TauRus

---------------- On 4/23/2003 9:34:47 PM shoe11 wrote: I put in an order for the Denon 2900 this past weekend. Now that I've placed the deposit I'm having second thoughts on the whole SACD/DVD-A deal. The following have me thinking of canceling the order: 1. The lack of a digital interface at this time. I don't really like the idea of having to buy/use a ton of extra cables and then a year or two from now, a digital standard becomes available. 2. Even with a few great additions recently announced, very small catalogs of available software and fairly expensive. 3. Multi-channel I find to be rather gimmicky. Just a personal opinion of course. 4. Would really prefer to have a dedicated audio only device instead of a combination player. There are a few other reasons that have me thinking I'm going to be sticking with good ol' 2 channel CD for a few years longer. Still, not sure just yet. If I were to recommend a DVD only player at this time, I'd buy a Denon-1600. I've read very positive reviews about it and it's under the $500 price point at this time. BTW both www.denon.com and www.crutchfield.com have pics of the 2900. ~shoe ---------------- /> Folks, Here are my thoughts on the issue: 1) To go HiRez or not to go - TO GO for sure - I listened to both stereo and multichannel SACD and DVD-A and was impressed. Just a few days ago I sat all alone for half an hour in the Tweeter demo room listening to the Dark Side of The Moon SACD in multichannel mode played on Pioneer DV47Ai/B&W receiver/Vienna Acoustics speakers ... man, that was something, I just could not stop listening to this well known album, yet rediscovering it in a new way. 2) SACD vs DVD-A - since the war is still on and the winner is far from determined, my choice is - Universal player. Just a couple of months ago my unversal player of the choice was Pioneer DV47Ai. But when in January I saw first reports of Denon DVD2900 I immediately realized this is the best unit to come out this year. I am aware of the high end players like Rotel, Esoteric etc. but I am not at that stage of evolution yet to pay a few grands for a player. Having a Denon receiver I know how well Denon products sound. Although this unit does not have a digital output for SACD/DVD-A, I still prefer it to Pioneer DV47Ai, since the audio quality is a lot more important to me. Also, even if I would get the DV47Ai now, I wouldn't be able to use its FireWire output since my receiver (Denon 3803) does not have this interface. So far only a few of the top-of-the-line receivers like Pioneer 49i have this capability, and at that price point, I would rather go with separates than with a receiver. Finally one more point to DVD2900 is that it is based on DVD3800 chassis (that takes care of video quality) and is rumored to have excelent CD performance as well - so, I will still be buying some regular CDs too. 3) As for the choice of SACD/DVD-A discs, the lists are getting bigger by day, I don't see a problem here. So, I will wait a bit to let the prices go to the reasonable level of 750-800 and then will get DVD2900. The only other potential threat to DVD2900 might be the rumored Outlaw universal player. Outlaw is well respected for high value and high quality. Their amplifiers are really a bargain. But have yet to witness how well they will fare with a mechanical product.

I would like to second Russ - yes, based on product description Adcom uses a very similar if not the same technology as Brickwall units. My purchase of Adcom was driven primarily by the fear of surges. Just a few months ago a lightning strike totaled all home electronics in our friends' house. That was a wake up call for me. While searching for the surge suppressor I did come across numerous reviews that mentioned "dramatic" improvements in audio and video when the system was powered through a surge suppressor/power line conditioner. Honestly I dismissed this as another hype to force us naive customers to shell out money for all those PS Audio and similar expensive units. So I focused my search on the surge protection performance of these units. When I finally installed Adcom ACE-615 in my rack and powered the system, to my big surprise I indeed heard a difference in audio - the sounstage seemed to be a bit wider, music seemed to be a bit more transparent. But it did not end there - video was improved as well - on a big screen you can easily see the artifacts and noise of the cable programming - now they were gone. I did not notice this great improvement with DVD though. If I were able to change one thing in Adcom unit, I would add an IR port and capability to power the unit up/down remotely. Otherwise this is a very sleek and elegant unit, no bright flashy indicators. It blends well with about any AV equipment. If I could kill the three little red diods on the front panel, I would love it even more. Note to Adcom Marketing Dept: contact me for my bank account details

Finally, I just went through the specs. Numbers alone don't show much of a difference between the camparable models of the older and newer generation. The question I have so far is: What is the tread size for wall mounting? Since I will be mounting the bookshelves on the walls as my surrounds, it is important for me to understand what kind of wall mount brackets will be compatible with the new bookshelf speakers.

My take on this is that if there was a capability to burn SACD discs on regular DVD burners then any DVD player should be able to read SACD. Since this is not the case, it is my strong guess that you cannot burn SACD on DVD burners - they might require different wave length and different software to do the job. In my case I did burn regular CD copies of the Hybrid SACD red book layers, but I guess this is not what you were looking for.

I have not tested the widely popular Panamaxes or Monster surge units, but I can tell I am quite happy with my Adcom surge suppressor ACE-615 - it is based on the "If Lightning Strikes" technology, no MOVs inside, 8 outlets on the rear panel. If you search the web you might find a couple of reviews on these units. I bought mine for around $320

oh, man, the tensions are so hign, my patience is running out ... :-) So, what is now the new target date for the release of RB-x5 specs?

I got SAHE200 for a couple of weeks from Curcuit City. Build quality is excellent, high on WAF, and at less than $500 makes a pretty good value. I particularly enjoyed some features like Sub level adjustment from remote (in increments of 5 dB). Don;t know what the real power ratings of this unit were, but it managed to fill my huge family room. On the downside: 1)set up and manual could be a bit more user-friendly; 2) after a while I noticed I was getting tired of listening to the music: in my case it looks like the combination of RF3s and SAHE200 produced a bit too bright sound (upper mids, lower hi's) and at the same time I noticed some lack of mid to higher HFs. Music sounded more aggressiv than usual. I returned the unit to the store and later got Denon 3803 - well, that's what I call a true value (I got my Denon for 750 which was a steal). So in short, depending on your room and speakers you might find this receiver either excellent or so-so, but even given the criticism SAHE200 still deserves serious consideration. Also, wanted to suggest Outlaw 1050. This is a very serious piece of equipment at very affordable price. Regular price is 499, but you can get them factory refurbished at much lower prices.

Yeap, I believe the first shipments of Denon DVD2900 are expected May 15th. I am also going to get it.

I heard Onkyo HTIB like LS-V950 for example generated alot of positive noise, although I never auditioned them myself. Given the fact that the room is small, I would probably sugest getting a couple of omnidirectional speakers, like OMNI series from Mirage. In small to mid sized rooms they generate such an enveloping surround sound that there is no need for surround speakers.

I apologize if this was already covered in other threads, I would like to know when the specs for the new line up of 2003 Klipsch Reference speakers will be released to public on this web site? I am in the process of upgrading the Home Theater and am struggling now to either buy the currently available speakers or wait till the new ones will be on sale. Specs will help somewhat in this process. Does anyone know at least if the specs of the 2003 line will be consistent with the current "old" line?