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I agree with much of what you say here. You get 10 different reviews or reviewers and get 10 different results. That's why the guys who are serious about designing audio and video components rely upon objective standards and blind (preferably double blind) testing. A blind shootout like the Value Electronics event is extremely valuable in that regard, as it eliminates viewer bias, the mood of the reviewer on the day of the review, how much he or she had to drink the night before, etc ; All of those things greatly affect subjective reviews of these types of components (as do confirmation bias, placebo effect, the list goes on and on...).
Apart from the "human factor", I´m quite sure there are a dozen other reasons, too, for differing results: production spread, different devices for testing, different ways to grade the results etc...another list that goes on and on... 
I am seriously not trying to sound like a know it all, but I just wanted to make a point about your projection screen analogy.
It probably wasn´t a very good analogy anyway. When you wrote "the only way to judge the image accurately was to stand dead center", I guess all I wanted to say was: OK, this may be a disadvantage, but I would call this only partly a "picture quality - problem", that´s rather a "seating problem".
A last word about "CRT benefits", which you didn´t want to touch additionally  : again some benefits, some disadvantages: I remember how relieved I was getting rid of that technology! People seem to have forgotten that "beautiful" red, green and blue lines embellishing the contours of the picture.
It´s like the audiophiles claiming that vinyl sounded better than CDs - but only if you do not mind all the crackling and rumbling noises inherent in almost all LPs. 
We are just about in full agreement here, especially CDs vs. LPs
Last point about the LCD - it was literally if you were off the center axis at all that this problem manifested itself. You literally had to sit dead center. You could not even move a foot or two to the side before contrast and brightness issues became obvious. Now, I admit that this is not probably very noticeable for someone not comparing identical left and right images. And it's also not likely noticeable by 90% of the population unless you point it out to them.
I'm happy to get rid of CRT convergence errors too
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Sirusjr: Re: I've never been very worried about optimizing my subwoofer. Most of the time it doesn't really add much meaningful to my experience.
Wow. I'm quite surprised. Whether I play an SACD (such as Telarc's Louis Lane/Chicago Symphony Orchestra recording of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare For The Common Man" or the Blu-ray of the film "Stargate" (as well as dozens more I could name), a good subwoofer can make a significant difference. Telarc's remarkable Copland recording with those Atlanta drums has been perfect for showing off a great system, and I confess that I have startled unsuspecting guests over the years with it. But, frankly, that's not how I normally play music (or movies, for that matter), and I usually keep the subwoofer turned down low enough that it only gains prominence at special moments.
That said, has anyone else noticed how television signals (from the regular networks, their commercials, as well as commercial cable) seem to incorporate some very heavy low frequencies these days? Sometimes I'll grow so weary of it that I'll turn off the stereo and just watch TV with the internal speakers of my Samsung widescreen to bypass that blanket of low frequencies!
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But there are some recordings (in both audio and video) that use instruments that naturally need to be heard if one wants to hear them as they were composed to sound. But, yes, we certainly don't want that pumping base all the time! No no no! Only when it's an important part of the recorded source one is playing.
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Posted: |
Dec 19, 2013 - 3:04 AM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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Bringing this topic back to the subject of its title ... ... I'll add that I have a Sub-woofer, bought as part of my AV 5.1 speaker set-up, but which also played a part in my hi-fi.
So as to keep the number of speakers down (it's only a small living room) my AV set-up worked for my hi-fi and, dependent upon how the music had been coded on the CD, we would sometimes hear the SW, other times not. As part of the true AV set-up, when watching TV/DVD/BD material it is wonderful - though occasionally over-powering (the crashing plane in Nicolas Cage's Knowing comes to mind!)
When I separated my hi-fi set-up (i.e. I bought a dedicated hi-fi amplifier) I still used the AV front speakers and, as these were small, also used the SW. Having replaced the small front speakers for Large ones the SW was no longer required for hi-fi listening, indeed it was detrimental bringing far too much into the mix, and so I disconnected it.
Result: AV set-up with SW: wonderful; hi-fi set-up without SW: wonderful.
And as for the reported death of the home stereo system ... ? Not here: I've just invested another chunk of our dwindling savings in some upgrades to the hi-fi system so hopefully will be able to report better sound reproduction than ever!
Mitch
NP: Patton - JG/RSNO
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