CT-17...Dolby Pro Logic woes

And to be honest about it, it sounds like shit.

I imagine a number of you have heard me bleat about my CT-17. For two channel audio, it does well enough. I'll lean toward a tubed solution at one point, but for the time being, it'll cover the job. I've got other items in the chain that need to be upgraded first. Got priorities, dontchaknow.

But, seeing I've got a spiffy subwoofer now, and can do a bit more on the HT end o' things, (not to mention music -- HUGE impact) I thought I'd get a center channel just to see what I've been missing up to this point. I bought a Klipsch Synergy C-2 -- nothing particularly special, but capable of what I need to do at a reasonable price. I have a five channel integrated amp (Yamaha DSP-A1000) that I'm not using for anything, and seeing that I can biamp the C-2, I went ahead and bought the cabling and banana clips to do so.

Granted, my ol' CT-17 won't do DTS, but it is a Dolby Pro Logic preamp, which is available on most DVDs still from what I've seen I thought it should be capable of doing the job.

But.

It doesn't. Sounds like hell. I've jacked around with everything imaginable, and there's nothing that is going to make that setup sound even remotely acceptable. Dunno, perhaps there's something that is wrong with the preamp. It works perfectly for everything else. Two channel is good, the remote out works well for my sub. All the other bells and whistles are functioning just fine. I've got the owner's manual, and have gone over it several times, too.

I hooked the center channel speaker up to the right channel on my m1.0t and it sounds fine. The Yamaha amp sounds fine when I used it while replacing the binding posts on the m-1.0t, too. The only questionable item here is the processing on the CT-17. I'm leaning toward buying an external processor, such as a Denon AVD-1000. It's probably the better route to go for what I'm trying to do anyhow, as DTS/DD is obviously a better route.

Looks like the indexing for searching the forums is still b0rked, I did a search for CT-17, and it didn't hit on anything whatsoever, and I know there's a least a few in the forum over the last month or two. I was the one that started them.

John

Most everything I see now is in Dolby Digital 5.1, not Pro-Logic.

Devnull, the search is weird when it comes to hyphens which it interprets as minus signs, so by searching on CT-17,it thinks that you want 17 NOT to be found. Its just plain weird if you ask me.

Most everything I see now is in Dolby Digital 5.1, not Pro-Logic.

Hmmnn...ya know, I don't know what made me think that. I dug through my DVDs and didn't find that many with the old analog encoding. The funny thing about it (although better in the long run) was that the majority of the movies I bought recently for their soundtracks were remastered versions as I was looking for that improvement.

Either way, I need an external decoder. I guess this is where the world of two channel separates itself from the world of HT. I'm not really interested in buying a preamp capable of handling this, nor a receiver or anything along those lines. But if I want a centralized control for the volumes of channels, there might not be a way around this. I am not in a position of which having separate HT and audio systems is viable.

Or a player with an internal decoder. I've got a real pile of crap DVD player. The Yamaha I'm using for the center channel is integrated, so I can control the volume with it..but -- another remote, and I'd have to futz around with the volume to get it adjusted every time.

Hmmn...time to do some more research.

John

There was a DD5.1 Carver piece for sale recently, but it was real spendy. I think it was a prototype right before Carver went OOB.

I looked up the post regarding the DD5.1 system you mentioned, Bill. Seems that was back in October. Utimately, that wouldn't solve my problem any more than the Denon processor I mentioned. I've got to figure out how to integrate a center channel into the system with a common volume control.

I'm kinda leaning toward a player with onboard decoders and a volume control.

Then I started thinking, why only a DVD player? Why not go Blu-ray? Like it or not, that's the route video is going.

So I headed off on a search, and haven't found one with an output level control. Yet.

Might be too early to be looking at Blu-ray. Or at least for the features I want...well, _one_, apparently. I'd love to jump into the game, though. I just read an article mentioning that Blu-ray sales are expected to exceed DVD somewhere around 2012. That would be app'x a 10 year cycle on the dominance of DVDs. I'd like to get a little ahead of the cycle.

Eh, I suppose I've got time to figure this out. Presently, though, I'm wondering if buying a dedicated SACD/DVD-A wouldn't be a better choice for what I would enjoy more presently. Two channel audio with the sub on the movies isn't bad.

And the sound quality of my "Disintegration" CD from the Cure sounds like shit. Need to find a better version. Sounds flat on the high end.

And Brasserie La Choutette Sans Culottes is a pretty damn nice beer. Gotta love beer with metal retainer cages and corks. mmmmnnnnnn....

John

Devnull, the search is weird when it comes to hyphens which it interprets as minus signs, so by searching on CT-17,it thinks that you want 17 NOT to be found. Its just plain weird if you ask me.

Yeah, I tried everything I could think of. Put it in quotes, apostrophes, asterisks, you name it.

It's damn well evil, I say.

John

I know the Oppo 980H has 8 channel out. I use it when playing SACDs.

I know the Oppo 980H has 8 channel out. I use it when playing SACDs.

I found an external processor that looks like it would provide the bridge I need for the time being. The Technics SH-AC500D seems to be a good option for the time being. In time the option I want on a bluray player will be found so this should get me through until then.

I've read about the Oppo through various threads here, and at the point of which I'm going to pick up a SACD player I'm sure I'll considering it. Plus a few other items (my fuckin' comma key is not working) such as the Denon that Tom has and perhaps some of the dedicated units that Sony offers. I have all of one SACD presently so picking one up isn't by any means an urgent matter.

The HT aspect of a sound system definitely threw some twists into the mix. I'd not thought of many of the issues involved (pound pound pound...comma), so this is a learning experience.

John

As an update, I did find a Technics SH-AC500D with a spiffy remote on craigslist, and am in the process of getting it shipped to me. The guy had a Technics receiver listed with it, which was included in the $60 price, and wasn't interested in separating the two. I told him I'd buy both. After thinking about it, I figured there was no point in shipping a receiver I have absolutely no use for, as I'll never use it. I informed the gentleman that I'll pay the $60 (yeah, that *included* the receiver) and whatever the shipping costs of the processor, but he could keep the receiver. I told him he could donate it to Goodwill or relist it, it doesn't matter to me, I only needed the processor.

I read where someone had taken their SH-AC500D and recapped it with higher quality caps as he wasn't satisfied with the sound quality. I'm thinking this could be a good opportunity to do a DIY upgrade on something that is relatively easily replaced (not that I doubt my abilities, but it's the first thing I'll have mangled...well, second, seeing I built the crossovers for my speakers) for a pretty low cost. The remote for these things is the rare item, for about half the ones I see are sans remote.

Bill: I looked into the Oppo DV-980H you mentioned, and it does look like a hell of a unit for the price. I'll consider one in time, but like the idea of working on the SH-AC500D for the time being. I'll see what I can get out of it with the upgrade path. I'm mired in poverty presently, although I imagine I could pick up the Oppo for whatever I'll sink into the processor in upgrades...well, including the cost of the processor. Eh, maybe not, I don't know what type or how many caps are in it yet.

John

I got the Technics SH-AC500D DD/DTS processor I mentioned I'd found, and it works pretty well. Blending your two channel rig with some HT devices isn't always the easiest thing to do as I've found out, but it can be done.

John