More Power For HT! Frank Doepke Cryo 32 Amp MCB & ABL Sursum Cryo 63 Amp ELCB

The MCB box in my HT room, if you zoom in, you'll see the cryo label on the Doepke MCB(in the middle) & ABL Sursum ELCB(on the right side)

When Frankie was in my house to install the Frank PE-35 Ground Loop EMI Filter, I also took the opportunity to ask him to check out my HT MCB box, just to see if there's anything he could do with it. Upon checking, Frankie identified he needed to do 3 things to make it perform better.

First, he said he will have to isolate the actual MCBs powering my AV equipment from the others in the circuit that powers all the other appliances in other parts of the house which includes refrigerator, washing machine, ovens, hot water pumps, and various other stuff. This is to reduce interference between all those said appliances from my AV equipment in the HT room.

Next he'll replace the standard MCBs that I was using for the Audio & Video circuits with Doepke Cryo 32 Amps MCB for cleaner power safety contact point.

Last but not least, he will replace the standard ELCB unit with an ABL Sursum Cryo 63 Amp ELCB unit.  

This box helps Frankie's team of electricians to confirm grounding and circuit connection by flashing lights and a loud beeping sound! It's a great tool

Frankie came back to my place about 2 weeks later, and it took his team of trained electricians about 2 hours to complete the job. Frankie confidently told me to have a better movie time! As soon as he left, I couldn't wait to start my new movie experience.

I played my usual Dolby Atmos reference movies, including San Andreas, yes that earthquake movie, & Unbroken, with lots of American bomber vs Japanese Zero dog fight actions and major sound panning effect in the opening scene. Also played 13 Hours to have fun in all the infantry battle scenes.

I immediately found better separation between the center & the main channels. Dialogue becomes distinct & easier to follow, especially during the noisy scenes, which can easily drown out dialogues in the past. Next thing I noticed was tightened bass grip, where the sub woofers are much more well controlled, less looseness coming from the sub woofer movements, which indirectly contributes to improved macro & micro dynamics, making each gun shot & every bomb blast that much more filled with impact. The surround sound panning effect becomes more distinct & dramatic. All without even resorting to any adjustments on the Denon AVR menu settings.

On the picture front, I see crispier and sharper quality, it's like as if someone did a lens focusing adjustment. Overall, the movie experience is much improved on a visceral level. 

Total cost for the transformation is as follows:

1) 2 units Doepke Cryo 32 Amp MCB = MYR1000

2) 1 unit ABL Sursum Cryo  63 Amp ELCB = MYR850

3) Installation and labor = MYR350

TOTAL COST = MYR2,200

Like my previous Franks PE-35 experience, Frank's power supply products & expertise do bring about genuine sound & picture quality improvement via any audiophile's power supply box. That improvement is usually at least worth while, or in my case worth more than Frankie's asking price. 

Well done Frankie! 

The Giant Subs

Subwoofer or subs which most audio enthusiast will called. Everyone who into home theater or Hifi will not need introduction to a sub. Is a boom box so to called it. I am going to focus on this sub in a home theater setup. I call this sub a monster that I have recently change to. This sub which is non other than the JL Audio F212 V2 dual drivers subwoofer. 

The subs as from the picture is quite a tall subwoofer standing at 81cm, is like half size floor stander speaker. It also weight 102 kg. This is good enough reason to called it a monster sub. Each of the driver is a 12 inches ultra long throw W7 drivers. The power is 3600 watts RMS for this beast. It have both balanced ((XLR/TRS Combo) and unbalanced connections.

From the front panels left to right , power switch, daro connection, room optimzation (demo, defeat, calibrate). 2 LED indicators (Master/Slave), level mode, master volume, lights dim, low pass filter, trim, phase and polarity. This features are handy for calibration.

This are some of the accessories included in the box. One pair of gloves, the calibration mic and 4 pieces of sliders. This is very useful tool. It is use to slide under the foot of the subwoofer to allow easier moving of the sub sliding on the floor. I cannot imagine carrying this 102kg moving about in the room. I will give an extra point to JL Audio on this small accessory which is a big help.

A picture for comparison a floor stander speaker to the subwoofer. One good thing about having a sub like this is saving some floor space. Is like having 2 subs stack up. Thinking back before I was having 2 large SVS subwoofers is really taking up lots of floor space. This is a positive point for me. 

Digital Automatic Room Optimization (D.A.R.O.) system as the name suggest is a build in auto calibration on the subwoofer. I will describe as similar to how a mic is connected to an AVR and run the auto calibration. Basically is the same but this is done specific for bass management. As this is setup for home theater purpose, after running the DARO will than run the auto calibration in the AVR as follow up to complete the setup.

This is the graph from REW on the bass response. Blue line is the before applying any EQ to it. The redline is with EQ to flatten it. This is pretty amazing given the fact that this is just 1 subwoofer vs previously of dual SVS ultra subwoofers. Now the movie experience is with "kick". The bass slam is pretty real right smack to the viewer. Totally enjoying it. 

Upgrading My V! Kenwood GE-7030 Equaliser

With a pair of  Bose 901 MK VI speakers serving as the front main channels of  my 5.2.4 Dolby Atmos surround sound system, I have discovered that adding an EQ(in the form of a Pioneer GR-555) in to the mix only for the front channels improved the over sound performance of the system. What I did not realized is that  the quality of the EQ component mattered in HT too, just like in our 2 channel stereo system. Here goes......

