video-magazine-1995-08

[amlTECH GUIDE: HOT NEW DIRECT-VIEW TVs MAGAZINE Proton 35-Inch TV Snell Satellites . Parasound Preamp/Processor Home Theater and Separate Audio Components TUT gelelavebeyoltlale mae)e Big-Screen TVs JULY/AUGUST 1995 USA $2.95 CANADA $3.95

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digital broadcast to homes all across America. A broadcast that will quite literally change the way we watch television. The only way to get it is with an RCA 18-inch dish and set-top receiver. The RCA brand DSS System. We raised Home Theatre toa new level. (22.300 miles above sea level, to be exact.) Those that have it will be in for the television ride of their lives. The signal is digital. So your RCA Home Theatre™ can get CD-quality sound and a picture so sharp and clear it's candy for the eyes and ears. Never before has there been such a combination of choice and control. The DSS System delivers over 150 channels. \"A revolutionary new broadcast system that delivers a digital signal, . patentee eeten CD-quality sound and over 150 channels ofcustomized programming. Programs you want to watch, when you want to watch them. Hit movies that run every thirty minutes. Special events you won't find anywhere else. Even season television tickets for your favorite sports teams whose games aren't televised in your area. The RCA brand DSS Digital Satellite System. The future of television is looking up. Changing Entertainment. Again’ ren CIRCLE NO. 61 ON READER SERVICE CARD

HULiTtRaAcVhISiIOPNrouQdulalyitByrings To Camcorders! OR OVER FIVE YEARS, image coming in through the lens for Instant Zoom is just a button push focus, white balance, aperture (iris) away! No zoom is faster; wherever you Hitachi has led the home functioning, high-speed shutter, have zoomed to, Instant Zoom takes you entertainment industry with the best backlight compensation and wind 1.5x closer instantly! That’s valuable projection TV in picture and sound, noise. The VMH710A employs a third when recording a moment that comes with ULTRAVISION. The standards of generation 16-bit Digital Signal quickly! All controls are conveniently excellence the ULTRAVISION name has Processor (DSP) to regulate these located on the end of the camcorder, for represented in television are now in functions rapidly. The result to you are easy access when you need them! camcorders with the introduction this videotapes that are color accurate and year of the VMH710A! detailed. Yes, your memories are BLANK SEARCH / DATE SEARCH preserved with the quality they deserve, The engineers at Hitachi have ULTRAVISION quality! Hitachi engineers recognized achieved what few can do: create a that time passes between shooting camcorder that is innovative and yet, AA BATTERY BACKUP... A FIRST! scenes on videotape. We often affordable. Let’s take a closer look at lose our place on the tape and the camcorder that proudly calls itself Many camcorder users will tell you can easily recorded over a scene ULTRAVISION! how frustrating it is to run out of power that we intended to keep. Blank when you most need it. Hitachi’s Search was designed to easily HI-8 RESOLUTION AND HI-FI STEREO engineers recognized the need and locate the area of tape that is free solved a major hassle for all of us! The and usable. No more mistakes and Clarity and detail are critical to VMH710A has the capability of inserting loss of valuable memories! Date making the picture look the best it can. 6 AA alkaline batteries for an additional Search is a simple method locating the The ULTRAVISION VMH710A achieves 50 minutes of power! AA Batteries are scene you wish to review with ease. over 400 lines of resolution, more than sold almost everywhere, so you are just a Each time you begin to record, the 42% better than TV programs! The date is imprinted on a memory chip. VMH710A records images 63% better store away from more power to continue In playback mode, use this method to than VHS, VHS-C and 8mm standard those precious memories! easily locate the memory by the date resolution camcorders, which achieve no you recorded it! more than 250 lines of resolution. And COLOR EWE, EIS AND you'll see that difference on whatever TV INSTANT ZOOM CONCLUSION you play the videotape on. ULTRAVISION Ease-of-use is a must with any These are just a few of the thoughtful and sound quality is Hi-Fi stereo, microphone and recording. Better than 90db of audio camcorder. The VMH710A has been innovative features that make the VMH710A quality is achieved! designed to be user-friendly. We see in a breakthrough in performance. Visit color; the viewfinder of the VMH710A is your local Authorized Dealer today and A.A.1.T. AND D.S.P. Hl color so that no details of a scene will be experience for yourself the quality and value missed! To keep your videotapes stable, of the ULTRAVISION VMH710A! And see How a camera interprets the image Hitachi engineers developed an for yourself how Hitachi engineers made it sees makes the difference between Electronic Image Stabilizer (EIS) that a quality camcorder affordable to you! ordinary and extraordinary! Hitachi maintains picture quality while engineers developed years ago a smoothing out any extra motion. Using For more information about technology that utilized the benefits of angular motion sensors, the camcorder the Hitachi VMH710A microprocessors. Called Advanced will determine if you are shaking the please call: 1-800-HITACHI Artificial Intelligence Technology camcorder and respond properly. And (A.A.I.T.), the software controls the CIRCLE NO, 56 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Pursuing the standard of excellence set by the VME55A & VMES8A top-rated camcorders, two years in a row. #1 rated by a leading consumer magazine DOUBLE AA BATTERY PACK ULTRAIISION VMH710A CAMCORDER The new standard in performance and value!

Cac “i'm particular.” While engineering recordings for many clients, among them the -. Chicago and St. Louis Symphonies, *--Theard of Martin-Logan’s special ----électrostatic precision and clarity “from several of my colleagues. - $0, installed a pair in my studio. ~ What happened next was amazing. Every change in the recording process became apparent. Details ofspace in the hall, microphone »- placement and even converter qualities were instantly perceived, Yel, the superior dispersion of their curvilinear transducer allowed remarkably easy room placement, even in my studio. After using Martin-Logan products for years, |am excited to introduce the new advanced SL3, shattering industry standards yet again. What else can |say? Go to your local dealer and Sgaudition the new SL3. Be prepared for the experience. $3,200.00 US/pr Following is a sampling of Larry's works WFMT Fine Arts Network weekly broad, of the Chieago Symphony Orchestra, Erat RCABMG, CBS/Sony, Koss Classis, Marco Polo, New World, Crystal, Peregrine, Pro Arte, Summit, Centaur, Orfeo, Musical Heritage Society, yice_O p.o. box 707, lawrence, ks 66044, tel (913) 749-0133, fax (913) 749- oe CIRCLE NO. 16 ON READER SERVICE CARD

JULY/AUGUST 1995 ae L MAGAZINE 19 GLASS ACT A tech guide to cutting-edge direct-view TVs 26 EYES ON THE PRIZE THX pursues laserdisc excellence 30 DIVIDE & CONQUER Separate audio components take home theater to the next level 37 PROTON NT-3740 35-inch TV set 40 PARASOUND P/SP- 1000 Preamp/processor 43 MITSUBISHI M-V7057 Laserdisc player 46 YAMAHA RX-V690 A/V receiver 61 CAM PACKED The new wave of camcorders 55 64 NEW TECH Sharp LCD TV, Emerson tripod 66 VIDEOTEST Panasonic PV-IQ305 VHS-C camcorder 74 PC NO EVIL Multimedia video quality 76 NEW TECH Packard Bell MPC with two CD-ROM players 77 SHORTWARE Sony PRD-150 portable CD-ROM player 78 SOFTWIRE Dangerous Creatures, Dark Forces, Astronomica 6 CHANNEL ONE Are you experienced? 9 FEEDBACK LDs, DVDs, and Dolby Surround AC-3 13 FAST FORWARD Sony DSS debuts 16 HOME IMPROVEMENT Surround sound for a rear-projector 49 SHORTWARE Zenith TV set, Snell bookshelf speaker, Adcom five-channel amplifier, Sony VCR, MTX powered bass moduie 55 NEW TECH Pioneer rear-projector, JVC VCR, Polk speaker 69 SOFTWIRE Forrest Gump, Judy Garland, Time Bandits 116 OFF THE AIR Seagram & Co.’s house of spirits ON THE COVER Proton NT-3740 (page 37), Parasound P/SP-1000 (page 54), Snell Type M (page 50) COVER PHOTO Tony Cordoza

cH AN N CE L oONo CE VIDEO Are You BILL WOLFE Editor-in-Chief Experienced? Executive Editor MARC HOROWITZ ® HOME THEATER IS THE HOT BUTTON IN Technical Editor LANCELOT BRAITHWAITE consumer-electronics circles these days. The Senior Editors PETER BARRY technology and talk, the sales-floor price quotes and the reader queries, the choices and the online ROB SABIN chat all center on the convergence of video and audio. DBS systems and their generous entertainment packages, 5.1-channel surround sound, big-screen Art Director LAURA SUTCLIFFE TVs, powered subwoofers, digital videodiscs, digital VCRs, digital cable—so Associate Art Director Ml KHOO much of it is focused as finely as a laser beam or a line-doubled image on the Assistant Art Director GARY FRENCH phenomencn we call Home Theater. & What is Home Theater? Not a TV with built-in speakers. Not wine, or popcorn, or couches clad in Italian leather. Managing Editor MIKE METTLER Associate Managing Editor MICHAEL GELFAND Not cute little speakers that look like Ming vases. Not picture windows, Associate Editor JOSEF KREBS celebrity architects, or bearskin rugs. It’s not about filler. It's about substance. Project Coordinator BARBARA AIKEN ® Home Theater is about hardware—TV sets, VCRs, laserdisc players, speakers, surround-sound processors, A/V receivers, multichannel amps, and Database Manager JOSE L. GARCIA the technologies that make them work. It’s about getting the most for your Contributors Stewart Applegath, Michael Desmond, money whether you’re spending $1,000 or $100,000. It’s about clean, sharp M. Faust, Paul Gluckman, Pete Hisey, Ken Korman, Daniel Kumin, Timothy Liebe, Tom Miiller, Kevin Miller, images with accurate colors and soundtracks that sound like real life. Mel Neuhaus, Tom Nousaine, Ken C. Pohlmann, ™ Because, when you get right down to it, Home Theater is really about the Cliff Roth, Andy Wickstrom, James K, Willcox experience. Living vicariously through the genius of Spielberg and Scorsese, Wilder and Huston, Cameron, Bertolucci, and Merchant-lIvory. Watching the TONY CATALANO : tears dry on Michelle Pfeiffer's face. Racing headlong on the knife’s edge with Vice President and Group Publisher Harrison Ford during a Blade Runner’s last assignment. Sprinting low to the ‘ ground through primeval woods with Daniel Day-Lewis at your side. Feeling the CONSUMER ELECTRONICS GROUP Enterprise's engines straining all around you. Gasping in wonder at dinosaurs, ADVERTISING aliens, or the spark in Ingrid Bergman’s eyes. &@ You need hardware to enjoy Publisher, VIDEO: Jay Rosenfield these experiences to the fullness of their potential. And this is where the hardware is. Welcome to VIDEO, circa 1995. We'll never slight 212.767.6062 camcorders and all of their accoutrements (check out this issue’s VP and Associate Publisher: jam-packed. “Video File,” which begins on page 61), and we'll watch closely as multimedia blossoms as an entertainment medium. But Home Theater is Scott Constantine 212.767.6346 Butt Oopwhat makes our pulses race. Plug in, turn on, watch out. & Regional VP/Ad Director, East Coast: Charles L.P. Watson 212.767.6038 Regional Account Manager, East Coast: Christine B. Forhez 212.767.6025 Account Executive: Penry Price 212.767.6077 Midwest Advertising Manager: Jerry Stoeckigt 312.923.4804 Regional VP/Ad Director, West Coast: Bob Meth 213.954.4831 West Coast Advertising Manager: . Paula Mayeri 213.954.4830 West Coast Sales Assistant: Nikki Parker Assistant to the Publisher: Aline J. Pulley Operations Manager: Sylvia Correa Advertising Coordinator: Linda Neuweiler Sales Assistant: Yvonne Telesford National Record-Label Sales Representatives: The Mitchell Advertising Group (MAG Inc.) Mitch Herskowitz 212.490.1715 Steve Gross 212.490.1895 Production Director: Patti Burns Production Manager: Gary M. Krystofiak General Manager: Greg Roperti Business Manager: Christine Z. Maillet Newsstand Sales Director: Margaret Hamilton HEM VIDEO Magazine (TM) 7) chette IS PUBLISHED BY Dhaka ilipacchi HACHETTE FILIPACCHI oi Gicoisticns ines MAGAZINES, INC. Member Chairman: Daniel Filipacchi President, CEO, & COO: David J. Pecker Executive VP and Editorial Director: Jean-Louis Ginibre Senior VP, Global Advertising: Paul DuCharme Senior VP, Director of Corporate Sales: Nicholas Matarazzo Senior VP, CFO, & New Business Development: Paul De Benedictis VP, Marketing Director, Corporate Creative Service Director: Lynn Chaiken VP, General Counsel: Catherine Flickinger VP, Manufacturing & Distribution: Anthony Romano VP, Circulation: David W. Leckey VP, Research & Marketing Services: Susan Smollens VP, Communications & Special Projects: Keith Estabrook VP, Magazine Development: Marcia Sachar Creative Production Director, Global Marketing: Jean Pierre Labatut

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MARANTZ HOME THEATER PURE AND SIMPLE . Home THX\" Audio System allows you to exceptional clarity, able to drive virtually any speaker system, hear film sound in your home as it was designed regardless of impedance or efficiency. to be heard, providing wide dynamic range, 7, Simply choose the appropriate number precise acoustic imaging, crystal ¢- Ss ‘Mh of amp channels to exactly match your clear dialog, properly balanced full frequency (/° system power needs. range, and a spacious enveloping surround sound field. Marantz components faithfully adhere to these Add your choice of Marantz source components, such as our precepts, as they are precisely the goals set by our engineers. auto-reverse laser disc combi player and deluxe VHS Hi-Fi VCR, and Our new AV-600 Pre-amplifier/Tuner combines a superb Home THX Cinema and Dolby ProsLogic decoder together youve put together x with a full function A/V system pre-amplifier and AM/FM stereo tuner, all in one unit that is surprisingly an exceptional music and affordable. An ideal complement to the AV-600 cinema sound system. —~. is the Marantz MA-500 THX-certified monoblock power amplifier, which combines prodigious power, Audition these superb components at your Marantz dealer soon. HER eR B°eR ERE Z’ PURE HIGH FIVEET: Marantz America, Inc. 440 Medinah Road Roselle, IL 60172-2330 Tel. 708-307-3100 ¢ 708-307-2687 Fax THX is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. Dolby and Pro-Logic are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.

