| The centerpiece of our Video System (click here or above to see some of the components) is the Runco 760W front projector system. Fortunately, I have a large space (bonus room over a three car garage) so I can use the front projection technology. I use a Stewart 7'x4' screen which gives plenty of size and brightness. The 760W can operate in both wide screen and TV (4X3) aspect ratios which makes it valuable when viewing television/videotape or older films on laserdisc. The trick for getting a bright image with front projection systems is to get rid of as much ambient light in the room as possible - I use pull-down accordion style shades. I have found that low lighting levels and proper calibration also work well with my rear projection system (Mitsubishi 50"). At low ambient light levels you can tune the video to be much more realistic in color and intensity. Most TV sets are running way to "hot" (that is bright and contrast set too high). There are two primary reference sources for tuning, "A Video Standard" and "Video Essentials" (both from Joe Kane); they are used for calibration of your system. You WILL see *dramatic* results in picture clarity, color saturation and overall image quality. As far as viewing material goes, I have an extensive collection of around 200 LaserDISCS mostly in the action genre - although my wife and step-daughter buy stuff like "Emma" and "Legends Of The Fall" and (sigh) "Titanic". We also have a DVD library (even though, as a medium, DVD's *SUCK*) since nothing much is available on LaserDisc anymore. |
| SOAP
BOX=ON....
There is a growing misconception - perpetuated by the idiot media hacks - that the information contained on LaserDiscs or DVD or Compact Discs is Software. This couldn't be further from the truth! SOAP BOX=OFF.... |
| As for speakers and amplification, I have built the system over time from various hi-fi components and two other video systems so today things don't exactly match, however the sound is on a par with most other high end systems I have auditioned. I run B&W DM7's for the left and right front speakers with a B&W Matrix HTM center channel. I use four Boston Acoustics HD-5V's for the rear effects speakers ( two in the rear and two on the sides of the room). My subwoofer is a JBL 2250H (18") in a custom 8 cubic foot tuned enclosure. This enclosure requires a slight boost of the input signal (3db) to match to 2250H to the enclosure, this is accomplished by the JBL BX63 crossover. Amplification for the left and right mains is from a Hafler 220 (115 Watts per channel). The subwoofer is powered by another Hafler 220 (bridged for a nominal 400 Watts). The center channel speaker lends itself to bi-amplification (one for the mid range and one amplifier for the highs) so I use a Yamaha M35 (70 Watts per channel) to drive it. The side effects Boston's are driven by a NAD 2100 (100 Watts per channel) and the main rears by a Carver TFM-15CB (100 Watts per channel). This gives me a total of about 1.2 KW of output. Rear delay (in milliseconds) is set by the following algorithm: (distance from front speakers to listener+distance from rear speakers to listener)/2 which comes out to a little over 10ms for my setup. I run the side speakers at -2db from the rears to create some additional depth. |
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| As I indicated above, I use Joe Kane's
calibration discs to set up the system - the latest ("Video
Essentials") is an excellent source for system set-up. As far as I
know it is the only Dolby Digital calibration disc available, It presents
the information in an easy to learn hand holding approach. I use a Radio
Shack Sound Level Meter ($40.00 analog version) and the pink noise tracks
on the disc to set-up the audio. The THX theater specs call for the 0db
reference level for theater audio levels to be set at 85db. I set the left
and rights at this level and then bring everything else up to match. I
run 83db in the side effects channels to help with the imaging. The rear
delay for Dolby is set to 10ms), the AC-3 delay is set to 10ms also.
Here's some LaserDisc fun facts. Here's some DVD fun facts. |
