What Hi-fi? do you own

Napoleon Plural

Well, I shelled out a fair bit of cash (though under £250) on this Philips micro-theatre, a combined DVD and CD player. It looks great, check it out: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MCD708-Philips-Micro-Theatre-System/dp/B000E16ZIQ

However, now I have at last got it out the box and set it up, it bugs the hell out of me... X-(

The sound is very impressive - but it just doesn't sound very good.

Now I can imagine some of you are breathing out slowly at this point, with a hint of exasperation... yeah yeah, I did test it in the shop. Went back several times with my fave CDs, it sounded impressive, better than the others... thing is, I'm wondering if it isn't a bit like a taste test, that is, quite misleading.

Here's what bugs me. First, it plays DVD too. Fine, though the picture is a bit too lush, too sumptous and sensual. Somehow it's impressive but not quite right. Anyhow, you put in a CD and the player takes at least 10 secs trying to figure out what it is. Is it a DVD? Is it a CD? And I'm standing over it getting irritated as the annoying micro-theatre puzzles it out. Blimey you thick machine, it's gonna be one or the other isn't it! Get a move on! When I want to play a CD I want it now! I don't want to supervise the player. Fair enough, it starts the CD automatically, but what if you don't want track one?

Secondly, the ESC button for the CD player is right next to the disc holder, which nearly bangs your hand as you press the button. Thirdly, the sound. Impressive, but when I listen to those old Beatle albums, it just never quite sounds right. I hear all the faults in them more than before. Okay, they're up for remastering, but still, on my old JVC CD player some 10 years ago, it all sounded perfectly okay. We have different settings on both: Classical, Rock, Jazz etc but on this one it just means it never quite sounds right. Sometimes I think all this modern technology just makes things a drag more.

I am in an annoyed funk about it.

TonyDP

It could very well be that since your old gear was so old, your new equipment is just showing you the flaws in the audio and video that were always there but not visible or audible given the limitations of your old equipment. Its like watching a VHS movie on an old TV and then on a new plasma; all of a sudden the picture, which looked pefectly good before, is unacceptable because the high resolution of the new TV brings out all its faults.

Still, in my opinion you broke the golden rule of audio systems: you bought an all-in-one unit. In my experience those home theaters in a box that also double as DVD and CD players are usually compromised in several ways. In addition to usually offering only questionable picture quality and quirky playback they are also limited in terms of audio/video inputs in the back. If you look behind the receiver/DVD/CD player I'm willing to wager that you'll find at most one or two analog inputs. Also, if one of the components (say the DVD player) craps out, you're pretty much out of luck and will probably have to chuck the whole thing out.

Personally, I like to keep my components separate. When I buy a receiver, I just want a receiver with plenty of inputs on the back so I can plug a variety of devices into it. No built-in DVD or CD player; and absolutely no hardwired speakers, just speaker jacks so I can swap out speakers to my liking.

Then, if I want to watch DVDs or listen to CDs, I'll get separate DVD or CD players that are to my liking and plug them into the receiver. If one of the speakers blows out, I can just get a replacement of the same wattage.

Even if it costs a little more up front, I find this approach gives me the most versatility and flexibility and lets me select the players that I like most and that look and sound best to me. It also lets me upgrade the whole rack component by component as my budget allows.

Just my two cents.

Napoleon Plural

Yeah, well that cost me more than two cents! X-( )

I'm familiar with the separates argument, really I bought the thing for the CD quality and have been okay with micro CD players in the past. I follow the argument of the new high resolution bringing out faults, but ironic really that the old one makes it sound better. Ah well.

TonyDP

Napoleon Plural wrote:

I follow the argument of the new high resolution bringing out faults, but ironic really that the old one makes it sound better. Ah well.

There are people who still insist vinyl records sound better than CDs because of their analog quality. And who knows, maybe they're right.

I have noticed that the same CD and even DVD can sound significantly different when played thru different sources. I remember the first time I played Ultimate Edition TSWLM on my upscaling DVD player and surround sound system; there was an annoying repeating sound during the PTS ski chase; I later realized it was percussion, just part of the musical score. It had been there all along but my old player and sound system had never picked it up. Even though the newer setup reproduced the sound more accurately and separated the individual instruments to a finer degree, to my ears it didn't sound as pleasing.

Napoleon Plural

Yeah, I noticed that at the special screenings of TSWLM at Empire Leicester Square. Sort of high hat sound.

It creates a real mind f***. Certainly the vinyl of the Beatles' The White Album and also Abbey Road sound far better than the CD version imo. They're getting remastered for release next year so we shall see. But you can feel like you're chasing your own tail.

Edit: Two weeks later, the system sounds okay, very good compared to the old JVC one. Next week, why QoS rocks! ;%