Info and forum posts by 'rommel'

RE: Which E-Mail phone should I get for Mum...?

Thanks guys,

are the Amstrad phones the only ones available? I`m having real difficulty in finding any information on the net.

Can anybody point me in the right direction?

Which E-Mail phone should I get for Mum...?

Which should I go for? My mother is too old to get into computers but would like to use e-mail. Any ideas?

RE: Advice on which amplifier?

Okay, I`ve gone and done it....

It should be with me in a few weeks - we just need to go over the setup for the room and decide whether we wish to take advantage of it`s multi-room capability (!!!!). Trouble is, I`m now in a quandry as to whether to go for new speakers all-round.... or maybe a bigger TV.... oh hell, this is getting out of control!

Thing is, when you consider that this is the absolute best of it`s kind out there and that it`s fully upgradeable by RS232 &/or board exchanges and then you also take into account Naim`s reputation as King`s of after-sales service (they still service and upgrade every single piece of equipment they have made), it`s actually a very rational purchase and a bit of a bargain too... (OK, I`m in the rationalisation stage, I realise that....;)

Thus far, Naim have proved themselves to be an exceptionally helpful company, happy to answer all your questions patiently and authoritatively whether by phone or e-mail and are happy for you to drop by the factory should you so wish. Try that with Sony, Denon, or for that matter with Mark Levinson... That`s worth anybody`s money, I`d say.

p.s. Their site has an excellent forum on it - not just for Naim gear either...

RE: Advice on which amplifier?

OK guys (and girls), here`s some food for thought.

I have been spoiled. I have just come away from some extensive hands-on testing with the Naim AV2 and I know that my 5 channel listening is never going to be the same. Sadly that`s also true of my bank balance if I carry out what I know now to be the essential deed - buying one!

This thing strips away all forms of artifice so prevalent (until now) on 5 channel replay through any other processor (bar maybe the Mark Levinson but at £30,000 I`ve neither listened to it or could possibly afford it) and that includes the "big guns" of Tag Mclaren, Lexicon, and Meridian. If you`re in the market for an AV amp at any price you just have to hear it to know what`s possible - even on crummy old Dolby Digital which actually sounds great on this deceptively simple yet very versatile little marvel.

My point on a thread talking about £1K amps? Well, when you start spending real money on an amp it`s worth seeing what you get for a bit more... The jump in performance available from the AV2 over it`s immediate competition is far greater than you get moving from say a £300 AV amp to one costing £1000. Was it any coincidence that despite crummy acoustics, the Naim AV dem room at the recent London Hifi Show was consistently praised as one of the most impressive people had heard...?? Granted the AV2 is only a processor and the associated amps will double your outlay but be warned, I initially set out on the search for a really good £1000 AV amp.....

Remember, you can`t take it with you when it`s all over....;)

Check it out here at www.naim-audio.com

This item was edited on Monday, 23rd September 2002, 19:20

RE: Video Recorder ...Any Recommendations??

I`d go for either Panasonic or JVC. They consistently make machines with the best picture and sound quality. I still use a Panasonic Nicam/Hifi VCR that`s now 10 years old and still looking and sounding superb. Reliability is beyond question...

RE: Classical music on dvd-audio

You`re right that AV amp/receivers are very poor in stereo - even the top line Denon and Harman/Kardon units offer only the merest hint of what`s capable from a similar two-channel amplifier.

The NAD units are pretty good for the money but still only really compare with their least expensive stereo amplifiers, as for the rest..... oh brother...!

Things only start to get good at a higher level, the Myryad units are good, as are the Arcam FMJ series. Meridian are also good but the sound is still a little veiled and obviously processed which all units seem to suffer from to a greater or lesser extent. It`s subtle but definitely a huge bar to total enjoyment. All bar one, that is - the Naim AV-2 is definitely my reference at the moment but then it`s just a processor devoid of AV switching (probably why it sounds so much more natural than any of the others - why else would Mark Levinson do it on their £30,000 processor...?) and amplification - put together with some Naim amps (take your pick depending on budget or use another make, why not?) and it wipes the floor with Lexicons and the like but you only get such a performance by stripping out everything bar the essentials for 5.1 replay. And, of course, used in a system, stereo replay is unaffected... I`m saving up!!!

