Letters to the Editor - January 2003
A beast of an error
January 27, 2003
Editor,
I have just read the article "Reference-Grade
DVDs" on the Home Theater & Sound website and discovered a minor error
in one of the paragraphs. In Anthony Di Marco's review of X-Men, he refers to
Wolverine's "snowy run-in" with "Beast." The character Wolverine
actually encountered was Sabretooth (a villain) and not Beast (a member of the X-Men team
in some comics). I'm not some obsessed stickler over details, but I just thought I would
mention this minor discrepancy. Continue producing great articles!
Shaun Bohannon
Fantastic catch, Shaun! We'll make the change right
away....Jeff Fritz
Surround placement
January 23, 2003
Editor,
I have a pair of Paradigm ADP surrounds. I want to mount
them on the side walls of my A/V room. How far down from the ceiling do they have to be?
For design reasons, I would like them as close to the ceiling as possible. Thanks.
John Becker
I'd recommend reading Roger Kanno's "Cinema
Cynergy" column on surround-speaker placement. It addresses in detail the very
subject you're researching. Good luck....Jeff Fritz
Setup disc
January 20, 2003
Do you have a recommendation as to the best or a really
darn good DVD home-theater setup disc to calibrate an HT system? Thanks and best regards.
Philip Levy
The most commonly used disc is the AVIA Guide to
Home Theater DVD. There's a ton of video setup material, and better-than-average audio
setup as well. I've had poor luck with some of the commonly available -- though admittedly
less expensive -- alternatives. This is one case where the extra 20 bucks makes a
difference....Jeff Fritz
System choices
January 16, 2003
Editor,
I am in the market for a home-theater system that is
clear, cohesive, warm, and worth the money invested. I enjoyed your review of the Thiel
MCS1 speakers last year and have considered them as my choice of speaker for both music
and movies. Is this a good choice today? (I am a musician and a snob when it comes
to great music reproduction.) I am also intrigued with B&K's equipment. Any thoughts?
I am willing to spend around $15,000. Again, I am very interested in making the most of my
investment and would appreciate your feedback on the products and any recommendations.
Many thanks.
Tom Parker
The Thiel MCS1 speakers were favorites -- and for
the matter, they still are. That's the thing about really good products They stand the
test of time, providing the owner enjoyment today and tomorrow. Pairing the Thiels
with the new B&K Reference 50 processor and the Reference 200.5 amp would make for an
excellent system. Also take a look at the Anthem AVM 20 processor and MCA 50 amplifier, as
they have proven to be quite popular. The AVM 20 has been a massively successful product
and is Home Theater & Sound's Product of the Year. With gear like that, you can
rest assured that you'll enjoy your system for many years and never look back. Good
luck....Jeff Fritz
Sanity
January 14, 2003
To Roger Kanno,
Thank you so much for your
well-written "Cinema Cynergy" feature on HT&S! It's nice to see
some sanity being distributed around instead of the usual bullshit.
Jay A. Winter
Digital cables
January 7, 2003
To Doug Blackburn,
I am confused about on what basis I ought to select a cable
to connect my DVD player to my amp. I have a Pioneer DVD player and a Yamaha amp that is
DTS and DD compatible. I want the most appropriate digital cable (coaxial or optical) to
maximize my investment in the equipment. If I spend too little, not good. If I spend too
much, waste of money. However, having visited many dealers, none can provide me with the
features/benefits of the various cables or even comment on optical versus coaxial. I would
dearly appreciate some guidance.
Shane Lipton
All things being equal, coaxial digital cables sound
better than the typical TosLink optical interface on most consumer audio and home-theater
equipment. If you can find a dealer that sells equipment made by MSB Technologies, I would
recommend their digital coax cable that sells for less than $40. It sounds particularly
good with DVD players and receivers. If you do not have a local dealer, there are a number
of sources on the Internet where you can mail-order this cable.
