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REVIEWS
HEAD
Akai TX-700 Dolby Pro-Logic Mini System
Akai and Dolby Surround go way back, back to 1988 in fact,
when they launched the VS-A77, the first ever NICAM VCR with a built-in surround-sound
decoder. As it turned out they were about five years too early and following a
couple more attempts, Akai eventually gave up with surround sound VCRs. Now
they’re back in the home cinema business, though this time they’re going with
the flow, with a neat-looking Dolby Pro-Logic mini hi-fi.
The TX-700 is a relatively conventional design, the system
is housed in two boxes: a 30-station AM/FM tuner with RDS and a 3-CD
autochanger in one; the amplifier, graphic equaliser, DPL processor and twin
motorised auto-reverse tape decks in the other. They’re connected together by a
single ribbon cable carrying power, control signals and audio. The package
includes a set of five speakers, two bookshelf-sized enclosures for the front
channels, two small rear-channel speakers, and a magnetically-shielded
centre-channel speaker.
Akai must have been tempted to try and compete with other
budget and mid-priced systems, with armfuls of DSP effects and lots of winking
lights, instead they’ve kept the ‘added-value’ features to a minimum and
concentrated on genuinely useful facilities, and performance. The CD and tape
decks have a clean, uncluttered sound, the latter benefiting from Dolby B and C
noise reduction. The tuner is works well too, it’s sensitive with very little
background noise. RDS is about as close as this system gets to a gadget but
even that has its uses, if you want traffic reports in the morning. DPL
performance is very good, the processor is one of the sharpest we’ve come
across on a budget system, effects are accurately resolved and very precisely
located within the soundfield. The back channel -- frequently under-powered on
DPL package systems -- is really
punchy. The only real shortcoming is a lack of bass muscle. The speakers
somehow never manage to get behind the big noisy effects; you can feel the
beginnings of a good rumble but it never quite develops.
VERDICT Akai TX-700, £500
At last, a serious DPL mini system, at a sensible price. It
could do with a bit more bass but the hi-fi components all work well and it
doesn’t look like Blackpool illuminations
Features Dolby
Pro-Logic, Dolby 3, 3-CD autochanger with 30-track memory, , random and repeat
play, intro scan, twin motorised auto-reverse cassette decks, Dolby B & C
NR, intro scan, track search, auto and continuous play, high-speed dubbing,
AM/FM tuner with 30 station presets & RDS, extended bass, graphic equaliser with 5 presets &
manual control, event, sleep and wake-up timers
Sockets 2 AV
input , 1 x aux audio input, 1 x AV output, 1 video output, centre-channel out
(phono) speaker outputs, AM aerial
(spring terminal), FM antenna (coax), CD/tuner (multi-way ribbon
connector), digital out (optical jack)
Dimensions 270
x 321 x 330mm
Akai UK Ltd, telephone 0181-897 6388
COMPETITORS
Aiwa NSX-V90, £500 HE28 85%
Kenwood UD951, £500 not tested
Sony MHC-901AV £500, HE25 85%
HC RATINGS
Sound quality *****
Ease of use ****
Build quality ****
Value for money 90%
HEAD
Grundig GRD280
With the arrival of the GRD280, Grundig now have a presence
in all of the key sectors of the UK satellite TV market. It fits between their
£99 budget Minerva systems and the top-end GRD300, on which it is based. In fact the differences are quite small and
largely concerned with the operating software; this receiver has 280 channels
instead of the 300 available on the GRD300 and the VCR timer is slightly less
sophisticated with 4-events over 4-week period (compared with 8 events on the
300). The only significant physical difference, and the apparent justification
for the substantial price difference, is the simpler, 3-digit channel readout
on the 280, instead of the large
centrally-mounted fluorescent display on its stablemate.
Apart from that the two receivers are virtually identical.