FEEDBAC K DISC FACTOR | recently purchased Pioneer’s CLD- D703, but now, after reading about the new, upcoming digital videodisc (DVD) format, I’m concerned about my investment. Can a conventional LD player be upgraded to read DVDs, or will the LD format eventually be phased out completely? Also, can | hook up an external RF demodulator to my LD player to accommodate Dol- by Surround AC-3 ? Ralph Calabria East Brunswick, NJ About 4:months ago, | purchased Pio- currently conducting a hands-on test Lately, broadcast TV has looked neer’s CLD-D703 laserdisc player. cleaner on my Pulsar front-projection Only a month or two later, however, | of it and will report our findings in an system than many LDs. Now | rent started reading about Dolby AC-3 and LDs first, purchasing only those that that a LD player must be equipped upcoming issue. We'll also determine truly look good. The disc distributors’ with it to enjoy the new technology’s Quality Control departments should benefits. Then | read that all but the whether AC-3 software makes good keep copies of MGM’s The Boy least expensive Pioneer LD player is Friend and LIVE’s The Piano around equipped with AC-3—but my owner’s use of the technology's potential and, for reference—as far as I’m con- manual makes no mention of it. Have cerned, they’re everything that LD im- | been caught in the worst of all situa- as soon as it’s available, whether the age quality is all about. tions—buying the last model right be- fore a technology breakthrough? If second, more affordable generation of Gabriel Bazurto this is indeed my situation, will the Tucson quality of AC-3 improve over time? If | AC-3 hardware performs up to the must bear the cost of upgrading, how long should | wait until the technology technology’s potential. —Ed. matures? SMUDGE ITO We haven't noticed this “trend” (see Louis Z. Gombos I'm your regular, run-of-the-mill Fort Collins, CO laserdisc addict and have been enjoy- “Eyes on the Prize,” page 26, for an- ing LDs for 10 years now. After read- An LD player can’t be upgraded for ing “Laser’s Personal Best” [April other take on THX’s discs), though DVD playback. LD players should be 1995], | bought the THX-certified My around well into the next century, Fair Lady. | agree that the supple- some older film stocks aren’t as sharp however, and they'll remain extremely mental items are neat, but—following valuable for movie enthusiasts: Over a trend I’ve noticed—the image is so as current stock. —Ed. 8,000 titles are available on LD, and smudged that you can’t see the ac- it'll take years for DVD's “library” to tors’ eyes. This seems to be the case DREAM REAVER grow that large. with all of the THX, Columbia TriStar, | feel that the 12-inch laserdisc is be- and recent MGM/UA discs I’ve seen. ing overlooked as a potential record- An LD player must have an RF out- ing medium. A 12-inch recordable LD put in order to be compatible with could use MPEG-2 for standard play Dolby Surround AC-3 laserdiscs and and MPEG-1 for extended play. How AC-3 demodulator/surround-sound many hours of MPEG-1 programming decoders; you must have all three to could fit on a 12-inch LD? enjoy the benefits of AC-3. The D703 doesn’t have this RF output; all but the Paul Riley least expensive of Pioneer’s new-for- Seal Beach, CA 95 LD players include it. Technical editor Lance Braithwaite The first generation of AC-3 hard- replies: Players that record on 12-inch ware is very expensive, so it should discs exist today for commercial use. be sophisticated if not mature; we're VIDEO JULY/AUGUS19T95 9

Definitive Technology® PNUhtate) ap4=\\e imBY=¥-(=1)a>) The hardware costs about $35,000, 138-minute letterboxed laserdisc. The AK- Alaska Audio: Juneaur Hoitt’s: Fairbankse Pyramid: Anchorage. blank discs about $200 apiece; the full, uncut 158-minute version is un- ALiLk-iCs oAhuednio’:s BEilremcitnrgohnaimcs.: Montgomery: Kincaid’s TV: Tuscaloosas discs aren't compatible with conven- available at this time. AR- Custom AV: Little Rock tional LD players designed for home use, however. A 12-inch disc that us- John H. McCarthy tty's Audio Video: Phoenix, Tucson. es the same pit-spacing as conven- Carbondale, PA SE Access to Music: Larkspure Audio Concepts: Long Beach, San tional analog-video 12-inch discs would probably hold about 4 to 6 riek Bay Area Audio: SanJoseeChrisopher Hansen West LAe hours of MPEG-1 programming; make Coast Satellite: Atascadero, Santa Mariae Creative Stereo: Santa Bar- the pits smaller and move them closer bara, Ventura*David Rutledge Audio: Palm Desert Digital Ear. together and you could probably in- Tustine Larson's: Redding» Monterey Stereo: Monterey: Pacific Coast crease the disc’s capacity dramatical- AN: Newport Beach» Paradyme: Sacramento» Performance Audio: ly. But if you're going to dream, why dream about MPEG-1? At best, its im- San Francisco» Sound Co.: Escondido, San Di Systems Design age quality equals that of convention- Redondo Beache Videotek: WesminstersWestchester TV:Bakers- al VHS tape. fied Wilson A/V: Woodland Hills. CO- Listen Up: Denver, Boulder, Colorado Sprin MEASURE ME IN ST. LOUIS CT- Al Franklin's: Hartford Carston’s Audio Vi | recently installed a new VCR ona Robert's Audio Video: New London: : Danburye shelf previously occupied (over an 8- year period) by four other VCRs. | - Audio Buys. never had a problem operating any of - Sound Studio: Newark, Wilmington. the other four from my customary seat Allen Pasternak, of Houston, also not- - Absolute Sound: Winter Parke Audio Advisors: West Paim on my sofa, with the VCR’s remote sitting on the armrest. Imagine my ed our error. —Ed. ‘ache Audio Center. Deerfiedd Beache Invisible Audio: Pensacolas surprise when | discovered that my Hoyt Stereo: Jacksonvilles Palm Audio: Destine Sensuous Sound: new VCR wouldn't respond to its re- Tampa* Sound Components: Coral Gables Sound ideas: mote when it was on the armrest. So | Gainesvillee Sound Insight: Ft Pierces sire uee!Daytona Beache made a series of measurements: At a distance of 101 inches, the four older LOGO JAM Stereo World: Ft Myers, Naplese Stuart A/V: Stuart. e VCRs responded to their remotes at | agree wholeheartedly with Walter GA- Audio Warehouse: Savannahs Ken's Stereo Junction: Macone an angle of 56 degrees from a line Olesky [“Logos Drive Me,” “Feed- Merit TV: Columbus» Music Audio: Atiantae Stereo Connections: perpendicular to the sensor window. back,” April 1995]: I've had a satellite Valdosta Stereo Festival: Atlartas Stereo Shop: Martineze Stereo My new VCR only responded when system for 8 years, and I’ve always Video Systems: Marietta. the remote was within 46 degrees— refused to buy programming that has Audio Center: Honolulu. : that’s an 18-percent reduction in the a channel-identification logo plastered : Archer Audio Video: Ft Dodges Audio King Cedar Rapids, Des range of operation! | hope my tale all over the picture. | wonder if the ines Audio Video Logic: Des Moines» Camera'Corner. Daven- prevents others from assuming that artists that create the programming rte Hawkeye: lowa iy,Cedar Falls. the range of operation for all remote know their work is being defaced? ESeeEar, Boisee Wise Buy: Idaho Falls. controls is identical. - United Audio Centers: Chicago & Suburbs* Camera Comer... Bonar Law mingtone Cars & Stereos: Rockforde Jon's Home Center. Quin- Seymour Fox, Ph.D Hamilton, Ontario Wweeun Forum: Crystal Lakes Select Sound: Napervilles Sundown St. Louis ‘. INGHEK. SPAGHETTI BOSS IN- Ovation Audio: Clarksville, Indianapolis. 2 You and Ken Korman were mistaken KS Accent Sound: Overland Parke Advance Audio: Wichitas Audio when you said that Once Upon a Junction: Junction City, 2 Time in the West was the only Sergio - Ovation Audio: Lexington, Louisville. Leone Western not to star Clint East- Alterman Audio: New Orleans, Metairie, Covingtone Sound Ad- wood [“Editor’s Choice,” March 1995, : Baton Rouges Wright's Sound pera “Feedback,” May 1995]: Leone’s Duck {MA Cookin’:Saugus dwins Audio: Boston, Shrewsbury* Nan- You Sucker (1972; aka A Fistful of Dy- ucket Sound: Hyannis. : : namite) starred Rod Steiger and Mb.Audio Bee ated Gaithersburg, Laurel, Rockville, Wakiorf> James Coburn. A severely edited umberland .:Cumberlands Gramophone: Batt., Ellicott Citye 121-minute version is occasionally Soundscape: Baltimore. broadcast on TNT and is available as ME- Cookin’: Portlande Sound Source: Bangor, 3 an MGM/UA tape; Image offers a MI-Pecar's: DetrTrooy*iClatss,ical Jazz HollandeClassic Stereo: CONTACT Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids* Front Row A/V; FlintsFuture Sound Ypsi- I’m looking for information about a lantieCourt St. ListeningRoom Midland, Saginaw. Recoton TV antenna. How can | con- tact them? - Audio Designs: Winona» Audio ap Minneap&oSlubiursbs, lochester, St. Clouds Audio Perfection: Mini lis. Elias Herrero Jr. New Holland, PA - Independence A/V: Indep. Sound Central: St Louis. - McLelland TV: Hattiesburg» Players A/V: Ridgeland. Contact Recoton at 800.223.6009. - Car & Home Stereo Center. Billings» Rocky Mountain —Ed. 1 Fi: Great Falls. Ne Audio Video Systems: Charlottes Stereo Sound: Durham, reensboro, Raleigh, Winston Saleme Audio Lab: Wilmingtone Tri City Elect.: Conover. NE- Custom Electronics: Omaha, Lincoin. NH- Cookin’: Nashua, Manchester, Newington, Salem, S. Nashua, NJ- Hal's Stereo: Trentone Monmouth Stereo: Shrewsbury, Walk Sound Waves: Northfiekis SoundWorks: Chemy Hile Woodbridge Stereo: West Cakiwell, Woodbridge: \\deas: Albuquerque. - Upper Ear. Las Vegas. y - Audio Breakthroughs: Manhasset Audio Den: Lake Groves ET TU, ROGER? udio Expressions: Newburghe Audio Junction: Watertowne Clark You folks could use some remedial Music: Abany, Syracuse Stereo Exchange: Manhattan, Nanuet» training in Roman numerals: Both the April and May 1995 issues had non- Hart Elect.: Vestak Innovative Audio: Brooklyne Listening Room: sensical numerals for the volume on Scarsdales Rowe Camera: Rochesters Sound Mill: Mt. Kisco, York- the title page—specifically, “XVIV” was used to represent the number 19. town Hts.* Speaker Shop: Amherst, Butfalos Stellar Stereo: Ithaca “XIX” is the correct usage. Also, you OK- Contemporary Sounds: Okla. Citys KLabs:Premium Audio: had three goofs last year: In July, September, and November, you used 1 U2, “XVII” instead of “XVIII.” Most readers don’t care what the volume is, but a eitAudio Craft: Akron, Cleveland, Mayfield Hts., Westlakee Audio few of us librarians keep records on these things! tc.: Daytone Paragon Sound: Toledo. 8 Bradford's HiFi: Eugenes Chelsea A/V: Portland, Beavertone Roger Blaine Periodicals Librarian elly's Home Ctr.: Salem» Larson's: Medford, Roseburg Stereo Mishawaka Penn Public Library Plant: Bend. Bittersweet Branch FA SetbeElect.: State Colleges GNT Stereo: Lancastere Hart Elect.: Mishawaka, IN kely, tone Hi Fi House: Abington, Broomall Listening Post: Pittsbur almer Audio: Allentowre Stereoland: Natrona Heights Pittsburgh)» Studio One: Erie. + Stereo Discount Center. Providence. SC- A/V Design: Charleston Upstairs Audio: Columbia. SD- Audio King: Sioux Falls. - College HiFi: ChattanoogasHiFi Buys: Nashville Lindsay ‘ard: Knoxvilles Modern Music: Memphis» New Wave Elect.: Jack- sone Sound Room: Johnson City. i a Home Entertainment: Dallas, Houstors Audio Tech: Tempe, lacoe Audio Video: College Stations Brock AV: Beaumonts Bunk- ley's Sd. Systems: Abilene Bjorn's: San Antonios High Fidelity: Austins Krystal Clear: Dallase Marvin Electronics: Ft Worthe Sd. Box: San Angele Sd, Quest El Paso» Sd. Systems: Amarillos Sd, Towne: Texarkana. UT- Alpine Elect Provor AudioWorks: Salt Lake Citys Crazy Bob's: St Georges Stokes Bros.: Logan. : VA- Audio : Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas» Audio Connectio' inia Beache Audiotronics: Roanoke Home Media Store: Richmonds Stereo Type: Charlottesville - Audio Video Authority: S. Burlington. : Definitive Audio: Bellevue, Seattle Evergreen Audio: Sit verdales Pacific St. & Sd.: Wenatchees Tin Ear. Ke WK .VA- Sound Post Princeton. ‘ - Audio Emporium: Milwaukee Absolute Sound & Vision: She- ygare Sound World: Wausau. Puerto Rico- P-ecision Audio: Rio Piedras, Slow day in the library, eh? But seri- Canada- A & B Sound: Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Vancouver & ously, we'll redouble our efforts to Suburbs, Victorias Advance Electronics: Winnipeg Audio Ctr.: More publish accurate volume information. treal, Ottawae Bay Bloor Radio: Torortos Centre Audio Charest: Trois Rivieress CORA: Quebec Citys Digital Dynamics: Clearbrooke —Ed. Great West Audio: London Lipton’s: New Market Ontarios Peak Au- dio: Halifaxe Sd. Room: Vancouvere Sd. Station: Courtenaye Stere- oLand: Windsor. Mexico- Contact Grupo Volumen: Mexico City. Definitive Technology®

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Listen Past the Equipment and Experience the Music as Intended Once in a while an idea comes along which represents a significant step forward in advancing the current state- of-the-art. We feel our new ST Series amplifiers exemplify this unique distinction. A new approach to low-noise, low distortion signal-path has produced a line of amplifiers which is actually quieter and more transparent than any source material currently available. Bryston ST amplifiers, from the top: 8B ST 4 channel 120 wpc, 5B ST 3 channel 120 wpe, 4B ST 250 wpe stereo, 7B ST 500 watts mono. Not shown is the 3B ST 120 wpe stereo. The Bryston ST innovation: our Completely separate power Switchable gold plated RCA ultra-linear “input buffer-with- supplies for each channel elimi- unbalanced and XLR-1/4 inch gain” substantially lowers the nate any crosstalk to ensure firm balanced inputs, with equal distortion and inherent noise focus and completely accurate gain, allows flexibility for multi- floor — hearing is believing. imaging of musical instruments. channel system configurations. Bryston Ltd, P.O. Box 2170, 677 Neal Drive, Peterborough, Ontario, Brnwswe Canada K9J 7Y4 Tel: (705) 742-5325 Fax: (705) 742-0882 CIRCLE NO. 48 ON READER SERVICE CARD

FAS$ TF FO RR WAR D News & Notes in Home Theater & Multimedia Oooo igate thanks to the receiver’s 32-bit pro- cessing. The optional MRD-D1 multi- second course room kit ($200) has RF outputs that can feed five TV sets, inputs for two video Sony has followed RCA into the DSS sources, and cable-box and antenna derby by introducing three systems, all connections. of which will be available this summer. Suggested retail prices for the single- The AD-1 has two standout features: output SAS-BS1 (shown at right), dual- a timer for unattended recording (event output SAS-BD1, and the loaded SAS- and day specifics weren’t set at press- AD1 are $749, $849, and $949 (before time), and a sophisticated learning re- installation), respectively. mote control. The remote uses a track ball to navigate the on-screen guide and All three systems come with a receiv- emits RF as well as infrared commands. er, a remote control, and an oval, 18- Other system features include two inch aluminum dish. The dish has a audio outputs and a 9-pin low-speed rounded low-noise-blocker (LNB) arm, data port. said to prevent dropouts due to an accu- mulation of snow or debris, and the Dual-output dishes can be connected Signal Seeker LED, which simplifies in- to two receivers simultaneously. Sony stallation by beaming steadily when the will sell two receivers separately—the dish is optimally aligned. The Express loaded SAT-A1 has a suggested retail Navigator on-screen guide, which can price of $750, the SAT-B1 an SRP of be customized, is said to be easy to nav- $650. —Bill Wolfe the space tentatively allocated tion opposes major parts of it, for one HDTV channel. Passage including the deregulation of of the bill would also allow non-basic cable service and the companies that own a chain of lack of provisions prohibiting TV stations to increase their reach from 25 to 35 percent of telephone companies from buy- ing cable systems. the United States. In addition, passage would allow for- —Arthur Brodsky eign companies to own Oooo American TV or radio bill and coup stations; currently, for- eign investors are lim- A major piece of telecommuni- ited to a 25-percent cations deregulation legislation stake. Finally, passage is being considered by Con- would enable TV gress, and, if passed, it could stations to own Ca- fundamentally change the TV landscape. S-652, introduced ble franchises, while telephone companies by Senator Larry Pressler (R, would gain more free- dom to provide pro- South Dakota), proposes to al- gramming services over low TV stations to deploy six phone wiring. The bill’s standard-resolution channels in sponsors hope to win passage by July 4, but the Clinton Administra-

