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REVIEWS
STRAP
First Run
HEAD
Pace Prima, £99 (ex BSKYB sub and installation) ***
Why’s it here? Following the initial flurry of interest last
year -- mainly in the run-up to Christmas -- sales of £99 budget satellite
systems have been slowing down. Whilst the low end of the market is still quite
buoyant it’s clear buyers of satellite systems are becoming more
discriminating. Pace, the undisputed market leaders, are replacing their £99
Apollo system with the better-specified, and better looking Prima. There’s a
lot riding on the new model; it’s role is to help maintain their market share,
tempt new buyers, and help dealers persuade customers to trade-up to more
expensive receivers.
Any unique features? There’s nothing we haven’t seen before
but things like the Wegner Panda 1 noise reduction, categorised favourite
channel memory, sleep timer, on-screen display with channel naming and volume
control are very unusual on receivers at this end of the market. Sadly there’s
only one SCART socket, so it’s not going to be much use for serious home cinema
applications, at least not if you want to record both terrestrial and satellite
channels in stereo. The 125 channel tuner doesn’t have much room to spare, and
there’s only one dish input, so in spite of the extensive tuning facilities,
it’s really only suitable for basic Astra fixed dish operation.
How does it perform? The tuner is adequately sensitive and
weaker channels, like UK Gold, which can be quite noisy, don’t look too bad.
During poor signal conditions -- during a heavy downpour for example -- there’s
a few sparklies but it’s not serious. The picture is generally clean and
colours are well defined but noise does show up on heavily saturated colours.
Channel change is reasonably quick and the on-screen display is very
informative, with a good assortment of tuning options, plus a very
comprehensive set of audio and LNB adjustments, the latter covers specialist
frequencies, including the C-Band.
Stereo sound is very crisp, the Panda noise reduction
definitely earns its keep and background noise levels are well below average.
Bass and mid-range are fairly flat, treble tails off a little early,
though.
Our Verdict. Prima is a real surprise, several features
wouldn’t look out of place on a mid-market multi-satellite receiver. AV
performance is at least as good as some models costing twice as much but the
single SCART and small tuner memory are limiting factors. By the way, don’t
forget the small print in the compulsory subscription deal, it’s not quite as
cheap as it looks...
Pace Prima, £99 (ex BSKYB sub and installation)
Features 125
channels, categorised favourite channel memory, 4-event/28-day timer, sleep
timer, Wegner Panda 1 noise reduction, PIN activated parental lock, 13 audio
modes, J17, 75uS & 50uS de-emphasis, frequency scan, memory download, low
power setting, pre-set volume
Sockets AV
out (SCART), line audio out (phono) RF bypass (coax), LNB (F-connector)
Dimensions 360
x 225 x 68mm
Picture Quality ****
Sound Quality ****
Build Quality ****
Features ***
Ease of use ****
Overall value ****
Competitors (all ex. installation and conditional on BSKYB
subscription)
Grundig Minerva £99.99
Matsui RD600 £99.99
HE29 80%
Goodmans ST700 £99.99 HE27
Pace Electronics, telephone (01274) 532000
PANASONIC NV-HS900, £750 ***
Why’s it here? Super VHS has been a big disappointment; not
that there’s anything wrong with the format -- far from it -- picture quality
is excellent, but it failed to get any support from the software industry and
VCRs were initially very expensive. Panasonic are one of the few companies
still marketing S-VHS VCRs in the UK (the format has been quite successful
elsewhere) and the NV-HS900 is their first new machine in a couple of years.
It’s mainly aimed at video movie-makers, S-VHS has a number of important
advantages when it comes to editing, and the lack of pre-recorded software is
not a problem.
Any unique features? A socket on the front panel, marked
‘sync edit’ is actually a Control L/LANC interface, that can control transport
functions on 8mm camcorders. An ‘edit’ socket on the back does the same sort of
thing with Panasonic camcorders. In
both cases the HS900’s edit control facility makes copying single scenes --
from a camcorder to the VCR-- a whole lot easier. Other movie-making facilities
include insert edit, audio-dub and a microphone input. It’s one of the very few
hi-fi stereo VCRs on the market to have recording levels controls (one for each
channel...), and it comes with a multi-brand TV remote handset.