They share the same case, though the fascias are slightly different on account
of the display. Both have a single covered card slot, below which there are
four control buttons for power on/standby, channel up/down and pay-to-view
authorise. The back panels have two LNB inputs, three SCART AV sockets, a pair
of audio line-out sockets and coaxial connectors for the RF aerial
loop-through.
Thirty of the GRD280’s 280 channels are set aside for a
favourite channel selection, there are also 10 radio memories. All of the
set-up, VCR timer and secondary functions are accessed from a simple
menu-driven on-screen display. It’s a little too simple, the white display
characters can sometimes be difficult to read against a bright background. It’s
not made any easier by the remote handset. This is the same as the ones
supplied with the Minerva and GRD300. It really is quite horrible -- lots of tiny buttons with purple on grey
labelling -- especially when compared
with the excellent remotes supplied
with their previous range of receivers.
Performance is little changed from the GRD300; sensitivity
is about average for a mid-range receiver, there’s not much gain to spare though
and sparklies quickly multiply in poor signal conditions. It sounds quite good
though, and although it doesn’t have a Panda noise reduction, their own system
is quite efficient, with only modest amounts of background hiss.
VERDICT Grundig GRD280: £200 (inc. 60cm dish)
Little changed from the GRD300 as far as performance is
concerned, if you can live without the fancy display the cheaper price makes it
quite a good deal
Features 280-channel
tuner, 30 favourite channel memory, 4-event/30-day VCR timer, 10 favourite
radio channels, PIN operated parental lock, 13 audio modes, LNB tone switching
Sockets 3 x
SCART AV, 2 x LNB input (F-connector), stereo line audio out (phono), RF in/out
(coax)
Grundig Satellite Communications, telephone (01443) 220220
COMPETITORS
Amstrad SRD550, £200, HE15 75%
British Telecom SVS 300 £200, HEXX 83%
Pace MSS 100 £180, HEXX 85%
HC RATINGS
Picture quality ***
Sound quality ****
Ease of use ***
Build quality ***
Value for money 85%
HEAD
Philips VR-757 NICAM VCR
Philips are up to their old tricks again. During the past
two or three years they’ve lulled us into a false sense of security by making relatively
normal VCRs, then along comes the VR-757... This midi-sized NICAM machine is
most peculiar. There’s a set of AV
input sockets mounted on the left side, instead of the front panel, and the
main transport controls are on the top, access to both will be compromised if
the machine is housed in a narrow enclosure, alongside or beneath other AV
components.
There’s more. The stop button doubles up as tape pause, but
not still frame, that’s handled by the ‘jog-on’ button. It’s about the only
machine we’ve seen in the past five years without a power-on-and-play facility,
and it switches itself off after five minutes if left in the stop mode. You
can’t switch it on using the standby button, that only switches it off, any
other button -- except eject -- turns it on. The jog/shuttle dials on the front
panel and remote handset have to be manually engaged otherwise it treats any
movement of the shuttle ring as a fast-forward or rewind command. It doesn’t
have an on-screen display, and it doesn’t help that the front-panel display is
single colour. The remote control has a set of TV functions, but they only work
with Philips TVs, and a few unspecified models from Blaupunkt, Grundig and
Siemens.
It has semi-automatic tuning, that downloads the contents of
Philips TVs fitted with their Easy Link system (only a couple of widescreen
sets have it at the moment); otherwise it tunes itself in and the user has to
manually match the VCR tuner settings with the TV channels in order to use the
direct record facility. This is actually a rather good idea; it switches the
VCR on to record whatever channel is showing on the TV, just by pressing one
button.
The syncro edit socket on the front works with a range of
camcorders, including Philips clones made by Panasonic and Sony, plus a handful
of JVC and Hitachi models. It only works on one scene at a time, but it is a
useful adjunct to the audio dub and insert edit facilities on this machine,
which might be of interest video movie-makers. Picture quality is fine with
resolution hovering around 250-lines. There’s some picture noise, though it’s
by no means excessive. The audio tracks have a small amount of background hiss
but they sound reasonably flat and uncoloured.
