Letters to the Editor - October 2002
Blade Runner
October 23, 2002
To Wes Marshall,
Regarding your Blade
Runner review, your closing brought tears to my eyes. I think that that is one of
the saddest soliloquies in any motion picture I've ever seen. I enjoy this film above Casablanca,
The Quiet Man, My Dog Skip or any other good -- or great -- or tear-jerker
or thoughtful film I've ever seen. Thank you.
William Pociengel
Choosing speakers
October 21, 2002
Editor,
I read your review
of the Thiel MCS1 home-theater speaker system and was wondering if you had an opinion
as to what would be the best system for my home theater. The area of the open space is
about 800 square feet, with about two-thirds of the space being the living room where all
of the speakers will be and one-third being an open kitchen.
I was originally deciding between a home-theater system by
Silverline consisting of two Sonatas as the front speakers, two Sonatinas as the rear and
one center speaker, or a Thiel System consisting of two Thiel CS2.3s, two Thiel CS1.6s,
one SC3 center speaker and one REL Q201E subwoofer. Which would you recommend, the Thiel
MCS1 system, or the other systems by Silverline or Thiel -- or something else for that
matter?
I was also considering a multichannel preamp/amp system by
Bel Canto or Proceed. Do you have a strong opinion one way or the other or an alternative
recommendation? Thank you very much. I enjoy reading your reviews.
Nick Hall
All of your options seem viable, but I really liked the
Thiel speakers a lot. If it were me, I'd choose the CS1.6 as the mains because this model
incorporates Thiel's very latest technology. I'd personally look at PowerPoints for the
rear speakers as these perform at a very high level and would disappear into your room. As
for the center-channel, this is where an MCS1 would be ideal, or perhaps even another
CS1.6 if you have room. Matched with the highly regarded Bel Canto electronics -- you'd
have a system to die for....Jeff Fritz
System advice
October 16, 2002
To Roger Kanno,
I am getting ready to upgrade my system, and I am at ground
zero on most of the new technologies. I have a mid-sized room, and I am looking to spend
between $2500 to $3000 on an A/V receiver, CD player, DVD player, and L&R front
speakers. My plan is to add the center-channel and rear speakers in subsequent months.
My local dealer is recommending the Arcam AVR200, Arcam
DV88 combo DVD/CD player and B&W floorstanding speakers ($3497 total).
Obviously, this has me over budget. My first concern is the
AVR200's lack of component video. I will most likely buy a HDTV in the next couple of
years. My second concern is the CD/DVD player does not appear to have progressive scan,
and I feel like I am being asked to pay a premium for that integration which is not
absolutely necessary because I do not have tight space constraints.
My system will be used 60% for music and 40% for home
theater. Do you know of components/speakers that will function at this level or higher
that incorporate component video and progressive scan? Any recommendations you can provide
on models and system configurations are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for you
help.
Jim Rhode
I think that the Arcam AVR200 is a wonderful-sounding
receiver and because you said that you will be using your system for music 60% of the
time, I would suggest that you stick with it. There are other receivers out there that are
less expensive (and even some that are more expensive) that will pass component-video
signals, but most of them don't sound as good as the AVR200, especially for music. If you
do get a progressive-scan-capable TV later on, you can connect the DVD player directly to
it and not bother with running the video through the receiver.
The DV88 is an excellent DVD player, but it is expensive.
There is a progressive-scan upgrade for it, but it costs an additional $500. I would
suggest that you try something like one of the entry-level Panasonic DVD players (e.g.
RP62 $179) that feature the Faroudja DCDi video-processing chip, which provides some of
the best progressive-scan pictures around. Such an inexpensive DVD player will leave some
room in your budget so you might consider getting a DVD-A player for high-resolution
multichannel sound such as the Panasonic RP82 for $229 or even the new Yamaha DVP-S2300
universal player which will play both DVD-As and SACDs for $1000 (both of these players
have the DCDi video chip). Or you might just save your money to put toward the rest of
your speakers and your television....Roger Kanno
Importance of home theater
October 14, 2002
Editor,
Thanks, Jeff, for the editorial about all those feelings
and nostalgia music and electronics have created throughout the years. When you wrote,
"There may come a day when you need those memories; perhaps the hobby of home
entertainment will be out of your reach," it made me realize how lucky I have been to
be a part of such a unique hobby. Even the word "hobby" trivializes the
importance and impact listening to music or watching that long awaited movie can bring
into our lives on a system we've pieced together and tweaked to get just the right sound
that will pull our heart strings.