How does it perform? The big problem with Super VHS -- apart
from the lack of software -- is that recordings of off-air TV programmes don’t
look much better than normal VHS. That means S-VHS definition is only of
academic interest, unless you have a high band (S-VHS-C or Hi8) camcorder; it’s
actually very good and our sample was able to resolve just under 400-lines, so
second generation copies and edits will still look sharp. Normal VHS recordings
were a little over 250-lines. Picture noise levels are very low. Colour
accuracy and registration are both excellent, chrominance noise levels are
below average too; pictures are crisp, with lots of fine detail.
The stereo hi-fi sound systems on Panasonic NICAM VCRs are
usually very good, but this one is exceptionally smooth. The manual recording
level control can make a real difference but it’s the almost complete lack of
background hiss, lively treble and gutsy bass response that sets this machine
apart.
Our Verdict: If you’ve got a high-band camcorder a suitable
TV and a keen interest in video movie-making, you probably won’t need much
persuading. Unfortunately it’s harder to justify that £750 price tag just for
off-air recording and home cinema, even though they’re jobs the HS900 does very
well indeed.
Panasonic NV-HS900, £750
Features S-VHS,
NICAM, Video Plus+ with PDC, auto set-up, multi-speed replay, multi-brand TV
remote, hi-fi recording level control, NTSC playback (with stereo hi-fi sound),
advanced editing features (insert edit, audio dub, sound on sound, 5-pin and
LANC compatible edit terminals)
Sockets 2 x
SCART AV, S-Video out (mini DIN), composite video and line audio out (phono),
edit control (5-pin), front AV terminal:
AV in (phono), S-Video in (mini DIN), microphone, headphone, syncro edit
(minijack)
Dimensions 430
x 107 x 329 mm
Picture Quality *****
Sound Quality *****
Build Quality ****
Features ****
Ease of use ****
Overall value ***
Competitors
JVC HRS5900 £800 HE13 70%
Mitsubishi HS-M1000 £700 HE13 80%
Panasonic NV-HS1000 £1000 HE13 60%
Panasonic UK, telephone (01344) 862444
HEAD
PACE MSS 1008-1P, £450 ****
Why’s it here? The satellite system market has evolved into
a number of quite well defined segments, with purpose-designed receivers and
packages for both Astra and multi-satellite operation; there are receivers
intended for home cinema and models with advanced audio systems, including a
couple with built-in Dolby Pro-Logic surround-sound processors. The Pace
MSS-1008-IP does all that, plus a whole lot more! The 1008-IP is a direct
descendant of the MSS-1000, the first DPL satellite receiver, but it has a
number of extra features, making it one of the most sophisticated analogue
satellite receivers on the market.
Any unique features? Maybe not unique, but we’ve never come
across so many advanced facilities in such abundance, in one box before. The
tuner memory is huge, with space for up to 500 channels. It’s one of only a
small handful of receiver to have a built-in dish positioner, this is
factory-programmed with location and channel information for more than 30
satellites, (though not all of them will be receivable from the UK). There’s a
built-in Dolby Pro-Logic processor, with a four-channel amplifier -- just add
speakers for instant surround-sound. It also has a 6-mode audio processor, plus
a Videocrypt decoder with twin smart-card slots.
How does it perform? It’s vastly over-qualified for single
satellite reception, and it really needs to be used with a motorised dish, at
least 1 metre across, but the DPL processor means it will probably spend a lot
of its time pointing at the Astra satellites. The tuner has plenty of
sensitivity in reserve and all of the Astra channels -- including the lower
power ones -- were sparkly-free on a 60cm dish, even with an attenuated signal.
Colours were clean and noise levels are well below average. The DPL processor
suffers from the same basic problems as its predecessor, namely a lack of
punch, particularly to the back channel, but resolution is good; it manages to
localise fine detail, and cope with noisy set piece effects, without keeling
over. Multi-satellite operation is
virtually seamless, with the dish automatically tracking to the correct
location after the channel number has been punched in.