The Kenwood GE-7030 comes with a frequency jog dial & level up/down buttons for easy band selection and adjustment. Excellent ergonomics when in use, even if all those buttons on the front face plate seemed a little daunting at first!

Spotted this unit on FB Market Place, made the inquiry, but due to it's high asking price I actually held back & thought carefully about it for more than a month if the more expensive EQ really makes a difference? I guess some times, what's meant to be was meant to be, as what are the chances that an item is still there after a whole long month or more? Based on my trading experience on FB Market Place, the stuff is usually gone after a few days if one is eyeing & not making an effort to secure the item.

Anyway, met the seller who was a really friendly guy and he gave me about an hour of his time, just walking me thru all the bells & whistles that this Kenwood GE-7030 has got. Basically, one can work this Kenwood EQ in 3 ways. First is the most common used as 14 band Graphic EQ. Next is as a 3/14 band grouped Parametric EQ. Last is the easiest, using it's 7 pre-programed stored EQ Genre curves, which includes modes such as Flat, Pop, Rock, Car, Jazz 1, Classical 1 or Classical 2. Last but not least, that matching pale bluish dot matrix text & bar display just matches my stack of other components from Denon, Cambridge Audio & Oppo. The Kenwood does not stick out like a sore thumb, unlike my earlier Pioneer GR-333 EQ which came with bright amber bar display. And believe it or not, the Kenwood GE-7030 was sold during the 1991-1992 catalog years. The fact that it's still around today is testament to Kenwood, and probably most Japanese audio manufacturers during the era, that overall high standard of build quality. The Kenwood also came in a tall, massive & deep 2U chassis, which on itself looks just like a second AVR on the rack, but weighting only 5.4kgs. Not too heavy, but for an EQ, it's a battle cruiser. 

My HT component stack. from top, Denon X-4400H AVR, Oppo UDP-203 & BDP-83 Blu-ray player, Cambridge Audio A-120 4 channel power amp, Kenwood GE-7030 EQ, and lastly Weiduka PLC and other auxiliary components, like HD Toaster & that Arcana HD Fury(hidden behind)

The Kenwood GE-7030 unit that I bought came with some minor scratches and dings on the front faceplate, which required some touching up with permanent black marker. Once marker ink dried, with a bit of elbow greasing, the touch up will look almost seem less, unless viewed up close  

With the Kenwood EQ plugged in to my AV system, allowing me to only manipulate the front channel tonal response, I played around with a variety of settings which included Parametric, Pre-Programed, but eventually  settled on that characteristic 14 band V setting on Graphic EQ mode which worked so well on Bose 901 speakers with the Pioneer EQ in use previously. With the EQ setting been custom set in memory, I can move on to enjoy my music & movies. Yes, I actually use the HT system on Denon HEOS to stream Spotify or just MP3 file loaded from my smart phone.

The first thing that hit me was how much more transparent sounding this Kenwood EQ is compared to the Pioneer EQ. It's not a fair competition either as the Kenwood is at least 2 steps up the model line, which equals to a Pioneer GR-777 in that case. However, the Kenwood EQ operates on all logic & memory control board while the Pioneer is still based on the classic electronic sliders. I am not sure if that's the advantage here, but the difference is easily heard, it's just so much more can be heard with the Kenwood, like a veil has been lifted off the sound track and music. The Kenwood is also more powerful sounding, the music & sound tracks just comes alive, as in gun shots, cannons and explosions hit harder, kick drums "kick" harder, and vocals, crystal clear and even with nice imaging thrown in when playing music in stereo mode! While vocals is crystal clear, it still maintains a degree of body within the image of the sound stage! Bass & treble definition is also improved  with the new clarity. Highs are more airy and bass lines can be followed easily. I can't say enough how well this Kenwood EQ matched the Bose 901 MK VI speakers. 

Just a caveat if you're reading this, it may not be a good idea to add an EQ in to the mix if you're not using Bose 901 series speakers in your stereo or HT system. The unique design and sound character of the Bose 901 series speakers demands that an EQ be used with it. There maybe other speaker designs with an EQ requirement, but I believe those are far & few in between, with the Bose 901 series being the poster boy of the group!  

Netflix here I come! Google Chromecast 3rd Gen

My kids have been subscribed to Netflix for a year or so, how ever so far they are only watching the programs on their smartphones. They made a request to Papa bear, so that they can watch Netflix content on the big screen, and what bigger than all of 120 inches of screen?

And off I went to KL's IT Centre, Plaza Low Yat for a solution. It was suggested that I need to get a Google Chromecast! And for MYR225/Unit, it was not too expensive either. Google Chromecast is a HDMI plug dongle that will go in to any of the HDMI ports of your TV and in my case AVR. I went home set up was indeed a breeze, as all I had to do was to plug in to an available HDMI port on my AVR, namely CBL/SAT. Connect the Dongle to the walwart power supply that came bundled in the package. My kids then went on to set it up with their smartphones. In 15 minutes or so we are watching movies on Netflix! 

