Letters to the Editor - January 2001
January 25, 2001
To Doug Schneider,
I read your review of
the Anthem MCA 5 and was pretty much convinced. I've heard that amplifier and the
B&K five-channel amp, and it did really sound better.
I'm in the market now to build a surround system for
myself, and it's hard to know what to buy. Sunfire is nice, Krell ($9k is a little high
for me!) and Sony are a little weak and consumerish. I was thinking of getting the
matching preamp/processor, the AVM 2, with the MCA 5. I figured they would mesh well.
Next it's to speakers, and this is highly subjective. I
would think that an amp with 200Wpc would demand speakers that can handle 300 watts or so
to prevent clipping. Any info on this would help.
I've heard Mirage, and they're nice, maybe Definitives,
I've heard them, and they're excellent. I previewed the MCA 5 on JMlab speakers and they
sounded pretty good. Any ideas would be welcome. I guess speakers in the $1500-3000/pair
range are what I'm looking for, something that will mesh well with the MCA 5.
What does "timbre matching" mean, and does it
really make a difference when buying speakers? Or is it just a marketing gimmick? I guess
eventually you have to take a leap, but I want something to last me until I'm 40! (Right
now I'm 30.) The last stereo unit I bought was 14 years ago. I appreciate your time and
input and look forward to any help you can provide.
Thanks,
Glen Brownworth
I am glad you enjoy the MCA 5 amplifier. You might be
interested to know that we have a review of the AVM 2 scheduled for the near future. Now,
on to your speakers. The MCA 5 swings a fair bit of power and I would estimate that it can
provide more than enough juice for more than 80% of the speakers on the market. Don't
worry about the wattage rating on speakers -- it's really meaningless in terms of sound
quality. Speakers you have mentioned are ones I would have on my list. Others I would add
include those from Paradigm, PSB, Athena, Energy, Axiom, and Infinity. You also ask about
"timbre matching." No, this isn't just a marketing gimmick. What it refers to is
the "sound" of each speaker. Speakers, more than any other piece of equipment,
sound different from one another. You want your surround system to have a cohesive and
consistent sound. For example, in particular, you don't want your front left and right
speakers to have a distinct sound, and then the center channel to sound different. Vocals,
as they move from one speaker to another as the actor moves across the stage would sound
very odd as a result. Timbre matching, therefore, generally refers to matching the sound
of each speaker. That's why it is wise to buy all your speakers from the same
manufacturer, providing they have been matched together as a system (most of the companies
I mention have complete systems built around a particular speaker model)...Doug Schneider
January 23, 2001
Editor,
Very nice review of the Gladiator
DVD. I have been waiting for someone to see it as I did, as one of the best DVDs out
there. I feel like it hasn't been met with outstanding reviews like I think it deserves.
Great movie, great DVD and a very good article.
Thanks,
Ben Borne
January 22, 2001
To Doug Blackburn,
About two years ago, I purchased an SPL meter from Radio
Shack in order to fine-tune the speakers of my home-theater system. I had previously read
in several of the leading audio magazines that the proper setting for this task was 80dB.
Therefore, it was this setting that I used. Last year, however, I upgraded from an analog
Dolby ProLogic preamp/processor to a digital one. But, here things get a little confusing.
The "experts" seem to disagree on the proper setting for this function in the
digital domain. Some suggest that it should be 90dB, some recommend 85dB (however that is
achieved!), and others pontificate that it should be 70dB. Could you please share with me
your experiences on this subject? In the past, I have found your knowledge and information
on such matters to be accurate and beneficial. Therefore, I would appreciate it if you
could shed some light on this polemic.
David Chever
The level you set all depends on what you are doing at
the time. When you are setting the balance of individual speakers so that they are all
playing at the same level, use readings on the SPL meter that are in the 70-75dB range to
avoid damaging your hearing. The pink noise signal used is of VERY high energy compared to
movie soundtracks or music, so 70-75dB is the most comfortable level to use for balance
setting. You will not get any different or better balance settings when using higher SPLs.
The actual playback volume can't be measured accurately
unless the disc has a reference level on it. If it does have a reference level, there will
be instructions as to what dB the reference level should attain in the room using your SPL
meter. Be warned, though, that most people find the THX reference level to be too loud for
listening to an entire movie. It may be exciting for the first hour or so, but most
listeners will reduce the volume level from the THX reference level after a while because
they just can't take it any more.
Your A/V receiver or surround processor probably
includes instructions for what SPL level to set the speakers to -- and those instructions
should be your guide too as there may be specific reasons to do things a little
differently from product to product. So read your receiver's/processor's instructions
carefully again and do what the instructions tell you to do. And when you set the volume
level of the movie, use whatever level seems right to you. The reference level may very
well be too loud. The level you select should be comfortable to listen to from the
beginning of the movie to the end. If the soundtrack begins to be annoying, you probably
have the level too loud (or it just may be an unusually annoying soundtrack, so try a few
different movies)....Doug Blackburn
January 20, 2001
To Doug Blackburn,
I enjoyed your article on
subwoofers. I had recently upgraded my main speakers to ProAc Response 1SCs and was
favorably impressed. I have a Bag End ELF subwoofer, which has a unique design with which
I'm sure you are familiar. Interestingly, in all the reviews on the subwoofer, nobody
seemed to want to configure the sub the way the folks at Bag End intended. Most reviews
used the sub-out on the preamp. After reading their technical paper, I decided to hook it
up as the company intended -- i.e., I ran interconnects from my preamp to the sub
and then interconnects back from the sub to my preamp. My ProAc "saw" a signal
that was 95Hz and above. I think there is something to time alignment and ELF technology.
