Q&A - #8 - April 15, 1997

Q After reading your article on the Accessible 1.0, I decided I would like to use this construction technique on my current speaker project. I am confused about one aspect though. How do you get those rounded corners? I understand that you miter the top/bottom and side moldings for the front and then cut 3/8" Vs down the top & bottom of the sides. But after you install the 3/8" quarter round, the edges would stick out of the front and back at the corners.

A You're correct in stating that the front and back molding around the sides/top/bottom are mitered. However, the four front-to-back pieces of 3/8" molding are not mitered, rather, made flush with mitered pieces. These flush pieces of molding may be installed once the front and back mitered pieces are in place. This makes for an easy measurement of the flush molding. Attached are two photos that show a close-up view of the joints in question [click here for photo # 1] [click here for photo # 2].

Q Whatever happened to Linn equipment and why don't I hear much about it anymore? My friend has a Linn turntable, CD player and speakers as well as a Linn multiple preamp and amp setup. He told me that I should get Linn products, but I found that I couldn't find anyone here or even in some bigger centers that carry Linn! Is Linn dead? Also, would a Denon amped and component system coupled with Audio Control crossovers and Mirage Speakers/Subs even compare to my buddies aging but EXPENSIVE system?

A From your E-Mail address, you live in Canada. You can locate Linn dealers in Canada by going to http://www.linn.co.uk/dealers/datacan.html. As far as the Denon equipment goes, in a random group of people, some would find the Denon to sound better, sound the same, or not sound as good as the Linn. Depends on your tastes and perception. Denon makes good products, and with a pair of AudioControl 30 band equalizers, you could probably fine tune the system to make it sound very much to your tastes. But, if you really like the sound of the Linn, then get Linn. That is what hifi enjoyment is all about . . . getting what you like.

Q I am buying a Bose speaker system which as 7 speakers which take about 10- 100 watts to drive. Shopping for a receiver for this and want to spend not more than $300.00. Do you have any suggestions? What features should I be looking for?

A In that price range, we found the following two Pro Logic receivers to be of suitable build quality: Denon AVR-600 at $299 (street price), and Yamaha RX-V490 at $349 (street price). Features we always check for in receivers these days include 5.1 input capability (for connecting outboard AC-3 and DTS decoders), pre-outs, pre-ins (for adding more powerful amplifiers), and speaker binding posts (as opposed to the spring clips). But you have to go to the > $800 price range to find them.

Q I want to upgrade my home theater to AC-3 and in the process greatly upgrade the sound quality. I presently have an Adcom GTP-600. I've been looking at the Lexicon and Meridian processors. Neither of them have a built in AC-3 demodulator. I've been told that they are too noisy to integrate. Do you share this opinion? Also, can you suggest a processor/preamp with a built in demod?

A Outboard AC-3 demodulation is popular because it is desirable to keep the RF from the laserdisc player away from sensitive preamplifier circuitry. However, some manufacturers integrate AC-3 demodulation into the main chassis without apparent problems. Personally, I prefer to have the RF away from the preamp circuits. With DVD you don't need RF demodulation, since the AC-3 signal is a digital bistream coming out of the player. Most of the mass consumer products that have AC-3 built in, don't have a set of 5.1 discrete inputs, and therefore, cannot accommodate DTS. Once you have heard DTS, I am sure you will want it, so I would not recommend getting any preamp or receiver that does not have this capability. Stacey Spears uses Meridian, Daniel Long uses Lexicon, and we use the Yamaha RX-V990 here in the test lab, to have a spread of products. All of these will allow AC-3 and DTS. The Meridian and Lexicon are designed to be used with their own AC-3 and DTS upgrades (outboard demodulation), while the Yamaha can be used with any brand of outboard decoders. The new Theta Casablanca has it all, but is very expensive. On a modest budget, I would suggest getting something like the Yamaha RX-V2090 or 990, the Yamaha DDP-2 AC-3 outboard decoder, the Millennium DTS outboard decoder (reviewed this week), and a 5 channel power amplifier.

Q I'm looking for a reasonably priced ($500-750) CD changer. It must have digital outs (I will connect it to Lexicon DC-1), preferably both coax and Toslink, and it must have a headphone jack (my wife insists). Any thoughts?

A The following two CD changers (multiple CDs) are suitable: Sony CDP-CA8ES at $529 (street price), and Yamaha CDC-845 at $449 (street price). These have Toslink digital out (no coax digital out), but they do have the headphone jack.

