Letters - March 2008
Siding is sad
March 26, 2006
To Rad Bennett,
I am a longtime reader both of Home Theater & Sound
and other publications and have never made a comment on your opinions. I feel that I must
take umbrage with your
March editorial, however, as I think that you are doing exactly what you accuse the
Blu-ray side of doing. And isn't it sad that I use the term "side"? [sigh]
It seems obvious from reading most of the web-based A/V
sites that most, if not all, of them secretly supported HD DVD. The fact is that the
majority of CE goods manufacturers were making Blu-ray, which meant that the result of the
format war that we had to have was inevitable from day one. This despite Microsoft
muddying the water at every opportunity and actively stopping Toshiba from coming to a
fair and reasonable compromise with Sony and friends. Blu-ray has the big advantage of
giving movie studios 50 gigabytes to work with from day one. HD DVD "may" have
got to 51 gigabytes, but this would not have been backwards compatible with existing
players. At least the Blu-ray discs that support the later Java features will still play
on first-generation players.
I hope that you will come to actively support Blu-ray and
help get the "average" person in street into fantastic HD imagery rather than
let them go down the Generation Y road of poor-quality MP3-style downloads.
In case you are wondering, I have personally stayed on the
sidelines waiting for a winner along with millions of other A/V enthusiasts. A hypocrite?
Probably. I bought into laserdisc from day one and loved it; it had no competitor. I got
into DVD from day one and loved it, despite the hiccups of early players not being able to
play dual-layer discs; again, no competitor. High def.? I want it, and now I feel that I
can buy it and fully expect to love it. I do have to say, however, that when I have
compared HD DVD against Blu-ray, Blu-ray won hands down every time. HD DVD is just too
noisy. This on at least five different displays with two different players. And one last
thing: Try saying “HD DVD” out loud and then “Blu-ray.”
James Mapletoft
We will continue to review Blu-ray and any other medium
that delivers high-definition picture and sound. HD is a big step forward for video, and
though upconverting players make standard-definition DVDs better to watch, they are still
faux HD, unable to achieve the definition and sharpness of true HD. I do feel strongly
that the average person lost out when HD DVD closed up shop. The HD DVD system was more
geared to the average income, but Blu-ray producers assure us that the prices for Blu-ray
will come down. Time will tell that tale, and we'll all be watching. I believe a lot of
things will fall into place for the 2008 holiday buying season. By then I think we will
have a clear picture as to where Blu-ray and competing download systems are going.
As to noise, I presume you mean video noise. I noticed
no difference switching from Blu-ray to HD DVD. Both are excellent. This is using the same
switching path to go from player to screen so the only variable would be the player
itself. I was able to view the same titles from the purple company, Warner Home Video.
Perhaps other readers might have comments on this….Rad Bennett
Processor for system
March 19, 2008
To Wes Marshall,
I recently read the review of
the Integra 9.8 you did in December 2007. I have not been able to reach a dealer who
has it in stock to listen to it. However, I am a bit skeptical of what it can do, and, as
I said, I have not been able to find a dealer that has it in stock. This is why I am
writing.
I currently have:
Front speakers - Aerials LR5s, CC5
Rear speakers - Era Design 5s
Subwoofers - a pair of Velodyne DD12s
Amp - Theta Dreadnaught II, three mono amps, one stereo for rears
I am looking for something that will not break my wallet as
the equipment above has done. I do 75% movies. And I do not trust what any dealer says.
They are trying to sell equipment.
I like warm sound, not the bright sound some receivers are
known to produce. Any recommendations as to a preamp with HDMI (especially for projector)
I should listen to in a similar price range as the Integra 9.8? Pre-pros change so much
that I do not see the point of spending thousands dollars on something that will become
obsolete quickly.
Max
You have some very nice equipment.
The fast-obsolete factor disturbs me as well. Spending
a fortune on a piece of electronics which will absolutely be outdated within three or four
years is infuriating. Even if you have money to throw away, it still irks.