BOX COPY 1
VERDICT Philips VR-757 £450
Some useful features for camcorder owners, performance is
okay but it’s not especially good value, and overall a bit too weird for our
taste.
Features
semi-auto tuning, NICAM, stereo hi-fi sound, Video Plus+ with PDC, multi-speed
replay, quasi S-VHS replay, NTSC replay, jog/shuttle dial, index search, audio
dub, insert edit, syncro edit control, side-mounted AV terminal, direct record
Sockets 2 x
SCART AV, stereo audio in/out (4 x phono), front AV in (3 x phono), syncro edit
(minijack)
Dimensions 380
x 343 x 98 mm
Philips Consumer Electronics, telephone 0181-689 4444
COMPETITORS
Ferguson FV97 £450, HE27 75%
Hitachi VT-F460 £430, HE30 93%
Toshiba V-825 £450, HE30 88%
Picture quality ****
Sound quality ***
Build quality ****
Features ***
Ease of use ***
Value for money 75%
HEAD
Toshiba V-705B
Toshiba have never gone in for a lot of gadgetry on their
VCRs, but the V-705 is very basic, even for them. It’s a grey midi-sized NICAM
machine, the lightly sculptured case is unusual, and the four discrete control
buttons on the front panel give it an unthreatening appearance. For once looks
are not deceptive, the 705 has very few convenience features over and above
standard issue items like Video Plus+, it doesn’t even have PDC. There is an
on-screen display but it doesn’t have much to do after the initial set-up,
other than when programming the timer. Surprisingly for a VCR that strives to
be so uncomplicated it has a manual tuner, and not a very good one at that.
It’s slow, and the DIY fine-tuning is a real throw-back in these days of
auto-seeking sweep tuners.
The closest the 705 gets to luxury features are
front-mounted AV input sockets and NTSC replay. There’s something called a
satellite monitor, and the instructions mention using Video Plus+ to record
satellite broadcasts but don’t get your hopes up, it doesn’t have a satellite
control system. Satellite monitor turns out to be a button that lets you see
what’s on the satellite AV channel (provided it’s connected to the VCR by a
SCART cable), whilst the machine is recording or playing back, and to make
Video Plus+ recordings of satellite channels the receiver has to be left
switched on and set to the right station.
Resolution is right on the money for a low-end NICAM VCR,
our sample managed around 240-lines, noise levels are respectably low, colours
are well defined and the picture looks
quite clean. Treble frequencies tail off a little early on the hi-fi tracks but
noise levels are low and it has a open, detailed sound.
BOX COPY 1
VERDICT Toshiba V-705B, £400
A very basic, no-frills NICAM machine, but it works well
enough and it’s not going to scare your granny
Features
NICAM, stereo hi-fi sound, Video Plus+, multi-speed replay, NTSC replay,
on-screen display, index search, front-mounted AV terminal
Sockets 2 x
SCART AV, stereo audio out (2 x phono), front AV in (3 x phono)
Dimensions 370
x 306 x 89 mm
Toshiba UK Ltd, telephone (01276) 62222
COMPETITORS
Aiwa HV-FX1500, £350, HE26, 90%
Panasonic NV-HD600, HE28, 80%
Sharp VC-H92 £400, HE21, 70%
Picture quality ****
Sound quality ***
Build quality ****
Features ***
Ease of use ****
Value for money 80%
Mitsubishi CT-28AV1BDS
Mitsubishi’s decision to wait until the Dolby Pro Logic TV and
the home cinema market got off the ground might have been a risky gambit, but it
could pay off; their first surround sound TVs should provide some stiff competition
for the established brands. The flagship model is the 66cm CT-28AV1BDS, it’s selling
now for £900. The S on the end of the model number denotes that this set has a
built-in Astra satellite receiver and Videocrypt decoder. The same model
without the tuner costs £50 less.
