June 30, 2002
Hi Wes,
Recent events have given me the opportunity to pick up
either the NAD Theater Series T751 or T761, or wait for something new.
Reviews on either unit are hard to come by, and those that
I do find are generally very favorable. I don't see any real benefit to taking the T751
over the T761, but I might be missing something. Both appear to provide preamp outputs,
which I believe are a must. I really don't know what NAD has in store for the future, but
I have heard they will have 7.1 units in about six months.
So the real question seems to be: What's the scoop on 5.1
vs. 6.1 and 7.1? At present, I don't have surround sound at all -- opting to stay with a
nice set of Klipsch Heresy IIs. But upgrading component by component is in the works.
Both of my current options from NAD are 5.1 compliant,
which is fine as that is all that my Sony NS900V supports. I tend to hang onto my
equipment for a long time and that has served me well so far. Thus a true concern in
choosing a new receiver is what I should expect from it tomorrow. The speed of change
makes that a lot more difficult now than it was a few years ago.
Any advice or comments on noteworthy concerns or
differences between the T751 and T761 would be great. As I continue to move towards
building a complete surround-sound system, is it practical to consider incorporating the
Heresy IIs or is it advisable to seek a true set of surround speakers for the theatrical
setting?
Dan Roberts
Hi Dan:
You ask two questions I think a lot of people are grappling
with now. Let me answer the second one first. If you already have a pair of loudspeakers
you like or you find particularly to your taste, you should certainly use them as the
basis of your multichannel system, especially if you will continue to use that system for
music listening as well as HT.
The most important channels in a multichannel system are
the front three. Obviously the left and right channels give you a major portion of the
primary signal, but the center-channel speaker is also extremely important. You don't need
to buy the same brand or model as the left and right, but you want to get a speaker that
sounds quite similar.
With multichannel movies, the center channel carries almost
all of the dialogue, which is extremely important. The center-channel doesn't filter out
all of the non-dialogue, however, so whatever is going on in the left and right channels
is also probably going on there as well. This means the center-channel speaker also needs
to reproduce the film score and the environmental sounds -- and make them sound the same
as the signal from the left and right speakers.
With multichannel music, what you actually want from the
center-channel speaker is sound that's as high quality as the left and right speakers (and
a near tonal match), but you want a lot less of it.
No that doesn't mean you want a smaller center-channel
speaker for multichannel music -- in order to be a tonal match for the other front
speakers, it probably needs to be similarly sized. The drop in volume SHOULD be a function
of the processor and the original recording. Unfortunately, this is something that both
processor engineers and recording engineers almost always get wrong. If the volume in the
center-channel is the same as the two side channels, it tends to dominate the sound. The
trick is to dial in just enough gain to the center to nail the image solidly there, but
have it low enough that the left and right channels' spatial information is clearly
audible.
Some people like to use the same speakers as surrounds as
for the front channels, but I never found it necessary for what I want out of side and
rear channels, which is the sense of different acoustics from the one I just happen to be
inhabiting. That doesn't mean to skimp on surrounds, just don't go crazy.
As to 5.1, 6.1, 7,1 (or 10.2, for that matter), I can't
tell you which will dominate the market because that's going to be up to the public. I
have heard them all (well, not 10.2, although I read a strong defense of it that was
convincing) and 6.1 and 7.1 both offer a greater sense of solidity. However, I think
people are getting tired of playing catch up. First they were told they needed five
channels, so they bought three extra speakers and a processor. No, wait, it takes six
speakers -- no, make that seven!
My personal belief is that normal people (and I don't mean
hard-core HT addicts or audiophiles) need a compelling reason to buy into a technology.
People can see and hear the improvements offered by DVD over video cassette, so it has
become the fastest-selling technology launch ever. DVD-A and SACD both offer sonic
benefits over Red Book CDs, but most people weren't unhappy with Red Book CD sound quality
in the first place, so they are waiting to see what else the new formats will give them.
That's where I think we are with multichannel movie sound.
Most people are pretty happy with 5.1. They don't sit around wishing for more solid
effects or more convincing ambience. The 5.1 standard is good enough.
So I suspect it will remain the most popular format, no
matter whether hard-core HT fans decide that more channels are better or not. As to
whether you should wait for the new models of NAD receiver to come out, I reckon you might
as well.
NAD officials I've spoken to are quite seriously proud of
the new models, which will be at retailers later this month. Go check 'em out for
yourself. If they don't convince you that they offer the features you want and are willing
to pay for, there'll still be lots of the older models around -- and probably at an
extremely attractive prices....Wes Phillips
June 24, 2002
Hi Wes,
I want to build a good home theater, but I don't have
enough money to buy all of the speakers now. I believe I will start with a good stereo
pair. Can you recommend companies to look at to start that way and build? And is this a
good way to approach my home theater?