I bought the Integra. It’s very clear and
detailed. Plus, I think the Audyssey system is the real deal.
Regarding your desire for a warm sound, the Aerial
speakers are very revealing. I use ATC SCM-50a speakers, and they are used around the
world in the top recording studios for their ability to reveal the smallest detail. The
Integra sounds fine to me. One other processor I would look at is the Anthem
D2. It does cost $7500, but at least so far, Anthem has always provided an upgrade
path. And it sounds great….Wes Marshall
Dynaudio?
March 12, 2008
Editor,
I was interested in hearing your opinion about the Dynaudio
Focus speakers and noticed that it wasn't posted on the website. Will it be there later?
Russell Lewis
Yes, the Dynaudio Focus home-theater speaker system
review will be posted on March 15th. Be sure to check back then….Jeff Fritz
Oppo unique?
March 10, 2008
To Wes Marshall,
You mentioned something in your Oppo
DV-981HD review on which I hope you could provide clarification. You said that Oppo
takes the digital signal straight off the DVD and outputs to 480p rather than go though
some analog conversion. To me, this suggests that this is a unique feature to Oppo and is
not done by Denon, NAD or others. Is it your experience that this is a unique function and
that improves DVD picture quality? Also, would this function even matter if a HDMI output
were used, since one would assume that the signal path remains digital to the monitor in
the Oppo and any other HDMI-outputting DVD player?
Hans Shrader
Back when I wrote that it was more unique than it is
now. Since it was going through HDMI (digital) and wasn’t being upconverted (which
would allow you to use the circuitry in your monitor or processor to do the scaling) and
it isn’t going through the component outs (analog), you end up with a pristine
signal. Many DVD players now offer this feature….Wes Marshall
Choosing cables
March 4, 2008
To Wes Marshall,
Thanks for the excellent
review on the Integra DTC 9.8 pre-pro. I've ordered one, which should arrive next
week.
I have a question regarding the interconnects to my Anthem
MCA 5 amp. My old processor (Newcastle) was connected to the amp via Monster RCA
(unbalanced) cables. Since the 9.8 has XLR outputs, I will move up to balanced
interconnects (I have Monitor Audio Silver 7 speakers). The guy who sold me the Integra is
strongly recommending that I buy very expensive, high-end interconnects. He actually has a
slightly used set of German-made cables that retail for $400 per pair he will sell me for
$200. Is a $400- or $1000-per-pair interconnect really better than a $100-per-pair Better
Cables or $130-per-pair Goertz Audio cable? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Tony Holmes
This is a vexing question, and one where I might be an
outlier versus my fellow SoundStage! Network writers. What we're talking about here is a
point of diminishing returns. To pick three great sedans, I could buy a Honda Civic EX-L
($21,000), which would get me from place to place. Or I could buy a BMW 335 ($39,000),
which would get me place to place, but it would also be fun to drive, with a pretty good
modicum of performance. Or I could buy a Mercedes S600 AMG ($180,000) and feel luxurious
while traveling at 180mph. Someone with Warren Buffet's money might opt for the MB. Warren
Buffet would probably choose the Honda, which is one of the reasons he has so much money.
To answer your question more directly, there are some
$1000 cables that are better than Better Cables, but there are some that aren't. I know
Better Cables well enough to recommend them, and I'm not one to chase the last bit of
performance and luxury when I can get something virtually identical and use my saved money
to go to concerts and movies. There are others who lay awake at night trying to imagine
whether their $5000 phono leads are sacrificing depth at the rear left corner of the
soundstage. Which are you?
Besides Better Cables, there is a company called
Markertek. They sell cables to the recording industry. Now studio owners can afford
anything they want, and what matters to them is sound first, durability second and price
last. I've used Marketek's cables for years, quite happily. Look at either the Mogami or
Canare cables. The prices will astonish you. And both come in multiple colors which is a
bigger help than you might imagine. Good luck....Wes Marshall |