Google Chromecast 3rd Gen

Set up was relatively straight forward, you basically follow the intuitive on screen instruction with a couple of "yes or no" choices and key in your wifi username & password, then TADAA! You've got Netflix, YouTube  and other contents on the net via your smartphone to your TV or AV system. One caveat though, you wifi signal needs to be strong in order for Chromecast to work. My AV room is located right at the corner towards the back of the house, so naturally wifi signal has diminished at this location. Hence another problem to be solved. I bought a TP Link AC 1750 wifi extender and problem fixed! 

This happens when wifi signal is weak

Watching Netflix or YouTube experience on the big screen depends very much on the file source available. On Netflix especially there some files source that is Full HD good and some at 720p. Streaming those 720p on my 120 inch screen looks pixelated and overall, not a good movies experience. Streaming Full HD with Dolby D+ as soundtrack, the movie experience comes close enough to BD level.

Now with Google Chromecast installed, family time during this MCO just got more intense, binge watching horror movies & series. The kids do love a good scare!   

Picture Quality Aspirations, Arcana HD Fury

Bothe ends of the Arcana HD Fury, which looks like a simple splitter in & out device with a nice fluorescent screen on which you do parameter settings to effect the picture & sound quality. The only thing I dislike about that display is that the text size use is too damn small!

I must say the promise was there when I heard my buddy told me that this little black box called Arcana HD Fury was capable of helping our Full HD projectors to cope with 4K movie source or at the very  least made them bearable. And so with such recommendation, I decided to get one. All you need is one extra HDMI cable for it to work, he said. Don't get those fancy cables, just the one that came with your Blu-ray player will be fine, he said.

I waited 2 weeks for my order to arrive my door step. Installation seems easy enough, plug the input HDMI cable from source(Oppo UDP-203), the output the HDMI cable to projector(Optoma UHD50). I ran the Arcana HD Fury in default mode, and at first play, a BD that I am very familiar with, Midway. WOW! I am impressed, the colors really "pop" out the screen with it's rich vivid tone, like I had just upgraded to a JVC projector or something! I thoroughly enjoyed Midway all over again. I was happy as a kite! 

The package that came, the Arcana HD Fury, and wallwart power supply & power cable which is optional, but I bought it for voltage combability assurance.

If these text pops out on the left bottom corner of the screen, means good, it works!

The happiness didn't last long unfortunately, the next moment I throw in a 4K disc of the same movie, and what greeted my was a red washed out screen! And so my trouble begins with the Arcana HD Fury! Another call to my buddy reveals that there compatibility issues between the Arcana HD Fury with certain brands of BD players, projectors or just HDMI cables. I must agree that it could not all Arcana's problem either, as from the very start, I felt the Optoma had rather weak connectivity to my Oppo BD player. I had tried many HDMI cables to get that connectivity to a reliable connectivity level. However even then, sometimes I still need to reset the projector or BD player or both to get them to work together.

I tried like about 5 different kinds of el cheapo or OEM bundle HDMI cables in order to try and make things work. Also tried various setting combos on the Arcana HD Fury, but none work! Certain setting you get that red washed out screen, and yellow or cyan washed out screen with other setting combos, or even pixelated black & white screen with other setting combos. There's a few parameters that one can set to try & make things work or make the picture quality better.

Regarding the setting parameters, you need to be very technically inclined to make it work! Otherwise, please just stay with default settings. 

This is what I got when it doesn't work, available not only in Red, but Cyan & Yellow as well depending on HDMI cable choice & parameter setting combo on the Arcana HD Fury! This happens when I used 4K movie source materials.

Now, when the Arcana HD Fury works, the picture quality is actually brought up a notch! This is with Full HD source material. Hacken Lee in concert!

Then one day, after more than 3 weeks working on making 4K movie files of BD work with the Arcana HD Fury, a slightly bright spark can in to my mind, to connect the Arcana between my Denon X-4400H AVR & the Optoma projector. Again lots of HDMI cable swap and parameter setting combos were made to make it work. Finally after fiddling for a week, I finally found a working combo using an old HDMI cable which was bundled with my Pioneer BDP-450 player and default settings on the Arcana.

With the 4K movie compatibility issue fixed, again I plomk in the same 4k Midway BD in to the system, and behold. There was some improvement compared to 4K movies running without the Arcana. As the beer budget Optoma doesn't throw enough light for 4K source materials, I almost always prefer to watch Full HD only BD or files. Using the Arcana in the AV system the improvements were slightly brighter picture, better contrast, and as result, make 4K source material that bit more bearable, especially in darks scenes where the Optoma projector naturally struggles the most. In dark scenes, the Optoma typically adds lots of visual noise to the 4K source material being played. The same 4K playback via the Arcana in the system gave less visual noise, making dark scenes that bit more bearable.

There was one draw back when using the Arcana in between the Denon & Optoma compared to Oppo direct to Optoma, leaving the Denon only for soundtrack duties. When used as such to make 4K source materials work, the Full HD experience suffers. When I say suffers, I mean in relation to picture quality attained as when used between Oppo & Optoma. You see, that vivid, rich popping color effect I got earlier is now being diluted. Having said that, the picture quality performance still got a small lift compared to as without Arcana in the loop.

