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Saturday, February 11, 2012

Watching TV

I think I finally have the home theater system to about where I want it.  I have an Oppo BDP-93 for discs and streaming upon which I cannot heap enough praise.  Next to my old 1989 vintage Sony CDP 605ESD it is my favorite disc player.  We use a somewhat (for an AV receiver anyway) older Marantz SR6003 as the brains, and a very old (1982?) Hafler DH 200 (again updated and modified by Wayne at In House Stereo Repair) running the mains.  This is an amplifier to keep forever.  The speakers are all new Dynaudio DM series- DM2/7 fronts and DM center.  They sound great, even though they are not broken in.   The center is 1/3 the size of my Dynaudio Audience C122 center (which is in storage now) but has a wonderfully natural timbre on voices, which is obviously important.  It's also on a neat stand it comes with to give it clearance over the top of the cabinet, which is perfect given the cabinet's depth.   No sub (yet, I think- the DM 2/6s have great bass) and no serious thoughts for surrounds, but just fine as is for most stuff.  I will admit that the Emerson Lake and Palmer Brain Salad Surgery DVD-A could use surrounds though, as could some of my Porcupine Tree stuff, but the ELP- there's a TON of weirdness in that mix.



2 comments:

  1. I'd love to hear more about those DM 2/7's. I'm looking to replace some old Paradigm mini monitors and these look like just the ticket. I am looking for a full bodied sounding bookshelf with good midrange detail and smooth but detailed highs. Just can't stand an overly bright speaker and so many of them seem to be.-James

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  2. The DM 2/7 is a VERY laid-back speaker! Like most Dynaudios, they err on the side of neutral, and bring no sizzle to music other than that which is already there. For example, I was listening to the 5.1 surround mix of Rush's 2112 yesterday and couldn't get over how much of the hissy top end of the original was gone. This is of course in part due to the re-master, but the 2/7s also mellowed the material. That being said, if the treble is there the Dynaudios reproduce it. I own a pair of Paradigm Mini Monitor v5 and honstly I find them mostly unlistenable on rock, too bright. The DM series are terrific, but I feel that the Dynaudio Audience series has better bass, and if you can find a pair of Dynaudio Focus 140s in your price range, GRAB them (I paid $1300 USD for them back when new)- they are my all-time favorite bookshelves. You get all the accuracy of other high end monitors (high end to me would include Revel, Vienna Acoustics, B&W 7 series for example) plus the most amazing bass ever to come out of a small box. The DM 2/7s could still use a sub, but I never wanted one with my Focus 140s. I replaced them with the Focus 220s, and well, I still miss them.

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