In theory, an optical interface should sound better. You
keep the chassis of the receiver and DVD player electrically isolated if you use an
optical cable. This almost always will improve sound quality. However, the TosLink
interface itself was designed to be inexpensive and it sounds like it. There is a
"high-end" optical interface called "AT&T" or "AT&T
Glass" that really does sound better than digital coaxial cables, but this type of
interface is rarely found on home-theater equipment. It is simply too expensive to
incorporate into consumer products.
Not all digital coax cables sound good, though. It is
possible to select a digital coax cable that performs so poorly that a decent TosLink
cable would sound better. That's why I specifically mentioned the MSB cable. I know it
will sound good between a receiver and DVD player....Doug Blackburn
Dead sub?
January 3, 2003
I have the new Marantz DV-8300 that plays
"everything" including movies, DVD-Audio, and SACD. It's connected to both
analog and digital coax into a Denon AVR-3802. I'm using a Bob Carver powered sub. DVD
movies look and sound fantastic; DVD Audio all six channels loud and clear. The problem
comes in when I play SACD or regular CD. My sub just lays there dead as a doornail. I've
been through the manual and on-screen menus till I pull my rapidly thinning hair out! I
realize SACD is not necessarily "multichannel," but the sub should blend with
the two mains, shouldn't it? Any help greatly appreciated!
Gerry Monteleon
Let's handle the easy one first: CD is two-channel only,
so there would not be any subwoofer information coming from the subwoofer output on your
multichannel connections. Only the left and right outputs would be active. You could route
the left and right mains into your subwoofers inputs, which would give you subwoofer bass
from your two-channel sources. The digital output would require some processing, which
most receivers have these days. This would allow your subwoofer to crossover bass to your
main speakers, giving you a full-range system using your subwoofer for bass on CD
material. Check your manual to see how to configure for this. Regarding your SACDs,
remember that many are 5.0, meaning there are five full-range channels and no discrete
subwoofer track. Perhaps this is what you are experiencing....Jeff Fritz
Component-video cables
January 1, 2003
I just bought a Sony widescreen projector and it has
component-video inputs and my DVD player has component-video outputs. Now, I connected the
component video on my DVD and projection TV using standard RCA cables -- you know, the
ones commonly used for audio/video. My question is, are these cables OK or should I buy
"component video" cables? I ask this because I went to a store the other day,
and they had these component-video cables that were more expensive than the standard RCA
cables. So my question is, should I continue using these cables or should I purchase
component-video cables?
Pedro Ruiz
Component video requires three cables that are designed
to carry the high frequencies of video signals. The cable you used has two wires (red and
white probably) designed for frequencies up to 20,000Hz. These audio cables are often very
bad at passing video signals that have much higher frequencies. In fact, the audio cables
can be so bad that you will actually have the video signal bouncing back and forth inside
the audio cable due to reflection problems at the ends of the cable.
You may get an image using two audio cables and one video
cable, but it probably won't be as good as the image you get with three video cables. If
you have a number of yellow video cables laying around unused, you can use three of them
to carry your component video. Just mark the ends of the cables so you connect the red
jack on the TV to the red jack on the DVD player, the blue to blue, and the green to
green. If you cross any of the signals to the wrong connector, you'll get a seriously bad
picture or maybe no picture.
You may want to try one of the sets of component-video
cables sold by electronic stores to see if there is an improvement over three of the
"freebie" yellow-ended video cables you may have laying around. These
"freebie" cables come with VCRs and many other home-entertainment components.
Make sure the place you purchase the cables from will allow you to return the cables if
you don't see a worthwhile difference in picture quality. Also make sure the packaging of
the cables isn't completely destroyed when you open them to try.
Use a DVD with very high-quality images to help judge
whether the cables you bought are an improvement. You will want to watch this
"reference" DVD several times so you are very familiar with the appearance of
the movie. You will want a DVD with a broad range of colors and brightness levels as well
as excellent sharpness. You can find some suggestions in the Home Theater & Sound
Reference-Grade
DVD list -- you may even already have one or more of these DVDs....Doug Blackburn |