My speakers and sub acted as an integrated whole with seamless reproduction. In fact, I
daresay it approached the performance of the ProAc 3.8 that I recently heard. After
reading your article, it now makes sense, especially about the sub and the main speakers
both having to extend an octave past the crossover. The only disadvantage I can tell at
this point is that the bass is pulled to the side of the room with the sub. I will soon
add another ELF and have stereo subwoofers. My main emphasis is music, although I have to
admit that its performance in home theater isn't too shabby either. Thanks. I appreciate
what you guys are doing.
Vondell Clark
January 19, 2001
Editor,
I like your e-zine. Since you seemed to like the Anthem
MCA5 so much, when will you be reviewing the AVM2?
Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Doug Hodges
Although it is not scheduled at present, we do have a
request in for a sample Anthem processor for review. We agree that it looks
promising....Jeff Fritz
January 17, 2001
Editor,
Wouldn't the sonic superiority of DTS over Dolby Digital be
a good topic?
Roel Sigtermans
There has been some sparring over this issue between
Dolby Labs and DTS themselves lately, which indicates that the subject is being debated by
home-theater enthusiasts pretty heavily. Although I would agree with your assertion that
in many head-to-head comparisons DTS has been superior, I've heard enough excellent DD
movies to know that making absolute statements may not be warranted. A discussion of the
technical merits and a sonic comparison will find its way into Home Theater &
Sound....Jeff Fritz
January 3, 2001
To Doug Blackburn,
Your review of the NAD-T770 last Dec'99 in SoundStage!
was the review I had been searching for lately! Thanks for explaining why I've been
hearing a degradation in sound quality when auditioning two-channel stereo with a
subwoofer hooked up via the receiver's sub-out with Dolby Digital receivers.
Here is an excerpt from your review...
"Like every processor equipped with Dolby Digital, the
moment you turn the LFE channel on all the other channels take a significant sound quality
hit. This is native to the Dolby Digital chip set and there’s nothing manufacturers
can do about it. I would characterize the performance hit as going from a rating of 10 out
of 10, to an 8 or maybe 8.5 when you turn LFE on. You get this performance hit even if you
remove power from the LFE subwoofer. "
I'm wondering how you feel about this information from a
Denon AVR-4800 tech sheet (next paragraph). It seems like they may have solved the problem
by keeping the high pass all analog. So my CD listening via analog outputs should not
suffer from digital filter degradation. Am I right? If so, this is an exciting
breakthrough. Agree?
An analog two-channel bypass routes stereo analog audio
past the DSP section, providing straight-through signal purity. A parallel bass-management
circuit provides analog high-pass and digital low-pass filtering for the main left and
right speakers and the subwoofer, which provides superb analog signal transparency through
to the main left and right speaker outputs. This preserves analog signal integrity,
especially for high-resolution signals like analog LP and HDCD-encoded CDs. Competitive
A/V components typically "digitize" all incoming analog signals, even during
simple stereo operation.
I would appreciate your response.
Paul Psutka
Since I wrote the NAD review, some of the newest, and
generally relatively expensive, surround processors have removed all analog signal
filtering having to do with bass management and moved it all to the digital domain, where,
if done correctly, there should be no degradation of sound when you enable the LFE
subwoofer channel or set any of the other speakers to "small." So the future is
catching up to us. When you read A/V receiver specifications, it is sometimes difficult,
if not impossible, for even an engineer to understand the wording used in the
manufacturer's description of some "features." If I take the text you quoted
from Denon literally, it still sounds like they are inserting an analog filter in the
signal path of the main speakers. This may be part of a description of a
"direct" mode for stereo listening that bypasses signal processing in stereo
mode only. You will still be subject to the same loss of audio quality when using any of
the movie surround-sound modes. Most receivers on the market, including lower priced ones
from some other manufacturers, include a "direct" mode for stereo listening but
generally, the LFE subwoofer is disabled for this and all sound is sent to the main left
and right speakers so that no signal processing of any kind is applied to the audio
signal. This type of "direct" mode sounds better to me than other
"semi-direct" modes (which this text seems to describe) where there is still
analog bass-management filtering in the audio signal path. Is the mode described here an
"exciting breakthrough"? No. This is a feature or variation of it that is
present in many A/V receivers and has been for some period of time. The receiver's normal
"stereo" mode typically maintains destructive analog bass-management filtering
and digitizes analog inputs before the receiver amplifies them. You are right in
understanding that a CD player connected by analog inputs would not have that analog audio
converted to digital when using one of these "direct" modes and that will result
is some improvement in sound quality. Eliminating the analog filtering of the audio signal
would further improve the sound quality....Doug Blackburn |