ooOoo ability to access data from lett—Packard, IBM, and Mi- dvd dance both sides of a disc in real- crosoft said they won’t be The volatile digital-videodisc time. choosing between the compet- status quo is changing more rapidly than the “motivation” e Matsushita, an early support- ing formats and urged both of characters on Melrose Place. er of the Toshiba/Time Warner camps to come together to While the two-sided 10-giga- format, announced details on a present a single format. Initial byte format sponsored by Toshiba/Time Warner is sup- single-sided, two-layer 9-GB responses from both the Toshi- ported by a formidable array of consumer electronics hard- DVD based on Toshiba’s com- ba/Time Warner and Sony/ ware manufacturers as well as MCA and MGM/UA, Sony/Phil- pression scheme but appears Philips camps weren’t encour- ips’ single-sided, two-layer 7.4- GB format is now supported by to be far from demonstrating aging, but they could be just a large number of CD-ROM- player manufacturers as well as the technology. the first tentative steps in a Philips-owned Magnavox, Ma- e “Blue-chip” multimedia com- complex mating ritual. Stay rantz, Bang & Olufsen, and Grundig and Sony home-enter- panies Apple, Compaq, Hew- _ tuned. — Paul Gluckman tainment companies, including Columbia TriStar. Other DVD developments: @ Sony/Philips claim that Toshi- ba/Time Warner's two-sided disc is impractical for multime- dia applications due to its in- Eee seers eee eeseeeseULUWUULOLeNTULHCUGLuNFUNUNEHeNssuLueUereeLseereseCSeeN Se veeerresereecueserecseeeeretecesees, Peeeveeeeceeuecesensvaeeesseus eeneeceesee eeensreeeeuseenceneeeseeESeeHeseeenseESEeSeeUSeeNEsGHDeSEseEseenueeDseseeEeseseeenseeuuenyrereeeusetseel Oooo output signals of virtu- oooco |, and selected minor- ally any device with a tale of digital-bitstream output, cybersports league sports. (No word on the tape including computers, whether Zone covers Aus- Ever wake up in a cold tralian rules football.) Also One new detail regard- digital videodiscs, and sweat because your favorite on tap are interactive player ing JVC’s upcoming D- DSS receivers. JVC files, a variety of online chat VHS format has sur- says that they will pro- baseball team played a late faced since the initial vide a compatible bit- game and you snoozed areas, and a litany of ser- story broke [“Data Re- stream interface for all through the pivotal ninth in- vices from ESPN, the Asso- trieval,” “Feedback,” future digital-compres- ning . . . which included a ciated Press, STATS Inc., June 1995]. While D- sion formats. A D-VHS triple play, an inside-the- Sports Ticker, Knight- VHS decks will initially deck won’t decompress park home run, and an es- Ridder/Tribune Media Ser- require conventional S- the bitstream signal or pecially snappy one-liner by vice, and All-Sport Photo- VHS tape for digital- offer digital-to-analog Vin Scully? Need to hunker graphic. |.—Marc Horowitz JMEYFEFRS bitstream recording, a down with all of the details? new formulation of D- conversion, however; Make the leap to cyber- VHS tape should appear that duty must be per- space—to the ESPNet soon after the first D- formed by an outboard Sports Zone, specifically. VHS hardware hits in mid-’96. D-VHS tape decoder (such as a “set- Unveiled on the World will be thinner than S- top box’’) or by circuitry Wide Web over the NCAA's VHS tape and will offer built into another com- Final Four weekend last up to 7 hours of digital ponent (such as a future April, Zone (http://ESPNET. record/play time. digital TV). D-VHS SportsZone.com, formerly VCRs will be “back- D-VHS (the D stands ward-compatible” with known as Satchel Sports for “Data,” not “Digi- conventional VHS and Web) provides up-to-the- tal”) will be able to re- S-VHS tapes. cord the compressed minute scores, game sum- —Peter Barry maries, photos, and stats for all major sports, includ- ing baseball, football, bas- ketball, hockey, golf, tennis, auto racing, NCAA Division

The Cyclopean logo of the Sound signed to deliver the sonic width, Retrieval System, which adorns depth, and ambience of a surround- some high-end Sony and RCA tele- sound system from only two speak- visions plus a handful of speakers ers, restores spatial cues that are and computer add-ons, now ap- normally lost in the recording pears on Packard Bell multimedia process and is compatible with any PCs. Packard Bell, who says that their nameplate can be found on type of audio signal. nearly half of all home computers What if you already own an MPC sold through mass-market retailers, has become the first computer mak- and feel the urge to upgrade? Media er to build SRS’s 3-D sound technol- Vision, Labtec, and Jazz are among ogy into all of its models. The elec- the companies providing SRS- tronic enhancement, which is de- equipped sound cards and speak- ers. And NMB Technologies sells a keyboard that incorporates two speakers as well as SRS circuitry. —Rob Sabin can be included in a buy an XBand modem and software ($30); the modem standalone “black box,” slides into the console’s cartridge slot, games into an outboard D/A convert- the modem. Since joystick- control data, not game da- Neil Young doesn’t like er, or an otherwise con- ta, is transmitted, both the sound quality of CDs. gamers must also have the Most people think they ventional CD _ player. The XBand Video Game same game hardware and Network, from Catapult software. The service has a sound terrific, of course, Though its effect is most Entertainment, takes gam- monthly subscription fee but Young has turned to ($7.95) and a per-use con- the new High Definition noticeable with HDCD- ing to the next level by al- nection fee ($0.25); new Compatible Digital (HD- lowing two gamers in two subscribers get 32 connec- CD) process for his long- encoded discs, HDCD de- different locations—in dif- tion “credits” free, and the awaited (but currently ferent households, towns, package includes email coding is also said to or states—to compete service via the Internet. unscheduled) retrospec- head-to-head in real-time tive box set. Audiophiles subtly improve the sound over standard phone lines. Catapult expects to ex- also swear that HDCDs pand the Network national- sound better than con- quality of standard CDs. Currently, the Network is ly this summer and to pro- ventional CDs. available only to Sega vide it via a networked Pacific Microsonics Genesis and/or Super Nin- online service to Pentium- The HDCD process, tendo owners who live in equipped PC gamers; PCs which was invented by plans to ship HDCD en- Atlanta, Dallas, Los Ange- equipped with a modem les, New York, or San won’t require the $30 Pacific Microsonics, em- coders to record labels Francisco. Gamers have to XBand add-on. Currently, ploys a higher sampling only two players can com- rate and a longer bit this month. Currently, pete head-to-head, but Cat- “word” than standard apult expects to add multi- the only HDCDs you can player capability in the CDs; in short, HDCDs future. —James K. Willcox hold much more informa- buy are 12 classical and tion than standard CDs. The circuitry required to jazz titles from Refer- decode this information ence Recordings. Adcom, Audio Alchemy, Mark Levinson, and 22 other hardware manufacturers are licensed to build HDCD decoders into their gear; prices cur- rently range from around $600 to “don’t ask.” — Tom Miiller Digital Decoding Engine 3.0 Frase Audio Alchemy’s HDCD-ready DDE V3.0

IMPROVEMEN T Surround sound fit THE BIG SHOVV Mm ARRY AND CANDY BRONSTEIN on separates. And the couple are just for watching movies. Also, THX | take their movies seriously. also wondering about a THX-certi- They bought a big-screen TV fied system. products all perform within set B back when 20-inchers were specifications, and not everyone Looking for guidance, the Bron- | the norm, and their ever-ex- steins turned to VIDEO. As always, likes their music that way; this is es- mM panding storage units house we advised them to seek out a knowledgeable salesperson at a pecially true of THX speakers. At over 100 videotapes. As the resi- specialty A/v shop—someone who this budget, it’s hard to get a THX dent electronics buff, Barry is ready really Knows home-theater options system that sounds as great with to upgrade the family’s system, and and is willing to take the time to lay music as it does with movies. he’s already picked out a new 45- them all out. Then we went a step further, asking three specialists what | think going with an A/V receiver is inch rear-projector, a laserdisc play- they would recommend if the couple best for ease of use: Barry may be a walked into their shop. Though their techie, but Candy and the kids er, and a Hi-Fi VCR. In other words, opinions differ, our specialists’ rec- probably need something simpler. the Bronsteins (shown here with ommendations provide a foundation The Denon receiver and Paradigm Chris, left, and Tracy) have the for building a personalized system. speakers I’m recommending deliver Prices quoted are real-world, before audiophile-caliber music and spec- video half of their home-theater sys- tax or installation help. tem wrapped up. tacular movie sound; the “bipolar” Bob Cole main speakers create a huge im- Now they need to capitalize on the Bob & Ron’s World Wide Stereo age. And two powered subs will de- Montgomeryville, PA liver really tight, clean bass; the impact delivered by their favorite IF THE BRONSTEINS WANT TO USE ONE system for music and home theater, Bronsteins will even get deep bass movies’ soundtracks. So they’re I'd steer away from THX—it’s a won- when the volume knob is low, which looking into Dolby Pro Logic, and derful system, but you typically end is good in a family environment. I’m they've set aside $5,000 for sur- up with a sonic stage that’s set up also recommending a Denon out- board D/A converter for the digital round-sound electronics and speak- output on the couple’s laserdisc ers. Unfortunately, they’re a little player—it really improves clarity and confused. Like most folks, they’re imaging with movies. uncomfortable with the fast-talking 1)Cau AVR-2500 $500 salespeople they’ve met in the su- A/V receiver perstores. Some pushed an A/V re- $1,200 ceiver, while others tried to sell them (1) Denon DA-500 $300 . D/A converter ut : (2) Paradigm Esprit $400 ‘ main speakers \\ (1) Paradigm CC 300 center speaker (2) Paradigm APD 150 _ surround speakers radigm PS 1000 wered subwoofers FJSMEOTAINORNCKGKEETRSH/THE 16 JULY/AUGUS19T95 VIDEO

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with a complete THX system. If |were buying a $5,000 system, | wouldn't build it around a receiver; I'd go with medium-priced sepa- rates. This way, the amp has its own power supply and chassis and doesn't contribute noise or heat to Mur elarz's tem: $5,245 (1) Carver CT-27 $749 B&W’s HTM center speaker preamp /processor /tuner Onkyo pretty much stands alone: (1) Carver AV-405 amplifier $699 It’s got great amplifiers that play Jim Bark's System: $4,900 loudly and provide good transient (2) B&W Model 804 $1,900 response, and it uses Motorola’s main speakers new digital processing chip. The (1) Onkyo TX-SV919THX $1,800 Onkyo is also the only THX receiver (1) B&W HTM center speaker $699 THX receiver available that'll allow the couple to upgrade to AC-3 [the next genera- (2) Atlantic Technology Model 254 (1) Parasound HCA-1000 $500 tion of surround-sound processing]. THX amplifier surround speakers $249 JBL’s HT speaker package is one (1) JBL HT speaker package $2,600 of the best-sounding and lowest- (1) Velodyne Model 1200X $949 (3) HTIF main/center speakers priced THX-certified systems powered subwoofer (2) HTID surround speakers around. The speakers are highly ef- (2) HTIS passive subwoofers ficient, for robust output with mod- the preamp or surround processor. est power, and their compact size I'd go with a Carver preamp/tuner/ Jim Bark and magnetically shielded cabinets HiTech Homes, Cedarburg, WI make placement easy. The dipole surround processor and multichan- THE WHOLE IDEA WITH HOME THEATER |S surrounds produce a good ambient nel amp, which are outstanding to excite the senses, and THX is a soundfield, and the two 12-inch performers in the audio domain, big benefit here. The electronics passive subwoofers—when driven and B&W speakers up front, so the optimize the system's tonal balance by Parasound’s THX amp—will dev- Bronsteins will get all-around phe- for movies, and with THX speakers astate most powered subwoofers. nomenal sound. B&W’s Model 804 you get controlled dispersion for a main speakers are from the Matrix more horizontal, or spread-out, im- Murray Selarz line, which has special internal age. Considering the Bronsteins’ Sound Factor, Santa Monica, CA bracing and a top-mounted tweeter budget, a THX A/V receiver is the THIS BUDGET LET TS YOU BUILD AN ENTRY- that improves imaging; the HTM is way to go—they’d have to double level THX sys tem around a good the matching center-channel their budget, at least, to get into it THX receiver, which may be the speaker. The servo-controlled bass with separates. Value-wise, the way to go if al the Bronsteins want from the Velo dyne powered sub- to do is watch movies. But if they’re woofer will be tighter and less also interested in using this system thumpy than the bass from a regu- to listen to m usic, they'd need a lar subwoofer. And Atlantic Tech- much larger b udget in order to go nology’s Mo del 254 surround speakers will do an excellent job out back. JBL’s HTIF THX speaker, Denon’s AVR-2500 receiver DENON rcmen a: DDS VIDEO JULY/AUGUST 1995 17

At Mirage, we’ve proven the From the compact 100-watt All feature our new “Auto-On” | sonic superiority of Bipolar BPS-I00 to the flagship circuitry. And, for the ultimate loudspeaker design. Now 250-watt BPSS-210, all four in outboard control convenience, we’re proving it once again feature dual bass drivers in a combine any of them with one with our powerful new line unique Bipolar configuration. of our LFX-Series of external of Bipolar subwoofers. This eliminates transfer of low crossovers. frequency energy to the floor, a major source of coloration in From the original Bipolar single driver subwoofers. explorers comes the world’s first complete line of Bipolar subwoofers, the ideal means of adding dramatic new depth to both audio and home theater systems. Track one down and explore the possibilities yourself. THE ORIGINAL BIPOLAR LOUDSPEAKER™ 3641 McNicoll Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada MIX IG5 (416)321-1800 Fax (416)32I-1500 CIRCLE NO. 2 ON READER SERVICE CARD

