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FEATURE
SECRET SHOPPING
MR PINK
RECOMMENDATIONS
When I’m buying hi-fi
equipment I tend to avoid what I call the high street box-shifters. In the past
I have found the sales assistants don’t always know what they’re talking about,
which is not surprising, one week they’re selling camcorders, the next it’s
vacuum cleaners. I much prefer specialist dealers, they give a more personal
service, and seem to care about their customers, and their reputation. The
first one I called on was a long-established hi-fi dealer who sold me my
present amplifier and speakers, and has recently started to stock a small
selection of home cinema equipment. He knew my system, and straight away suggested
that I look at the Lexicon CP-1 Dolby Pro Logic processor. I had already read about
it, but at almost £1800 I told him it was out of my price range. Even so he insisted
I listen to it, suffice it to say it’s now on top of my Christmas present list!
His next suggestion was the NAD 910 processor, it was a good deal closer to
what I was prepared to spend, but I have to say it sounded rather average on
his demonstration set up. In any case I’m not convinced it would fit it with my
present system.
The second dealer I visited
has only been open for a year or so, but had already become well-known locally
for installing top-end home cinema systems. The chap asked me quite a few
questions about my system and seemed to be more in tune with what I wanted,
which was to get the best performance, without too many unnecessary frills or
gadgets. After some discussion he concluded the Denon AVC-3202 AV amplifier at
£650 came closest to meeting my needs, even though it would mean I would end up
using little from my present system. It
certainly sounded superb in his demo room, with the Pro Logic effects very
clear, but without sounding artificial. The 3202 has a built-in sub-woofer amplifier,
that will definitely be my next purchase, once the system is up and running.
SPEAKERS
Although most of my current
system will not be used for AV I really don’t mind, it would have meant moving
the speakers and disturbing the installation, which took a long time to get just
right. It also gives me an excuse to resurrect my excellent old Celestion 100 speakers,
which have been lying idle for far too long. Fortunately they’re still in very
good condition and will be more than adequate for the main stereo channels. I decided
to spend the remaining £350 on speakers and cables and eventually settled on the
Mordaunt Short Stereo Plus package and Monster Original cable, the dealer used them
on his demonstration system, and I was most impressed.
HOME ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDS
Mr Pink has got it about
right. His decision not to integrate his present system was probably correct as
it would have forced him to make uncomfortable compromises. As far as his
choice of AV amp is concerned we’d also have liked him to hear the Sony TAV-670
and maybe the Kenwood KA-V8500 as well, but we think he’ll still be very
pleased with what he has got.
MR WHITE
RECOMMENDATIONS
I’m an absolute movie nut, it
drives the family mad but then no-one complained when I brought the Philips widescreen
TV... I’ve got to the point now where I’m becoming unhappy with the picture
performance of video tape, I want better quality and it seems that laser discs
are still the best bet. I’ve read all the magazines and it seems to me there’s
only three makes worth worrying about, Philips, Pioneer and Sony. So my first
port of call was the local Philips dealer, who told me they didn’t stock them, ‘no
call for them round here’, typical! A quick flick through the Yellow Pages
turned up two Pioneer stockists, and a Sony Centre. The Pioneer dealer was
nearest, so I went there first. Unfortunately when I got there I found it had
turned into a charity shop, they closed down a year ago; handy tip, call
first... On to the second Pioneer dealer one. He had the lot and showed me the
CLD-M5 with its five CD loading mechanism. It looked great and sounded very
sharp but it couldn’t play back American NTSC discs, which he also stocked; it
looks like I’ll be a regular customer there from now on. The next one he showed
me I fell for straight away, it was the CLD-950, the price was right at £500,
it worked great and it would fit in easily with my present system. A quick
flash of the plastic and it was mine.
SURROUND SYSTEM
I want to use as much of my
hi-fi system as possible. I only brought it just over a year ago and I’m very
happy with it, but it doesn’t have Dolby Surround. As far as I can make out the
simplest way to get Dolby is to add a processor box. There’s nothing in the
Pioneer range, though the dealer said I
should look at some Yamaha processors. Back to Yellow Pages, but no signs of
any Yamaha stockists in my area. Eventually I found a local firm advertising
home cinema gear, and struck lucky because they had several Dolby Pro Logic on
special offer. In the end the choice was pretty simple, the Yamaha DSP-200
fitted the bill exactly, and it left enough over for a set of speakers. My helpful
dealer friend pointed me in the direction of the Canon S-30s, which he reckoned
were designed specifically for home cinema, and now they’re installed, give my
movies a rich, detailed sound.
HOME ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDS
It’s a shame Mr White never
got to the Sony Centre and saw MDP-850 laser disc player, it’s an excellent
performer, though rather expensive, and it wouldn’t have left much over for the
Dolby decoder. The Yamaha Pro Logic upgrade for his Akai hi-fi was fine but he
should have auditioned a few more speakers, the Canon units are okay but there
are several other budget packages, like the JPW outfit, that are well worth
trying.