John Mayhew
Hi John:
This is the way almost all of us who already had a stereo
have built our home theaters. Companies such as Axiom, PSB, Polk, and NHT all make
high-quality, extremely affordable stereo pairs that would make good starting
places....Wes Phillips
June 20, 2002
Hi Wes,
This is undoubtedly a simple question; however, two moronic
salesmen and their moronic manager at my local "high-end" home-theater store
could not answer it. I've been a two-channel holdout for several years, but I have decided
to make the leap into multichannel home theater. I know I need a receiver that can decode
Dolby Digital and DTS, but does my DVD player also have to have this feature?
Sam
Hi Sam:
If your receiver can decode Dolby Digital and DTS, your DVD
player doesn't need to. Just send the digital out (unprocessed) signal of your DVD player
to your receiver and let it decode it. If you owned a receiver that only contained Dolby
Pro Logic processing, you could use the multichannel analog output (processed inside the
DVD player) into your receiver and get the upgrade without replacing the receiver.
But if you're buying a new receiver, it makes no sense not
to get one with DD and DTS. Since that way you'll have DD and DTS in the receiver, you
don't need to duplicate them in the DVD player.
And your assessment of the salesmen and their management is
on the money. To quote the great Bob Dylan, "[They're] idiots -- it's a wonder they
can even feed themselves."...Wes Phillips
June 18, 2002
Wes,
I read your nice review of the Polk LSi-series
speakers. I am looking for a set of affordable HT speakers, but unfortunately there are no
local dealers carrying this line in my area. How would you say the new Polk LSi
series compares to Sonus Faber classics like EA-II, Signum (I own these), and Dynaudio
Contours like the 1.8 and 1.3se?
Gil
Hi Gil:
I'll never be able to compare any speaker I review to every
possible loudspeaker out there. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. I tried to tell you
what I liked about the Polks and why I thought they were good buys -- if I didn't do a
good enough job of that, I sincerely apologize.
Your Sonus Fabers are fine loudspeakers -- real easy to
like -- but they're a tad warm and plummy compared to either the Polks or Dynaudios.
As to comparing the Polks to the Dynaudios, you haven't
said which Polks you're interested in and you're asking me to compare them to a $3500
two-way extremely custom-built minimonitor and a $3200 floorstanding three-way speaker.
These are so radically different from one another in function and intent that, even if I
knew which Polks you were asking me to compare them to, I wouldn't have a clue how to go
about answering your question....Wes Phillips
June 17, 2002
Wes,
Do you have any plans to review a home-theater system based
on Axiom speakers?
Don
Hi Don:
I have a complete Axiom 7.1 system in for review
and will give you a full report on these in the near future....Wes Phillips
June 15, 2002
Hi Wes,
I am an audiophile becoming a videophile. What do you
recommend for "demonstration" discs for when I shop for a home-theater system?
Derek Paul
Hi Derek:
I'll recommend a few DVDs and I'll suggest you pick a few
based on what you like to watch, which is a personal decision.
I recently saw a superb HT demo that didn't have a single
dinosaur, car chase, or explosion. What a relief! My favorite part was a scene from Shakespeare
In Love, where the two lovers wooed one another in an open field near a river. It was
a superb test for dialogue intelligibility -- the water was rushing, the wind was blowing
and the two lovers were talking. Being able to understand what's being said is extremely
important -- more so, in my opinion, than being able to reproduce any amount of ordinance.
I also like the scene n Crimson Tide where Gene
Hackman gives the crew of the Alabama a speech in a downpour just before they embark on a
mission. This will effectively tell you how convincingly a system handles different
environments and how well the surrounds do at enveloping you in a convincing ambience.
If you like action movies, take a copy of your favorite and
see how it holds up. If you can't enjoy your favorite movie on a system, how are you going
to enjoy anything else?
Take an old (pre-Star Wars) movie and see how well
the system handles straight mono sound.
And ask the salesman to let you watch some broadcast TV or
cable as well. You will probably be watching a certain amount of over-the-air material,
you may as well determine that the new system can handle it to your satisfaction.
I hope this helps....Wes Phillips
June 11, 2002
Hi Wes,
Have you heard the Polk Audio f/x1000 surrounds?
Ralph Thompson
Hi Ralph:
Yes, in demos and at a friend's house. I like 'em. They're
big and they have a diffuse, unlocate-able sound -- which is what surrounds are supposed
to have....Wes Phillips
June 10, 2002
Dear Wes,
I am interested in playing DVDs coded for Region 2 (Europe)
in the US. Is there a legal and painless way to do so? Specifically, can I buy a Region 2
(or multi-region) player legally in the US (presumably I would get one from Europe and use
a transformer to plug it in)? What about connectivity? Would I need a multi-system TV that
accepts PAL as well as NTSC signals, or would using component or S-video connections make
that a non-issue? Thank you very much in advance for your help.
Tony
Hi Tony:
Tony, the whole point of the Region encoding system is to
prevent you from playing out-of-region DVDs. There are ways to get around it, but their
legality is questionable. (In other words, it is technically illegal, but the laws have
not, to my knowledge, been tested at the Supreme Court level. But doing that probably
doesn't fall under your definition of "painless," either.)
If you really want to work out a go-around -- not that I'm
recommending you do so, mind you -- you might Google DVD + region and see what you come up
with....Wes Phillips
|