‘GLASS ACT _ CUTTING-EDGE DIRECT-VIEW TECHNOLOGY PAINTING AND ENHANCING. DELIVERING A GREAT tually referring to the goals that TY manufacturers VOM OU oNOATO RONSON OO MEROGUSSimm DULSon ole lose OKCOlvomurci avouonirninleawe tf Adding depth and dimension. Using special combs their own. While singers toil on stage and painters use ~ and masks. Modulating. always modulating. We could: ; though at least eR eHINOUC IOVS rMUNABS SNHISOT OnE NETSCoke Nn the medium in work by a renowned!painter, but we're noi—wwe te ac- (OrirteayeowveAY BY MARJIORIE COSTELLO PHOTO BY TONY CORDOZA

technology, circa the last half of the last part of the high-definition TV, or tors and cinematographers intended decade of the millennium. HDTV, spec), most of today’s direct- when they were making their films. view sets still use a 4:3 ratio. Only one And many TV makers and cinematog- Glass cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) pro- TV maker, in fact, plans to introduce raphers are responding, by adding col- vide the core TV-screen technology for widescreen sets this season. or-temperature controls that, in a grow- direct-view TV sets. Larger tubes— ing number of sets, achieve or closely those above 27 inches—make up more Tubes aren’t the only facet that are approximate the NTSC broadcast stan- of each manufacturer’s direct-view getting a face-lift, though. TV makers dard of 6,500 degrees Kelvin. lineup with each year’s product intro- are upgrading their sets’ chassis, add- ductions. Dark-tint tubes, which allow ing all types of new circuitry as well as Cable and, especially, satellite ser- for high-contrast pictures with more more current for driving the electron vices offer dozens or even hundreds of depth and color, are ubiquitous in these beam that creates pictures. Many mod- programming options, which is a TV big-screen sets. And many sets have In- els now include circuitry that automati- Watcher’s dream. But keeping track of var Shadow Mask tubes. These tubes cally monitors the picture, adjusting all of your options can be tough. In re- use a mask that’s made of a metal alloy, colors, increasing black-level (bright- sponse, TV makers are incorporating which is more resistant to thermal ex- ness), and varying the scanning speed on-screen guides that enable viewers to pansion than traditional iron masks. (or velocity) of the electron beam to identify programs and navigate among Containing heat is critical, since it can emphasize differences in brightness, them. Several TV makers are building warp a mask, making it more difficult making edges sharper. circuitry for the StarSight program- for a set’s electron beam to consis- guide service into their sets; once a tently excite the correct phosphors (if Virtually every manufacturer plants a viewer subscribes to StarSight’s ser- adjacent phosphors are excited, image comb filter in their sets—some use a vice, the set decodes the company’s areas that are supposed to appear bright plain-vanilla glass filter, while others comprehensive on-screen guide. Most white will be tinged a yellowish upgrade to digital filters that are TV makers, however, are either focus- brown). claimed to do a better job of separating ing their StarSight efforts on their VCR lines or are waiting to see how con- TV tubes are also getting flatter (offi- the chroma (color) portion of the signal sumers accept the guide. cially known as “reduced curvature”). Though they aren’t completely flat, so- from luminance (black-and-white), for Some TV makers express hope that called flat screens minimize room re- purer pictures. At the same time, many XDS (for “extended data services,” and flections, providing more of a movie- TV makers have also exiled notch fil- formerly known as EDS) takes off, theater experience, the ideal as the ters, the comb filter’s precursor. In their since it’s free to consumers—and rela- home-theater revolution continues to place, they’re matching digital combs tively inexpensive to add via the rage. Flat tubes also offer good viewing to special circuitry; the package deliv- closed-captioning circuitry required in from greater angles off center, enabling ers the same color and sharpness bene- TVs by law since 1993. A few compa- even those who don’t have the best seat fits of a notch without the resolution nies are doing more than hoping, in the room to enjoy a truly high-quali- loss it’s known to cause. adding XDS to their new direct-view ty image. models. But XDS seems inadequate to Many videophiles are loudly de- the task: Though, like StarSight, it’s Though the world may go manding that the images produced by transmitted on the vertical blanking in- widescreen in the future (the their TVs accurately reflect what direc- 16:9 aspect ratio is an integral terval (VBI), XDS is a bare-bones on- screen identification system that deliv- From left: Hitachi Model 31UX5B, | ers far less information than StarSight Panasonic CT31XF40 (with does. Currently, only PBS stations are willing to provide simple XDS-format time, date, and (in some cases) pro- gram-name information—and then on- ly for their own channel. Most TV makers seemed to be jazzed by GuidePlus+, the on-screen guide that’s being developed by Gemstar, the

company that brought us the VCR Later this year or early in 1996, 32” Plus+ time-shifting feature and the re- GoldStar will debut its GCT-2796 Sony KV-32T546 (with optional cent Index Plus+ system (which en- ($899). This new “‘flat’-screen 27-inch- stand), Toshiba CN32D90 ables easy access to a specific program er will feature an Invar Shadow Mask on a videotape that has been recorded tube and velocity-modulation scanning. TOSHIBA with multiple programs). GuidePlus+, A CCD comb filter will join the picture- which is reportedly more detailed than enhancement package. Also in the option dials in the broadcast-standard XDS but not as comprehensive as Star- works for early 1996 is at least one set 6,500 degrees Kelvin, however. “As a Sight, has no subscription fee; it’ll with a built-in StarSight decoder. signal is converted, broadcast, and re- probably add more to the cost of a TV ceived,” says Bruce Schoenegge, Hi- set than XDS capability does, however, HITACHI tachi’s director of product manage- since Gemstar will have to foot the bill ment, “it gets attacked by a variety of for transmitting GuidePlus+ informa- The TV makers at Hitachi are very influences. On a set with a 6,500-de- tion over the VBI. Many TV companies busy. The company is selling two new gree picture, the end result would look are considering adding GuidePlus+ to “flat”-tube models—the 35UX80B far too red to almost any set of eyes.” their sets next year, when it’s scheduled ($1,999) and 35UX70B ($1,799)—that to be ready for primetime. also feature an Invar Shadow Mask. All Hitachi is incorporating artificial-in- of the company’s big-screen direct- telligence circuits into their most ex- TVs are set to change in even more view TVs incorporate a dark-tint tube, pensive sets. The circuits use a form of substantial ways, of course. Before the known as Ultra-Black. And all Hitachi fuzzy logic to measure the amount of end of the decade, we’re very likely to big-screen models include comb filter- noise inherent in a signal and automati- see sets that are, if not true computers, ing, with the top-of-the line 35UX80B cally make corrections as needed. at least capable of decoding and dis- and the 32UX8B 32-incher ($1,099) of- These same pricey sets also use veloci- playing digital MPEG-2-encoded im- fering digital comb filtering. ty-scan modulation. ages. The impressive success of the all- digital DSS (Digital Satellite System) Thanks to a revision in their electron Looking ahead, Hitachi is working is just the beginning of television’s bold guns, Hitachi is offering a dynamic-fo- with Thomson to develop D-VHS prod- new digital future. New formats we’re cus tube in their 31- and 32-inch mod- ucts. Hitachi executives believe that likely to see next year—such as els, with the latter being a new screen they’ll be able to offer cost-effective size for the company. The new tube combination TV/D-VHS units only af- D-VHS VCRs (which use conventional produces a smaller beam spot at edges ter they move along the learning curve S-VHS tape to record digital bit- and corners, and this is said to result in with standalone D-VHS VCRs. Hitachi streams) and DVD players (which use especially sharper pictures with re- also expects to build MPEG-2 decoders CD-size discs to hold MPEG-2 digital duced “blooming.” into TVs—as long as the compression scheme becomes a standard or is man- video as well as digital audio)—are Some Hitachi models can be set for dated. also giving TV makers plenty to think “cool” or “warm” pictures, which are about. tied to their color temperatures. Neither JVC HDTV’s fortunes appear bright this The top model in each of JVC’s di- season thanks to announcements by the rect-view screen sizes is a Premiere NBC television network, Thomson set, and these models receive the com- (parent company of RCA, ProScan, and pany’s best circuitry and performance GE), and Zenith. NBC said it will broadcast HDTV signals in 1997, and VIDEO JULY/AUGUS19T95 21 both Thomson and Zenith expect to have HDTV sets ready for sale in the same time frame. Meanwhile, the FCC is slated to give its final blessing on HDTV’s technical parameters as well as on other digital delivery systems by the end of this year. As you’ll see, this year’s direct-view lineup is more evo- lutionary than HDTYV-caliber revolu- tionary, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. GOLDSTAR “Big screen” at GoldStar means 27 inches, and all of the company’s mod- els incorporate comb filters and black- matrix picture tubes. For added conve- nience, A/V jacks are provided on one side of the set’s cabinet, facilitating hookup of camcorders and videogame consoles without detracting from the set’s appearance.

Samsung TCB2735, GoldStar 27546 standard and plans to sell digital bit- which are set at 8,200 degrees Kelvin. stream recorders in 1996, David Kline, Mark Stephenson, the company’s vice features. Each Premiere set has an In- the company’s sales engineering man- president for color TV, says that pic- var Shadow Mask, and the Premiere ager, can’t say if JVC will ever build D- tures with a 6,500-degree color temper- 31- and 27-inch sets also feature “flat” VHS VCRs into their TV sets. ature don’t appeal to most consumers. tubes. JVC’s largest direct-view, the As an alternative, all Magnavox sets 35-inch AV-35BH6 ($1,899), doesn’t As for MPEG-2 decoding becoming have a feature called Smart Picture, have a flat tube, but it does incorporate part of JVC’s TV package, Kline is which offers four preset combinations a dark-tint tube. (Toshiba and Mit- skeptical. “Software changes too rapid- of color, tint, brightness, picture, and subishi, the only sources for “flat” 35- ly,” he says. “If you build one of these sharpness settings. inch tubes, aren’t making them avail- black boxes into a TV, who’s to say that able to other companies at this time.) it’s going to be the winning format... Thanks to parent company Philips, Tinting carries through to all of JVC’s that it’ll be around in 12 to 15 years Magnavox has taken the lead in elimi- direct-view sets, in fact, which also when the TV it’s built into is still alive nating picture “ghosts.” Philips’ ghost- feature a new chassis that’s said to and kicking?” boost video performance. cancellation reference (GCR) signal is MAGNAVOX the industry standard, and it’s currently Comb and notch filters are paired in broadcast by nearly half of the TV sta- all JVC direct-views. The Premiere One of the grand old names in TV tions in the United States. The GCR sig- sets tap a special wideband comb (as design, Magnavox will continue to take nal-processing circuitry will be incor- opposed to a basic glass unit) that a populist approach to TV building in porated in the 27-inch TP2798C1A and processes a wider part of the signal, 1995 and beyond. Though the company 32-inch TP3298C1 (prices not avail- said to deliver better color separation. invented Invar masking and features it (Digital comb filtering is currently re- in all of their 32-inch models, Mag- able at presstime), which, along with a stricted to JVC’s Premiere rear-projec- navox executives say that they’re not standalone GCR box, will be available tion TVs.) The company’s sets also in- big believers in the technology. In fact, later this year. clude the THEATER STATUS/AV setting, their engineers are working on software which approximates the 6,500-degree implementations of standard picture Magnavox incorporates a “flat” tube color-temperature standard. adjustments that they say will outper- in some of their 27- and 32-inch mod- form Invar. els, including the TP3272C ($899), Premiere models also employ black- their top table model. Though the com- level-expansion circuitry, for blacker Because their research indicates that pany offered a 34-inch 16:9 model in blacks, and video noise reduction, for consumers like images with sharp con- the past, it’s now discontinued. On the reducing “sparkles” and “snow” from trast and Coke-can reds, Magnavox is rented videos and in weak reception ar- offering dark-glass tubes as well as other hand, Magnavox Plus, a new eas. Velocity modulation is on hand to comb filters (another Magnavox inven- high-end TV line, is due later this year. sharpen the edges in graphics and al- tion) on nearly every set in their line. phanumerics. Special circuitry that “stretches” blacks On the special-effects front, a new in- and boosts reds is also available in stant-replay feature stores the last 8 Though JVC developed the D-VHS some models, delivering even higher seconds of programming for slow-mo- contrast and brighter reds. tion or stop-action playback in real- time; it’s offered in select 32- and 27- No manual color-temperature adjust- inch sets. Magnavox is one of the ments are featured on Magnavox TVs, companies that’s looking very closely at GuidePlus+; though they’ve built a StarSight decoder into some of their 22 JULY/AUGUS19T95 VIDEO

VCRs and into a standalone box, they the upcoming 40-inch CS-40805 play technology for a flat-panel config- don’t currently offer a StarSight- uration, the company has selected plas- equipped TV. ($3,999) incorporate an enhanced 3-D ma, which will be featured in at least comb filter dubbed the 3D Y/C. Digital one 40-inch model that’s slated to go Magnavox is developing products filtering is accomplished via a 2-D filter on sale late in 1996. Mits claims that that combine TV and PC functions as in the other 40-inchers and several 35- they’ve overcome the brightness and well as use compression technology. inch sets, with the balance of Mits’ sets contrast problems of plasma technolo- The company’s engineers are also using a basic glass comb filter. gy and are now tackling heat-dissipa- working on “smart cards”: They’ll plug tion. Jack Osborn, the company’s presi- into a slot in the TV in the same way Mits sets offer a HIGH/MID/LOW color dent, predicts that the set “will exceed that computer cards are plugged into adjustment, but none of the settings PCs, and they’ll enable owners to up- takes you all the way down to 6,500 de- current [NTSC-level] performance and grade their sets, adding capabilities grees Kelvin. The company’s current offer no distortion from [any] viewing such as ghost cancellation, StarSight, position—which it shows indications angle.” Though Mits is a year away modem functions, and more. of changing—is that a 6,500-degree from fixing a price for this set, Osborn setting produces pictures that are too did say that it shouldn’t cost much MITSUBISHI warm and that look good only in dark more than the company’s priciest rear- rooms. projection models—that puts it in the The inventor of the 35-inch picture ballpark of $5,000—within a few years tube is celebrating the tube’s 10th An- As the second company to offer Star- of its launch. niversary this year, and Mitsubishi is Sight in a TV, Mitsubishi is making the also expanding on its bigger sibling, the guide easier to read on one 40-inch and 40-inch tube (another Mits invention). three 35-inch sets Invar will be available on more 35-inch through bit-mapped models and in all three of the compa- graphics. All Mits ny’s new 40-inchers. (Mitsubishi re- direct-views offer mains the only company to offer this jumbo direct-view screen size for XDS, which the home use.) A flatter CRT is also fea- company debuted in tured in several 35-inch models, includ- 1993, ing the upcoming flagship CS-35805 ($3,199). These and other Mitsubishi Mitsubishi’s big big-screen sets include dark-tint tubes. news is their plan to go tubeless in some For filtering, both the CS-35805 and big-screen models. After evaluating 2DD) Cx LCD and plasma-dis- Mitsubishi’s 40-inch CS-40507, ProScan’s 35-inch PS35690 (on optional stand) VIDEO JULY/AUGUS19T95 23

TV MAKERS ARE USUALLY VERY SECRE- tant general manager of marketing, says To maintain pure black, Proton says tive about previewing new designs or they’re coming: “Our next goal is 16:9. that their sets use advanced DC-restora- models, so we were surprised when There’s a consumer benefit—it’s more tion circuitry. This circuitry works with Thomson showed prototypes of a va- comfortable for viewing, and you see their sets’ power supply, and Proton riety of next-generation TV sets at a more of the picture as the director in- claims that the package is 95 percent recent press conference. In addition tended it—so we'll develop it.” effective in resetting the red, blue, and to sets incorporating a DSS receiver, green phosphors to zero, thereby a D-VHS VCR, or a single-disc DVD “Galileo” is another forward-looking achieving pure black. Proton sets also player, Thomson also unveiled a set product. Previewed this spring, Galileo compensate for shifts in black-level as that incorporates a 65-disc DVD combines a relatively large TV moni- an image’s brightness decreases. As a changer (right); the discs are visible tor, which is capable of displaying a result, the full contrast range can be behind the vertical panel centered wide range of video and computer maintained. beneath the set's tube. graphics, and a CD-ROM player; it’s operated by a mouse-like wireless key- Proton says they take this purist ap- The big-screen direct-view lineup pad. Panasonic executives say that a proach to picture performance because from Panasonic is split into three DVD player could replace the CD- their customers are not the general buy- groups: the premium SuperFlat XF, Su- ROM player in future Galileos. ing public. As evidence, the company perFlat, and the mainstream Pana- notes that 65 percent of Proton owners Black. Sets in the first two groups all A chassis with a tightly regulated also own laserdisc players. use “flat” screens. All of the company’s power supply is the premier perfor- sets use dark-tint tubes, which Pana- mance feature in Proton’s direct-view The company had been using data- sonic began using in 1991. SuperFlat models. For Proton, it’s the foundation grade tubes in all of their sets, but these sets also employ an Invar Shadow upon which contrast-related features— tubes are no longer available, so Proton Mask. In addition, select sets are said aimed at delivering truly accurate and is making the transition to new tubes to benefit from special phosphors, for lifelike images—can be built. Chief that incorporate the Invar Shadow improved reds and greens. among these concerns is the goal of Mask. Sets with these new tubes are producing pure black; Proton’s engi- due in stores soon. Filtering is accom- All of the company’s big-screen di- neers say a TV can’t reproduce images plished with both comb and notch fil- rect-views feature notch filters and at that have real depth and dimension ters. Proton’s new 35-inch models, in- least a glass-type comb filter. Digital without it. cluding the NT-3740 ($3,000; see comb filtering is featured in the top Su- “VideoTests,” page 37), use a digital perFlat models, including the 31-inch comb filter, which will be making an CT-31XF40 ($1,699). This model, eventual migration into the company’s along with other SuperFlat sets that other sets as well. feature dual-tuner PIP, incorporate Panasonic’s AI Picture functions. This Proton has a unique approach to pro- artificial intelligence circuitry monitors viding customers with images that the image, making contrast adjustments meet the 6,500-degree color-tempera- automatically—reportedly, without af- ture standard: Customers can order it as fecting the rest of the picture. an option from a Proton dealer. Pro- ton’s engineers can make the necessary High-end SuperFlat models, along adjustments themselves, or they can be with 35-inch PanaBlacks, feature a made by a technician from the Imaging three-position color-temperature switch; one position dials in a 7,200- Science Foundation (ISF). [See “Home degree picture. According to Jerry Sur- Theater,” April 1995, for more on the prise, national product manager for ISF] Matsushita (Panasonic’s parent), the company hasn’t gone all the way down This different-drummer stance may to 6,500 degrees because “We don’t also explain the fact that Proton is the think it looks that good. White looks too pink at 6,500.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 79 While Panasonic isn’t currently sell- ing widescreen direct-view sets here, Robert DeYoung, Matsushita’s assis- Sharp Model 34W1000 24 JULY/AUGUS19T95 VIDEO