MR ORANGE
RECOMMENDATIONS
I’ve been toying with the
idea of a satellite system for a while, but it was the new sports channel that
finally clinched it for me. I begrudge paying to watch these channels but they’re
showing more and more events I can’t see on BBC or ITV and the subscriptions deal
I’ve got includes movie channels as well, so it’s not too bad. I started out by
asking a few mates what systems they had and it seemed most of them had brought
Amstrads, which were okay, but the ones I’ve looked at were a bit basic, and
the sound wasn’t up to much. The high-street TV and video shops didn’t have
much of a selection, nothing but Amstrads
again, so I brought a couple of satellite
magazines and looked up the buyers guide. One model stuck out, it was the Pace
MSS1000 which had Dolby Pro Logic so I could get surround sound from the movies
as well.
Finding one to have a look
at was a bit more difficult, there were no Pace dealers in the phone directory,
plenty of satellite dish installers though. Eventually I found one that said
they specialised in custom designed systems, though he was quite a long way
away. It was well worth the journey, and although he didn’t have the Pace
receiver I was after in stock, he phoned up one of his customers who had one installed
the previous week. He was in and agreed to let us come round there and then, to
have a look at it. I was bowled over, the surround sound was fantastic and I
placed an order with him on the spot.
SPEAKERS
I found out later I could
have chosen my own speakers, the dealer supplied a set of Wharfdales with the
receiver as part of the whole package, for less than the cost of both together
he told me. The installer even hooked it all up to my hi-fi and video when he
was putting in the dish so I get surround sound off the VCR as well, it’s terrific!
A week later I had a call from the dealer asking how it was, and wondering if I
had thought about adding a motor to my dish, so I could get even more channels.
I’m not sure the other channels are worth having, as far as I can see there’s
no extra sports channels, and the rest are foreign language. I might do it for
a laugh, it would give the neighbours something to talk about, seeing the dish
moving up and down looking for satellites, they’ll think I’m in MI5 or
something.
With what’s left out of the
£1000 I’m going to treat myself to one of those CD-i games machines. They can
play films too, though you have to pay extra for that, so I don’t reckon I’ll
bother right away, I’ve seen all the films they’ve got on disc anyway.
HOME ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDS
There’s nothing else quite
like the Pace MS1000 at the moment so Mr Orange made the right decision, his
research paid off. Most satellite systems are sold through the high-street
multiples, and as he discovered there’s not much choice, moreover comparatively
few AV dealers have got around to satellite yet. The Specialist dealers are by
far the best bet, though again he was fortunate to have found one so willing to
go out of their way to demonstrate a system. CD-1 is just the right sort of
teccy gadget for Mr Orange, there’s enough games discs around now to make sure
he won’t get bored with it, and it’s something else for him to show off to the
neighbours.
MR BLUE
RECOMMENDATIONS
When I agreed to take part
in this feature I must admit that I wasn’t really sure what I wanted. I had
read about Dolby Surround on rental tapes and I suppose I was vaguely aware of the
existence of movies and programmes with surround sound on TV, but not how you
could listen to them. My mind was made up after visiting a mammoth electrical
superstore which opened recently in my area, and had a number of home cinema
systems on show. The salesman was really helpful and appeared knowledgeable, he
even asked what TV and video I had at home, and whether or not I had a hi-fi.
He said I could either upgrade my hi-fi, which could work out cheaper, but
could get messy; or I could start from scratch with an integrated AV system.
The advantage with that approach was I could put my JVC hi-fi in the other
room, so that the kids could still listen to their music, while the wife and I
could watch TV in peace, or play music too.
He showed me three systems
in all. The first was a very smart-looking Sony outfit that used two all-in-one
speakers, and it was just within my price limit. I like the idea of that as we’ve
only just moved in and I’m not keen to have wires all over the place. It
sounded fine when he was playing music but I really couldn’t hear much of a
surround sound effect when he switched it over to the TV and video. The next
one he showed me was the Technics SC-CH950, this had a bit more surround effect
than the Sony, but only just, not at all what I was expecting. The third system
was the Aiwa NSX D939 and this almost knocked me out of my chair, sounds were
coming from every direction and I had to have it. It wasn’t just the sound
quality that sold me on it though, it was a really good deal and came with all the speakers and cables, so
there was nothing else to buy.
HOME ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
We think Mr Blue was a trifle
hasty being talked into an all in one system so quickly without considering the
alternatives, though the Aiwa D939 is as good as any you’ll find this side of
£1000. Had he chosen the upgrade route we might have suggested using an AV amp with
his present speakers, the Kenwood KA-V7700 for example, this would have left him
with enough to buy some smooth-sounding surround and centre-channel speakers, like the JBL HTS-1 package.
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1994 1409
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