With that, I settled down and just enjoy my movies as is. The entire Arcana HD Fury experience was NOT as positive as my buddies. I think it's because they all have JVC & Sony projectors. Me on the other hand, have 2nd rate Optoma. I read in many forums that the Arcana HD Fury doesn't work well with other 2nd rate brands such as BenQ, Epson or Vivitek either. Many feedback in those forums also commended the excellent consultative response from the Arcana people if you run in to issues as consumer. I did not contact them with my issues so I can't vouch for them. From my experience, the Arcana HD Fury is not something one buys on a whim like me. I paid steep price for it in terms of performance compromise & compatibility issues. All I am saying is do more research on the WWW before you commit to this product. I also feel that this product requires competent technical knowledge in regards to the parameter settings offered. It's not a plug & play product, and YMMV caveat certainly applies. 

I hope others will have better experience then me on this. 

V For Balanced Tonal Quality, Pioneer GR-555 Graphic Equalizer

Pioneer GR-555 Graphic Equalizer on top, bottom Canbridge Audio A120 4 channel power amp, bottom

There's a popular saying within audiophile circles, No highs, No Lows, Must be Bose! Since replacing my previous Bose 301 MKIII speakers with a pair of Bose 901 MKVI, my front channel sound field improved tremendously. I get more of that "theater feel" when watching movies. Absolutely a positive improvement in enjoyment. However it was when replaying concert BDs, I faced the very reality of the popular saying! Something had to be done!

As the original Bose 901 series came with an equalizer if bought new(mine was "terpakai" sans equalizer as the previous owner lost it), I had to get one. The choice was either to an original Bose 901 EQ from Ebay or just get any that comes along that fits.

I waited for months for a popular Japanese branded EQ to pop up on our local hifi classifieds, but no luck until this nifty little Pioneer EQ pop up on FB Market Place. I guess real audiophiles really don't give a shit about EQ after all!   

Concert BDs was an Achilles heel for my HT system, not anymore! Tsai Ching in concert as see here

The whole HT equipment stack!

 I picked up the Pioneer GR-555 Graphic Equalizer right away and went home to install in to my HT system for the front channel Bose 901 speakers only. The EQ connects between the Denon AVR-X 4400H receiver and the front channel of the Cambridge Audio A120 power amp. Luckily I had previously bought a pair of extra Monster THX-400 interconnect for moments like this! 

The Pioneer GR-555 EQ is very definitely product of 1990's design school. On the satin black finished front facia, it has 7 band up/down slider control for both L & R channel, giving custom EQ adjustments on each side if necessary. Amber colored L & R dancing EQ bar display mimics the slider control. Round the back panel 2 sets of input & output RCAs are available including one set for Monitor signal in/out & a second set for Tape in/out, if one needs to EQ when recording.  The whole unit feels well screwed together, and as if you need proof, hey! It's still functioning after more than 20 years!

Bose 901 Series MKVI speakers, No Highs, No Lows, must be Bose! With an EQ, the sleeping giant is awakened!

With the Pioneer GR-555 EQ in the loop, when set to a V equalization curve, the Bose 901 MKVI came alive, especially when playing concert BDs! It sounds more musical, less mid range centric and widens up the bandwidth, especially the bass & treble regions. Certainly much more musically engaging than before. When watching movies, the whole system gets a small but noticeable sonic lift. Guns, canons & explosive scenes gain a degree of harder hitting impact. Even left, right, front, back panning effects are more pronounced & dramatic then before.

Not every HT system needs an EQ, but in my case, for the small outlay of a used item, it was definitely well worth the addition.  

The Solid Path, SVS SoundPath Subwoofer Isolation System

I remember my first HT set up in the early 90's with early Dolby surround sound, minus the sub woofer! There was no sub woofer output from the Nakamichi AV1 receiver, one of the top choice of the day. Almost 30 years later, it's quite unfathomable how one can set up an AV system without any sub woofers. And the trend today is to go for either a single 15 inch sub woofer or dual 12 inches, hence the Dolby Atmos 5.2.4 moniker that my system is specified. 

While having more sub woofers has it's advantages such as more even room loading, less hot spots, and more linear LFE response are just the few mentioned. However there are also more problems associated with multi sub configuration. Room boom is there, uneven bass response due to acoustic cancelations and more shaking & rattling of the ceiling. That last part is where I suffered until recently when the SVS SoundPath Isolation footers came along. See pictorial guide below for full story:

I got 2 sets of 4 pcs since my pair of SVS PB-2000 only required 4 feet each in a box.

 

Included in the box are the 4 isolation rubber feet, and 3 screw sets clearly marked M4, M6 & SVS screws. I used the SVS screw pack since I am using the feet set to go under my SVS PB-2000 sub woofers. Also included in the package is a feel good, quality printed instruction card. 

My SVS PB-2000 sitting very close to the floor with it's original supplied feet. The SoundPath isolation feet lifts the sub woofer by at least an inch from the ground, resulting in less surface bounce of the sub sonic kind.   

A quick comparo between the original supplied feet(bottom 2) which is small and tip toe hard rubber material only. The SoundPath isolation feet(top 2) has a metal base, connecting between the actual wooden surface and the soft, thick rubber material that interface with the floor. 

Installation of the Sound Path isolation feet is rather easy, you turn the sub woofer on it's belly, manually un-screw the original feet from each corner of the sub woofer, then re-install the isolation feet in it's original screw hole with the supplied screw set in the bag labelled as SVS. The whole affair taking no more than 10 minutes each PB-2000 sub woofer. 