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THX pursues laserdisc excellence MT il PPEARANCES, AS EVERYONE the widescreen version of Stargate [see pects are optimized: level, the balance “Slipped Disc,” page 27], their track among the dialogue, score, and sound Bee: can be deceiving. You record has been encouraging and video- effects, and the distribution of elements can tell a sports coupe by its philes as well as movie enthusiasts cer- among the surround-sound channels. tainly commend THX for their efforts. sexy lines, womb-like interior, and price In the last step, THX personnel insert tag, but it isn’t a good sports coupe un- THX certifies only those discs that ex- the company’s patented Vertical Interval less it accelerates like a rocket and han- hibit the qualities Lucasfilm deems es- dles like a dream. Likewise, a business sential to create the ideal home-theater Test Signal (VITS) into unutilized suit may look sharp, but you’ll only get experience. All aspects of the film trans- spaces between a disc’s fields. (All a measure of its quality after you feel its fer are monitored by THX personnel, NTSC video formats have these spaces; material (and get it back after its first and the filmmakers themselves are ac- usually, they remain unused.) The VITS dry-cleaning). The same goes for laser- tively involved in the process. First, a is a digital calibrated reference signal discs. Simply transferring a movie to a director is encouraged to bring the best that enables THX personnel to make a 12-inch polycarbonate sandwich doesn’t source material to the party. Then the direct, verifiable comparison between automatically guarantee that it'll live up transfer is made. Next, the director is the master and any copy; comparisons to the format’s potential. Plenty of asked to evaluate its accuracy in terms can be made at any or all stages of the things can affect a disc’s bottom-line of color, contrast, and detail; this task is manufacturing process. quality, including the quality of the aided by a calibrated professional-quali- source and the various technical aspects ty monitor and a spectrophotometer (an The reference signal doesn’t need to of the actual transfer. In an attempt to instrument that precisely measures color be decoded in any way by your LD provide home-theater owners with top- output), both of which are provided by player (in fact, it can only be accessed quality programming, THX, the guide- THX personnel. by specialized equipment); it exists only line-forming arm of Lucasfilm Ltd., has as a means of establishing the accuracy been certifying laserdiscs for the past 2 The soundtrack is then meticulously of the manufacturing process. As Dave years. Though THX took a lot of heat matched to the film image from the Schnuelle, principal engineer of THX’s CTPBOYHNROYTDOrZeA cently for a high-profile blunder with original film masters. All soundtrack as- disc program, explains it: “We’re the only ones who put a test signal into the BY WES PHILLIPS

master and then say to the manufactur- SLIPPED DISC ing facility, ‘You have to reproduce this perfectly. This is what we expect the fi- LASERPHILES, AND MANY MEMBERS OF THE AUDIO/VIDEO COMMUNITY AT LARGE, nal product to look like.’” were stunned recently when THX announced a recall of its entire initial run of Schnuelle adds that disc-manufactur- ing plants are capable of producing Pioneer LDC’s widescreen Stargate. The reason: The left Dolby Surround audio high-quality discs across the board; not all laserphiles seem to feel this way, fa- channel in the entire batch was marred by a phase inversion, causing soundtrack voring some plants over others. All par- ties seem to agree, however, that cur- elements to jump haphazardly among a home-theater system’s speakers when the rent LD players don’t get in the way of the stunning images and sound cap- Dolby Pro Logic or THX mode was selected. tured on a high-quality disc. In an official statement, THX’s Paul Matwiy explained, “The left-channel phase “The performance characteristics of a good LD player are virtually identical inversion on the THX release of Stargate (widescreen version only) was discov- to those of a 1-inch Type C broadcast video recorder,” Schnuelle points out, ered during the distribution of the disc. After investigating the procedures in- “which we used until 1987 to master movies. For a consumer product cost- volved during the complex matrix and AC-3 audio transfers, it was determined ing under $1,000 to deliver the quality that only $80,000 professional gear that both Pioneer and THX were mutually responsible for the error. . . . The im- could offer 8 years ago . . . that’s fairly amazing.” portant thing is to learn from and act decisively on [such] mistakes.” Matwiy as- Since the inception of the program in sured purchasers that defective discs would be replaced by retailers and that all 1993, THX has certified 34 video transfers, with over one-third of them future THX discs would benefit from being pricey collector’s editions of film classics and blockbuster spectaculars. even more stringent quality control. Recent releases have focused on main- stream titles and have been given rea- “It was just human error,” Pioneer sonable price tags—the THX Speed costs less than $30, their True Lies and LDC’s Laurie Anderson elaborates. Timecop less than $40. By the end of this year, more than 75 titles should be “We instructed retailers to replace [the available. STARGATE defective discs] immediately. The regu- I recently spent some quality time lar and Dolby AC-3 soundtracks were comparing THX discs with earlier edi- tions of the same films, as well as criti- fine; only the Dolby Surround track was cally evaluating recent films mastered to THX’s standards, and I’m convinced _affected.” When asked if the incident that THX knows what they’re doing. had diminished Pioneer’s enthusiasm While some THX discs were only mar- for THX certification, Anderson re- ginally superior to otherwise identical non-THX versions, there was no cir- ‘sponded, “Absolutely not.” cumstance in which I preferred a non- THX disc to a THX disc. And for the _ Welcome as stricter quality-control most part, the differences I discerned weren’t subtle—fascinating, amusing, ures will be, the whole purpose of and instructive, yes, but never subtle. Phase problems prompted¢ HX certification is to prevent this One of the first comparisons I made ind of error. Dave Schnuelle, principal was between the THX director’s cut of agrees: “I don’t think anyone woul ngineer for THX’s LD program, ly perfect, and this is just one tha argu hatpoint, but nothing can be absolute- Terminator 2: Judgment Day and LIVE’s existing widescreen version. But an entire batch? “It’s com icated, pretty damn complicated, actually,” From the opening frame, the THX disc was visually superior: It offered clearer Schnuelle says. “In over 20 ye sferring feature films, I’ve never seen images with richer colors. Dialogue was easier to understand, even during anything like it. ... It wasn’t a simple phase reversal—that’s happened before. the many sequences that were accom- panied by loud sound effects. The score This was far more complex. With phase reversal, all of the dialogue comes had more impact and was more suc- cessfully integrated into the film, par- from the side channels and none from the front. This time, the dialogue came ticularly during the famous “Canal Chase” sequence. Visual contrasts from all of the channels. “Stargate was one of the first AC-3 projects, and we didn’t know all of the fail- ure modes—normally, you establish quality-control procedures based on what you know can go wrong. This was totally new, and until we had some experience with real discs, it was difficult to determine everything to check for.” The Stargate recall isn’t the first mixup THX has experienced, however. Laser- philes report that the THX-certified Beverly Hills Cop III shipped with the same program on both sides. “The two sides are manufactured at different times and are glued together later, so that can happen,” Schnuelle acknowledges. “If it has, it was only in a few instances. We scan the Internet [to monitor consumer com- plaints] and stay in close contact with the studios. Anyone with a defective disc can just exchange it. That’s never a problem.” Other laserphiles have complained that THX’s Oklahoma! isn’t as sharp as the pan-and-scan release, though direct comparisons are meaningless since the two versions are taken from different negatives. “I don’t believe there’s any compari- on,” Schnuelle scoffs. “Our transfer looks much sharper, and the colors are much more vibrant. Some transfers are super-enhanced to artificially sharpen the edges, and there’s a certain subset of viewers who think that white edges around things make the picture look sharper. However, that introduces a lot more noise and there’s less true detail. “We get letters and phone calls about the most arcane things. We got a com- plaint about motion artifacts in a transfer once, and everything cited was deliber- ately added to the film by Industrial Light & Magic’s patented Go-Motion process, which blurs fast-moving objects so that they don’t strobe across the screen. We deal in a world where there are a lot of tradeoffs—we won’t always please everybody.” —WP VIDEO JULY/AUGUS19T95 27

were more clearly delineated: The dark certification mean that it will look emotional subtext of the film was ap- propriately mirrored in the darkness of great? the sets (most of the last side takes place at night or in a dimly lit steel “The THX logo means that there mill), With the non-THX disc, back- ground details tended to get lost in the won’t be a better version around,” overall darkness; with the THX ver- Schnuelle clarifies. Are there situa- sion, details were clearly visible. In addition, THX’s 72 features 15 tions, then, where THX will refuse to minutes of footage cut from the theatri- approve a film? cal release. Though some critics feel “Certainly,” Schnuelle responds. otherwise, I thought that these scenes added necessary texture and crucial “We’ve done that. We’ve started on pro- motivation missing from the original. Simply put, THX’s 72 is better than the jects, looked at them, and said, “Here’s already excellent LIVE 72. “We need to do something new and improved to your deposit back.’” justify the process when a quality video already exists,” THX’s Schnuelle says. THX isn’t resting on its laurels, of course. Even before the Stargate snafu I’m dying to ask Schnuelle about the Star Wars Trilogy. These are the films surfaced and caused THX to take a that established the financial and artis- tic independence of George Lucas, the long look at its quality-control process, founder and guiding spirit of Lucasfilm Ltd; surely the existing widescreen col- the company was hard at work perfect- lector’s editions were carefully trans- ferred to begin with. Weren’t they? ing two new technologies—Dolby Sur- “The Star Wars films had never been round AC-3, the digital 5.1-channel up- done properly,” Schnuelle says. “George simply never had time to grade for Dolby Surround, and a set of bother with it. At the time, even within digital-video manipulations. THX’s Lucasfilm, there was no one with a proper grasp of how good laserdiscs newest releases, True Lies and Clear could be.” and Present Danger, benefit from both. A direct comparison again revealed that THX has the magic touch. Not that Though I didn’t have access to an the older transfers were bad, but the THX editions were clearly superior— AC-3 home-theater system, I can say both audibly and visually. THX’s The that the new video techniques seem to Empire Strikes Back, which, like T2, take laserdisc image quality to new features a noir-ish palette, was far rich- er and more detailed than the earlier heights (direct comparisons weren’t version, which seemed flat and bland in comparison. All three THX versions possible, since the THX versions of had deeper, more consistent colors. The soundtrack—effects, dialogue, and these films are presently the only ver- score—benefitted, too. sions). In simple terms, THX scans the THX versions of older films fare just film at a high resolution and then con- as well. Oklahoma! looked hugely im- proved. Perhaps the comparison isn’t verts it down to produce a high-quality entirely fair, since two entirely differ- ent 65MM versions of the movie were NTSC image. Dave Schnuelle says that shot; THX used the Todd-AO version, and the previous disc used the Cinema- THX’s method parallels those used to Scope version. In any case, the THX improve digital audio—oversampling, version must be considered definitive: The Todd-AO scenes were shot first, bitmapping, and interpolation—over and they’re frequently more energetic and better lit. They also just plain work the last 10 years. better, artistically. “We recently played a D-1 master of And the Oklahoma! soundtrack is Clear and Present Danger for Philip key—this show changed musical the- Noyce [the film’s director],” Schnuelle says, “switching back and forth with our disc. Even he lost track of which ater forever, and the music reflects and was which.” elaborates upon the emotional subtext of the play. Improvements in clarity, Criterion, the laserphile’s longtime detail, and the size and depth of the champion, also sees some merit in sonic image all have a profound dra- matic impact. Here, the superiority of THX’s approach, having recently re- the THX disc can’t be questioned: It just isn’t close. Apparently, it’s some- leased a THX-certified Silence of the thing of a miracle. “You don’t know Lambs, (It’s head-and-shoulders above what we started with,” Dave Schnuelle the previous pan-and-scan version.) Pe- laughs. “It takes something special to get good results with some of the old ter Becker, Criterion’s director, said the ones.” company always keeps an open mind Beverly Hills Cop, on the other hand, didn’t serve up any dramatic improve- about new technology and methods. He ments. Since the original LD is univer- sally regarded as a dog, I thought that did note, however, “There were places contrasting it with the THX version might prove instructive. Though the in Silence that had more noise than we THX version is better, the disc still didn’t look that great. But doesn’t THX would have liked, though it fell within the [THX] spec.” In any case, THX’s certification pro- gram is clearly on the right track. It’s the closest thing that laserphiles have to an outright guarantee of quality. If you haven’t at least sampled the com- pany’s way with the LDs, you can’t re- ally call yourself a videophile. a 28 JULY/AUGUS1T995 VIDEO

Sacrifice Nothing. B&W’s Matrix HTM Home Theater Speaker resolves the movies versus music debate once and for all. COREY GREENBERG, Home Theater Technology WHAT STARTED OUT AS A RAGING DEBATE HAS ENDED WITH RAVE REVIEWS. can the J HERE B&W PRESENTS THE CONSIDERED OPINIONS OF TWO RESPECTED CRITICS, rreeqduuccee Corey GREENBERG of Home Theater Technology [Nov 1994 issue] AND Tom NOUSAINE of Sound & Image [Fall 1994 issue]. wavSE esence to mea, inpeielmBiR zeey = GREENBERG: “The main reason the HTMs even do a great job as mains in a music- Or W are so superior to any movie speakers I’ve only system. I’d be proud to own one.” heard is solely because these are music speakers first and foremost.” GREENBERG: “This is the best sound I’ve Nousatne: “This speaker is accurate. ever had in my home theater, bar none. Dialogue and vocals are always intelli- Whether I played movie LDs or music gible and natural. Music sounds sweet CDs, the sound of the B&W Matrix HTM and clean.” was honest, accurate, and the very GREENBERG: “The sound of the B&W 8 ydefinition of the term ‘high fidelity.’ It’s Matrix HTMs is so much better than any of the movie speakers I’ve heard, even a speaker system you'll want to live with systems costing many times the price of for a long, long time.” the HTMs, that it’s a joke.” What else can we say? ' NousaIne: “The Matrix HTM is a For the name of a B&W dealer near tremendous performer. It makes a terrific you, call 1-800-370-3740, And hear why center speaker and a pair of them would the critics’ choice in music speakers is the critics’ choice in movie speakers. B&W Loudspeakers of America, 54 Concord Street, North Reading, MA 01864 tel 1-800-370-3740 fax (508)664-4109 Listen and You'll See CIRCLE NO. 49 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Divid Cong Separate audio components take home theater to the next level BY ALEXANDER N. RETSOFF CONVENIENCE IS A SEDUCTIVE MISTRESS, Ask audiophiles, those fanatic fans of trash the whole thing (or, more likely, as the Pilgrims used to say. (Or was it absolutely accurate music reproduc- move it to another room or pass it along executives from Ronco and Popeil’s?) tion, why they gravitate towards sepa- to a faithful and deserving soul) and We Americans tend to worship at the rates—and they do, almost exclusive- start over. altar of convenience: We invented fast- ly—and they’ll tell you that it’s not food restaurants, TV dinners, and 7-11. because of cosmetics, but because Finally, and possibly most important- Remote controls were made for us. “separates sound better.” While that’s ly, the separates approach enables you Anything that simplifies life is good. generally true, it really depends on to tailor a system that precisely meets Our penchant for convenience is one of what products are involved—I’ve test- your needs. You can choose specific the main reasons why A/V and stereo ed some excellent separates, some components on the basis of what they receivers outsell “separate” audio com- pretty wimpy separates, and some do for you, rather than settling for what ponents (preamplifiers, amplifiers, and damn-good receivers in my day. a receiver designer decided you needed. surround-sound processors) by a huge Simply put, separates-based systems margin. That’s not true in most other It’s definitely true that separates have are more “flexible” than receivers. countries. a number of things going for them on the technical front. Since each has its But flexibility comes at a price, and When we’re not worshipping conve- own individual power supply and chas- it’s not denominated simply in dollars. nience, we go for value: We clip cou- sis, it’s less likely that disparate cir- Rather than making just one decision— pons. We proudly tell our neighbors cuits will negatively affect one another what receiver to buy—you must now about the rebates we’ve been awarded. (in terms of electrical noise or heat choose each component individually We want the biggest bang for the buck. buildup, for example). That in itself and be sure that they all get along. Get- The feverish pursuit of value also leads can help clean up a system’s overall ting along in the electrical sense is not many of us to choose receivers over sound. much of a problem; input and output separate components. One power sup- levels and impedances are pretty well ply, one chassis, fewer printed-circuit Furthermore, since separates cater to standardized among all types of com- boards—it all adds up to considerable the high end of the market and re- ponents—by convention if not by inter- cost savings. ceivers usually slug it out in the “watts- national agreement. But that doesn’t per-buck” trenches, you’re likely to mean you can jerry-rig equipment and So why would anyone choose to shell find better circuit design and better expect to end up with a sensible home- out more dough for an ensemble of parts in separate components than in theater system that a mere mortal can separate components that are arguably receivers. This isn’t necessarily the operate. less convenient to use than a compara- case with the priciest receivers from bly equipped receiver? That question big-name manufacturers, however. Consider this example: You’ve fallen has been debated ever since receivers for the clean lines and heavy steel of a first intruded on separates territory. Another advantage of taking the sep- top-flight audio-only preamplifier and (Yes, separates came first.) Some peo- arates route is that it’s relatively easy to want to build a home-theater system ple just like the looks of a stack of sep- improve a separates-based system as around it. Good luck! And you’ll need arate components—they’re more im- it, because “straight” audio preamps pressive than a simple receiver, and new innovations (and your budget) al- aren’t that easy to work with in a who but the Joneses themselves doesn’t low. Separates-based systems have a home-theater context. Sure, you could like to one-up the Joneses? way of growing with you. When it buy a Dolby Pro Logic surround-sound comes to a receiver, it’s all or nothing: processor and connect it between the PEBIYRLYHAILONCUTGSOTRATION When you want to make a change, you 30 JULY/AUGUS1T995 VIDEO

