Letters to the Editor - March 2006
Good-looking speakers
March 27, 2006
To Doug Schneider,
I enjoy your reviews. I think I read all of them.
I am shopping for a home-theater system that my wife can
tolerate looking at. She thinks most speakers are ugly. What can you recommend?
Joseph Liedel
She’s right -- most speakers are ugly. Even I
think many of the speakers, even some really expensive ones, look awful. However,
they’re not all bad.
One home-theater system that I really liked is Mirage’s Omnisat-based loudspeaker system, which I reviewed last
year. It’s $2400, looks great, and sounds wonderful. In fact, I’m still using it
in my own living room. Most importantly, my wife loves the looks and sound, too….Doug
Schneider
Going to active ATCs
March 20, 2006
To Wes Marshall,
I noticed from one of your reviews that you own ATC 50s. I
have a pair of the 50s with the latest SEAS tweeter and I love them, even though they
don't work that well in my acoustically challenged condo! Despite the acoustics, the
speakers have an endearing quality that I can't wait to appreciate further when I move
into a house with a dedicated listening room.
Did you have a chance to compare the Active 50s with the
passive ones? I have a Krell FPB-600 driving them and was trying to demo a pair of the amp
packs for comparison, but it's nearly impossible to find a set and they are hideously
expensive. I eventually plan on buying the bigger ATCs and putting my 50s in the rear for
surround sound.
Asher
I was seduced by the ATCs in active form and only made a
decision between the 50s and the 100s. They are hideously expensive, but then, what is
great sound worth? And, of course, let's remember that little amp you are using runs about
$12,000, no small change.
If you have enough scratch to handle what you are talking
about, I would send the 50s in for an activation, use them for the rear channels, sell the
Krell and buy three active 100s for the front. WOW!!! Now we're talking sound. Good luck.
It's an addiction, isn't it?...Wes Marshall
No center?
March 16, 2006
To Doug Schneider,
I have read some of your reviews and noticed that you
don’t like many center-channel speakers. I am wondering if it is advisable to set up
a home theater without a center-channel speaker. I have a very large television and the
center-channel doesn’t fit properly on top and I don’t want to put it on the
floor. How do you feel about this?
Derek Paul
One of the reasons that I don’t like
center-channel speakers is because they’re awkward to place. However, the other
reason, which is the main reason, is that for the most part their sound doesn’t match
that of the left and right speakers. If you look at, say, 90% of the center-channels on
the market, even those that are very expensive, the tonal balance and dispersion
characters are off compared to the left and right speakers that they’re supposed to
mate with. As I’ve said many times, "They end up sticking out like a sore
thumb." There are some exceptions -- Paradigm’s Active/CC that I reviewed some
time ago and the Omnisat v2 CC that I currently have set up match the left and rights
speakers from the same series very well. They’re few and far between, however.
That said, not only is it possible to set up your
theater without a center-channel speaker, sometimes it's preferable. If you do go that
route, simply set up your processor accordingly (by telling it that you don’t have a
center-channel speaker), and that information should get routed to your left and right
channels. You’ll likely miss out on the specificity that a good center-channel can
provide, but you will gain more consistent sound left to right, and you won’t have to
worry about placing a speaker on top of you TV or, worse yet, down on the floor….Doug
Schneider
Center-channel placement
March 13, 2006
Editor,
I am using a Yamaha HTR-5850 receiver and a Yamaha NSP-436
speaker system. I have mounted the front speakers on the wall, while the TV I have is a
32" flat-screen CRT set. Due to some lack of space I am not able to place the front
speakers in front of the screen. Thus the front speakers are about 2’ behind the
screen. Should I place the center-channel speaker inline with the front speakers as it is
recommended (not place it in front of the front speakers)? Will it affect the sound
production? I have been surfing the Internet for an answer in vain.
William
I know opinions will vary on this, but here’s my
take: I’d place the center speaker in front of the main speakers flush with the front
of the TV (if not in front of the TV, just below the screen). Definitely not behind the
TV. The acoustic issues you’ll create by placing the center-channel speaker behind
the TV are more deleterious to good sound than the price you’ll pay in time alignment
(some of which you can correct for by setting your speaker distances in your receiver or
processor). The bottom line is that dialogue intelligibility hinges on good center-channel
performance, so place that speaker optimally, regardless of where your other speakers are
placed....Jeff Fritz
Omnisat v2
March 9, 2006
To Doug Schneider,
Do you still like the new Mirage Omnisat v2 stuff as much?
Roger Barber
Well, I'm not sure if the Omnisat v2 models are
technically "new" anymore; they've been on the market for some time. However,
regardless of whether anyone considers them new or not, I still like them just as much. In
fact, I still use the Omnisat v2 system in my living room. It's the ideal setup for an
average-sized room and looks as slick as anything else out there....Doug Schneider
New front page
March 2, 2006
Editor,
I really like the front page of Home Theater &
Sound for March. Very colorful with a little bit of sex appeal. Jessica Alba is
inarguably sexier than a DVD player.
Marco Anthony |
