A Terrific Tube Preamplifier From Korea, And A - Ultra High Fidelity ...
A Terrific Tube Preamplifier From Korea, And A - Ultra High Fidelity ...
A Terrific Tube Preamplifier From Korea, And A - Ultra High Fidelity ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
All You Can Watch for $8<br />
It was Netflix that, in the US,<br />
made the drive to the video club<br />
seem so 20th Century. You paid<br />
a monthly rental fee, and you<br />
could order one or more DVDs<br />
(depending on your subscription<br />
level), watch them, then mail them<br />
back and order more. The offer<br />
wasn’t good in Canada, which<br />
got its own Netflix-like service, zip.ca.<br />
In the meantime, a quicker access<br />
arrived: Internet streaming. Netflix<br />
let subscribers get instant gratification<br />
with films on demand. Apple’s iTunes<br />
store did the same. Now Netflix itself<br />
is in Canada, with a streaming service.<br />
You subscribe, for $7.99 a month,<br />
and that gives you access to any film<br />
Netflix offers, right from the Internet.<br />
For most people that means watching on<br />
a computer, of course. Some computers<br />
can be hooked up to TV sets, mostly<br />
with middling results. Some other<br />
devices can stream Netflix, including<br />
the newest Apple TV, and the iPad.<br />
Some new TV sets and (ironically)<br />
Blu-ray players can stream Netflix<br />
directly. So can Wii and PS3 boxes.<br />
Before you rush out and grab this<br />
tempting offer, here are some factors to<br />
consider.<br />
First, your high-speed Internet<br />
service may not be unlimited, and<br />
streaming video chews up bandwidth.<br />
Netflix says films go through 1 MB per<br />
hour, twice that for HD. Watch eight<br />
HD films per month, and that’s 16 MB<br />
right there. Check your ISP contract<br />
to see how much that will cost you.<br />
Second, look at those figures,<br />
and you can see that there’s a lot<br />
of compression needed to stream<br />
a film. A two-hour standard definition<br />
Netflix stream sends just<br />
2 GB of data your way, whereas a<br />
DVD has a capacity of 4.7 GB, or<br />
8.54 GB for a double-sided disc.<br />
That may include extras, it’s true,<br />
but most of it is for the film. A Blu-ray disc<br />
has a capacity of at least 25 GB. That’s<br />
why HD may not always be truly HD.<br />
Streamed films from iTunes or<br />
anyone else have similar limits. Available<br />
bandwidth is currently shrinking,<br />
not growing, as service providers phase<br />
out unlimited data plans, on both<br />
wired and mobile Internet services.<br />
Finally, what Netflix calls “HD” is<br />
720p, not the 1080p you paid to have on<br />
your HDTV. Blu-ray offers it, streaming<br />
services don’t.<br />
Good enough for casual watching. If<br />
you’re serious, look elsewhere.<br />
Denon Turns 100 (say, what?)<br />
It’s surprising but it’s true,<br />
and Denon’s first product<br />
back in 1910 was not a<br />
music box (unlike ELAC,<br />
which is even older), but<br />
an actual phonograph — it<br />
was called a gramophone<br />
then. The Japanese company<br />
got heavily into turntables<br />
too, including big pro<br />
tables for NHK, Japan’s national<br />
broadcaster, and (from 1939) even a disc<br />
recorder — just in time for Tokyo Rose!<br />
But hey, that’s the past, and all is<br />
forgiven. Time passes, and Denon is<br />
now celebrating its centennial. Parent<br />
company D&M Holdings (the “M” is<br />
for its sister brand, Marantz) is launching<br />
an entire series of two-channel audio<br />
components bearing the A100 model<br />
name, including the impressive-looking<br />
direct-drive turntable shown here.<br />
<strong>And</strong> of course there’s more. There are<br />
also the PMA-A100 integrated amplifier,<br />
the DCD-A100<br />
CD/SACD player, the<br />
DL-A100 phono cartridge, an<br />
AVR-A100 9.2-channel A/V receiver,<br />
the DBP-A100 universal Blu-ray player,<br />
and, finally, the AH-A100 over-the-ear<br />
headphones.<br />
We wish all these anniversary products<br />
cost just $100, thus extending the<br />
birthday theme, but we’re dreaming<br />
here. The turntable shown, with arm but<br />
not cartridge, is $2,749 (Canadian). The<br />
amplifier and the two players<br />
are also $2,749, whereas<br />
the phono cartridge<br />
and headphones are<br />
$549 each.<br />
What we don’t know<br />
is where any of this<br />
gear is made. Denon, as<br />
noted, was Japanese, and<br />
Marantz was the creation of<br />
an American, Saul Marantz,<br />
but D&M is…Chinese.<br />
Both Denon and Marantz have<br />
had varying reputations over the<br />
years. Marantz was once a super high<br />
end brand before the super high end was<br />
really known. Denon was considered<br />
a little more luxurious than the other<br />
well-known Japanese brands, such as<br />
Sony and Pioneer, and its record label<br />
was one of the first to use digital recording<br />
extensively. Both brands have kept<br />
something of a cachet. Anyway…happy<br />
birthday, Denon!<br />
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 77<br />
Gossip&News<br />
Feedback
Change language