Q I would like some advice on the placement of my rear surround speakers. My room is 12 X 22 and the sofa is along the 22 ft dimension and it is right against the back wall. Should the speakers be mounted on the back or side walls and at what angle? Also what is the recommended distance between the front left and right speakers?

A You have a number of choices, but first, try putting the rear surround speakers in the corners, about three feet above ear height (when you are sitting on the couch), pointing downward towards your ears. If that does not suit you, put them along the side walls, or on end tables closer to the couch. This will reduce boominess. Estimating that your viewing distance is about 8 - 10 feet, I would suggest a front left/right speaker separation of about 6 feet. Playing music CDs in Pro Logic would allow you to put the front speakers farther apart than that with the center channel filling in the "hole", but the problem is that, with movies, some sound effects are designed to go with action occurring at the edge of the picture, and if the front speakers are too far apart, the sound effect won't align with the action properly.

Q I was wondering if you have happened to have any direct experience with the Lexicon DC-1 and possible amplifiers that have complemented the Lexicon? I was thinking along the lines of either a 5-6channel amp, or, a 2,3 combination. They will be running a pair of NHT's 1.5 x 5.

A I have used the Lexicon (Daniel Long) with my current system amps, and I think the neat thing about the DC-1 (or for that matter any line-level-only surround processor) is that they really let you choose the amplifiers according to the speakers you want to use. The DC-1 is very, very transparent in music-only modes, especially if you use the (any one of the 8) built-in DACs (of course you can bypass them if you already use a very high-quality front-end, but bear in mind that if you choose anything other than bypass, the DC-1 converts the input to digital and works with it before doing a final DA conversion). With movies, I must say I have never heard anything better, even with non-discrete Dolby Pro Logic. And unlike on some processors where the music surround modes are there just so the manufacturer can give you a thicker instruction manual, those on the DC-1 really work. It is subtle yet manages to immerse you in the music; instruments are very faithfully reproduced (very important to me) and vocals are real.

Just this last Saturday, I heard the DC-1 with the AC-3 embellishments and it BLEW me away..... The disc I viewed was ID4 and the muy expensivo Vidikron helped but the sound was incredible! There was none of that foley effect appearing in the left-channel-right-channel-rear-channel and distracting from the movie! It was like I was there! I believe the upgrade to AC-3 involves a chip, a card and an outboard de-modulator.

For NHT 1.5s, I think you should look at a good but no-need-to-be-expensive 5 - 6 channel amp. My personal favourite is the ATI (Amplifier Technologies, Inc) AT1506 (they also make the AT1504 and AT1502 which are 4 and 2 channel amps respectively) which put out 150W into 8ohms (225 into 4 and 450W bridged into 8). Very clean and powerful for 150W and very, very musical. I hear them often at a hangout of mine playing into Chapmans (the big one with the transmission line loaded bass). The Parasound HCA-1206, the Sunfire Cinema Grand, or the Bryston 5B ST or 8B ST are all good for the money.

Q Re the Velodyne F1800IIR, I purchased a F1500 last year, a F1800 this Saturday. WOW what a difference! I find the 1800 to be the 8-ton Subwoofer From Hell, the 1500 to be just a close runner-up. Both were purchased blind (no demo at dealer) after your published evaluation (and others as well).

After searching through such literature as I could get my hands on, reviews of subwoofers had little to say re one vs.two. Further, no review seems to take the laws of physics in hand or advertisers to task. Can a 10" speaker be judged to generate long wavelengths at 100db at 1% distortion? Yet anyone can mfr such and call it such regardless.

For the first time, I can now hear in my own living room the low end of the pipe organ. But this high amplitude LF stuff reveals a problem with my equipment or with the F1800. Too much gain (3 or 4 dots on the Velodyne) and too much LF content cause the Velodyne to "kick" or "POP". The Theta/C-J premiere 10 seem to pass all LF without much attenuation. No help from dealer or Velodyne sales. Dealer offered to replace unit, I will try CD of G. Wright at dealer to duplicate problem before asking for a replacement.

How to judge the *TRUE* gain setting for Sub-Bass?? Using the Video Laser disk, ch.07, I may be setting the F1800 too high. Judging by movie sound tracks and CD of pipe organ, definitly too high.