Our Verdict. The trouble with satellite TV is that most
receivers are out of date, almost before they’re out of the box. That shouldn’t
be a problem for the MSS-1008-IP, at least not until digital satellite
broadcasting gets going. Until then this receiver is the one to go for, if
you’re looking for a simple one-box solution, for getting the most out of the
Astra channels, and for keeping tabs on all the other TV satellites
PACE MSS 1008-1P, £450
Features 500
channel, categorised favourite channel memory, built-in antenna positioner,
Wegner Panda 1 noise reduction, Dolby Pro-Logic, simulated surround sound, twin
smart-card slots, sound shape processor, 8-event/31-day VCR timer, sleep timer,
parental lock, variable contrast, 13 audio modes, 50uS, 75uS, J17 and Panda 1
de-emphasis, 22kHz LNB tone switching
Sockets 4 x
SCART AV, 2 x dish inputs (F-connectors), DPL audio line outputs (phono),
speaker and dish positioner connections (spring terminals), RF bypass
(coaxial)
Dimensions 360
x 335 x 73mm
Picture Quality ****
Sound Quality ****
Build Quality ****
Features *****
Ease of use ****
Overall value ****
Competitors
Amstrad SRD2000 £380 HE24 85%
Nokia Sat 1800 £300 HE30 85%
Pace Electronics, telephone (01274) 532000
HEAD
SONY DPL-VE100, £380
****
Why’s it here? There’s a growing awareness amongst
manufacturers that simple is sometimes best, and maybe a lot of consumers don’t
want fancy home cinema systems, dripping with features they’re never going to
use. Sony have gone right back to basics with the DPL-VE100 package, following
the lead of Canon, Goodmans and JVC, with a competitively priced package
containing an AV amplifier plus a full set of speakers. This is the most
flexible sort of home cinema upgrade; there’s no need to change the TV or buy
any new source components, and it frees up the hi-fi, so it can be used in
another room.
Any unique features? Only one, and that’s a set of SCART AV
input and output sockets, which simplifies hook-ups to a TV and VCR. It has
three inputs in total, the other two can be used for a satellite receiver and
laserdisc player, or a CD deck. The amplifier delivers 20 watts RMS into the
front centre and stereo channels, and 109 watts into the rear speakers. The
active sub-woofer has it’s own built-in amplifier, this is rated at 23 watts RMS.
All of the speakers, with the exception of the sub, are magnetically shielded
and the outfit includes a complete set of speaker leads.
How does it perform? The DPL decoder is reasonably accurate;
back channel and front-centre channel resolution is very good and there’s very
little bleed from the front to rear, even at higher volume settings. The sound
from the front speakers is rather thin, though. There’s plenty of treble, it’s
bright and detailed but there’s a gaping hole in the mid-range frequencies. The
sub grumbles away at the bottom end, and the centre-front speaker produces a
well rounded sound but they can’t make up the loss. The net effect is a lack of
presence, you can hear the system is working hard, but there’s something
missing, that a more involving set of front stereo speakers would almost
certainly put back. The sub-woofer is the saving grace; it may not be very powerful but it adds a
touch of drama to the proceedings, livening up an otherwise uninvolving sound.
Our Verdict. This is a decent enough starter package, for
those who want a taste of home cinema, without going to the expense of a
full-blown system. Surround sound performance is mediocre, it’s not going to
get the blood coursing through your veins, but then it won’t annoy the
neighbours, or the bank manager...
SONY DPL-VE100, £380
Features DPL
AV amplifier package with 5-speakers and active sub-woofer, 3 x 20 watts RMS
(right, left stereo and centre-front), 10 watts RMS (rear), 23 watts RMS (sub
woofer), Dolby 3-channels and 2 simulated surround modes
Sockets 2 x
SCART AV in/out, AV in/out, sub-woofer (phono), speakers and sub-woofer (spring
terminals)
Dimensions 430
x 95 x 280mm (AV amp)
Sound Quality ***
Build Quality ****
Features ***
Ease of use ****
Overall value ****
Competitors
Canon Movie Sound kit £500, HE36, 90%
JVC Big Box 2 £350 HE36,
75%
Sherwood Gale Package £550 HE36 85%
Sony UK, telephone 0181-784
1144
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R. Maybury 1996 0407
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