JULY/AUGUST 1995 31

preamp and one or more separate pow- THE A/V CONTROLLER pack all of the controls for the system’s er amplifiers, but, presuming that the preamp and surround functions in one Dolby processor has controls for select- And then the convenience factor chassis and on one remote control. It’s ing video sources (admittedly, that pre- again rears its head. The goal with any all there; the only trick is that you have sumption could be unfounded), the pre- approach (separates or receiver) is to to be able to find it all, when you need amp won’t be used for A/V programs— have a system that’s functional. By to find it. If a designer had to cram but- so why would you need it in your “functional,” I mean having the system tons onto a receiver’s front panel or home theater? This explains why even do what you want it to do without your keys onto its remote control, you may some of the purest purist audiophile having to resort to anything more than have a tough time. On the other hand, manufacturers have begun to build A/v a reasonably intuitive and consistent separate A/V preamps and surround- preamplifiers. set of commands. There are two ways sound processors have a relatively spa- to look at this: On one hand, receivers cious layout, and so will their remote controls. Finding controls should be seotmneenieenanenaionianansnnnmnnimneinns inhusensimsomyscecemnoostenrannnenesnsineoaaensnnititesneeaetr easy, though there’s two components— and, probably, two remotes—with e988 eee which to interact. Which route is bet- ter? Only you can decide for yourself. OS A hybrid approach just may offer the FPOOHOEHEOH SEES EEEHH ETOH EOOHSOT OOO OS OTHE T HOHE SESE EEE ESOS EEE EEEEEEESEEEE OS EEOESEOEES best of both worlds. An A/V preamplifi- er/surround-sound processor,” or “A/V From top: NAD Model 910 surround-sound processor, Marantz MA-500 THX preamp/processor,” houses the follow- monoblock power amplifier, B&K AVP2000 A/v preamplifier ing: source switching (audio/video and audio-only), Pro Logic (and, perhaps, THX) processing, ambience simulation (for music listening, if you’ll be doing any), and typical audio-preamp func- tions such as tone control and loudness contouring. Think of it as an A/V re- ceiver minus the amplifiers and radio tuner. You’d plug the audio outputs of your video sources into it just as if it were an A/V receiver. In turn, audio sig- nals would run from the preamp/pro- cessor to one multichannel or multiple stereo power amplifiers and then on to your home theater’s speakers. One very nice bonus is that most preamp/proces- sors come with a comprehensive re- mote control, enabling you to control the entire A/V system with one hand- held device. Some manufacturers even build tuners into their preamp/proces- sors (making them “preamp/processor/ tuners”)—essentially, they’re A/V re- ceivers minus the amplification. Manu- facturers such as Adcom, B&K, Carver, Denon, Fosgate—Audionics, Harman Kardon, Kenwood, Marantz, NAD, Parasound [see “VideoTest,” page 40], Proceed, Sony, and Soundstream, among others, make highly regarded preamp/processors and related compo- nents. Some audio/videophiles insist on us- ing a separate A/V preamplifier and a separate surround-sound processor in place of an integrated preamp/proces- sor, for many of the reasons I’ve al- ready mentioned. In many cases, these components are exotic, high-perfor- mance devices with beautiful work- manship, and concepts such as art and pride of ownership come into play 32 JULY/AUGUS1T995 VIDEO

when they’re a part of the puzzle—con- rately from the luminance (black-and- on selected inputs. Since S-Video and cepts that really don’t have a place in white) signal. Videophiles shun com- composite-video signals are switched nuts-and-bolts discussions of home- posite video whenever possible, since it and routed separately, you’re likely to theater design. If you’re fortunate inserts chroma information in the find you have to double up on the enough to be free of budgetary con- spaces between the luminance informa- wiring—that is, use both types of cable straints, or are inspired to save up for tion. S-Video cables are more expen- to get the job done properly. the very best that money can buy, know sive than composite-video coax, but that Audio Design Associates, Audio they’re far preferable—if your video Say you have a laserdisc player with Research, Counterpoint, Fosgate—Au- components are outfitted with compati- S-Video and composite-video outputs, ble connectors, at any rate. Laserdiscs a VCR outfitted with just composite- dionics, Kinergetics, Lexicon, McIn- and videotapes store chroma and lumi- video RCA jacks, and a TV that’s nance information separately (as will equipped with both—unless you con- tosh, Meridian, Museatex, and Proceed, digital videodiscs), and the TV monitor nect the disc player to the processor among others, specialize in this area. processes them separately, too. The with both types of cables, you won’t be less combining and separating that oc- able to dub from the laserdisc player Choosing a specific preamp/proces- curs in the link, the better the picture to the VCR (which, remember, only sor, or preamp and processor, comes will be. “knows” composite video) and still down to simultaneously satisfying two take advantage of viewing the laserdisc criteria: functionality and sound quali- Preamp/processors, and truly sepa- through the superior S link. In addition, ty. Sacrifice either one and you'll be rate A/V preamps (as well as A/V re- unless you also connect the processor sorry. Evaluate functionality first—not to the TV with both types of cable, you because it’s more important than sound ceivers, for that matter), route S-Video won’t be able watch a videotape (via quality, but because you can do it sim- and composite-video signals along sep- the composite link) without similarly ply by looking over new-product arate paths, and this arrangement may limiting the quality of the laserdisc’s writeups, ads, and/or company bro- require some rather bizarre wiring ar- image. Generally, it’s best to double up chures. Once you’ve eliminated con- rangements: Though better-equipped on the video interconnects wherever tenders that don’t meet your basic controllers have S-Video and compos- possible—as long as your TV does a needs, you can audition the survivors ite-video jacks for each video input and good job of isolating the individual in- for sound quality, cosmetics, and “feel” output, many provide S connectors only and then make a final selection. Cece e cree eee EES SESE SEE OOESEHSESESE SSE E TEESE OSE HSHHH HSS SESEHSEHEHEOSHHEHTHHHHSHSEHEHOEEOS: VIDEO CONNECTIONS From top: Pioneer Elite C-72 A/V preamplifier, Carver AV-806x THX multichannel In terms of functionality, first be sure amplifier, Lexicon CP-2 preamplifier/surround-sound processor that there are enough audio/video in- puts. Count up the source components you intend to use and pad the count to provide for the future. To accommodate A/V sources, you’ll probably want con- nections for at least one (and probably two) VCRs, a laserdisc player, and at least one extra component (you know you’ve been thinking about buying a DBS dish/receiver combo). You might want yet another A/V input for one of the digital videodisc players that are likely to hit next year. You'll need audio/video outputs to record on at least one of the VCRs— preferably two sets to record on either or both at your discretion. You’ll also need a video output to drive your TV— or two of them if you want to feed a second set in another room. Note that, though you can feed audio signals to two components from a single output by using a Y connector, you can’t do the same for video; each TV or subse- quent video component must be fed in- dividually from a separate output jack. Video interconnects come in two va- rieties, of course: the so-called com- posite-video type that uses RCA con- nectors, and the S-Video type that employs a multipin connector and spe- cial multiple-conductor cable to carry the chroma (color) information sepa- VIDEO JULY/AUGUS19T95 33

Counterpoint HC-808 preamplifier/surround-sound processor COCO OOOE ESSE OSHS O HEHEHE SESOE EE EHHES ESSE E SHOOT OO SEES OS SOOHHSSOSEEEETOSEESOHSEESESEEEEEEEOEEESSOSEETESEEEESHSHEESEEESOESESEEESEOE put sources, at least. (To see if your TV home theater). These outputs are con- it’d be nice if you could also use it for does, simply compare one hookup nected to power amplifiers or powered playing music; you need audio source method with the other.) Note that most speakers via conventional RCA cables; components in order to do this, of TVs automatically choose an S-Video speaker wire will run from the amplifi- feed over a composite feed when both cation component(s) to the speakers course. If you’re still with me, I’d look are presented. themselves for all nonpowered speak- for at least three line-level inputs, ers. A pair of “unprocessed” (stereo) which can accommodate a CD player, a AUDIO CONNECTIONS outputs also is handy for sending music tuner (if one isn’t built into the preamp to a second room. or preamp/processor itself), and a cas- The controller, or control duo, should sette deck. The tape-deck input should also have audio outputs for three front Your need for audio inputs revolves have a recording output, so you can speakers (left, center, and right), two around your plans for your home the- perform tape-to-tape dubbing or off- rear “surround” speakers, and a sub- ater. Since, in all likelihood, you’ll be tape monitoring via the preamp/proces- woofer (all are musts for any serious dropping a good chunk of change on it, sor. Of course, if your laserdisc player also spins CDs, you can omit the CD TOP AUDIO VALUES input, though a separate CD ‘player is preferable because it’s usually much Rotel’s RB956AX multichannel amp easier to use than an LD player and ($500) is rated to deliver 30 watts into sound quality is often superior. If you each of six channels and can be still play LPs, you’ll need a phono pre- bridged to defy obsolescence. For a amp compatible with your cartridge. true separates approach, try the com- SURROUND SOUND pany’s RB970BX amp ($380)—this low- Auditioning preamp/processors or separate processors is critical, since all profile monster, rated to deliver 60 Dolby Pro Logic processors don’t sound alike, and it’s impossible to dis- watts x 2 into each of two channels, tinguish differences among similarly priced models just by perusing spec kicks out thunderous bass and stun- sheets. You really have to listen. ning resolution. ... Optimus’ Pro LX5 Some processors react more quickly than others to the shifting “sound im- ($300 a pair) is a great bookshelf ages” in a soundtrack, creating firmer, speaker; it doesn’t have much bass, more stable images. These images can—depending on the quality of the but the rest is exceptional. It'd make a soundtrack, the scope of the environ- ment portrayed in a specific scene, and great main (as long as you've got a the quality of your speakers—extend well behind, above, and to the sides of subwoofer), and it’s a natural for rear- your three front speakers and your two channel surround. . . . Vandersteen’s VCC-I ($495) is simply the best center- channel speaker I've heard. The com- pany’s Model 1B (shown; $1,390 a pair) is a full-range wunderspeaker that's just perfect for the front channels of a home theater. —Tom Miiller 34 JULY/AUGUS19T95 VIDEO

rear speakers; sounds can even seem to Conrad-Johnson Design’s Premier emanate from spots beyond your room’s walls or ceiling. It’s impossible Eight-A ($8,000) is a 275-watt vacuum- to overstate how thrilling these types of sound effects can be—and how they tube monoblock amp. Power? Yes. Fi- transform simple movie-watching into an almost participatory experience. nesse? Definitely! You'll need five of Poorly designed processors may err them for surround sound. ... Jadis’ J} when routing signals to specific speak- ers—sounds that are supposed to em- Drive ($12,500), a CD transport, is the anate from the center speaker might “leak” to the front left or right speaker, single most gorgeous audio product in for example. Some processors may not pan sounds smoothly from side to side the world. You could buy an entire or front to back; others may be unac- ceptably noisy, diverting your attention THX system for half the price... . but from the movie or show you’re trying to enjoy. A less capable processor may who cares?.... From a performance also present a “flat” or compressed sense of space. standpoint, Kinergetics’ KSP-2 The best way to proceed is to use a ($4,500) is the Dolby Pro Logic proces- movie scene that has a lot of ambience and surround effects. Subtle effects are sor.... Machined from a solid block most telling, since the bombast of ex- aggerated effects such as explosions of aluminum and powered by a sepa- and the like often covers up the very differences you’re trying to discern. rate DC battery pack, the Coherence (Explosions can be cool, but they quickly grow tiresome; subtleties, on ($12,900), from Jeff Rowland Design the other hand, will consistently send chills up and down your spine.) One Group, is the freshest solid-state pre- very telling sequence that’s perfect for evaluations comes in the last minute or amp from one of the world’s most re- so of “The Face of War,” a chapter in the laserdisc of Last of the Mohicans spected designers.... Imposing, un- (1992)—it stretches the sonic image in all directions (including a very tough limited, refined . . . Wilson Audio’s sequence in which characters climb to- ward the viewer from the bottom of a X-1/Grand SLAMME (shown; $64,500 a hill), presents the ambience of a wide pair) is the speaker that turned the 18th-century forest (full of extremely normally unflappable high-ticket au- vocal insects), offers a solid center-to- right-main-speaker pan, and has some dio world on its ear. —T™M nice, high-resolution surround effects. wood colossus spawned by George Lu- personal preference. These surround- The level of the soundtrack is also very cas. THX doesn’t actually sell home- sound modes are meant to be used low during this sequence, so a noisy theater components; it simply es- when playing music (or any type of processor will have nowhere to hide. tablishes guidelines for performance video that isn’t Dolby-encoded) over and certifies components (after receiv- your home theater’s multiple speakers. Straight Dolby Pro Logic isn’t the on- Know that it takes high-quality circuit- ly way to get surround sound, though. ing a licensing fee) that follow them. ry to “simulate” realistic effects, and You should also consider “enhanced” Thus, you’ll run across a component separate processors are more likely to Pro Logic systems, especially those provide it than average A/V receivers. that “decorrelate” the two surround like Kenwood’s KC-X1, a THX-ap- As always, a thorough listening evalua- channels so that they don’t deliver a proved preamp/processor/tuner with tion should provide the answers. solid image (Dolby Stereo movies are THX-enhanced surround processing. supposed to have diffuse surround It’s hard to be thorough in the typical In addition to decorrelating the sur- retail environment, though. This is the “soundfields,” not firmly established case even in specialty A/V shops (where ones). Many processors employ digital round channels (for the reason noted providing good service is a way of signal processing to enhance standard above), THX-approved processors “re- life), since it can be tough to focus on Pro Logic; audition these modes as you equalize” rear-channel signals to ac- sonic subtleties unless you “live with” would normal Pro Logic. count for the way that human beings a product for a week or so. That’s why hear: If identical sounds were to simul- you'll be able to do your most telling The most well established system of taneously arrive at our ears from the comparisons at home—in your room, Pro Logic enhancement is “THX,” a front and from the sides of a room, with your TV, VCR or laserdisc player, creation of Lucasfilm Ltd., the Holly- we’d perceive them as being different. and speakers, and at your leisure. And Re-equalization attempts to square that’s one very good reason to shop at a things. THX processors also equalize specialty store, since the salespeople the front channels to recreate the tonal there understand the merits of at-home balance of a theater in the home. auditions and know that they can be an Though THX has also established integral part of making you happy. guidelines for power amplifiers and Power amplification is perhaps the speakers, and manufacturers offer most compelling reason to take the THX-approved models in these compo- separates approach. It’s a large subject nent categories, you don’t have to have in and of itself [see “Power Trip,” June them to benefit from the surround- 1995, for a detailed discussion and a sound enhancements offered by THX processors. The same goes for THX- CONTINUED ON PAGE 83 certified laserdiscs [see “Eyes on the VIDEO JULY/AUGUS19T95 35 Prize,” page 26]. Whether you need “ambience-simu- lation” circuitry is simply a matter of