My wife and I are 25 at the moment, and we've spent the
last two years in France with not much money. Living over there brought in very little
money, and I wasn't able to practice the art of sound like I would have liked. I was more
of a car-stereo tweaker for years before that, and I wanted to share one memory with you.
When I was about 14 a friend had sold me a small Blaupunkt 25W x 4 car amplifier for $60.
Being 14, I didn't yet have a car, so I brought my new amplifier inside and dreamed of how
it would sound someday. After about 20 minutes of dreaming I decided that I needed to hear
it now and spliced together the DC power and ground wires with an AC plug from an old
lamp. Well, if it was instant effect I was looking for I certainly found it because 30
seconds later after switching on the power the amp went up in smoke and my parents accused
me of almost burning the house down. I never got to hear that amplifier, but the memories
will last my entire life.
After being away from car stereo for two years I've now
returned to Florida and rediscovered my passion for home theater. In France, not having
much money, my wife and I frequently rented DVDs and watched them on my laptop computer
hooked up through my DJ mixer and Bose bookshelf speakers (which I bought with our wedding
money when I first got there). The Bose provided decent sound, and every time we watched a
movie, my wife was still amazed how much I could change the sound and tweak it just right
for my ears even through a DJ mixer. But every time we sat down and got into a film, I
always knew how much better the sound could be. This desire fueled my current fire to
become a master of home theater and tweak the perfect system. Yesterday I applied at a
local home-theater install shop in hopes of getting work in the field and finding the path
of great sound.
Thank You,
Seth Diggs
Projector advice
October 10, 2002
To Wes Marshall,
I am shopping for a projector. My situation is that the
company I work for has purchased a theater and is looking for the best way possible to
make use of the big screen, although this is not the primary use for the building (we make
video games, but it will be used on occasion to show movies, presentations, etc.). I have
seen projectors before used on a big screen that display nicely, but I am uniformed. I am
wondering if the Boxlight Home Cinema 20HD can create a crisp picture on a very large
screen (say 30' x 50' or 40' x 60'), or what I can get for a projector that can be used
for computer/DVD/digital. Any information (kinds of projectors, where to buy, etc.) would
be a great help.
Thanks for your time.
Alex Hahn
No inexpensive projector will give you a good image at
that size. It would be both too dim and would brutally expose the pixels. The closest you
might come at a fairly real-world cost would run you $28,000 (Sanyo PLC-EF30NL). The best
choice currently would probably be the Panasonic PT-D9610U ($125,000). Other possibilities
are Digital Thunder 10000 and the Christie Vivid White.
Anything cheaper and the image just wouldn't look very
good. The 20HD, at $6500, is potentially a great projector (I'll be reviewing it soon).
But it would wash out at more than 12' wide. If you have access to a loaner to try out
before you buy, you might be able to get by with a JVC DLA-SX21 ($9000). Good luck. Let me
know how it turns out....Wes Marshall
Great reviews
October 9, 2002
Editor,
I wanted to congratulate you on a wonderful site and the
great reviews you guys do. It seems that you leave no stone unturned, as all of my
questions seem to get answered by the time I'm through reading. Thanks a lot, and keep up
the good work.
Dale Frye
Good advice
October 2, 2002
To Roger Kanno,
You've stated in the past that you use three pairs of Axiom
M3Ti SE speakers in a home-theater system. I'm currently doing research for my own home
system. I'm looking for speakers to use for stereo and home-theater listening. The Axioms
sound like they fit the bill better than anything I've come across so far, especially
given my price constraints. Do you recommend adding a sub with these speakers?
Thanks for doing such good reviews. You ve been very
educational for me. The comparisons and conclusions are priceless. Those two sections (in
your reviews) are worth more all the other parts of the review combined. It was very
illuminating to read about you comparing the M3Ti SEs to speakers costing much, much more.
Trent Haynes
While I have said that you could consider using the M3Ti
SEs or other bookshelf speakers without a subwoofer in a home-theater system, they really
do benefit from the use of a good sub. This is usually more evident when watching DVD
movies where low-frequency sound effects are commonplace than it is when listening to
two-channel music. Luckily, companies like Axiom, Athena, Energy, Mirage and Paradigm all
make good inexpensive subs that should work well with these types of systems....Roger
Kanno |