RE: Classical music on dvd-audio

The availability of software for DVD-A is currently poor to non-existant. There are a few rock & pop dics out there but classical material is notable by it`s absence. It seems that the anti-piracy "watermarking" may be to blame for this as it`s far from transparent and, frankly, in most cases you`d get better sound from CDs played back on a quality CD player.

Another point is that there are very few true 5.1 recordings around, instead one is offered 2 channel recordings re-mixed for surround sound - Aaaarrrghh!!! A well recorded classical piece played back on a fine system will recreate the atmosphere and space of the venue to the extent that "surround-sound" just muddies the waters.

SACD has a much wider range of software available, especially Classical material (including a few true 5.1 recordings!) but the same caveat applies. It sounds initially impressive but the 2 channel recordings get much closer to the feeling of "being there" unless one takes the trouble to have a 5.1 setup using exactly the same speakers all-round, and all at exactly the same distance and height from the listening position. Fine in theory, but a nightmare in practice and hardly practical for most living rooms. Using a "cinema" style 5.1 setup is a disaster for playing classical material, although interesting results can be obtained on some heavily processed/equalised rock & pop material.

If you really want some stirring classical music whirling around you, I`d advise you drop a few grand on a good quality 2 channel system - preferably with a vinyl front-end, but CD should do fine. Trust me, I have two seperate systems, one dedicated to film, the other dedicated to music - I`ve tried combining both but each has to compromise to an unacceptable degree. I have an SACD player and, while it`s great in 2 channel mode, I`m not convinced that 5.1 channel replay brings anything significant to the party (and remember - to keep the same quality you need to spend a fortune on extra amplification, speakers, cables etc.. - that means that say you have an amp costing £2K and speakers costing the same, then you`ll need to find an extra £6K at least to keep the same level of quality - The reality is that you`d get a much better sound spending the xetra money on a better 2 channel stereo sytem...)

So, the short answer is, if you`re thinking of playing classical music on DVD-A, forget about it unless, a) Money really is no object b) You`re single or your partner doesn`t mind a living room decked out like a hifi dem room c) You`ve never been to a live concert so won`t expect it to sound anything like the real thing.... d) You can actually find any discs to play...

RE: Region 1 on old tellys

One other thing you might like to try: Scart plugs and sockets may make life simple but their connections are often of a poor quality. You may have lovely alloy bodied plugs on your scart lead but the sockets found on most DVD players and TVs are usually dire.

Try unplugging and then re-connecting the scart lead as firmly and securely as possible. Often you get scrolling when the scart pins aren`t getting a good enough contact. I have this problem with a 12 year-old Sony set which I use as a stand-by. It just needs a little tweak to the scart plug/socket to work perfectly.

If you get no joy, then it`s probably a case of your TV being PAL only...

RE: Surround sound question?

Anybody who`s serious about getting the best from their surround sound equipment should get hold of a setup disc.

I can highly recommend the Chesky surround-sound setup disc which is available at http://vivante.co.uk priced at £12.95.

RE: SONY NS 700 MULTI-REGION

RCE discs should be no problem with most of the familiar MR mods available for the NS700s.

RE: DTS Titles

Moulin Rouge is another great demo for DTS.

I`m not so sure that the music releases are such a great demo, you need to have a very cohesive setup (i.e. ideally the same speakers used all round) and even then, some of the "surround" mastering is dubious to say the least. The Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" is a good example of the best of DTS, but then sound quality aside, can you really face listening to such a cynical pile of XXXX?

Unless you have a 5.1 setup specifically optimised for music (hands up those who`ve spotted the oxymoron...), I`d say it`s best to stick to film soundtracks for now....

RE: New Sony DVPNS 705

I haven`t seen the full specs yet, but it looks identical to the NS700 bar the ability to play MP3 files (big deal...).

There is an early review on an Australian site of the NS905 which is much changed over it`s predecessor, including slimmer casework and a 12bit, 108mhz video DAC!! Oh, and the review mentions that this may be one of the first Sony DVD players to address the MPEG Chroma error problem...

The NS700`s original list price has been heavily discounted by most retailers to around £150 (or £190 for MR upgrade) so WebElectricals discounted price for the new model looks about right.

We`ll have to wait and see how the new model stacks up but early impressions seem to indicate that MP3 is the only major change.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 28th August 2002, 17:21

RE: Arcam AV8 preamp processor and P7 power amp.

It would be interesting to try the Arcam against the Naim AV2/VS1 combo.

