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Owners of the RDC-7 generally agree that the unit sounds fabulous and has enough features and input/output options to satisfy virtually all of our HT and music system requirements. And the cake got a little more frosting when the first upgrade was actually delivered at a reasonable price and included useful extensions to the capabilites, not just "bug fixes" like some competitors' "updates" seem to be mostly. However, even as good a job as Integra Research and its associated development partners did in putting together a pretty comprehensive package, there still must be a few areas that could still stand some attention, both to keep the current owners in "state-of-the art" territory, and to help entice new buyers.
So let's put our heads together and come up with a list of items that we think they should address in future updates or as enhancements to be offered as options. We're brainstorming this to get started, so any idea is welcome -- we'll debate the merits and figure out a strategy to persuade IR to implement sometime later on (although it wouldn't hurt to explain upfront why an item might be useful).
First and foremost "update" in my way of thinking would be more flexible bass management. More than just the THX-standard 80 hz -- perhaps variable from 40 to 160 hz? Selectable by individual speaker? Many of us have speakers that are either capable of going below 80 hz, or in my case, have a center that cuts off way above that figure. Flexible bass crossover would make the integration of the sub into the rest of the system lot less "iffy" -- or at least a lot less arbitrary.
NOT having some more flexible bass management options has cost the RDC-7 -- both in accolades it really deserves otherwise (such as The Perfect Vision knocking it down a level in its recommended pre/pro ranking) and in potential buyers looking elsewhere for a pre/pro that does have it (almost killed the deal for me).
Second (but way far down the list as far as importance to me) would be HDCD decoding. I'd be willing to give up one of the surround DSP modes ("TV Logic" springs immediately to mind) to get this. I have a lot of CDs that were encoded with HDCD. And I'll be listening to them for a long time before I ever buy into SACD or DVD-Audio. I'd like to be sure I really am hearing them optimally by having them properly decoded.
Third -- I sure as heck don't expect this as an update to MY unit, but how about more than one finish option for the front panel? The pewter finish is classy, and I like the way it stands out it in my component rack, but I've overheard others ask "is it available in black"? :>) It should be, shouldn't it, without having to get out the masking tape and a can of matte black Rustoleum. :>)
Fourth, (you start filling in here)...
Burke
So let's put our heads together and come up with a list of items that we think they should address in future updates or as enhancements to be offered as options. We're brainstorming this to get started, so any idea is welcome -- we'll debate the merits and figure out a strategy to persuade IR to implement sometime later on (although it wouldn't hurt to explain upfront why an item might be useful).
First and foremost "update" in my way of thinking would be more flexible bass management. More than just the THX-standard 80 hz -- perhaps variable from 40 to 160 hz? Selectable by individual speaker? Many of us have speakers that are either capable of going below 80 hz, or in my case, have a center that cuts off way above that figure. Flexible bass crossover would make the integration of the sub into the rest of the system lot less "iffy" -- or at least a lot less arbitrary.
NOT having some more flexible bass management options has cost the RDC-7 -- both in accolades it really deserves otherwise (such as The Perfect Vision knocking it down a level in its recommended pre/pro ranking) and in potential buyers looking elsewhere for a pre/pro that does have it (almost killed the deal for me).
Second (but way far down the list as far as importance to me) would be HDCD decoding. I'd be willing to give up one of the surround DSP modes ("TV Logic" springs immediately to mind) to get this. I have a lot of CDs that were encoded with HDCD. And I'll be listening to them for a long time before I ever buy into SACD or DVD-Audio. I'd like to be sure I really am hearing them optimally by having them properly decoded.
Third -- I sure as heck don't expect this as an update to MY unit, but how about more than one finish option for the front panel? The pewter finish is classy, and I like the way it stands out it in my component rack, but I've overheard others ask "is it available in black"? :>) It should be, shouldn't it, without having to get out the masking tape and a can of matte black Rustoleum. :>)
Fourth, (you start filling in here)...
Burke
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