| Sound Off December 2001
All I Want for Christmas
Question: Santa has just granted you one home-theater
component for Christmas 2001. Whatever your heart's desire, it will be waiting for you
under your Christmas tree. What would you pick?
Roger Kanno:
I would like to ask Santa for a processor that includes all
the latest surround-sound formats including internal processing for DVD-A and
multichannel SACD. Oh yeah, I will also need a universal player that outputs the DVD-A and
SACD bitstreams to go along with it. Thanks, Santa!
Doug Blackburn:
The world’s first laser projector. The image would be
created by red, green, and blue lasers in a small, quiet, long-lasting, reliable
projector. It should have full digital controls for perfect geometry; no phosphor-burn
problems; incredible resolution and precision of images; any aspect ratio supported; any
screen resolution supported; 120-frame-per-second flickerless images; perfect 3-2 pulldown
performance; perfect 30fps video performance; blacks that are truly black in dark rooms;
screen sizes up to 120" without visible scan lines. It should be self-calibrating for
color, gray scale, geometry, color temperature, gamma, black and white points, you name
it. It should also have RGB, component, and Firewire inputs with full adjustability of all
image parameters for each input. A true dream product. None of the hassles of CRTs, none
of the problems of LCD, none of the artifacts of DLP.
Anthony Di Marco:
I want a B&K AVR307 receiver. What, no Krell, no
Mark Levinson? Are you crazy? No, I'm not crazy, just realistic. Given my living space
and the fact that I have a 19-month-old son, who already knows how to load his Barney
DVD, having gear that costs more than my 2001 Mazda Protégé ES isn't a logical choice.
That and my inability to afford matching ancillary gear would render such well-finished
boxes as nothing more than glorified doorstops. The B&K offers just the right level of
sound quality and features (I especially love the idea of EQing my room) that would make
me a happy fella and still fit comfortably within our Ikea entertainment center.
Vince Hanada:
I’ve been a good little boy this year. If you check
your list or your Palm Pilot or whatever you use to keep track, you’ll see that
I’ve been on my best behavior. I’ve done my homework and completed my
reviews on time. I’ve sent back review gear in a timely fashion. OK, OK, I’ll
admit that I’ve done a few dumb things this year, like buying DVDs strictly for their
sound quality. Really, plot does matter? Yes, I’ve also made my wife sit through
another bad action movie to point out the virtues of a center-surround speaker for flyover
effects.
Anyways, big guy, getting to the point, here’s where
you can help me out. All I want this Christmas is a new display device. No, nothing’s
wrong with the one I have, but those shiny new sets with their HD-ready inputs, 16:9
aspect ratios, and flat screens would sure look good in my house. Or how about one of
those new DLP front projectors? Direct view or rear projection? Hmmm, that's a good
question. Now, if I rearrange the furniture in the living room, there might be enough room
for a 60" screen.
Wes Marshall:
What I’d really like is a perfect reproduction of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Movie Theater in Beverly Hills
constructed on my land, along with the money and personnel required to keep it up-to-date,
plus an unlimited supply of whatever movies I feel like watching. But I guess I would be
stretching the definition to call such a beast a component. "But Santa, home theater
is a gestalt. The whole package really should be referred to as a component!" That
would be my argument. Of course, then his accountant, Ebenezer Scrooge, would stop him.
"No young man," says Santa. "Only one."
So, what is the one component I want under my Christmas
tree? It would have to be the ATC C7 speaker system. Bill Woodman’s speakers have
been my reference for years. His SCM-50A SL speakers have graced my room longer than any
other component I’ve ever owned. Unfortunately, his speakers are punishingly
expensive. His usual customers (like Chandos Records and Pink Floyd) live or die by their
sound, so they look at speakers as a cost-no-object item. But I’ve never found
anything that sounds better. The C7 home-theater system is so far out of my price range,
the only way I will ever have it is if Santa really does become manifest. I can only hope.
Jeff Fritz:
I just want Santa to provide a remote-controlled drone
expertly trained in the art of cable swapping. With DVD-A, SACD, an Outlaw ICMB, and a
Sony TA-P9000ES, all before we even get to the amplifiers, I have more cable in my
system than extension cords on my Christmas lights. Seriously, when I have to change
cables in my system, I have time to daydream and solve most of the problems in the world.
OK, I can go one better than the drone. How about a DVD-V/SACD/DVD-A player with built-in
processing/volume control that routes those pristine signals directly to the amplifiers. I
could lose at least 12 interconnects! Now that would be the ticket!
Alas, we at Home Theater & Sound can only hope
that you get what you want this Christmas. Even though it’s fun to dream, please
remember to share your home theater and bring more folks into our wonderful hobby. Now,
we’d like to hear what you want. It’s your turn to sound off! Write to us
and let us know at editor@hometheatersound.com.
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