So far the Naim is far and away the finest sounding processor I`ve come across. I`m sure that much of this is down to the physical separation of the audio circuitry from the video circuits (put in another unit - the VS1). Is it any wonder that Mark Levinson have elected to do the same thing with their latest £30,000 AV unit?

The TAG is a neat piece of kit but sound-wise the Naim thrashes it. Considering how far ahead of the mainstream AV amp brigade the TAG is, the Naim is truly a revelation. Take it from me, a self-confessed tube junkie, there are some BIG changes going on at Naim - I can`t wait for the rumoured DVD player.....

RE: Small widescreen TV`s ???

Sony used to make some small widescreen TVs, 20in and one at 16in, I think. They`re really tough to find but I think there`s at least one retailer selling them on the net. I`d move fast though, as I believe they are now discontinued models. Look for the KV-16WT1 and the KV-20WS1.

I quite agree with you that it would be nice to find these smaller W/S sets widely available. I`m currently debating whether to trade my 12 year old "Wife friendly" Sony 14in that we have as a second set for one of the small W/S sets. I`m loathe to replace the 14in because although the images are small, the picture quality is much the best of any non-flat CRT that I`ve seen. Oh, and my wife thinks it looks nice too....

This item was edited on Thursday, 22nd August 2002, 17:03

RE: Using 4.1 active speakers on 5.1 DVD outputs

Hi Sultan,

go into the surround sound setup menu on your player and select "Phantom" mode. This will basically approximate the sound of a full 5.1 setup but without the need for a centre speaker.

I`ve heard some very impressive systems which do without the centre speaker and run in "Phantom" mode so you needn`t worry if your budget is tight.

Hope this helps.

RE: Films you REALLY need on top notch DVDs, but still no sign....

Speaking of "Once Upon a Time"....

How about "Once Upon a Time in the West"??

A true masterpiece of a Spaghetti Western with a great score too. I`m reasonably happy with my Widescreen VHS copy but it`s near the top of my DVD wish-list. If there`s one from a region I`m not aware of, please let me know.

RE: sony dvpns700 b+w

The Sony will output only a pure NTSC signal on NTSC discs rather than a PAL50/60 one.

If you have no joy getting it to work by configuring your player and TV to output and accept an S-Video signal respectively, then your only option is to use RGB which will mean another new lead, I`m afraid.

What sort of TV are you using and how old is it? Most modern TVs will support at least one type of NTSC but some will only work using their RGB Scart input.

RE: sony dvpns700 b+w

The Sony will output only a pure NTSC signal on NTSC discs rather than a PAL50/60 one.

If you have no joy getting it to work by configuring your player and TV to output and accept an S-Video signal respectively, then your only option is to use RGB which will mean another new lead, I`m afraid.

What sort of TV are you using and how old is it? Most modern TVs will support at least one type of NTSC but some will only work using their RGB Scart input.

RE: Toshiba SD220 for £10 or Sony DVPNS700 for £65...YOU DECIDE!

Hi Greg WW,

As you might have surmised from other posts on this forum, I recently spent a great deal of time comparing contenders in the £2-300 area and soon whittled choices down to the Toshiba and Sony.

To answer your question directly;

Best Picture: A win for the Toshiba. It`s picture has a superb 3D feel to it with little grain or noise. It can be a little dark at times but overall I`d rate it about as good as you can get before spending big bucks. Against any other sub £1000 player, the Sony would rate as superb but is pipped here by the Tosh.

Best Sound: A win for the Sony. CD replay is excellent for a DVD player, if not up to the standard of a similar priced CD player. SACD replay is simply awesome and movie replay is also of a high order from the internal DD & DTS decoders (The Sony internal decoders are some of the best around and compare to those in some AV amps if lacking the last word in setup flexibility). The Tosh is OK on CD replay but you`d be better off getting a decent dedicated unit.

Best layer transition: A win for the Sony. I`ve gone over this on another recent thread. A convincing win.

Smoothest operator: A win for the Sony - but it was close. Both are smooth and trouble-free to operate and are reasonably quiet. The Sony wins due to a much better look and finish - it looks by far the more serious piece of kit - while the Tosh looked as though the spray-paint department were under rather too heavy scrutiny by the accountants. Oh, I also hate patronising "Hello" displays.... The Sony remote control seals the win by being a model of it`s kind and worth at least £50 of the asking price alone.

