A few podcasts ago (
October 3rd) we talked about some HDTV buying tips. Today we are going to build on that discussion and talk about buying tips for your audio equipment. We've said it time and time again, without good sound you are only getting half the experience of HDTV. So we'll take you through the steps in determining what kind of audio equipment is right for you.
First and foremost is sound quality. If the system does not produce good quality sound what's the point. There is a caveat with this statement and that's what kind of speakers do you have? Good speakers make average equipment sound better and bad speakers make good equipment sound bad. We will hold off our speaker discussion for another podcast. For the sake of this discussion we will assume you have good speakers. For this you will have to let your ears be the judge. You have to listen to the equipment. Go to a specialized electronics store and listen to the equipment. Listen to both music and movies sound tracks. Take music and video that you are familiar with to the store with you. Does it sound better than what you are used to listening to? Listen to dialog, does it sound clear? Do effects take you to the action. Are you hearing things in the music that you have never heard before? Ask the sales person what kind of speakers are you listening to. Remember that speakers are as important as the audio equipment so its hard to separate what's making the audio sound so good. You can ask the sales person to switch to another set of speakers and see if the same qualities are there. If not perhaps it was the speakers. This is more art than science.
Then check on features you are interested in. Almost all players will decode the Dolby and DTS audio formats of last year. But if you are buying a HD DVD or Blu Ray player you may want one that does the decoding in the receiver. At the least can it accept a digital stream of decoded audio from the player. Although it will be a while before we start seeing content that takes advantage of HDMI 1.3 you may want a receiver that supports this specification. Make sure it supports 1.1 at a minimum. Many receivers support automatic calibration. If you do not feel comfortable calibrating your sound this may appeal to you. We prefer to do it ourselves but this requires a sound pressure meter which can be found at Radio Shack for about $50. Do you need video switching? If you are switching digital video there should be no degradation of the picture but if you are switching analog video you'll want something that preserves as much of the picture quality as possible. Some receivers will deinterlace the picture as well. You'll want to make sure it has a good deinterlacer. But the only way to see this is to look at it yourself. You are not going to get this opportunity at a big box retailer. You'll have to go to a specialized store for this kind of service. You'll pay more but you'll get something that will be worth the money.
How much power is right for you? The rule here is to err on the side of more not less. An under powered receiver will make good speakers sound bad. Make sure that the power is rated with low harmonic distortion across the audible frequency range while the system is driving all speakers. Some manufactures will list peak power to look better. Connecting the receiver to efficient speakers requires less power to achieve higher sound pressure levels (SPL). The receiver will last longer too! Finally, a human's perception of sound is not linear. Simply put, a 10dB increase in SPL is perceived to be twice as loud (70dB is twice as loud as 60dB). Doubling the power of an amplifier increases the sound by 3 dB at the speakers.
Other things to consider:
- Does the receiver have enough inputs for your A/V equipment?
- Can the receiver firmware be upgraded?
- Is the equipment easy to use and setup?
- Do you need multiple zone support?
- Will you be plugging a portable device into the receiver?
Now we understand that it may not be possible to audition the equipment where you live. So you have to do the next best thing and take the word of complete strangers. Once you have identified the equipment you are interested in go search on it at AVS Forum. There is a good chance that there is an entire thread devoted to the equipment. CNET has professional and user reviews as well. Read all the user reviews and you'll get a good sense of the product.
The last thing we want to say is don't be cheap. If you spent a couple thousand dollars on your HDTV spending $500 to $1000 on a receiver will only enhance the experience.
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