Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners DVD-A, or SACD recommendations

I currently have:
M3ti, VP100, QS4, EP175, Denon 1802

My room is about 12ft x 20ft with vaulted ceilings, but I'm in an apartment so I can't pump up the volume/bass as much as I'd like =/ Hopefully I'll get a house/townhouse soon so it won't be as much of an issue.

I have two questions:
1) What speakers should I upgrade first? What will give me the most bang for the buck?

2) Any recommendations on a good DVD-A or SACD? I'd like to find a good orchestral disc that has nice strings/percussion/etc, but I'm not very familiar with what is available.

Thanks,
Jeremy

I hat to say it, but if you can't crank the volume and bass very much I wouldn't upgrade anything yet. Set aside an upgrade fund so you have a few $$ when you move to a house or townhouse and you know how big a room you are dealing with.

I just received a copy of "Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds" album on SACD in the mail today (ordered a few days ago from Amazon). Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet but I have very high expectations.

I had the tune for "Forever Autumn" floating through my head for a couple of years until I gradually remembered enough of the lyrics to figure out the title, Google it and find the album. I never owned the LP or I might have saved a couple of years

Yeah, I probably am not going to upgrade immediately. My immediate question was really just the DVD-A/SACD question. But I am curious, once I get a bigger place, which components would have the biggest impact? Or do I need to upgrade all the way around? =)

If you are moving into a bigger room and can play loudly but still have your system arranged in a reasonably small area (ie you don't move the sofa way back from the speakers) the answer is simple -- get a high quality, big-ass sub and enjoy

If you are going to take advantage of the space and spread everything out further so the distance between you and the speakers is much greater, or if you want to play REALLY loudly, then you're looking at upgrading more of the speakers -- although upgrading the mains to M50 or M60 would be a really good start if you listen to a lot of music.

If you would, could you give us a little bit more information about your musical tastes? OK, you said orchestral with strings and percussion. Do you mean classical? Do you mean standards/jazz like those performed by Diana Krall, and other artists? Do you mean Pop artists? I'm assuming you don't mean rock. I can't think of too many rock discs with orchestras and strings. Give us an idea of what you're hearing in your head when you say "orchestral with strings and percussion."

Like Jack said, narrow the field down to a genre. If you do prefer rock, I can only think of The Moody Blues for an orchestral flavor.

I personally like Gustav Holst's "The Planets" musical suite for a good taste of what you describe.

Gee, imagine you using Diana Krall as an example...

Ok - I realize my question is a bit vague. I typically listen to a variety of rock music - Coldplay, Better than Ezra, Weezer, Counting Crows, Foo Fighters, Beatles, Jack Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie, etc...

But I am really looking for a suggestion outside of what I normally listen to. For example, a good classical or jazz album. Not Beethoven, Bach, Loius Armstrong etc. - but maybe a more modern classical composer or good jazz artist. My problem is that since this is outside of what I normally listen to, I'm not familiar enough to give a reference point of what I like. Any general recommendations of a modern classical composer or jazz artist that has a great SACD or DVD-A mix with a full range of sounds? I realize this is still a broad question - is there any more information I could provide that would be helpful?

The Planets is considered modern, though it was completed in 1917.

Anything from John Williams or Erich Kunzel would be a good start as well.

I'm willing to bet you'd really enjoy this...

Love your taste in music. although I haven't heard of "Death cab for Cutie."

I jumped into the multichannel audio when I first bought my system a few years back. I bought a Denon 2200 specifically so I could listen to DVDA and SACD. To date, I have about 5 discs of music I like. As others have said, it really depends on your taste of music. You might find that there aren't a lot discs available for you.

In hindsight, I would've preferred to spend the money on a dedicated audio CD player, like a tube one. Or even look at vinyl to enjoy the eclectic jazz and classical.

In reply to:

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Or even look at vinyl to enjoy the eclectic jazz and classical.

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Probably the largest selection of SACD's and DVD-A's out there come from the eclectic jazz and classical genres, no? There's very little contemporary/pop music available in these formats, but TONS of jazz and especially classical available.

spiff that's probably true. though it depends what kind of listening experience you're looking for. All things being equal (if that's at all possible), if given the choice between a disc in multichannel or well recorded vinyl, I'll take the vinyl version.

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll check out The Planets album and the others that were mentioned. I don't have a turntable currently, so I think I'll stick to the DVD-A and SACDs for now

If you like REM, all of their Warner Bros releases are available on DVD-A (check out Automatic for the People). The only DVD-A from their IRS years is "Document"

Also, I don't think you can go wrong with The Who's "Tommy" or the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds", either. Both are available as DVD-A's. Tommy is an SACD also.

I haven't heard them yet, but I hear the Porcupine Tree DVD-A's are spectacular.

Jeremy, welcome back. I'll definitely second Craig's suggestion of The Planets, although it's a bit pricey. My second suggestion would be this excellent DVD-A of the gorgeous Swan Lake music.

John or Craig, I found a DVD on Ebay "Holst - The Planets/The Mystic Trumpeter" Is this a good one also, it is not the London Orchestra?

Although Gustav Holst is primarily known for THE PLANETS, this also release includes his underrated composition THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER. This recording features David Lloyd-Jones, Claire Rutter, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.


Notes
DVD Features:

Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1
DTS Surround Sound
MLP 6-Channel - 96 kHz - 24 bit

Now that I look further, there seems to be many orchestras that have performed his work on DVD. I just found a BBC national orchestra that does it in a 1.85 widescreen performance. Hmmm, now I'm confused

Try this link, http://www.sa-cd.net/home. It has reviews as well as the top rated SACD's. It helped me quite alot after I bought my first SACD player.

Randy, I have six Planets, but I didn't care much for the Lloyd-Jones when I heard it, and wouldn't buy or recommend it. My favorite is still the Mehta CD that I've suggested several times, but for a DVD-A the Previn is excellent, if expensive.

Those are the only two DVD-A versions, I believe. Do you mean that you also saw a video DVD of The Planets offered?

{siren}link police{/siren}

ON Ebay I did a search for, holst planets dvd, and found 3-4 various DVD's available. The Previn is a DVD-A, but also comes with DD and DTS tracks. There was a BBC Wales Orchestra DVD and another, but I can't recall the name...

There is a guy on Amazon if you do the same search that left a nice review saying that particular DVD had the best visual effects of them all..