AV Rant #528: Vastly Improved
Our Listeners of the Week are Daniel for his donation, Mark M. for alerting us to a problem on our website, and Heath for mentioning us to Aperion Audio when he ordered his Verus II Grand speakers and netted himself a 20% discount!
In the news, Dolby Vision is now possible using software only, and the LG G6 Android Smartphone is the first to add Dolby Vision support.
Rob was wrong, Marantz SR6010 and SR6011 AV Receivers only have their small “porthole” displays, no larger displays hidden behind their front panels. Infinite Gary found a good article explaining HDR video. Nathan D. got a kick out of the press release for the $22,000 Esoteric Grandioso G1 Master Clock Generator. Buddy L. says we were wrong and he really did need an external amp for his ESS Heil speakers. Jay P. took our advice and broke open his piggy bank to get a bigger subwoofer. And Josh A. mentions Draper manual roll-down screens with tab-tensioning for a taut screen without electricity.
Karl R. asks about an Ultra HD setup disc, and sending UHD signals through his AV Receiver. He also gets our recommendations for Peerless PRG or Chief RPAU projector mounts, plus a Ceiling Plate and Adjustable Extension Pipe, as well as an Elite Saker Tab-Tension Electric screen. Heath B. will have a shorter room than he thought. We go over seating placement, screen size, speaker placement, and subwoofer concerns. And Brian R. asks why Ultra Short Throw Projectors don’t get more coverage.
Shannon H. got worried over claims that the subwoofer crawl does not work. Ian E. is temporarily running a phantom center and wants to know why it sounds so different, as well as what’s causing a bad noise in his Surround speakers. And Russell K. is preparing to add infinite baffle subwoofers to his loft and has some placement concerns about those as well as his in-ceiling Atmos speakers.
Ted M. is upgrading to dual subwoofers and wants to read more about multiple subwoofer setup and bass optimization. He also asks for an explanation of minimum phase, and whether he should add additional side Surround speakers. Jonathan F. bought earphones at a store without doing online research and wonders if the shopping experience is actually more pleasant that way. Will T. asks about lowering his Surround speakers, whether he should add two or four Atmos speakers, and gets our suggestions for either a Marantz SR6011 or Denon AVR-X4300H 7.2.4 AV Receiver. And Mitch R. is debating Receiver and amplifier choices, projection screen choices, and whether he needs to remove his ceiling fan or not.
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To your comment about Yamaha’s top model, the Yamaha A3050/60 can configure presence speakers as ‘Front or Rear Height’, ‘Overhead’ or ‘Dolby Enabled’. You can store two different speaker patterns so typically Yamaha owners will configure one pattern as front/rear height for DTS:X and overhead for Dolby Atmos (this is due to the implementation variation between the two immersive formats – quote from an AVS Forum post: “… DTS:X and Atmos “see” the speakers differently. For Atmos, the overhead speaker position and designation are ideal. The same speaker positions are ideal for DTS:X, but in DTS world, those speakers should ideally be designated as heights. Same ceiling speaker position:
– Atmos calls them overhead.
– DTS:X calls them heights.
Yamaha users can use the two patterns for the different designations.”
Apart from your view that YPAO is not as good as Audissey, not sure why Yamaha gets such a bad rap from you. Keep in mind that at least in Canada, the Adventage line of receivers comes with one of the longest warranties (4 years in Canada) of any manufacturer so while a receiver’s features are important, build quality and longevity are as important when considering buying a component that will hopefully run problem-free for many years.