Overall, you can guess that the Sony got my vote. It all depends on whether you really, really must have the last n`th degree of picture performance, the Sony by any other measure being tops in this department too. At £400 the Sony is under heavy pressure not only by it`s more substantial sibling, the NS-900V, but also by the latest SACD/DVD-A player from Pioneer. However, at under £200, I can`t think of a better all-round player.

This item was edited on Friday, 16th August 2002, 15:50

RE: Toshiba SD220 multiregion @ Richer Sounds / RCE ?

Greg WW,

That`s great to know - thanks! You`re the first person I`ve come across to confirm or corroborate that this has been a problem with the Toshiba SD120/220.

So I guess that as long as you buy from the very latest production batch, then this player can be very highly recommended. Only gripes are the cheap looks and build but the picture performance is good enough to forgive it anything (just...).

RE: Films you REALLY need on top notch DVDs, but still no sign....

I`m waiting very patiently for somebody to bring out a decent release of The Killing Fields. Surely this film deserves so much better than the crappy full-screen DPL transfer that we`ve been lumbered with in Region 2????

I`ve heard that the R1 is much better, being both widescreen and DD, but that the print transfer leaves a bit to desired and the enormous potential for extra features has been ignored. This film is crying out for a really fine DVD release. It`s a British film so I guess I`m in for a long wait... (sigh).

RE: Scart Splitter Advice Please

If you go for just a basic Scart splitter then, yes, quality will suffer.

Best would be to have your primary sources hooked up direct into the TV then buy a switchable scart expansion unit to hook up to the third scart socket. The switch will ensure that any quality loss is kept to an absolute minimum. The only downside is that you will have to manually switch sources hooked up to the expansion unit. If money`s no object, then there are a few more sophisticated units available from Lektropacks which even have source selection by remote control!!

RE: Anyone can recommend a top Quality DVD player for under £200, please!

Garywork,

Compared to a Toshiba SD-220E, the Sony layer-break pause is much better - hardly noticeable on most discs. The Toshiba was always very noticeable, pausing and muting for a good 1-2 seconds, while the Sony was only noticeable because of half a second`s mute. I found the Toshiba`s layer change really annoying (and, along with some other issues, put it out of court for consideration) while with the Sony, as I say, it`s often impossible to detect. I haven`t got the "Fight Club" disc you mention so can`t comment but I do know it played The Abyss extended edition seemlessly - a tough challenge considering the amount of branching/layer changing involved. Currently this is my "Test Disc" as it`s amazing how many well-respected machines find it hard work (the branched scenes are easy to detect) or, worse, can`t play the disc properly at all.

The Sony is also quiet in operation - quieter than the Tosh and all the other machines I have tried for less than £350. It isn`t silent when searching or loading, but then what is? While playing, you need to put your ear very close to the machine to detect it`s operating.

RE: Toshiba SD220 multiregion @ Richer Sounds / RCE ?

I only encountered one major problem with the Tridek modded Toshiba SD120/220 - They wouldn`t play branching discs properly, skipping chapters and constantly pausing before going into a scene loop. Not a problem if you don`t have any but annoying if, say, you want to watch the branched extended cut of The Abyss etc..

Neither Richer Sounds or Tridek had an explanation for the problem. Maybe it`s endemic to the Toshiba chipset which, I`ve been told, achieves it excellent performance by stretching the DVD standards to their limits... fine in theory but may cause problems with a few discs.

I`ve posted this problem on this forum before but nobody has confirmed or corroborated this yet. Any takers??? It would help a great deal as I may possibly have had a bad batch of players.

RE: Anyone can recommend a top Quality DVD player for under £200, please!

I reckon that the Sony DVP-NS700 (MR modded) is an absolute killer machine for under £200.

It outputs RGB but doesn`t have MP3 capability which is really the only thing missing (But do you really want it....?). It has excellent quality internal DD & DTS decoding as well as the bonus of multichannel SACD replay. VCDs and DVD-R/RW`s are also no problem.

Search the forum for more threads on this one.

RE: Best RGB Scart?

The Ixos is a great Scart lead and at the price quoted above would be an excellent buy. Otherwise try the Philips (Philex?) Thor - it`s a recent model and is picking up some top reviews - not bad at £30. Another possibility is the Profigold PGV782 which is listed at £30 for a 1M length but can be found much cheaper if you shop around. There`s a very similar model sold as Tech Link Professional at http://beyondhifi.net.