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Set Assets Proton’s NT-3740 makes a bold 35-inch statement THEY SAY THAT EFFECTIVE “‘POSITIONING”—THE JOCKEYING The speakers are biamplified three- for the high ground that gives a company an edge over its ways; the internal power amplifiers competition—is what spells corporate success in the tough- drive the woofers with 18 watts each, as-nails °90s. When it comes to direct-view TVs, Proton has the midranges and tweeters with 5 positioned their sets solidly at the high end. Having avoided the watts each. The SPACE function adds price wars, they’ve chosen to build high-performance models that various degrees of ambience; it has appeal to videophiles as well as serious movie enthusiasts. The three settings—MOVIE, MUSIC, and NT-3740 takes Proton’s no-compromise philosophy to a 35-inch MONO—and can also be defeated. The set is capable of receiving stereo screen size. The 3740 ($3,000), which used to switch the set on or off at spe- broadcasts and cablecasts, of course. measures 30.25 x 37.5 x 24.5 inches cific times. (h/w/d) and weighs a hefty 185 pounds, On the technical front, the 3740 uses is the company’s first 35-inch set. It’s The 3740 also covers the bases in equipped with a nice roster of features, terms of connections. There are three ~ a dark-tint tube with an Invar Shadow including dual-tuner picture-in-picture rear-panel A/V inputs, including two Mask. The set also employs a digital S-Video inputs. One A/V and one S- comb filter to separate chrominance (PIP)—with still-frame, strobe, and Video output are on tap. And the front channel-scan functions—that can be panel offers one A/V input and one S- (color) and luminance (black-and- placed in any of the tube’s four corners. Video input for easy hookup of a cam- The set also features closed-captioning white) information; other Protons use and a 3.58-MHz trap filter to help clean corder, videogame console, or extra an analog comb. up low-quality input sources. Channel VCR. Two antenna inputs are provided. block can be set up to prevent family Finally, terminals are on hand for The 3740’s manual doesn’t get into members from watching specific pro- driving a pair of external speakers with many details, but it’s clear and concise. grams. And the clock/timer can be the set’s built-in power amplifiers. The remote is on the small side and, Audio provisions are basic but beefy: except for the power, volume, and channel up/down keys, all of the but- tons are small and identically shaped; this layout makes the remote a little difficult to handle. In addition, the re- mote isn’t backlit—a disappointment BY KEVIN MILLER

considering the set’s high-end stance ered the set’s light output (to 23.7 foot- RR] (and price tag). On the other hand, the lamberts, which is excellent for a 35- BY THE NUMBERS on-screen menus are easy to use, whether they’re accessed via the re- inch TV), it should also extend the life Measurements by Berger—Braithwaite Labs mote or from the front-panel controls. of the picture tube. Horizontal resolution: 410 lines Proton’s sets always seem to deliver a I brought the DETAIL (sharpness) con- Picture S/N: luminance, 54.6 dB; video, pleasing picture right out of the box, trol down as far as it could go. If you’re and the 3740 was no exception: It de- a regular reader, you know that a 54.1 dB; chroma AM, 64.1 dB; chroma livered a seductive picture with its con- sharpness control doesn’t do what its PM, 63.7 dB trols set to the factory-preset positions; name implies—it’s actually a peaking Screen brightness: preset, 50.3 footlam- circuit similar to the treble control on berts; after adjustment, 23.7 footlamberts colors looked nice and rich, and skin Color temperature: preset, 7,100 degrees tones were particularly realistic. This an A/V receiver. This control should be Kelvin; after calibration, 6,500 degrees admirable condition can be explained, lowered until hard white edges around Kelvin perhaps, by the fact that Proton sets are objects (“ringing”) disappear; video sold in specialty A/V shops, not in noise will also be lessened. Color temperature measured 7,100 chain-type electronics superstores, degrees Kelvin on the top of the gray where pushing a set’s controls to their With these adjustments, test patterns scale and 8,500 degrees at the bottom. maximum is necessary to grab a cus- indicated that resolution was very solid In comparison to most direct-views set tomer’s attention. Most people will (410 lines horizontal, 500 lines verti- to their factory positions, these num- find the 3740’s picture looks breathtak- cal), overscan (at about 5 percent) was bers were remarkably close to the in- ing without any significant adjust- better than average, and convergence dustry standard of 6,500 degrees; only ments. Purists will want to do some fid- was excellent. Gray-scale delineation a few other consumer TVs offer this dling, of course. was quite good, indicating that the kind of accuracy (usually from their power supply remained stable at differ- WARM factory setting). Note that Pro- I first brought the BRIGHTNESS control ent output levels. ton offers buyers the option of having down a couple of clicks, since test pat- their set calibrated to a color tempera- terns from the A Video Standard Fine-tuning color was, as usual, a lit- laserdisc (an excellent, all-around aid tle more complicated. Using the test ture of 6,500 degrees. Purists who are for adjusting your TV) indicated that disc’s color-bar pattern and the blue fil- able to watch their sets in an ideal envi- blacks weren’t quite as black as they ter that comes with the disc, I set the ronment—one with very little ambient should be. (Blacks can also be judged light in the room, and with the light using any widescreen laserdisc in COLOR control to one notch above its source positioned behind the set— which the black bars above and below midpoint and TINT to a click-and-a-half should consider this option: After I'd the image don’t match the blacks in the above its midpoint. The picture looked calibrated it, the 3740 measured a program’s night scenes.) You also lose really nice at this point. A followup dead-accurate 6,500 degrees up and some fine detail in dimly lit scenes down the scale, and it tracked the gray when brightness (black-level) is set too check with the color bars indicated, scale flawlessly. high. however, that the set was giving the yellow bars a slight orange/yellow cast, At this point, the 3740 looked awe- Bringing the CONTRAST control down a typical side effect when fleshtone-en- some: Blacks were a true, deep black, (to two clicks below its midpoint) mini- hancing circuitry is onboard. A call to and pictures had lots of detail and were mized video noise; because it also low- Proton determined that the 3740’s color virtually noise-free, particularly in decoder was purposefully set to dimly lit scenes. Images had a stunning “warm” the picture a bit (though depth and three-dimensionality. they’re re-evaluating this choice). I also liked the 3740’s audio sys- tem—it was easily the best I’ve heard from a TV set. To get the most out of high-fidelity soundtracks, of course, it’s still best to use a complete surround- sound system. The nice part is that if youre starting out from scratch, or can only afford the 3740 at the outset, its built-in amps and speakers will carry you in style until you can upgrade. PROTON’S NT-3740 IS A VERY FINE 35-INCH TV, delivering just what you'd expect from a topnotch direct-view big- screen. It offers a nice complement of features, a generous array of connec- tions, and a fine sound system. And its picture looks terrific out of the box, with performance that vaults to spec- tacular heights when it’s carefully ad- justed. If you’re looking for a truly big direct-view big-screen, the 3740 sim- ply demands an audition. a 38 JULY/AUGUS1T995 VIDEO

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IB] parasounn Paranormal Parasound’s P/SP-1000 is a prodigious home-theater controller PREAMPLIFIER/SURROUND-SOUND PROCESSORS ARE BOTH smaller or in-wall speakers without a the brain and circulatory system of the home-theater body. subwoofer.” A well-designed model makes interacting with your system a breeze and routes all the various surround-sound The 1000 is generally well endowed signals efficiently and effectively, without degradation. Parasound’s in terms of connections. In addition to P/SP-1000 does such a fine job of circulating that it wouldn’t be out three A/v and two audio-only inputs, of place in the latest edition of Gray’s Anatomy. & The 1000 is one of a flurry of new components that’s intended to bridge the gap the TAPE audio set is a full in/out re- cord/play loop. You can plug an audio between high-end, big-ticket surround- (19 inches wide and 3.5 high). Its lay- source component like a CD player in- sound processors and standard A/V re- out is straightforward: A single good- to LINE/AUDIO, but it can also accept a ceivers or stripped-down processors. In sized volume knob can be found to the feed from an audio-only preamp that a nutshell, the 1000 offers most of the right. Rows of switches are on hand for presents its own source-selection but- functions delivered by conventional input and surround-mode selection, in- tons. In this configuration, turning off stereo preamplifiers along with fully dependent channel-level balancing, and the 1000 via its front-panel switch au- integrated video switching, high-quali- more. Two smaller knobs provide con- tomatically loops the LINE/AUDIO input ty Dolby Pro Logic surround decoding, ventional stereo-mode balancing and back to a second pair of main (left/ and three surround modes for non-Dol- sensitivity adjustment for the audio in- right) outputs, marked BypAss. The by programming. Its clever design en- puts; the sensitivity knob has a detent idea is that the 1000 can be inserted ables the 1000 to serve either as a at its center denoting “0.3-volt input without reservation into a serious au- standalone A/V preamplifier/decoder or sensitivity.” diophile system, since you'll only be as an adjunct to a conventional two- adding a gold-plated relay and a foot channel audio-only preamplifier. And Two front-panel features require a or so of connecting cable in the sys- it does all of this at a price—$750— little explanation: The UNIFIED SOUND tem’s two-channel signal path. Note that should suit system builders who FIELD CENTER button is said (in the that all of the 1000’s video inputs and have one eye fixed on the state-of-the- oOwner’s manual) to “contour and blend outputs are supplied in both S-Video art horizon and the other firmly on the center-channel information back to the and composite configurations. All bottom line. front left and right channels to present back-panel jacks are gold-plated. a seamless front X-axis soundstage.” The 1000’s chassis is low and wide, The BASS EQ button offers narrow-band Also found on the 1000’s back panel conforming to the rack-mount standard bass equalization “for systems using are two small three-position toggle switches. One selects center-channel mode; your options are NONE, SMALL, and LARGE. The second toggle sets the crossover tied to the 1000’s line-level BY DAVID SIMON

subwoofer output; the choices are 80 eeaan Ce min HZ, 120 HZ, and FULL RANGE. BY THE NUMBERS Measurements by Simon Labs Internal construction is impressive. The 1000 has a high-current regulated Channel separation (at 1,000 Hz, refer- THD+noise (1 volt in/out): Preamp Direct, power supply that’s said to extend bass enced to a 1-volt output): Preamp Direct, and dynamics, “high-speed analog cir- <0.05%, 10 to 100,000 Hz; DPL, front left/ cuitry” with buffered outputs, and pre- 80 dB; DPL, front left/right, 38 dB; front right, <0.1%, 20 to 100,000 Hz, center, left/center, 45 dB; front right/left, 34 dB; <0.12%, 200 to 20,000 Hz, rear left/right, front right/center, 50 dB; center/front left, <0.8%, 100 to 5,000 Hz cision components, including 1-per- 32 dB; center/front right, 36 dB; center/rear S/N (A-weighted, referenced to 1 volt): cent-precision metal-film resistors and left, 52 dB; center/rear right, 55 dB; rear/ Preamp Direct, left, 80 dB, right, 79 dB; polystyrene and polypropylene capaci- DPL, left, 78 dB, right, 79 dB, center, 80 tors. I observed a power supply that center, 55 dB; rear/front left and right, 45 dB dB, rear left, 72 dB, rear right, 73 dB looked as if it would be at home in a Frequency response: Preamp Direct, 20 to small power amp, better-grade parts Input overload (LINE/DIRECT input with trim (including top-shelf amplifying devices 20,000 Hz +0, —0.2 dB; DPL, front left/ at detent): DPL, left/right, 2.5 volts; center, right, 20 to 20,000 Hz +0, —0.7 dB, center, 2.2 volts; rear left/right, 1.6 volts 200 to 20,000 Hz +0, —1 dB, rear left/right, 20 to 6,800 Hz +1, -3 dB and the familiar, high-end-standard Analog Devices SSM-2126A analog balanced them, the channels’ relative rather than jerky. Fine soundtrack de- Pro Logic decoder LSI), and an excel- levels remained perfectly balanced over tails had excellent resolution: Ambient lent-quality multichannel motorized a very wide range of volume settings scenes with lots of natural sounds were volume pot connected via very high- (40 dB and more). This is critical—if open and airy, and subtle Foley ele- end cabling. levels go out of balance every time you ments like rustling papers and creaking I installed the 1000 in a high-perfor- change the master volume, you'll have chairs sounded natural and balanced. mance home-theater system. Hooking to rebalance them every time you touch The 1000 tended a shade toward the up the 1000 presented no particular the volume knob. brighter side of things in its straight Pro problems. Calibrating relative levels The 1000’s excellent design translat- Logic mode, though never obtrusively for the front, center, and surround chan- ed into excellent performance. In Pro so. Engaging the UNIFIED SOUND FIELD nels was also easy: The 1000’s Pro Logic mode, the preamp/processor pro- CENTER function mellowed things out Logic-standard sequenced noise signal vided very good transparency and de- substantially, however. Ultimately, I must be manually advanced channel to tail as well as outstanding dynamics. was of two minds regarding this refine- channel, as prompted by successive The 1000 did a fine job of steering ment: With some scenes, USFC seemed strokes of the remote control’s TEST soundtrack elements to my system’s to smooth out center-channel dialogue key. This is a welcome improvement speakers, with very minimal “leakage” and do a better job of integrating front- over many auto-cycling sequencers, between channels and smooth, natural stage sounds. But with others, its action since they cycle a bit fast for my taste pans from side to side and front to was too severe, lending a vaguely muf- (and for an SPL meter’s settling time). back. What leakage there was—from fled quality to speech and center-chan- And the 1000’s master-volume “track- the center to one of the mains, for ex- nel effects and obscuring small details. ing” proved to be excellent: After I’d ample—was stable and consistent, The BASS EQ function did a great job, introducing a sharp, peaking action at THE SHORT FORM 40 Hz and below. This did wonders in my reference system, whose main PARASOUND P/SP-1000 © speakers deliver solid output to 40 Hz or so but fall off below that point. It did Component type: AV PICA neu oe processor induce some mild midbass boominess, Price: $750 but it was livable, and I still preferred the circuit switched in with most “big” Target: Serious home-theater enthusiasts movies. Minimum requirements*: 27-inch TV, Hi-Fi VCR, four-channel power amp, The 1000 also did a very fine job with main, center, and surround speakers - KEY FEATURES music. In straight stereo, using the PRE- m Dolby Pro Logic decoding m CLUB, HALL, and STADIUM surround modes AMP-DIRECT mode, the preamp/proces- sor proved transparent. And the 1000’s = Preamp-Direct mode m Center-channel enhancement m Low-bass equalization m Accommodates three A/v sources and two audio-only additional sound modes—sTADIUM, sources m LINE/AUDIO inputs and main BYPASS ouputs m Gold-plated S-Video and composite connectors m Subwoofer output with three-position HALL, and CLUB—proved useful as active crossover m Compatible with infrared-repeater system m Manual well, though to various degrees with specific types of music. noise sequencer m Wireless remote control All of the 1000’s outputs produced a SUMMARY bit of noise. It was minimal in the = Layout is straightforward = Generally well endowed in terms of connections LINE/DIRECT mode and never reached a Internal construction is impressive m Excellent sound with movies and bothersome levels in any mode, and it was wholly inaudible when a program music m= Almost entirely transparent to video signals = All channels produced was playing. It was more evident—and a bit of noise m Lacks a front-panel or on-screen viet diratmy Has a very small took on a faintly modulating character- circle ofpeers Circle 101 on reader service card istic at the surround outputs—when “To maximize its potential: Pro Logic was selected, but even when CONTINUED ON PAGE 84 VIDEO JULY/AUGUST 1995 41