Upon installation, the sub woofers are put back to where the belong and the quick sound check follows. By comparison, bass in now cleaner, more well defined and less boomy. The impact of explosion scenes is now more felt, but surprisingly my ceiling rattle has been drastically reduced. With the isolation feet installed, I felt the need to recalibrate my Denon Audyssey setting all over again. With the channel levels re-matched and  recalibration, I got a more focused and well defined dialogue, and much more effective main channels too.

Sometimes it's strange how doing improvement to the bass tend to result in better performance in other areas as well, as in a stereo system! Hard to explain but true. And these SVS SoundPath isolation feet are worth every penny of it's asking price. It's well made and bring a whole lot of overall sound improvement to my HT game! Highly recommended for any sub woofer of any brand. If you've got an SVS sub woofer, it's a totally no brainer upgrade!

Mid Range Excellence! Pioneer BDP-450 Blu-ray/SACD Player.

The Pioneer BDP-450 Blu-ray/SACD player.

Pioneer has built an enviable reputation with the success of it's range of Blu-ray players. I have being using the starter 3D Pioneer BDP-140 as a reference my self. While it's audio/video performance is very accomplished for the price, I've always wondered, what if I spend a little more $$$ for a step up in performance?

Along the way, came the new BDP-X50 series range of latest Pioneer Blu-ray player revamp, and the model in question here is the BDP-450, which is the middle child, sitting in between the entry level BDP-150 and the exclusive LX-55 top model. The Pioneer BDP-450 retails for RM$1,899.00/unit, so it's really a big step up from the entry level model(price wise). So if the BDP-140 or BDP-150 already offers such good performance levels(assuming the newer BDP-150 is as good, if not better performing), for a mere RM$699.00/unit, what more can the BDP-450 offer?

The Pioneer BDP-450 residing in my HT system.

First up, the Pioneer BDP-450 offers superior build quality, with it's heavier gauge steel chassis(which houses beefier power supplies), all satin black brushed aluminium face panel, chunky audiophile style feet(not the fake plastic ones for sure), and definitely smoother disc loading drawer action. At the back panel, the goodies galore continues with dual HDMI output(for those who want their video signal to flow direct to screen, by passing the surround receiver's video board) for superior picture quality, while the other HDMI output sends audio signals to the said receiver. Is there really a performance upgrade by going the twin HDMI output route? I don't know, I didn't test, but I bet someone would do. I connected the BDP-450 as I would with my resident  BDP-140 for a fair comparison, which means one HDMI cable, sending audio and video signal to my Denon receiver and the second HDMI cable from receiver to my Plasma display.

The only same old, same old part as shared with the BDP-140 and BDP-150 is the hand remote wand, which I can understand Pioneer's decision to keep it as it works pretty well actually. The whole unit looks well put together with nicely aligned panels and centered disc drawer on top of the clearly legible display, which is dim able(the entry level model does that too). Like all 2012 refreshed Blu-ray player models onwards, the BDP-450 also comes equipped with Cinavia anti piracy software pre-installed.

The back panel, 2 HDMI outputs is the main selling point here.

Now we get to the nitty gritty of the Pioneer BDP-450 in terms of video performance, which the colour and picture dynamic qualities are cut from the same fabric as the cheaper Pioneers. There seems to be finer pixels in the darker scenes leading to improved black detailing. I see smoother fast motion scenes, with richer and more saturated colours. Depth of field in panoramic land scape scenes are definitely more convincing. I watched Kingdom Of Heaven Blu-ray disc and came away suitably impressed. I think a more highly regulated power supply section of the player contributed to the performance gains. Still, I thought for so much more outlay, the picture quality improvement ratio did not seemed catch up enough.

However, it is when playing 3D Blu-ray disc that I felt all the extra outlay for the BDP-450 over the lesser models became worth while. Comparing the BDP-140 to the BDP-450 in 3D mode, made the cheaper player's 3D qualities look like card board cut outs, and on certain scenes, more like a cut & paste job! I was using the Monster Vs Aliens 3D Blu-ray animation movie for comparison. With the BDP-450, the 3D effects were smoother and more organic looking, while still maintaining the pop-up effect and excellent layers within a field of depth within the confines of my 64 inch Plasma display. The BDP-450 made watching 3D movies less fatigue and more enjoyable, due to less cross talk, and less noise within the video signal. I used to find 3D fascinating for a 25 minutes only(I start to feel giddy after that) of viewing period with the BDP-140, but I could finish the whole movie on 3D mode with the BDP-450 without much fatigue setting in. I know my kids certainly look forward to more 3D animated movies from here onwards.

It is with 3D movies like Monsters Vs Aliens that the Pioneer show it's capabilities to the fore. The disc loading drawer opens and closes with smooth action.

The Grudge is a scary Hollywood take on Japanese horror, much like The Ring, but only more effective in the script build up and make up & graphics. Sarah Michelle Gellar(Buffy The Vampire Slayer) stars.

Now we get to the audio part, which the first aspect that impressed me easily was the bass, which certainly dived deeper and rumbles more solidly. The stronger bass foundation gives the center chanel a more anchored, less floaty conversation, especially with male dialogue, which feels more manly, with a bit more of that chest. Surround panning effect is more seamless and more easily located, especially the rear surround chanels, which sometimes makes me look back over my shoulder, because I actually thought some one behind was breathing down on me, it's that real! It happened when I was watching The Grudge, an American perspective on Japanese horror, like The Ring, only scarier!