The styling is plain and uncomplicated, in other words, another
bland grey plastic box. Front panel controls are confined to the main on/off
switch, there’s a set of secondary controls behind a hinged flap, next to that
is another hatch, for the satellite smart-card. It comes with a
purpose-designed console that houses the centre speaker, a pair of compact rear-channel
speakers are also included, along with a set of pathetically short leads. Rear
speaker stands are available as an optional extra, they look quite interesting
but they’re a bit spindly and only just manage to defy gravity. The set relies
on it’s own built-in speakers for the front stereo channels, and we’re pleased
to see it also has a set of terminals, for connecting outboard speakers. In addition to Dolby Pro Logic there are six
additional spatial effects (disco, theatre, concert hall, cathedral, stadium
and pseudo stereo). The extensive feature list contains a couple of interesting
items, like auto teletext subtitling, which can be set to kick in whenever the
mute button is pressed, and an AV memory, which stores four user-defined picture
and sound settings.
PERFORMANCE
The initial set-up is plain sailing, auto-tune system sorts
out the local TV stations whilst the satellite receiver is pre-tuned with the BSKYB
channels at the head of the list. Both terrestrial and satellite channels can
be easily re-assigned, using the comprehensive colour-coded on-screen display
system, so they follow one another, if required. The DPL decoder has a sequenced
white noise generator, to assist with level setting.
The invar mask tube contributes to a good solid black level
and wide contrast range, with unusually vibrant white highlights. Colour
accuracy and registration are good, and there’s a useful range of adjustments
with variable colour temperature (red/blue bias), to make the picture look
warmer or cooler. Picture geometry on our sample was spot-on, and generally picture
performance was fine, though we noticed some bleed-through from off-air signals
whilst the set was in AV mode, this happened when the set was being used in a
strong signal area. Channel change is surprisingly slow, it takes a good second
or so, which may not sound long but it can be quite frustrating.
Stereo sound is satisfactory, the on-board speakers are unremarkable
and produce a slightly compacted sound, that needs a fair amount of fiddling
with the tone controls and bass enhancement options before it starts to sound
right. The stereo image is quite narrow. DPL performance is quite respectable
-- it would be even better with
outboard speakers -- the soundstage is confined and big set-piece effects
suffer from the usual lack of bass. The rear channel is surprisingly busy, and
manages to keep up with the centre and front channels. DPL resolution is fairly
average, it manages to accurately localise big effects, more subtle sounds can
are not so tightly focused. The DSP effects help liven up otherwise dull stereo
soundtracks, though some of them can become a little wearing, and it’s quite a
relief to turn them off.
Mitsubishi CT-28AV1BDS, £900
PLUS
Mitsubishi have clearly got Ferguson, Hitachi, JVC and Toshiba
firmly in their sights and this package packs a hefty punch with its built-in
satellite receiver and impressive assortment of secondary features. Picture and
sound performance are both good, though unremarkable.
MINUS
The remote control misses a trick or two by not having multi-brand
VCR capabilities and some menu operations are a bit long winded. The back
speaker leads are far too short and channel change is ever so slow.
Features 66cm
FST screen, NICAM, 100-channel tuner, auto tuning, built-in 150-channel
satellite receiver & Videocrypt decoder, PIN-controlled parental lock, LNB
tone switching, PAL/SECAM/NTSC display, Fastext, 3 AV memories, auto
subtitling, off timer/ auto power off, multi-lingual on-screen display, channel
naming
Sockets 2 x
SCART AV sockets, external speaker terminals, headphone jack, front AV inputs
(composite and S-Video)
Dimensions 670
x 550 x 490 mm (ex stand)
Mitsubishi Electric UK Ltd., telephone (017072) 76100
(TV/VCR)
COMPETITORS
Ferguson T28DPL, £800 HE28 85%
JVC AV29SK1EK, £900 HE27 85%
Nokia SFN7186S, £900 HE22 80%
Picture quality ****
Sound quality ****
Build quality ****
Features *****
Ease of use ***
Value for money 90%
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R. Maybury 1995 3011
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