Q&A # 122 - June 29, 1999

Staff

Q As part of my home remodel, I'm having an enclosure built for my Sony projection TV (53XBR-200). My question is, how high should the screen be? When I walk into my local TV store, all the projection screens are up un risers, clearly to make them easier to view. That implies that there ought to be an optimal height for the screen. Of course, since screens all have different sizes themselves, it seems that the answer should actually be in terms of the screen itself. Do I want to be staring level with the center of the screen, or at the golden mean, or what?

A The reason the TVs are on risers in stores is that customers are viewing them from standing positions while shopping. When the TVs are resting in their normal positions (not on risers), and you are sitting on the couch, the screen will be at the proper height.

Q Some stations on my FM tuner give more surround sound than others, even though the same song is playing on both stations. Is there something wrong with my tuner or my receiver?

A The station with less surround is probably mixing the stereo channels so that there is less separation between them. This gives the station farther broadcast range, since stereo begins to fall apart at the outer edges of the station's reach. By blending some of the stereo information into a mono state, the station can broadcast farther. That particular station will have less surround sound, because the signal has less stereo than the station that is not blending the two channels.

Q Could a LCD projector normally used for making presentations in boardrooms be used as a regular home projection TV, and what would the  sacrifice be in terms of quality and the life of the projection lamp?

A As long as the projector will accept an NTSC video signal (or PAL if you live in Europe) as input, it should work fine. If you don't see a screen door effect in the boardroom, you won't see it at home either. However, the image will not be quite as sharp at home, since the best standard home signal is 640 x 480 (VGA), and it is likely you are using higher than that in the boardroom (SVGA or XGA). Also, the home image is interlaced, while the boardroom image is likely non-interlaced. The projection bulb life will be the same in either situation. When you implement DTV (Digital TV), you will be able to make better use of the projector's capabilities.

Q I recently purchased a new Sony ES9000 preamp. The rest of my equipment is the following: Parasound HCA-1206, Atlantic Technology 350 speakers. I am concerned about excess "hiss" coming from my speakers as I increase the volume. At low volume level with no input signal present, I do not detect any noticeable hiss. As the volume increases toward the halfway point and beyond, the hiss becomes very audible. With an input signal (movies, music) present it is difficult to detect any hiss because of  the loudness of the input signal. My question is, is this normal for my set up or is there a problem with the preamp or one of the other components? Is this what is referred to as noise in "tech talk"? I purchased the Sony when it first came on the market, and I may have the purchased the unit in the first production run before all the bugs were worked out.

A All preamplifiers produce hiss. It is just a matter of how much. Power amplifiers produce hiss too, but not as much as preamplifiers. You will find the most hiss in surround sound preamplifiers due to all the circuitry necessary to decode the sound. So, I think your Sony is just doing what other similar products do.

Q My problem is I get a pop or crack noise through my speakers mainly through my center when my air conditioner kicks on or when I throw a light switch to turn my ceiling fan on. I ran a new circuit for the system thinking this would fix the problem but it did not. I disconnected every wire and plug from the receiver with the exception of the speakers and I still get the pop. I even ran a ground wire from the case of the receiver to the ground screw on the outlet but I get the same noise. Any suggestions?

A When motors turn on, such as an air conditioner or ceiling fan, there is often a small spark in the motor. This generates RF, and your receiver is picking that up. I have seen little gadgets advertised from time to time that are claimed to reduce electrical noise generated by motors, but I have never tried them. If any of our readers have used such devices, please e-mail the editor and let us know how well they worked, and also provide info on where to get them.

Q I've been researching in stores and on the Net which way to go regarding the purchase of a new TV. I currently have no DVD player (might purchase one), just a hi-fi VCR, an AIWA shelf system w/ 100w/channel, about 12-15 ft from sofa to TV, and am looking to spend no more than $2,500. Toshiba has been recommended by many, and now having read Stacy's review, the 40H80 seems interesting. I've also looked at the 55H60 and 55H90, which don't seem to be very different. Since I am an electronic novice, which of these TVs make sense? Which will be the best as HDTV comes on? Any other brands that you recommend in my price range?

A There are a number of stations across the US broadcasting HDTV right now, and DTVs are coming on the market from all the manufacturers. I would suggest getting either a DTV that is HDTV-ready or just getting an inexpensive TV while you wait for DTV to really take hold. Since you are on a modest budget, I would suggest the latter choice, in which case you can find a Toshiba or other TV at the electronic discount stores, including Price Club. That is what I did for my daughter, getting a 32" direct view TV for about $600. Select one that has an S-Video input (very important). Comb filters on these TVs are not very good, but S-Video bypasses the comb filters, so when using a DVD player down the road, you will still get a very fine picture, using the S-Video output from the DVD player to the TV. Somewhere around mid-2000, plan on spending about $3,500 for a nice DTV and perhaps in 2001, an HDTV decoder.

Q I have not been able to find very much information on the merits of bi-wiring. Several sources indicate that you should bi-wire any speaker that has provisions to do so. However, I have also seen another article that says that some speakers do not benefit from bi-wiring and may actually degrade the sound. My current system includes five (5) Marantz MA-500 monoblock amplifiers and B&W DM 600 series speakers (602s for the fronts, 601s for the rears, a CC-6 in the center) and a Sunfire subwoofer. I am using Kimber Kable 4 VS speaker cables and am considering only bi-wiring the fronts since I probably use two-channel sources more frequently than five-channel. I am considering the Kimber Kable 4 VS - 8 VS bi-wire combination. Do you have any experience with this bi-wire combination? Also, I've noticed that you frequently recommend B&W 602 speakers. Do they benefit from bi-wiring? The Kimber Kable 4 VS speaker cables were the latest addition to my system and may tend to brighten the 602s, even though I really don't find this too objectionable. Would bi-wiring further brighten the sound or would it accentuate the base/midrange?

A I am not a fan of bi-wiring, although there are many people who are. I have never found it to help. But that is just my own experience. Where it might make a difference is with cables that have significant impedance. Using two sets of the cables (that's what bi-wiring does) can reduce the impedance and that changes the sound. You might try using the two 4 VS cables that you have now to bi-wire one speaker and see if that reduces the brightness of the sound. If the cables have low impedance to begin with, there will probably be no difference in the sound when using them in a bi-wire configuration. DM-602s won't necessarily benefit from bi-wring more than any other speaker.

Q I am currently looking for a way of playing and recording NTSC and PAL video tapes from within the US. I know that there are multi-system VCRs, converter VCRs, and digital converters, but I am unable to find info about the quality of these products. I am only interested in making home videos, so I am not looking for high-end products. So my question is, could you tell me something about the quality of these products?

A Because of the fact that small numbers of such VCRs are sold, they are all high priced. Secondly, because the circuits are complicated, they are all "high-end", so I would expect every one of them to be pretty good quality. If you want to play both NTSC and PAL tapes, you will need a TV that can handle both as well, unless you feed the signal of one type back to the monitor in your video camcorder and use the TV for the other type. I would suggest having the store where you buy your equipment set everything up and making sure it all works together before you pull out your wallet.

� Copyright 1999 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
Return to Q&A Index.