Just for kicks, I played a few music SACDs and found the sound to be highly detailed, musical, rhythmically assured, smooth, and with liquid top end. The sound staging is stretches across my living lounge with good depth. I was of course, playing music thru my Denon/Bose HT system.  The Pioneer BDP-450 would certainly make a great audiophile SACD spinner or transport, if one has a huge collection of SACD disc.

My Denon AVR-1612 AV receiver(top) and Pioneer BDP-450 Blu-ray/SACD player(bottom).

It was during this time that I have to experience Cinavia anti piracy effects on my system. After playing an offending Blu-ray disc for about 20 minutes or so, the player will mute audio output and a message would appear on screen to suggest that you're playing an illegal disc, advising you not to adjust your system set up menu. Apparently, most Hollywood movies released after March 2012 is Cinavia encoded. Otherwise, the Pioneer played each and every legitimate disc or otherwise with no problems what so ever.

Another area I liked about the BDP-450 is the quick start up feature and fast disc loading times. It took less than 20 seconds to start up each time from sleep mode, and each time a new disc is loaded, the smooth closing tray would then take no more than 45 seconds to recognise and load the top menu of the said disc. Older players can sometimes take more than 2 minutes to load a Blu-ray disc top menu upon closing of disc drawer.

I think the Pioneer BDP-450 will do well in a 3D capable HT system, where the said feature is used often enough. It's a player that truly offers a step up in terms of audio and video performance from the entry level units with higher build quality to spare. Audiophiles looking for a reliable CD/SACD transport would not be disappointed with it either. For those with budget AV systems however, the entry level BDP-150 should still offer more efficient cost to performance ratio.

Pioneer products are available at all appointed dealers nation wide.

2 Is Better Than 1, Supra High Speed HDMI With Ethernet Cable.

Supra High Speed HDMI with Ethernet cables supports up 4k resolution display devices.

I managed to get the second review sample of the Supra High Speed HDMI cable, with a purpose to confirm if 2 cables(one from Blu-ray player to AV Receiver, and another from AV Receiver to display device) of the same quality, can really improve audio and visual performance?

The simple answer is YES!, using the same Tora! Tora! Tora! Blu-ray movie as reference, colour palette becomes richer, and skin tone healthier(but never too red). Most important difference is the black details and grey scale linearity improvements. Again on the dark scenes where Japanese Zero fighters were taking off from the flight deck of aircraft carriers, in the dawn of the morning, I could now see all the whole dark green plane with full details, and the wooden flight decks of the carrier. Details like wing flap positions, exhaust fumes from engine as the planes goes full throttle upon take off, is now clearly visible.  It's remarkable how much more one can see in the dark!

Another area I noticed a difference is the sound, which now gives vocals a more anchored stability, and the 5.1 chanel separation of panning surround effects that much more vivid. This adds a more immersing quality to movies. However, I do suspect the improvements in sound is more due to cable length, rather than the effect of a second cable, due to the second cable only delivers visual signal to display device, not sound. I requested a 1.5 meter length Supra High Speed HDMI cable this time as opposed to a 2 meter one earlier. In the process of connecting the cables, I had swapped the shorter cable to connect between Blu-ray player to AV Receiver and the longer one between AV Receiver to display device. Hence only the shorter cable was carrying both sound and visual signals, as opposed to the earlier longer cable used.

To re-confirm my suspicion, I did another test on my other DVD player and plasma TV rig, but only this time, with RM$25.00 generic HDMI cables of the same brand, but different lengths. I got the same result, where the shorter HDMI cable out performed the longer cable by some margin, enough to be easily notice able, even with lower resolution format and display device.

This proves that if one does not wish to spend big $$$ on HDMI cables, the best solution is to keep it as short as possible. By the way, the shorter, 1.5 meter Supra High Speed HDMI with Ethernet cable retails at RM$395.00 each. I am now Supra HDMI all way!

Supra products sold by A&L Audio Station, contact Yap(Wah Chai) at 03-79582884.

Sub Wars! SVS PC12-NSD vs SVS PB12-NSD.

SVS PC12-NSD standing tall, as tall as my Bose 301 Series II, mounted on 24 inch stands, as this picture shows.

Looking for a HT sub woofer with low end grunt, and guts to rock my gulis(marbles for our international readers) yet must not cost me an arm of a leg! Max Loh(the watch dog whisperer) of Maxx Audio put his hand up for the challenge. The confident guy somehow knew I was smitten by the SVS alpha sub PB13-Ultra when I last visited his showroom some time ago. I had a trouser flapping good time!(just to put it mildly). Max kindly suggested two models for us at Hifi-Unlimited to play with, in the form of SVS PC12-NSD(ported cylinder) and the PB12-NSD(ported box), both are the most afford able models on SVS product line up(until recently that is!). Being the sucker for something new, I opted to review the PC12-NSD, and let Odiosleuth have some fun with the other(his review of the SVS PB12-NSD sub was posted on this blog on 25th Nov 2012). It took a little while for me to write this because I was kinda busy at the time.


The 400Watt class D plate amp equipped with built in DSP.