Probably the best RGB scart of all, though, would be the QED SQART AV4110. It`s RGB-only, i.e. no other connections are made in order to minimise interference and maximise picture quality. I haven`t used one personally, but I hear it`s the bee`s knees. It retails a little over your budget (£50) but you may find it discounted and feel the extra couple of pints it costs to be worthwhile....

This item was edited on Friday, 9th August 2002, 10:04

RE: DVD REGION 4 WHATS THE DIFFRENCE (QUALITY) TO R1,R2

If you want to compare discs from different regions, try this site; http://www.dvdcompare.org.uk

This item was edited on Thursday, 8th August 2002, 18:36

RE: New Amp Advice Please

Well, yes, good point.

However, if you want a quality AV amp with ES/EX capability then you`re going to have to up your budget quite a lot. The Sony, Denon (AVR-2802), and, I think the Marantz all have 6 channel capability although I`m pretty sure they`re proprietry solutions. Thing is, extra channels are all very well, BUT, it`s more amplifier power and the budget gets stretched to the point where the power supplys in these amps just can`t cope. It`s a war of specification out there and sadly the real-world performance suffers.

Sure, there are amps out there with all the trimmings and great looking spec but performance-wise they struggle. When the budget is less than a grand, I`d always go for the amp with the best power supply and to hell with the toys. Why? Because it`ll sound a hell of a lot better and you`ll want to listen to it for longer and.... you won`t risk damaging your speakers by having them under-driven which is far more dangerous than the unlikely case of them being over-driven.

The Nak has excellent DD & DTS decoding and it`s heart, the 5 amplifier modules, are leagues ahead of the other amps I mentioned. It really can sustain 100w/channel into 5 simultaneously driven channels unlike most of the others which start to tumble dramatically. Also it shrugs off difficult loads - if you don`t believe me, have a look at Ken Kesslers review for Hifi News, where he substituted it for his normal Lexicon setup and had it driving an Apogee surround-sound setup. Anybody who knows hifi will also know that Apogees are notoriously difficult loads to drive - most AV amps would just permanantly trip their protection circuits or worse....

If after all this you still want a decent AV amp AND all (well most) of the toys, then go for the Sony. It`s a solid choice and sounds pretty good. It`s not nearly as good sound-wise as the Nak but it does have proprietry ES/EX decoding and a spec that`s hard to beat. To be strictly honest though I`d recommend you at least double your budget for a 6 or 7 channel system. It`s your choice, but if your sceptical, I`d urge you to listen to both the Sony (or any of the others) against the Nak back-to-back. Then you`ll understand my point...

RE: DVD Player Upgrade - help!

Hi Alistair,

I would have pointed you in the direction of the SONY DVP-NS700 which will play DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, VCD, & SACD. It also has high quality internal DTS & DD decoding, 2 Scarts (so important...), Optical & Coaxial Digital outputs, RGB, S-Video etc.. It`s currently discounted quite heavily and a Multi-Region model could be yours for £199.

Then, I noticed you`re also after MP3 capability and I`m pretty sure that`s not available on the Sony. My guess is that you should look at Pioneer. They have a whole raft of new models just out and I`m pretty sure that they can all play DVD-R and DVD-RW discs as well as MP3 encoded CDs. The DV-454 looks like it will fit the bill - why not look at their web-site and have a look see?

Judging by past Pioneer efforts, both picture and sound quality should be of a very high order so they may just be what you`re after....

This item was edited on Saturday, 3rd August 2002, 18:50

RE: New Amp Advice Please

No problem, Warney.

Be sure to stick to your guns about the price, though. Richers usually have them stickered higher in the store but are very happy to honour their "special" prices in magazine listings and on the web - just so long as you firmly let it be known that is the price you`re going to pay....

I`m not surprised they`re low on stock - I`ve already directed at least 3 of my friends to their doors to pick up a Nak. If I didn`t already have a TOTR Harman/Kardon AV amp and tube amp based sytem, I`d get one for myself. One of my friends had recently bought a Denon AVR-2802 but listened to the Nak and couldn`t believe how much better it sounded. Needless to say the Denon was immediately sold and a brand-new Nakamichi AV-10 is now sitting in his living room.... The killer is that he pretty much got what he paid for the Denon and saved himself another £150 by buying the Nak. I think he owes me a couple of pints....;)

Let us all know how you get on & good luck!