Integra DHC-40.2 $1,200 pre-pro

[GranteedEV]

I'm not well versed in Audyssey, but I seem to remember that its application using dipoles was not the routine process (they may have just said it did not work, I just remember that dipoles were "special").

with dipoles there are two sounds hitting our ears within 10ms of each other assuming close wall placement. audessey gets confused. the def techs are bi poles so the delay is even less and yhe end result is probably not something it was programmed for.

just plain prefering untouched sound over eqed sound however.... i dunno. it would depend on your RTA results IMO. in my dead room high frequencies get absorbes so a bit of ambience gets lost which audessey brings back with ease. YRMV

 

[Warpdrv]

Anthems ARC is a fantastic RC solution...

I'm really surprised that Audyssey has so many that have problems with it... That to me is just sad after being in the game for so long... It took Anthem less then a year to get super amazing results... Sounds great on the ears and measures 3rd party with REW very very well also...

I couldn't be happier...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I am curious about these panels, what they're made of, color, and if you want to get rid of them perhaps.

I can add them to my collection of GIK and Real Traps. Maybe after some ATS, I can later move on with Auralex, Ready Traps, then perhaps grudgingly DIY.

These are it right here - same color and everything:
http://www.atsacoustics.com/item--ATS-Acoustic-Panel-24x48x4--1026.html

 

[Warpdrv]

No need to hold out any longer: Onkyo PR-SC5508

Hunting for one right now

On paper that unit looks really nice....

I have yet to bring myself to get an Onkyo/Integra I'd bet it would be a pretty darn nice machine...

 

[adk highlander]

On paper that unit looks really nice....

I have yet to bring myself to get an Onkyo/Integra I'd bet it would be a pretty darn nice machine...

I don't think I could get over the relay clicking issues these have. One of the reasons I did not go to these when I sold my 885.

 

[Warpdrv]

Yeah - that and other issues make me a bit hesitant....
Heat is no big deal, as it will sit in the basement on a shelf, but a really hot running computer based product can never be a good thing.....

Either way, any of these products will be way overkill for a 5.1 system such as mine...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just remember that dipoles were "special".

Dipole speakers are special.

Maybe that's why Mr Linkwitz Lab and Mr Audio Critic don't believe in Room EQ and Acoustic Panels.

 

[ntrain42]

I am not a big fan of the Anthem AVM 50v, nor was I blown away with its abilities. Its video upscaling/conversion is very very good(Uses a VXP chipset), and it is a smidge better than the Onkyo/Integra units(which are also very, very good using Reon HQV)but man it was hard to A/B the differences even on a large 120" screen on upscaled material. If you only have HD content like BD and HD TV this is literally a worthless feature.
And when it comes to audio, I will take the Onkyo/Integra processors over it any day of the week. Especially when using the onboard DACs via digital connection. I have no clue what the 50v uses but the Onkyo uses a good quality set of BB dacs and they are excellent for 2 channel audio with very good S/N ratio and excellent channel seperation and compared to the 50v when your speakers are EQ'd correctly have a much better more detailed soundfield, something I found was an issue with the 50v as I use a few pairs of high sensitivity speakers which will show subtle flaws on equipment was some channel crosstalk(something Onkyo products have always been excellent at, is no audible crosstalk between channels) and the soundstage had a slightly compressed soundstage in comparison and the noisefloor was higher. The Onkyo/Integra units also have a more flexible Xover/EQ system which I also find a much better solution. They aren't perfect by any means(as someone mentioned the clicking relays)but for the money you can pick one up for new or used, it is IMO the gold standard for bang for the buck in the midlevel processor pricerange.

Overall I find the Onkyo/Integra solution to be a much, much better bang for the buck and the 50v a waste of money overall. I picked up a mint SC886 on the Agon for $700 shipped recently. With the money saved you could literally pick up 3 pairs of RANE DEQ 60L 1/3rd octave "perfectQ" EQ's a nice HT equipment rack and a pro level Audio Control RTA and still have a saved quite a few hundred bucks over buying a 50v by itself.

 

[GranteedEV]

Dipole speakers are special.

Maybe that's why Mr Linkwitz Lab and Mr Audio Critic don't believe in Room EQ and Acoustic Panels.

yes but the orion also doesnt have flat response. it has built in eq to sound good in SL's room. in your room the treble may sound rolled off.

i would rather have a dipole with flat response and then roll down the treble myself based on my room not linkwitz's room.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

yes but the orion also doesnt have flat response. it has built in eq to sound good in SL's room. in your room the treble may sound rolled off.

i would rather have a dipole with flat response and then roll down the treble myself based on my room not linkwitz's room.

I don't think so.

The Orion was built to have an accurate reproduction of sound (and thus a flat frequency response) in ANY room, not just ONE room.

Excellent speakers have excellent on and off-axis flat frequency response, so they sound excellent in any room, except for glass rooms.

 

[Warpdrv]

I am not a big fan of the Anthem AVM 50v,

Interesting - you owned this 50v....? Or just A/B'd it at the dealers...?

 

[ntrain42]

Interesting - you owned this 50v....? Or just A/B'd it at the dealers...?

Home demo for a week. The AV company I used to work for sells them.

Its not a bad piece. Just not worth $5k IMO or anywhere near that price in my eyes.

 

[Warpdrv]

And you ran ARC on this.... Sorry to say, I have never found any audyssey setup and simple and dead on as ARC was ever...

