Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What electronics do you use?

I suggested starting another thread on this, so I might as well go ahead and do it. If anybody hasn't read it yet, this is stemming from the "interconnects thread", and relates to (among 1000 other topics) music performance from a DVD player.

I'm using a JVC DVD-A player (damned if I can remember which model), a soon-to-be-replaced Technics single tray CD player, and the Arcam AVR100. Speakers are M40s and VP150 across the front, M3s in the rear, and an AX500a for bass.

The Technics was collecting dust in my closet until I went to Peak Audio in Halifax to audition (and ultimately buy) the Arcam receiver. It was suggested to me that even the lowliest CD player would be better than a DVD player for 2-channel music. This was demonstrated to me in the store, and I confirmed this with my own components later at home. Even the lowly 15-year-old Technics outperformed the DVD player in analog, and it's rapidly dying (the tray opens properly about 30% of the time).

Have people found the opposite to be true with their setups?

Ah crap.
Sorry fhw.
I didn't see your post before i started up another post on the topic.
Well allow me to post here what i never posted there:

My setup:
Onkyo DS797
Acoustic Research optical toslink
old Technics cd player (component in a bookshelf system)
Denon UD-M30 cd player (all in one style normally used in our kitchen)
also tested: Panasonic Rv32 dvd single tray
Speakers: M60s

The Technics lost badly. The Panasonic sounded bright but i was using the toslink cable (as previously discussed) so i want to test it again with the analog connections. However, using the toslink, the Denon sounded much smoother than the Panasonic. I'm not sure why if the toslink cable would force the use of the receiver DAC for both players but hey, i'm just going by what i heard.

DVD/CD player: JVC 502 or somehting like that
Integrated amp: Denon 1602
speakers:
M22 Ti
M3 Ti
VP 150
EP 125

the Denon does all sound deceding, I send the info through a fiber optic. I have tried the JVC to decode CD audio and I did not like the sound.

Hi guys

Because the (broad based) question was asked.... and because there are two different post locations to get into this... I just want to join in here and add something slightly different before this gets too far down the screen....

Since I have not been seriously auditioning any new CD or DVD players, I can't make comments as to which sounds better. Since my old CD changer went belly up about 8 months ago, I have been letting my Sony DVD player do double duty. I just want to comment on something slightly different and it may seem odd....

When it comes to physical design (attractiveness), features, ergonomics, and layout/usefulness of remote controls, why is it that Sony seems to (overall) do a better job than anyone else (like Denon, Onkyo, Marantz, Yamaha, Pioneer, etc)?

I realize this is purely MY opinion/observation, and if you disagree, that's OK. But I have been looking at/using/and even selling hifi gear for a long time and that's my take. Problem is, I think that their build/sound quality is usually just average except for their ES line - which has (over the years) shown to be pretty good in both build and sonic quality.

If Denon or Onkyo would just hire their industrial designers and improve their looks, features and REMOTEs, then I think they would have unbeatable stuff!

OK Now back to the regularly scheduled posts....

Randyman

I don't find anything wrong with the Onkyo remotes, its the Denon and lower model Marantz remotes I have a problem with.

Fhw and Chesseroo, there's no technical reason for a competently designed CD/DVD player not to handle both equally well. Well-designed modern players have a dual laser arrangement, one optimized for CD, one for DVD. The relatively few DVD player reviews that include full lab results show excellent audio performance with CDs, fully comparable to separate CD players.

i have the toshiba sd-2705 cds it replaced a yamaha cd only it works great

Oh i hear ya.
I don't know about sony in particular but that 'colour' black has really go to go.

Do you realize how hard it is to not find anything in black as an option?!

I'm counting on the new Panasonic CV52 having a good audio and vid DAC.
I just checked out the website specs and in the least, it has some of the latest specs possible. But the quality now is yet to be ascertained.
I'll let you know once i buy it. Possibly tomorrow.

An update to my components.
I went out yesterday and bought a Panasonic CV52 DVD and a Hitachi 725U DVD. Sometime this week, one of them will go back.
I also took the M22s i was evaluating and set them up as surround speakers to the M60s in the front.
Then i watched Black Hawk Down.

THe movie was very fatiguing. I felt like i had been sitting in an hour long firefight. But the action aside, i can't say i was too impressed with the surround sound. The movie sound was fine, i am referring to the arrangement with my equipment.
It is taking awhile to get all the tweaking done right but my most simple observation so far is that the M22s were too much for direct surrounds. I can tune their outputs down a bit and move their locations somewhat but even with using several of the Onkyo's surround formats, i just didn't find anything was working. The M22s still seemed to take too much of the sound stage away from the M60s. Gunshots always sounded like they were coming from my left/right ear instead of whizzing from front to back or whizzing from left to right (as SOME of the effects should have done).
I'm going to do some more tweaking today but i am hoping the QS8s i ordered might take away some of this direct sound and diffuse it a little more obscurely.
I would however consider using one of the m22s as a rear centre channel laid on its side.