Finally, using Delay Setup, you calculate and set the time delays for the center and surround channels to compensate for each speaker's distance from the listener. Only a tape measure is required for this. These speaker settings affect only those signals that pass through the digital processing of the MDP 500, not the signals from the "7.1" inputs. As you'll see when I talk about multichannel SACD and DVD-A, below,…
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Next, you adjust the output level of each channel in the speaker array (Level Setup) by means of a pink-noise–like test signal that is switched among the available channels.
I also sampled the MDP's capabilities for Dolby Pro Logic and other surround synthesis modes. In addition to stereo and mono, these include Natural, Concert, Club, and Party. The best I can say about the last four choices is that it was clear why they were so named. Having had that epiphany, I found no reason to invoke them again.
With good stereo sources, center fill was usually better with the MDP in plain stereo than in any of the music modes that actually produce sound in the center channel! Pro Logic, on the other hand, worked as it should. With appropriate sources—mostly movies,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: 7.1-channel digital preamplifier-processor. Modes: Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby "late night" compression, extensive bass management, Dolby Pro Logic, four synthesized surround modes, stereo, mono, Cinema EQ. Inputs: nine analog stereo (2V RMS sensitivity, adjustable, 17k ohm/100pF impedance), one 7.1-channel analog (1V RMS sensitivity, 17k ohm/100pF impedance), six digital (four coax, two optical), six video (all composite and S-video). Outputs: one analog stereo Tape (2V RMS, 500 ohms impedance), two stereo Record (2V RMS, 60 ohms impedance), one 7.1-…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Four-way, reflex-loaded, magnetically shielded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: coincident (Uni-Q) 1" (25mm) titanium-dome tweeter and 6.5" (165mm) polypropylene copolymer-cone upper-midrange unit; 10" (250mm) paper-cone lower-midrange unit; two 10" (250mm) fiber-reinforced paper-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 120Hz, 350Hz, 2.3kHz; 24dB/octave acoustic slopes. Frequency response: 40Hz–60kHz, ±3dB, 15° off horizontal axis. Bass extension: 26Hz, –6dB. Sensitivity: 91dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (3 ohms minimum). Recommended…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xe, Pioneer DV-578A universal players; Mark Levinson No.30.6, Benchmark DAC 1 USB, Bel Canto e.one DAC 3 D/A converters; Logitech (Slim Devices) Transporter WiFi music player with Apple Mac mini running OSX for media storage.
Preamplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 2, Ayre K-5xe, Mark Levinson No.380S.
Power Amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1, Musical Fidelity 550k Supercharger, Mark Levinson No.33H monoblocks; Boulder 860.
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Illuminations Orchid AES/EBU, AudioQuest…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Like the original KEF Reference 207, the Reference 207/2 has a voltage sensitivity that is significantly higher than average, at an estimated 91dB(B)2.83V/m, as specified. But also like the earlier version, the 207/2's impedance averages 4 ohms throughout the bass and lower midrange, with a drop to 3.5 ohms in the high treble (fig.1). The absence of the usual double impedance hump in the bass implies that KEF has used some sort of conjugate network at low frequencies in order to make the speaker resemble a resistive load. Certainly the phase angle is generally low…
The "Want to make an easy $1,000,000?" e-mail wasn't a scam from Nigeria but an alert from Paul DiComo, late of Polk Audio and now of Definitive Technology, about a double-blind cable-identification challenge made by The Annoying Randi, a magician and debunker of paranormal events who goes by the name of "The Amazing Randi."
I should have hit Delete and resumed my vacation. But a few months earlier, Randi, without the slightest provocation, had attacked me on his website and the revenge fantasy of relieving him of a million of his bucks filled my head.
Aided by a goofy cover photo…
"The Deaf Audiophile"
Not everything that happened last fall was unpleasant. For instance, the Wall Street Journal's Lee Gomes interviewed me for his September 12, 2007, "Portals" column, "Are Technology Limits in MP3s and iPods Ruining Pop Music?" I don't agree that MP3 compression and/or the Apple iPod is to blame for the poor sound quality of much of today's pop music, or for the ridiculous amount of dynamic compression that is applied to most pop recordings these days, and Gomes let me say that and many other things in a long interview you can download here. I also prepared for him…
On weekends, I play guitar in a string band whose membership varies between two and five members, depending on the location of the job and the amount of pay offered. We're reasonably good at picking and singing, but we lack the originality that would make someone want to buy our albums, which is why we haven't made them. Our little group is McDonald's, not Le Circe or even Applebee's, and I'm at peace with that.
My favorite jobs are the ones where people listen, or dance, or both. But those jobs are increasingly rare. You might have guessed that from the simple fact that I had…
Don't forget: Not only are many large concert venues now sponsored by corporate merchants, the tours of most major pop performers are underwritten by corporate sponsors who want to use music and musicians as advertising vehicles, to sell you more things you don't need. On the last Rolling Stones tour, for instance, Mick Jagger's wobbly old-lady arms were brought to you by Mateus Rosé. It's anyone's guess how many people in the audience wore overpriced clothing emblazoned with ads for Donna Karan and Nike. Jesus H. Wept.
Reality
I'm not complaining about Carnegie Hall. The last time…