I can't say that I'm anywhere near displeased with my D2v and the channel separation or audio quality - and that is what I paid for my unit... but it was also almost 2 years ago now...

There was nothing on the market at that time that would even touch its capabilities, and ultimately I could likely sell it for what I paid at this time now.. No way in hell I would ever pay the likes of what they are asking for either one now that the market it flooded with products that equal its performance for 1/2 - 1/3 the price or even less for that matter....

 

[ntrain42]

And you ran ARC on this.... Sorry to say, I have never found any audyssey setup and simple and dead on as ARC was ever...

I can't say that I'm anywhere near displeased with my D2v and the channel separation or audio quality - and that is what I paid for my unit... but it was also almost 2 years ago now...

There was nothing on the market at that time that would even touch its capabilities, and ultimately I could likely sell it for what I paid at this time now.. No way in hell I would ever pay the likes of what they are asking for either one now that the market it flooded with products that equal its performance for 1/2 - 1/3 the price or even less for that matter....

Honestly, I don't feel ARC/Audessy or any other autocalibration units are that good. I dont buy these processors based on how good their auto tune abilities are, as I feel all these integrated solutions are substandard and cannot compare with a pink noise generator and pro RTA.
I buy them on their core essentials like video processing, decoding, DACs used, how good the noise floor is and the channel seperation is for audio, and what they have for manual EQ/xover fucntions. Inputs/outputs etc.

Before I picked up my second 886/Rane combo I demo'd a 50V a Marantz unit and a newer 5507, and felt the best deal for me was going with another 886. Since it will obviously be a few years before its worthwhile getting a 3D projector(and enough 3D blu rays to make it worthwhile)I decided to go with an older used processor, take the money saved and pick up another bank of RANE EQ's(6 channels with 30 bands of EQ each with no filter interaction whatsoever). And I still saved myself a few grand in the process in regards to the 50v.

In regards to the D2V, hey if your happy with it, then thats all that matters. I personally just found it being an overpriced "pretty looking" unit that lacked in some areas "under the hood" just like the 50v. I think when the D2V came out, Onkyo/Integra had their 885/886 processors out, which quite frankly I feel they are better in the meat and potato areas under the hood still in comparison to the 50v even(Onkyo's 5507/5508 processors at the core are basically still the same units as the 885/886 with "updated selling/marketing features"). Not as pretty to look at, and the Audessy calibrator tool may very well be not as good as the Anthem calibrator. But for someone like me who does a pro quality calibration using his own calibration equipment its a moot point. I look at the big picture for what you get for your dollar. And to me Anthem doesn't offer a good bang for the buck.

 

[jostenmeat]

Well, Anthem, at least the D2v, has much superior VP than Onkyo/Integra, if that matters to you so much.

However, if it was that important, I would just buy an outboard VP, and get much more than what either the Anthem or Integra would offer.

 

[ntrain42]

Well, Anthem, at least the D2v, has much superior VP than Onkyo/Integra, if that matters to you so much.

However, if it was that important, I would just buy an outboard VP, and get much more than what either the Anthem or Integra would offer.

The "VP" differences in upscaling on a very large screen were very subtle at best between the VXP/HQV chipsets. The HQV solution that the Onkyo uses is nothing to sneeze at. And if most of your viewing content is Blu ray disc or an HD source of some type then its a moot point.

 

[jostenmeat]

The "VP" differences in upscaling on a very large screen were very subtle at best between the VXP/HQV chipsets. The HQV solution that the Onkyo uses is nothing to sneeze at. And if most of your viewing content is Blu ray disc or an HD source of some type then its a moot point.

I would still prefer the Anthem for its calibration flexibility, but again, I'd just get the outboard unit anyhow. I need a CMS.

 

[ntrain42]

I would still prefer the Anthem for its calibration flexibility, but again, I'd just get the outboard unit anyhow. I need a CMS.

Calibration flexibility? In terms of?

 

[jostenmeat]

Calibration flexibility? In terms of?

I've never played with one, and you have right, so you should tell me here?

Well, you can customize video output rez.

You can customize timing, or so I've read.

You get custom gamma curves (it might be 11 point, can't recall).

hm, it also appears it can lock frame rate per film/video input?

edit: I do recall bandphan, one of our pros here who hasn't been around, says the D2v beats all takers in terms of VP among all of the audio processors he's worked with.

 

[ntrain42]

I've never played with one, and you have right, so you should tell me here?

Well, you can customize video output rez.

You can customize timing, or so I've read.

You get custom gamma curves (it might be 11 point, can't recall).

hm, it also appears it can lock frame rate per film/video input?

edit: I do recall bandphan, one of our pros here who hasn't been around, says the D2v beats all takers in terms of VP among all of the audio processors he's worked with.

OK so your talking about video calibration then, not audio.
Alot of these functions should already be on your display IMO. CMS,gamma,60/24p etc. The Onkyo does have auto/passthrough and res can be set to the basics like 480/576p/720p/1080i/1080p on the HDMI as well as allowing you to set contrast/brightness/saturation/hue and has a basic gamma adjustment and high/low RGB grayscale adjusters as well, NR and cropping settings.

The Anthem expands on this with test patterns, some in depth gamma adjustments and a couple other manual settings. But to be quite frank. If your gonna spend $5k on a HT processor, then you should have already spent the money on a good display that has CMS/in depth gamma/greyscale adjustments etc.