Two subs are better than one!! True statement, *especially* with the SYM#3 mentioned above. But movie soundtracks are a different animal. Mostly one-note mono, one sub does well here. I must add the F1800 doesn't give me as much a headache. I must also add I now dislike a constant LF rumble added to soundtracks during film shots of spaceships (Star Trek movie, and 2010). I simply shut off the sub. Just TOOO MUCH!!

Problem with ground loop hum. Bought a bagged pair of AC adapters at Home Depot for less than a dollar to fix. Severe hum further added to pop and kick problem. Velodyne sales suggested same fix. Don't you experience these problems during your evaluations? You don't mention any problems at all!!

What to do with the F1500? Keep it or sell it and purchase a second F1800? I like the idea of the latter. Will think about it - cost vs. actual need. Don't need subs for TV viewing, most sound tracks are toooo much, only a few CDs blossom.

A The Velodyne has protective circuitry that kicks in when the amp is driven too hard. Also, the servo-feedback attenuates the output a bit, and since distortion is reduced, there is a tendency to turn up the volume. A 10" driver can produce those low frequencies, but a very long-throw voice coil is required. Actually, very low distortion can result here, because the 10" drivers are easier to keep under control than the large 15" - 18" drivers. This is what we found with the Mirage BPSS-210 which uses two 10" drivers in biploar fashion. It is astonishingly clean. However, the large drivers can generate much higher SPL at the really low frequenciece, such as 15 Hz. We have not experienced many hum problems, because we use AC line conditioners into which we plug all the equipment. This keeps the ground potential the same for all the components. I would suggest that you keep the F-1500, and get another F-1800. Use the 1800s for the front left/right and the 1500 for the subwoofer output (or LFE). An alternate plan would be to get another 1500 and use the 1800 for the LFE. Multiple subs are fantastic. We use four right now, and will be going to six! The setup will be as follows: two F-1800s for the front left/right, one Mirage BPSS-210 for the center, one M&K MX-5000 for the LFE, and two F-1500s for the rear left/right. At first glance, this may appear to be ridiculous. Even though we need a sub in each channel for testing digital surround sound processors (AC-3 and DTS are full range {10 Hz - 20 kHz} in 5 of the 5.1 channels), there is another reason to have them. What happens is this: each sub is turned up to only a small fraction of its potential, so they are in the very low distortion part of their performance curve. The result of multiple subs is a low end that is beyond belief. The entire building shudders, but no buzz, no rattle, just clean deep bass.

Q I have been looking to upgrade/update my old phase linear amp. I originally was looking at the Sunfire Cinema Grand but was told it wasn't all it was said to be. I was turned on to the Aragon 8008 with dual mono blocks, and also looked at the Acurus 100x3 with the Acurus 150x2. I realize that the Aragon is much more expensive than the Acurus and the Sunfire. How do these three amp compare? Is the Aragon worth the extra expense - it sure sounded great!! I am also a little unsure what the mono block is all about - is it a must for high end hi-fi? Thanks for your input, and what do you think for a new amp (any of the above or any other)?

A The Aragon 8008ST and 8008BB both double their output into 4 Ohms compared to 8 Ohms, indicating massive power supplies, and the Acurus increases its output about a third when the impedance is halved, a manifestation of a less robust power supply (notwithstanding the quality of sound within its power supply limitations). The Sunfire doubles its output into 4 Ohms, like the Aragon. The Aragon and Acurus run in Class A/B, and the Sunfire in Class D/H. The huge power supply of the Aragon is partly responsible for its higher price (the D/H class of the Sunfire allows it to double its output into 4 Ohms, even though the power supply is not extremely large in physical size). As far as the Sunfire not being all it is cracked up to be, all amps have their critics, including the Aragon. If everyone had the same opinion, there wouldn't be any need for more than one audio magazine. What is most important is how the amps sound to you, and what you can afford. Obviously, there has to be a balance here. If you really like the sound of the Aragon, then go get 'em! Each monoblock has its own power supply, which is advantageous during periods of high current demand in multiple channels simultaneously. (The Aragon 8008BB has its monoblocks inside one chassis, while some other designs put each monoblock in a separate chassis.)

Q I just found your web site about a month ago, and I wanted to tell you that I have learned more from reading the information here than I have from years of other audio and video magazines. I hope things are going well for you and wish you the best for the future. Fabulous e-zine! Best audio-video publication anywhere, electronic or otherwise. Please become a permanent fixture on the web.

A Thank you for the compliments. Everything is going better than expected, and we do plan to continue, forever, we hope!

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