha receiver (which will be upgraded soon to a
Dolby digital receiver), an Acurus 3x200 amp, Paradigm Studio 100 speakers
with AudioQuest connects and speaker cable.
There are dozens of choices for cables in the catalogs. Should I replace my
CD-to-receiver cable? What do you recommend for a reasonable price?
Thanks again for your help, and for maintaining this great site!
A Yes, you should just throw those cables that came with the player away. Since you already have AudioQuest, you should get another pair for the CD player. I like the Jade interconnects, and they are very inexpensive.
Q I've been following all the talk about DVD since its release, and I
own a Toshiba model that I am very happy with. My concern has to do with what sounds like digital sound artifacts resulting in momentary poor sound quality.
On a number of the Warner Bros. DVD discs, and possibly others, I've
noticed momentary digital sound artifacts in the form of either a
faint "crackling" or "clicking" noises, or slightly harsh/raspy
Now I'm no golden ear, nor do I aim to be. I can't tell the
difference between two amps, receivers, CD players, etc., like some
claim they can (speakers are a different story). But I can tell when I've
heard this crackly/raspy sound anomaly on:
* Batman Returns (throughout the movie)
* Golden Eye (chapter 39, at around 1:44:00, the end of the
helicopter crash)
* A long Kiss Good Night
* Turbulence (I was desperate, there aren*t enough titles out damn
it!)
* An interview with a Vampire
I've done a small amount of troubleshooting on my own. I'm convinced that
this noise was generated during the compression of the soundtrack, and is
not a problem with either my DVD player or DD deco. If you would please,
could you take a moment to go to the above-mentioned chapter in Golden Eye
and let me know if you hear the same thing? Right toward the end of the
helicopter crash you should hear it. Don't get me wrong. I love this format, and
I'll take the discrete, dynamic sound of DD over DPL any day. But I
expected better QC from major motion picture studios such as Warner Bros.
A I have listened to "Goldeneye", and I do hear the distortion during the
helicopter explosion. It is at exactly 1:33:00 on chapter 39 (using a
Sony DVD player). I am going to get a copy of the "Goldeneye" LD in both the
DD and DTS format. I would like to find out if this is specific to the DVD
or to DD or even was just mixed this way. If the LD DD version has it, then
I will have to compare it to the DTS version. If the DTS has it, then it
is probably recorded that way.
If any readers have either the LD DD or DTS version I would like to
hear from you on this. The distortion happens as the helicopter hits the
ground and explodes. It is a very obvious distortion on the DVD.
Q I am currently using a pair of KLH acoustic suspension 3 way speakers with 8" woofers for the front and a pair of Marantz bookshelf speakers for
the rear with my Onkyo 828 receiver. I am looking to upgrade the speakers to
a better home theater and music sound system. I have read some articles in
magazines on speaker systems and have listsened to the B&W 600 Series and
the Paradigm Monitor Series. Both of them sounded very good. My questions
are: 1. Can I keep the KLH and use them for the rear or should I buy all of the same
brand for better matching? 2. What size and brand of subwoofer would you
recommend for a 10' x 20' room? Should the subwoofer be matched to the
other speakers? I like to watch movies with good bass effects but not to the
extent of shaking the foundation. 3. Have you heard of the Omega Series by
Angstrom and the Infinitesimal Four Satellites by Infinity? The prices of
these are considerably lower than B&W or Paradigm. Any comments?
I am also unsure of buying a Dolby Digital decoder now or wait for a
decoder which has both AC-3 and DTS. Do you think such a decoder will be
available in the future? I know that there are seperate decoders now for
AC-3 and DTS, but how would these be connected to the 828 simultaneously?
Can the 828 pre-ins be used for the DTS?
A You could use the KLH for the rear, but if you are moving towards digital surround, and it looks like you are, it would be best to just bite the bullet and get a matched set for the front left/right and rear left/right. The B&W DM-602s are really very good, and from what I see on the Internet, many people are buying them. As to a subwoofer, 10' x 20' is a pretty big room, so get a powerful sub. You don't have to turn it up loud just because it is capable of playing loud. We use several subs at once, and each one is just barely on. The main thing is to have a sub that plays down to 20 Hz, and does not have boominess. Take a look at our reference list. I know they are expensive, but, again, you are headed for digital surround, and you will never be sorry you shelled out those extra bucks for a good subwoofer. AC-3 and DTS can be connected to the one set of 5.1 inputs on receivers by running the AC-3 analog outputs through the DTS decoder. The DTS decoder (the Millennium) will automatically sense whether AC-3 is passing through or DTS is being decoded, and send the output to the 5.1 inputs on the receiver. There are several packages on the market that will do both AC-3 and DTS, built-in. The Sherwood is quite affordable. The others, for example . . . Meridian, are very expensive, but also very high performance components.
� Copyright 1997
Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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