LEFT SURROUND ie | FEEDTAY) 5) LPALSAEYRER DI(SAK/V) 1 OR ea ga Gs‘rootn Cererrt Sa& a es=\" f hand | ‘ i i aen wr,Sen a DECSjsKaeog(FAFUoIO) if Uj a ee A mee pce memati SATELLITE — VER (A/V) FEEP (A/V) TUNER : (AUDIO) 7CAPUBPILOA)YER Make Your Audio/ Video System The Best It Can Be. Whether designing the ideal home theater system or For instance, the B&K AVP 2000 A/V Control Center making your present system even better, B&K amplifiers, offers eight simple-to-use personal memory presets that preamplifiers and audio/video control centers with Dolby —_ allow you to easily customize your audio/video system. Pro Logic* are the best investments you can make to A single command instantly gives you music, movies or guarantee that your entire system will be the best itcanbe. _ satellite, cable or TV broadcasts tailored to bring you B&K components, recognized as the best in their class, optimum audio/video performance. outperform receivers as well as similar components cost- Visit a B&K dealer today. You'll see and hear how ing considerably more. Their remarkable value is the result |B&K components can make your audio/video system of B&K’s uncompromising the best it can be. cPRoLmmSitemevntato desig8n, B&K Audio/Video Control Centers Call 1-800-543-5252 Feature Dolby Pro Logic ¢ Time Link manufacturing quality. for the dealer nearest you. * “Dolby” and “Pro Logic” are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. B& K Components Designed, Engineered and Made in the U.S.A. B&K Components, Ltd. * 2100 Old Union Road, Buffalo, NY 14227-2725 USA « In NY (716) 656-0026 ° Fax: (716) 656-1291 CIRCLE NO. 27 ON READER SERVICE CARD

\\ VIDEO TEST Mitsubishi’s M-V7057 laserdisc player comes close to perfection IN LIFE, SATISFACTION IS OFTEN A MATTER OF SIMPLY playback with astounding clarity, are determining your needs and then making your best effort to usually available only when playing fulfill them. If all of your driving is restricted to a weekly jaunt CAV discs. Since most feature films are to the supermarket, for example, you really don’t need a Porsche. released only in the CLV format (with a Likewise, if all you’re interested in is watching movies start to few rare and pricey exceptions), spe- finish, Mitsubishi’s M-V7057 would probably be overkill. cial effects are often unavailable. Now don’t get me wrong—it’s a terrific movie machine. It’s just That’s where the digital video electron- ics come in: If you have them, you can that it does so much more. And if more is what you’re after, the enjoy all types of digital special effects with either type of disc. digitally driven M-V7057 ($1,099) is a should become more plentiful (and great place to start. more affordable) over the next 12 The V7057 is an excellent example months. The point is that the V7057 of what can be done when modern dig- One high-profile feature that’s likely will be ready to take the high ground ital-video technology is merged with to mean a great deal several months with you, come what may. the original analog laserdisc format. down the road is the V7057’s back- Film-literate users can analyze cine- panel RF port. It may not look like Otherwise, the V7057’s extra capa- matic editing in slow motion, for ex- much, but it’s actually a gateway to the bilities revolve around its digital video next generation of home-theater sur- electronics. Ever since the dawn of the ample, or pour over still frames to round sound: The port lets you feed the LD format back in the late ’70s, there’s study picture composition. And the LD player’s audio output into a proces- been a line drawn between two types of 7057 offers just about every bell and sor or A/V receiver that’s equipped for laserdiscs: CAV (constant angular ve- whistle you could want, including the locity), and CLV (constant linear veloci- ability to automatically switch sides of Dolby Surround AC-3, the digital, ty). Some of the LD format’s most en- an LD. Other features include a dedi- “5.1”-channel heir to Dolby Pro Logic. tertaining features, like the ability to cated tray for music CDs, a digital While such AC-3 components are ex- view still frames and slow-motion time-base corrector, a comprehensive tremely scarce (and pricey) today, they digital video-noise-reduction circuit, and practically every type of output BY CLIFF ROTH

connection that can be imagined. active in the pause mode—only in the Hz +0, -1-.720dBB; analog, Measuring 5.5 x 16.6 x 17.25 inches stop mode. Frankly, I found DIGITAL MEMORY confusing. You can move frame by frame, perform (h/w/d) and weighing 18.5 pounds, the a quick search, or view a still frame V7057 has a solid look and feel. The The THEATER MODE switch is a nice with perfect clarity. Choices for bidi- fluorescent front-panel display is a cool touch, especially when used in con- rectional slow-motion playback speed blue with red accents. For minimum junction with DISPLAY OFF (which are 1/90TH, 1/30TH, 1/16TH, 1/8TH, 1/4TH, distraction, the display can be switched blanks the display as well as transforms 1/2, 1X, 2X, and 3X normal speed (indi- off, leaving just one or two appropri- blue backgrounds to black during disc cated on-screen). ately dim LEDs illuminated. There’s no pauses, stops, or side changes): TM power light when the unit is on; when speeds up the transition from a disc’s Though the owner’s manual notes first side to its second. I clocked transi- that slow motion works only with CAV turned off, a small red LED glows. A tion time at 8 and 12 seconds with TM discs, I thought it did fine with CLV 0.25-inch headphone jack and a dedi- turned on and off, respectively. The on- discs—and in both directions, to boot. cated volume control sit in the lower- ly drawback: You can’t use the ad- In fact, all of the special effects worked left corner of the front panel. vanced editing, programming, or ran- with CLV discs. The only difference is dom-playback features when viewing in your access to a disc’s “interior”— Besides the basic motion controls, the disc’s second side with TM en- only CAV discs offer frame-number ac- the front panel features a true jog/shut- gaged. cess, while CLV discs go by elapsed tle control that’s slightly easier to use time. (In both cases, finding a particu- than the jog shuttle on the unit’s wire- The V7057’s remote is well laid out lar point on a disc is made reasonably less remote control. Also on the front and surprisingly compact, considering easy via the remote’s CHAPTER button panel are side-change buttons, forward the inclusion of a true jog/shuttle dial and numeric keypad—but [| still and reverse chapter-scan buttons, and a and illuminated motion-control but- would’ve preferred an even simpler DIRECT CD button that activates the tons. A large, easy-to-find button along “go-to” button.) smaller CD-size tray (you can also the left edge activates the light, which place CDs in the center of the 12-inch illuminates the most often-used buttons Other operating conveniences include for 3 seconds. Annoyingly, pressing the an A—B repeat system, for automatical- LD tray). The HILITE/INTRO SCAN but- pause button blanks the screen, rather ly replaying any selected section of a ton plays the first few seconds of each than freezing the current frame. You disc, an audio-channel (left/right/ chapter of an LD. Repeat, program- can, however, readily jump into the stereo) and track (digital or analog) se- play, random-play, and video noise-re- freeze-frame mode by pressing the step lector, a display button that shows re- duction buttons are also provided. maining time, audio status, and elapsed buttons (forward and reverse frame ad- time (or frame number with CAV discs), And then there’s the DIGITAL MEMO- vance) or by activating the jog dial. Jog and an auto-edit button for copying RY button. Not recalling it from the activation requires pressing the jog- CDs onto cassettes. other Mits LD players I’ve reviewed, I mode button, which glows red until pressed it and noted a flashing green you change modes. Having already exhausted most of light. Whatever it indicated wasn’t ob- the new releases offered at my local vious, so I consulted the owner’s manu- The jog dial, located in the middle of laser-disc-rental shop (I guess I should al. I discovered that pressing this but- the shuttle ring, lets you dial frame by count myself lucky to even have such ton prompts the player to grab a digital frame in forward or reverse. As noted, an establishment nearby), I settled on freeze frame and hold it for display the V7057’s excellent digital video- two special selections for my V7057 when the disc is stopped or ejected. memory electronics offer lots of special test-drive: A new release of The Con- The frame is discarded during side effects with both CAv and CLV discs. cert for Bangladesh, the 1971 film fea- changes, however, and this feature isn’t turing George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, and Bob Dylan. Though it looks like it was shot on grainy 16MM film, the music sounded great and ap- pealed to the old hippie in me. For something a bit more visually splendid, I also checked out Caro Diario (“Dear CONTINUED ON PAGE 84 44 JULY/AUGUS19T95 VIDEO

InThe Mid ‘70s We Created Home Theater. Now We've Created A New Way ld Buy It. The people who work at Cambridge Surround Speakers channel, surround SoundWorks-including our cofounder Henry Cambridge SoundWorks makes two “dipole and main stereo Kloss (who also founded AR, KLH and Advent) radiator” surround sound speakers. Dolby La- speakers. The combina- - have been involved with the concept of home boratories recommends dipole radiator speakers tion we show here is our theater from the beginning. In 1969 (years best seller. It includes our before VCRs and cable TV), Henry Kloss for use as surround speakers, 7he critically acclaimed Ensemble subwoofer , founded Advent, Surround has a very high satellite speaker system (with dual subwoofers), the company that power handling ca- our Center Channel Plus and a pair of our best introduced the pacity and is often surround speakers, The Surround. You could first home theater Selected for “high spend hundreds more than its $1,167% price audio/video end” surround without improving performance. systems - sound systems. complete with big- Audio, describing a For information on other home theater screen TVs and system that speaker systems digital surround sound. We included The - or on any of have had an ongoing relationship with the Surround said, people at Dolby Laboratories, creators of Dolby the products we Surround Sound, since Henry Kloss introduced “In many ways the surround sensation was thefirst consumer products with Dolby noise every bit as good as far more expensive in- Ss reduction over 20 years ago. And now at stallations.” $399” pr. The smaller 7he Cambridge SoundWorks we believe we have set Surround ITis ae ly the country’s best make an sell-call 1-800-FOR-HIFI for your a new price-to-performance standard for home value in a dipole radiator speaker. $249” pr. free color catalog. Thanks. theater components. Powered Subwoofers We Eliminate The Risks. Because we sell carefully matched and tested All Cambridge SoundWorks speakers are home theater speaker systems Factory-Direct, The original Powered Subwoofer by backed by our 30-day Total Satisfaction and through cost-efficient Best Buy stores, you Cambridge SoundWorks consists of a heavy- can save hundreds of dollars. We bellieve duty 12\" woofer housed in an acoustic suspen- Guarantee. Try them in your home, with the products on these pages represent the sion cabinet with a 140-watt amplifier and a your music. If you don’t like them, return country’s best values in Fighperformance them for a full refund. We even refund built-in electronic crossover. Stereo Review said your original regular ground UPS shipping home theater components. Audio critics, it provides “deep powerful bass...31.5 Hz bass charges. output was obtainable at a room-shaking and thousands of satisfied customers, level...they open the way to ya a ‘killer’ For A Free Catalog, Call agree. Stereo Review said, “Cambridge system for an affordableris\"$699, 1-800-FOR-HIFI Our Slave Subwoofer uses the SoundWorks manufactures sere) ers same woofer driver and Cambridge SoundWorks products. are that provide exceptional sound quality at cabinet, but does not affordable prices.” Audio suggested that we include the amplifier or available only direct from may have “the best value in the world.” crossover. It can only be used in conjunction with Cambridge SoundWorks and Center Channel Speakers the Powered Subwoofer. at our Factory-Direct Speaker Cambridge SoundWorks manufactures $299”. The new Walls in over 200 Best Buy three speakers for use as center channel Powered Subwoofer II stores nationwide. speakers in Dolby Pro Logic home theater uses a 120-watt amplifier systems, All three are magnetically shielded We Know How with an 8\" woofer. $399”. To Make Loudspeakers! so they can be placed near a TV or computer Home Theater Speaker Systems monitor. Model Ten-A is a small, affordable two- We have assembled a number of home 311 Needham Street,Suite 130 J/A, Newton, MA 02164 1-800-367-4434 Fax: 617-332-9229 way speaker. $79%, theater speaker systems that consist of center Canada: 1-800-525-4434 Center Channel is Outside U.S. or Canada: 617-332-5936 essentially identical © 1995 Cambridge SoundWorks. REnsemble registered trademark of to a Cambridge SoundWorks Ensemble satellite (but with magnetic shield- Cambridge SoundWorks, Inc, KLH is a trademar KLH, Inc. AR and Advent ing). $149”. Center Channel Plus uses an ultra- Zoeare trademarks of International Jensen Inc Cambridge SoundWorks is not low, ultra-wide design thatis ideal for pacing affiliated with KLH, Advent or AR above ((o0r, with optional support stand, below) a TV monitor. $219”. CIRCLE NO. 29 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Yamaha’s RX-V690 A/V receiver pours on the value YAMAHA ucruns:. sauna erence mecerven rx-vea: i7 $00 THERE’S A RESTAURANT IN CHICAGO THAT IS, VERY POSSIBLY, videos, and music—plus nine addition- al DSP surround modes for both A/V and the finest on Earth. It’s called Charlie Trotter’s, and it serves some of the most amazing nouvelle cuisine on the audio-only material (the V670 included planet. If you ever visit, put your trust in the chef and his “just” six modes). And there’s a loaded learning remote control—prepro- eclectic tasting menu: You’ll be treated to a variety of courses, each grammed with Yamaha component codes, of course. of which packs an incredible array of flavors and textures into a Like I said, there’s a lot packed into a small, beautifully presented dish. Now I’m not just rambling; the relatively small dish. To learn how well it all works, I installed the V690 in a companies that build A/V receivers have a lot in common with this high-performance home-theater system and asked it to power full-range floor- establishment. As the home-theater more power: 80 watts to each of the standing speakers left and right, a revolution plunges ahead, manufactur- wide-range center-channel speaker, and ers continue to pack—like Chef Trotter left, center, and right channels (with excellent dipolar surround speakers. and his exquisite creations—ever more 0.04 percent THD) plus 25 watts x 2 for Source components included laserdisc amplifier power, performance, and fea- and CD players, DirecTV and USSB tures into their small, nicely presented the surrounds (with 0.3 percent THD), programming, and a VHS Hi-Fi VCR. receivers. And you can get a new high- all rated over the channels’ full operat- performance A/V receiver, like Yama- ing bandwidths. And unlike the V670, The V690 is conceived along tried- ha’s RX-V690, for about the price of the V690 has a line-level subwoofer and-true A/V lines: A single large vol- dinner for four at Charlie T’s. output with a 200-Hz low-pass cutoff; preamp-outs for all four channels make ume knob (with a lighted indicator on The V690 is an excellent example of system expansion a snap. (Need more the rim) is complemented by three the Bold New Receiver. Its feature power? Just plug it in.) And there’s a smaller knobs managing balance, bass, menu is extensive, and it serves up very sprinkling of S-Video connections. and treble. Somewhat unusually, this respectable power—all at a price— trio remains active in all of the sur- $699—that’s actually lower than its Yamaha’s expertise with digital sig- round modes in addition to two-chan- precursor (the estimable RX-V670). nal processing (DSP) is also on display. nel stereo, though it affects only the The V690 outperforms the V670 in The V690 offers the company’s Cine- left/right channels. Pushbuttons ac- other ways, too. The V690 delivers ma DSP package, which employs a count for the rest of the V690’s control fully digital implementation of Dolby Pro Logic to handle movies, TV shows, BY DANIEL KUMIN