Impression of new speakers

[curtis]

Derek....great thought!

-curtis

[trekkerj]

The volume level only affects non-digital channels. CBS-HD is digital, and changing the volume has no effect on the box. Anyways, I have it set to "Fixed." Still doesn't explain the very high pitched sound.

[Derek]

Just a thought. Too bad.

[curtis]

OK...then I would go for a cable box swap.

-curtis

[trekkerj]

I really don't think it's the cable box. Perhaps because the Dolby 2.0 or 5.1 broadcasts that I've heard the whining noise on were both live sports events, any imperfections were exploited by the speakers. Analog channels have terrible sound to begin with, which might mask out anything like that.

The S/N ratio of my receiver is pretty crappy also, maybe that has something to do with it. I was going to try an upgrade to an Onkyo or something like that in the coming week or so, and give it a trial run.

[davef]

Trekkerj,

Try this... USE the analog outputs of the box into your receiver and let us know how it sounds.

Also, since you are using the digital out on your box, what decoding method are you using on the receiver? Is it auto sensing correctly?


Good Sound To You!

David Fabrikant
www.ascendacoustics.com

[trekkerj]

The digital outputs are set up correctly. My receiver senses either PCM (and converts to Pro Logic), DD 2.0 or DD 5.1. I actually, have a set of analog outputs to the receiver which I can manually switch between. I wish I had thought to try that. Basically, I really only get this barely perceptable noise while watching sports on MSG Network (Knicks and Rangers games). There's another game on tomorrow night, I'll see if I can reproduce and switch inputs. Eventually, though, I think I AM going to take home a new receiver from CC and try it out. Many people at avsforum have said that going from my receiver to a $500 receiver will make a noticeable difference.

[davef]

Trekkerj,

Yes... please make the change from digital to analog and let me know the results.

A new receiver could make a world of difference, might I publicly recommend the Harman Kardon AVR 330 or AVR 430


Good Sound To You!

David Fabrikant
www.ascendacoustics.com

[trekkerj]

I'll let you know.

Thanks for the unbiased recommendation.

Those are a bit out of my price range. I will probably try the Onkyo 601 and the HK 230 models first. The Onkyo has more component bandwidth for HD, which is a plus. We shall see. I am curious to hear the difference. I also want an SACD player. Not sure which to get first. Decisions, decisions.

[trekkerj]

OK, game's on. I heard that high-pitched vibration during speech, switched to the analogs, a totally different set of outputs/inputs, and STILL heard it. I should note that the only two channels I heard it on are MSG and CBS during the Superbowl. The one things these have it common, MSG all the time, and the CBS only during the SB for some reason, is the volume level these channels are at compared to the rest of the channels. MSG is much lower, and I have to turn the receiver up about 10 db's more. CBS is fine, except during the super bowl, the audio was MUCH lower during gameplay, and I had to do the same thing. Is it possible that either my receiver or the speaker wire is having trouble with the load? It's only during someone talking, certain voices affect it more than others, and if I lower the volume a bit, I don't notice it (but why should I have to do that).

OK, actually, I'm still listening, they went from the annoucers on the court back to the studio, and now I can't hear it. Could this be from the network itself, in particular, the audio equipment the announcer is using? I've only got my receiver up to -28db, so I think it should be fine. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of a TV broadcast, even though it is DD 2.0.