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Re: Listening to two DVD-Audios: Bach/St. Matthew Passion/Harnoncourt (Teldec) and Mozart/Figaro (Naxos)

>> It does have time alignment (and I think I've mentioned this to you before). <<

Well, in as much as practically all other DVD players out there have DVD-Video 'speaker distance settings'. ;-)


>> Time alignment is actually a poor man's version of room correction. There are some that argue it's not really effective - since it only compensates for the phase of sound coming directly from the speakers, but 80% of what we hear are reflected sound, which won't be compensated. <<

My room has: a thick-pile wool fitted carpet; a high ceiling; thick padded suede sofas; 96inch drop double-lined curtains; and 2ft thick brick walls which are lined in acoustically absorbent anaglypta with a stippled surface (i.e. not 'mirror-flat').
So audio-wise, my room is pretty non-reactive, and non-reflective — save for the sub frequencies (which are improved by having fully brick walls on all four sides).
In contrast, you have a hard floor (highly reflective), and I would guess (being in Australia), internal walls which aren’t solid brick?


>> I would suggest you invest some money in digital room correction (which will compensate for the actual condition of your room, including reflected waves). <<

See my point above. Also, I wouldn’t want to add any processing stage between my player’s analog outs and the power-amp (everything in between is in the analog domain).


>> Actually, i don't have any "m-ch power amps" (m-ch usually meaning 3 or more channels in one chassis). All the amps are dual mono. <<

Of course, but I was speaking in general terms. And if I understand your system right, that means you have eight independent channels at around 250W each? I’m envious!


>> none of the Denon players (including yours) have impressed me as much as my current player (except for the DVD-A1 or DVD-9000 <<

Ahem. Christine, among the comments I recall that you made:-

1. You did say that my [then prototype] DVDA11 sounded "better" then your Panny;

2. Bass: You mentioned my bass was more fullsome, despite my REL Quake sub at the time being much smaller than yours (last weekend I replaced it with the very latest REL "Storm 5" — wow!); Main reason for your comment I suspect is the bass management I use, which takes freqs below 60Hz from the mains and sends them to the sub. Other reasons would be my solid brick walls, and corner sub placement (as recommended by REL);

3. "Good ambience recovery" — an interesting phrase you used. But I know what you mean. And it’s precisely because of the time alignment I use. That results in delaying the ambience signal from the rear speakers, so that it reaches your ears AFTER the corresponding sound from the fronts. Otherwise, the human brain gets confused and it won’t interpret it as ‘ambience’ if it reaches your ears at the same time or before the front L/R & center;

4. "Sucked-out" — yep. Following your comment, I’ve cured that one:-
(a) Now I use the carpet spikes on the main speakers. The spikes go right down into the floor-beams underneath the thick carpet;
(b) Main speakers also now have a slight upward cant to direct midrange drivers up and away from the axis of the absorbant carpet;
(c) I have a new machine — no longer the prototype DVD-A11 which you heard. That one was less then a week old when your heard it, had numerous bugs — both with the hardware & firmware — and it wasn’t even broken-in.
The one I have now was a much later build. I got it new in exchange for the prototype, and it immediately sounded much more open, clearer, and better out-of-the-box overall. Now, well over a year later, not only is that player broken-in, but so is my RMB-1075 five-channel power amp and also the RSP-1066 preamp’s multichannel analog bypass stage. In short, a world of difference in sound.


>> - if i ever see that on the second hand market i will buy one - i'm still kicking myself for not buying one when I had the chance). I have compared all these players side by side - have you? <<

Denon really improved the BM functionality & flexibility on the -A11 compared with the -A1/-9000. For that reason alone I would not pick that older player, even though its DACs are very good. But then so are mine. :-)


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