When Max delivered the PC12-NSD to my door step, I was shocked by the size of the box, it was huge! Carrying the box from the transport in to my house was a two healthy men job. Upon un-boxing the sub, I marvelled at the build quality, which did not seem cheap at all. A knuckle rap at the sides of the cylinder showed the box to be not as dead as expected, but the whole she bang still feels solid enough for a few years of abuse. The cylinder is felt wrap at the sides and there's a raised platform to accommodate that 12 inch, down ward firing aluminium woofer cone. A single 4 inch up wards firring port is located at the top of the cylinder, covered by a removable steel mesh. The 400W rated class D plate amp with built in DSP is located at the side of the cylinder. The whole package looks intimidating indeed. I placed the SVS sub near the corner where my resident sub woofer has resided for years. All cables plugged in, Max proceeded to re-calibrate the Audessey EQ settings on my Denon AVR, ran a few test movies, and left when he was satisfied with the results. I took a further week or so to further refined the settings before I was happy enough to start doing proper evaluations.

The 12 inch woofer cone is down ward firing as shown here, the whole cylinder side wall is lined with felt material. The SVS badge also serves as a front facing indicator.

WOW! WOW! WOW! That's my first reaction once Max left me to my own devices. The sort of abyss deep, tidal wave flowing towards me kind of bass response is what I got, when it's decoded in to the 5.1 sound track of the movies. And the best movie to illustrate this point is Battleship, an alien invading earth classic story, with a bit of a naval tactic twist worked in to the plot, showing off those awesome destructive powers of those modern American navy destroyers. With lots of sea combat scenes, involving a sound track of deep bass to convey the flowing form of water in huge volumes, the SVS PC12-NSD conveys that energy flow with sheer realism, adding much excitement to the effects laden spectacular. Now, there's no need to mention about those explosion scenes involving those high powered weapons sling shot on to those American destroyers by those alien crafts, causing the whole ship to break up bow first then sinking. Also highlighting the capabilities of the SVS sub is that moment the grand ol' USS Missouri battleship opens up her main turret guns, with sheer fire power which is un-real.

The 4 inch port fires upwards, the metal mesh grille is remove able.

It took me a short while to fine tune the setting for the SVS sub woofer. Too high a level and the sub over whelms the main speakers, too high a low pass and the mid bass muddles the main and centre speakers. Then there's phase to dial in for seamless blending of the sub woofer in to the rest of the sound field, which a old adage still applies, subs must ultimately be felt more than heard, and great subs do just that when set up well. The SVS PC12-NSD has remarkable ability to fill my open family lounge space with full even depth bass that's highly believe able, from any position one is seated. Now the only area which I could mark down the PC12-NSD is bass impact, when compared to other conventional ported box designs, seemed a little lacking. There seems to be a slight softening of the projectile slam, followed by tailing low frequency echo of the tube of the USS Missouri battleship turret guns opening fire.

Battleship, one of the most anticipated action sci-fi movie this year. I have to credit Peter Berg, the Director for not making the aliens look like some sort of over sized "sotong"(squid) and have more human like features. What I didn't like was the idea that the highly advance space craft used by the aliens could only hop around in water and not glide over it more efficiently? By the way, Rihanna does O.K. too in her acting debut.



Battleship USS Missouri firing her main turret guns, it's quite remarkable that the grand ol' dame WWII veteran(and a few original crew too) could still start her engines and sail effortless with combat effectiveness intact! I know, it most probably CG working it's miracle here! 

Hang on, didn't I promised a sub war earlier on? I didn't forget of course. After Odiosleuth had his fun, the SVS PB12-NSD came to my place for a 2nd tour of duty. Max again came to set the sub up for me, and left it with me once his was satisfied with the performance. The PB12-NSD's box isn't as intimidating as the huge up right standing bass tube. It's got the same woofer cone, port design and DSP equipped plate amp. It's the same basic design building blocks with a different enclosure. The PB12-NSD is a conventional ported box design, and will have performance characteristics more in kind of a regular sub. Am I wrong to assume here?

As promised, an all out SVS sub war!

Again, the build quality is sensible for the price, rather than lavishly solid. I think the SVS subs will still give years of problem free enjoyment if cared for. The only thing I didn't quite like about the PB12-NSD is that heavy but flimsy semi circle design metal grille with four plastic stubs to grip and plug in to the sub cabinet. The weight of the metal grille eventually becomes too much for the four plastic stubs to hold on to, causing the grille off when those deep bass rumbles get too much to handle. No problems with that, A slight bending of the grille fixed the issue.

SVS PB12-NSD with grille removed.

With the same movie used as benchmark, I clearly felt the PB12-NSD didn't extend as low down as the PC12-NSD, and the bass distribution was less even across the family lounge. However, what PB12-NSD loses out, it more than claws back brownie points by being easier to integrate withe my Bose 301 Series II main speakers. Compared to the PC12-NSD, the ported box gave more lower mid bass details, like in scenes where the 50 calibre gun clocks and spits the spent casings as it fires. I guess the height of the up right standing bass tube design was blocking off, or it's felt lined body was absorbing some of the direct/reflect sounds of the Bose main speakers, where else the port box sits just below the main speakers. The PB12-NSD also has the edge when it comes to slam bang, where the same scene of the USS Missouri firing her main turret guns is concerned. I could clearly feel the impact as the projectile leaves the gun tube. With other high impact action Blu-rays disc, such as The Dark Knight(part of the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy), the SVS PB12-NSD never failed to convey the darkness and hopelessness of life in Gotham City via the movie's sound track. The Batmobile vs armoured car chase scene has a mix of various powerful engine roar, road rumble, guns shooting and crashes all going at once, and the ported SVS box never fazed one bit. Best of all, there are still some trouser flapping experience(remnants of the PB13-Ultra) still available with the PB12-NSD, which was not so obvious with the PC12-NSD.

