Why upgrade?

[Andrew Pratt]

Its becoming clear to me having gone though a fairly major overhaul of my theater gear this year that as we upgrade to get better and better gear we really start to see the limitations in the source material be it DVD or CD's. Its interesting that the better your systems are at resolving the detail the less and less material you have available to you that's worthy of demoing. I've come to realize that some of my favorite songs or movies now have so many qualities that make them less desireable that I sometimes wonder why I like them so much It should always be about the media and not the gear but sometimes its hard to ignor that overly bright sounding CD or movie were the text has compression artifacts all around it. Ignorance is bliss I guess. There's now much higher resolution source material available in HD and SACD/DVD-A but at a much higher cost and limited availability though hopefully these will one day become more common place so that our media choice no long start to really limit the enjoyment we get from our gear.

[Sonnie Parker]

I agree that there is limited media out there to some extent. DVD's are abundant and at 480p it's pretty good resolution quality... some produced better than others obviously. It would definitely be nice to see HD-DVD come to life in a big way since many of us have HD capable TV's, but I can make do with 480p for now and be satisfied.

But on the music side there is little availability in the form of SACD and DVD-Audio (the high resolution formats). I could only pick out 4-5 multi-channel disk that I really liked well enough to spend the money on, especially since I'm not much of a music only man.

I would like to see more concert DVD's. This is how I prefer to listen to music.






SONNIE

Cedar Creek Cinema

DVD Collection

BFD Comprehensive Setup Guide

[ht_addict]

Because I read and read messages on this forum and others like it. Hear about what everyone else wants and then want it myself. In the last year I have replaced everything except my pre/pro

Out:

Paradigm Mini Monitors(2pr)
Paradigm CC350
Paradigm PS1000
JVC 32"
Rotel RMB-1066
Panasonic RP56

IN:

Paradigm Studio 40v3
Paradigm Studio 20v3
Paradigm CC470v3
Panasonic 47wx52(16:9 RPTV)
Rotel RMB-1095
Panasonic RP82

Now am I happy with what I have? Most definitely. Overall Audio and Video has improved dramatically. Do I need more? Sure. A nice PW2200 or Servo-15, maybe a new pre/pro. This hobby is adictive, and we always want the latest and greatest, or atleast something thats better than the guy/lady next too me.

ht_addict

[Michael Mohrmann]

Deleted post.

[Chris D]

Andrew, I agree 100%. Getting finer and finer equipment, I'm more and more aware of deficiencies in source material, as I can now hear every pop, hum, and hiss in the original recording. With my theater project, I'll probably be able to see every little fuzzy detail, too. Is ignorance bliss, though? I always think of an ostrich with its head in the sand. Me, I WANT to hear every fine detail, and choose to take the bad as a consequence of the good.

As a different viewpoint, though, I've found that after making a quantum jump in technology upgrades, my music and video libraries almost become brand new. It's quite a joy to break out one of those movies I haven't watched for several months or over a year, and pop it into a new system to enjoy in greater presentation, whether it be a larger sound field or larger screen. It's like watching and enjoying it for the first time again, giving greater value to the media collection!




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[David Meek]

For music I absolutely agree. The better the system, the more revealing it is and the more it will separate the good from the inferior. I like to be able to hear "deeper" into the music, to hear each individual sound clearly, cleanly and as it was intended, but it does make it that much harder to enjoy those old recordings that turn out sub-standard in "the harsh light".

For movies it's different for me. I enjoy movies as much for the stories being told and the actors/actresses' craft in pulling me into the moment, as I do the awe-inspiring video and audio we are becoming used to with progressive-scan DVD and HD-sourced material. For me, those first two elements (both visual) which recorded music lacks are the defining aspects of film and what I enjoy most about it.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[George Bellefontaine]

The first time I projected a vhs tape on a 100" screen via my old crt FP, I got a good education in just how bad source material can be. Prior to that, I actually thought tape looked great on my 25" tv. Now Laserdisc was so much better than tape, but PQ differed from disc to disc. Then I finally got dvd and it was pretty darn close to the film exerience, and so much better than laserdisc on an 8 foot widescreen. But even dvds can be crummy. I recently bought an Anchor Bay dvd of THE HILLS HAVE EYES and the picture looks like it was projected through a mesh screen during the transfer. Absolutely Godawful. I'm sure when HD DVD comes out there will also be garbage transfers. Point is, on my old crt or Sony lcd or even my Tosh 36" tv, the dvd I mentioned above wouldn't look all that bad compared to the quality I get from my NEC dlp baby. So upgrading is great, but as far as source material goes, the old garbage in garbage out still applies, regardless of how better technology gets.




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[David Meek]

Let me add that just because movies are important to me in ways other than PQ and SQ, that doesn't mean I won't continue to upgrade as often as I possibly can. :B




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Burke Strickland]

I think the playback quality of music and movie media and our reaction to it as we upgrade is analogous to our eating habits: although we may have once accepted "fast food" as our "standard", having been exposed to gourmet fare, we now know what it is like to partake of fine cuisine and a lot of fast food makes us gag. On the other hand we can't eat chateaubriand every night but an occasional Whopper from Burger King isn't going to spoil our appreciation for it.

A lot of it is "attitude" toward our investment. When we upgrade to a high resolution system, our response is kind of the same as when we went with surround sound -- we want everything to take full advantage of the newly realized capabilities. After a while, we recognize that a lot of worthwhile material doesn't do that, and we enjoy it on its own terms. For example, I recently listened to a performance by Wilhelm Backhaus of a Beethoven piano sonata recorded in the late 1920s (one of the first ever) and although it has a lot of "static" noise, the performance itself is stellar. As long as you are not consciously reminding yourself how crappy the recording quality is, less than a minute into it, one's brain "filters" the noise and the performance shines. Same with an older movie I watched recently. Black and white, and mono sound. But it is still a classic, and once I "let go" and got absorbed in the story, I didn't really notice that the picture wasn’t laser sharp, or that there wasn't anything happening in the surround speakers.

I'd rather continue to enjoy a wide variety of music and movies than to limit myself to the handful of recordings that max out my system's capabilities. It is comforting to know that, given the investment I've made in my system, whatever I put on to play will be presented in its best light.

Burke

[LEVESQUE]

Andrew I completely agree with you!

After hearing Riding with the King in DVD-A, how can I go back to mediocre CD recording?

My father is a musician. He played the 1st part of the rolling Stones in 1967. He was in studio recording and jam session with famous blues performer. He and I are crazy about small blues and jazz clubs. But for the first time since I buy those high-fi geras, this recording makes him wooow and haaaa my system. It's really like being in the middle of a small blues club with BB King and Clapton. He don't believe it.

Sigh. The new Pink Floyd DSOTM is another good exemple. Blue Man Group DVD-A is another favorite.

The sources are so revealing now that you can spot all the flaws in a poorly done recording, and makes me crave about the good (they are not all created equals...) DVD-A and SACD recordings...