Oppo Digital DV-981HD question

May 28, 2008

To Wes Marshall,

I noticed in your review of the Oppo DV-981HD that you didn't have a processor that would accept HDMI out from the player, so you used the analog 5.1-channel outs. I think I have about four SACDs, and one just in the mail: Miles Davis's Dark Magus. I used to jump around the house listening to that on vinyl. That album has a great package design too. So I guess I'm wondering if I can send my SACD signal out using PCM to my still-great-sounding Onkyo TS-DS575X amp, which outputs 5.1-channel DTS. I guess I may be limited to just stereo on it.

Thanks for the hack tip. I've got a Region 2 Ironweed DVD that has been waiting to be seen for quite a while. Time to see Tom Waits up on the 80” screen.

Andre

There are only a few processor/receiver companies with products that will accept the SACD or DVD-A signal digitally. Onkyo makes several, but they came out starting in late 2007. I bought the Integra DTC-9.8, which is made by Onkyo, and the sound as transferred by the HDMI is way superior to the analog 5.1 signal. If you use PCM, you'll get down-mixed stereo. Good luck.

I love Dark Magus too. So does my dog, Miles….Wes Marshall

Omnisats in a large room

May 20, 2008

To Doug Schneider,

I re-read your article on the Mirage Omnisat 6 speaker system from October 2002. In 2003, I purchased the system that you talked about minus the sub (I had previously purchased a fantastic sub from SVS). I have all this combined with a Yamaha RX-V1300 receiver.

Now to the concerns. For the life of me, I can't get good sound out of the speakers when listening to a movie. I've tried all of the soundfields (and none at all) available on the receiver. The sound is muffled, so much so that neither my wife nor I can understand what is said. When we want to watch a movie, we go up to my daughter's room upstairs and watch it with a Phillips Soundbar and sub combo that we recently purchased. The dialogue is crystal clear. On this system, even whispers are distinct.

By the way, the room in which the five Omnisat speakers are mounted in is 20'W x 28'L x 18'H with tile floors and sheetrock walls (with tall glass windows). The SVS sub works wonderfully -- in fact, lower-frequency sounds are almost surreal!

Do you have any advice or should we just toss these speakers for a new setup? Should we replace the receiver? I've talked to the people at Mirage. Their suggestions were more along the lines of speaker placement. We'd already set them up as they recommend. So they offered no real help.

Mark Senn

I'm not surprised that you're achieving outstanding bass -- that's a really big room you have, and the larger the room, the lower in frequency a subwoofer like the SVS can reach. That's simply because low-frequency sound waves are very long -- longer than the longest dimensions in many people's rooms. That's why people with small rooms can't get really deep bass -- or, if they do, it's in another room somewhere down the hall from the main listening room.

On the other hand, although you're room is big and really good for deep bass, I fear that one of the biggest problems you're having is that the room is too big for those small speakers. After all, the original Omnisat speakers aren't that big and their output capabilities are better suited for smaller rooms than larger ones. I used them in a much smaller room with a normal-height ceiling.

Then, of course, there's the problem with placement -- which may be compounding the problem with the sound. Basically, the Omnisats radiate quite a bit of their sound to the sides and rear -- more so than a conventional front-firing speaker. Therefore, the Omnisat relies on wall reflections to create the best sound. With such a big room, I would hazard a guess that even though you might have the speakers placed fairly close to the front wall, they're either going to be very far from the side walls if you have a normal distance in between them, or they're going to be spaced way too wide if you have them close to the side walls. As for not being able to hear dialogue properly, most of that comes out the center channel, and your center-channel speaker is going to be even farther from the sides than the left and right main speakers. I can't say for sure that the speakers won't work in that situation, but I can tell you that you certainly have a difficult situation.

Therefore, despite how much I like the Omnisats, they may not be the best bet in that room. Perhaps you can use them in another room and look for higher-output speakers with a more conventional design for this large room....Doug Schneider

“Over the Rainbow," alternate take

May 13, 2008

To Wes Marshall,

I read your article on The Wizard of Oz, and you are one of the only people I have heard of who knew about the segment featuring Judy Garland singing (and crying) “Over the Rainbow” (the version that was cut). I have heard about it, and I know that there is no film to accompany it, but I was wondering if you knew of anywhere that I could listen to it.

Hannah

Though I can’t lay my hands on it right now, I believe that the Rhino two-CD set of the soundtrack has the version you’re looking for. Those Rhino folks are notorious completists, and if it’s not on that, you can be pretty sure it doesn’t exist. I do remember that the first alternate take is done very slow and I wish she hadn’t coughed and had to start over. But I can’t remember if the second alternate version is the one you are looking for. Good luck. Let me know if you find it….Wes Marshall

Using a rear projector

May 6, 2008

To Wes Marshall,

I came across your article. Though I found it very interesting, ultimately it raised more questions than it answered. For example, how does one get rear projectors out of the box? We regularly see reviews of front projectors, but I have never seen a review of a rear projector, except where they are already in a TV box. Can we use front projectors for rear projection? What size projection room do you need for your 100” screen? Do you use mirrors in your back projection setup? Can we put much of the home-theater equipment (i.e., DVD player, preamp, amp, etc.) into the projection room? Does Stewart have any competitors making StarGlas-equivalent or substitute screens? I would greatly appreciate it if you would reply to my questions or if you could refer me to a source for answers. Also, I regularly enjoy reading your “On Home Theater” column. Keep up the good work!

Lloyd Paquin

As I wrote in the article, “So if you want the benefit of the rear projector’s bright image, but without mirrors, and still have a huge picture, your only solution is to cut a hole in the wall and have a dedicated projection room behind the screen.” Over the years, I had mentioned many times that all modern projectors can be configured to be upside down mounted on the ceiling or table mounted, and used as a front projector or a rear projector. Sorry I forgot to mention it again. Every projector has its own throw distance. I use a JVC projector and have it about 14’ from the screen. Others could be more or less. Your goal should be to have the projector at the short side of its projection distance. The more you use the zoom, the more light you lose. You can put everything in the projector room; however, any light in the room will detract from your contrast ratio, so you should be able to block those lights. I know of no competitive screen….Wes Marshall

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