Note the same plate amp, same 12 inch aluminium cone driver too, but different box concept.

In a way I was kinda surprised that even though both subs performed well in most areas, there remains a priority of choice when it comes to certain sonic parameters, even for both subs that retails at RM$3,499.00/each. Does one favour deep, even spread, flowing bass performance? Or does on prefer an easier to set up sub woofer with more impact slam bang? I think that really depends a lot on system integration, matching, room acoustics, system tuning optimization and lastly one's sonic preference with practical considerations in mind.

The SVS PB12-NSD in it's current resting place. Note my old 10 inch Velodyne VX-10 sub woofer just hiding behind it. 

For me, the PC12-NSD in it's special up right standing tube design is at once it's attractiveness, and Achilles heel. In the context of my system, it couldn't sonically match the Bose 301 series II as seamlessly as the PB12-NSD. On the WAF(Wife Acceptance Factor) side of things, the PC12-NSD was just far too visible in my family lounge, because it stood just as tall as my main speakers on 24 inch stands. The PB12-NSD is in fact far more subtle in proportions(if similar in cubic box volume) and easier to blend in to the corner of my family lounge. Those were the main factors contributing to my choice to make the PB12-NSD my new sub reference for HT. I would've liked it to go just a few Hz lower, but I guess that will require the use of SVS PB12-Ultra perhaps? Max and SVS certainly doesn't think so. Max reckons the PB12 Ultra would overwhelm my main speakers, and SVS's Merlin service on their website, used to provide sub woofer matching services to one's main speaker. Merlin reckons the PB12-NSD is the perfect match for my Bose 301 series II speakers. After an extended review period spanning more than 6 weeks, I think I can agree with both Max and SVS Merlin's logic. Deal done!

SVS Sound products sold by Maxx Audio and appointed dealers nation wide, contact Max Loh at 017-6778820 for full details.

SVS Powered Subwoofer PB12-NSD

 

"Fuyoh!" was the first word that flashed through my mind when the SVS PB12-NSD subwoofer was being unpacked in my listening room. I was amazed by its size. For a price of RM3,499 list, you do get a lot of subwoofer. The PB12-NSD measures 20.9" x 17.3" x 22" (hwd) and weighs 66lbs. These numbers might not convey a real sense of bulk, but seeing it in person will leave one in no doubt that this is no compact subwoofer but a giant among small box subs so popular nowadays. This is a true blue big box subwoofer that is solidly built and means business. It comes with a 12" driver and 400 watts RMS (800 watts peak) built-in amplifier, with frequency response of 18Hz-150Hz. Unpacking and installing this sub is a 2-person job. Its bulk will dominate a small to mid size home theatre room. In my 15'x22'x10' room, the SVS definitely made it presence felt. Did I mention that you do get a lot of subwoofer for the price?!

"Fuyoh!" was again the word that flashed through my mind when the PB12-NSD started playing. This bad boy churned out room shaking bass when called for by those Hollywood blockbusters. In many instances, the rumbles shook the couch and strong bass notes thumped my chest. The scale of the sound track expanded in all dimensions and became more enveloping. Watching movie with the SVS in place became a much more immersive experience. The SVS PBV12-NSD could really do the crash-bam-boom stuff.

However, it is actually more than just that. One quality of the PB12-NSD that I appreciate was that it was not about sounding loud, big and powerful. The PB12-NSD definitely had no problem achieving all that of course, but it also did not forget about the quality part. The PB12-NSD's bass reproduction was clean and agile, easily keeping pace with the other loudspeakers in my 7.1 setup. Nuances in the nether region was also faithfully conveyed, many times my attention was attracted towards listening to the details in the sound track rather than paying attention to what was happening on the screen. The PB12-NSD conveyed subtleties excellently. In the first jungle scene in the movie Avatar, the subtle bass augmentation from the PB12-NSD created an enveloping atmosphere, together with the sound effects of the creatures in the surroundings, the illusion of being there became much more real.  In the 'Catch an Ikran' scene, the Ikran's flapping of its wings, again with the PB12-NSD augmenting the sound effect, was a visceral experience, I did not just hear the sound but could almost physically sense the air turbulence those powerful flaps created, the illusion was that strong.

I believe at its asking price, the SVS PB12-NSD is a no-brainer for a HT subwoofer. I am glad to have experienced it in my HT system. I have not tested any new home theatre equipment since my system was set up 2 years ago, I am glad that I could piggyback on Big E's search for a new sub and experienced the SVS myself too.
 

Many thanks also to Max Loh of Maxx Audio who expertly set up the subwoofer in my room. The process took not more than 30 minutes, he first ran the MCACC auto calibration function in my Pioneer AVR, then manually made minor adjustments with a SPL meter to balance the sound levels of all channels. The end result was an enveloping and well defined surround sound field giving an excellent movie watching experience.

I highly recommend the SVS PB12-NSD subwoofer.

SVS Sound is sold by Maxx Audio, contact Max Loh at 017-6778820.