Denon AVP-A1HD - Page 12

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Listening Tests
It was time to see if the AVP-A1HDCI had
the sonic chops to party with the big boys.
Using the matching POA-A1HDCI 10CH
amp with my front channels configured for
“Bi-amp” mode where the bottom bass
portions of my RBH T-30LSE’s were running
as 2 of the 4 dedicated subwoofers in my
system, I was ready to go.
Reference Equipment
I installed the Denon AVP-A1HDCI
into the premier theater room of the
Audioholics Showcase home consisting of
the matching Denon POA-A1HDCI 10
channel amplifier, RBH Sound T-30LSE
Signature speaker system, dual Velodyne
DD-15 subwoofers, Denon DVD-5910CI
and Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD players and
the Epson 1080UB 1080p LCD projector.
The cables include, Sonicwave HDMI and
digital toslink/coax from Impact Acoustics,
1694ACanareterminatedRCAcablesand
10AWG speaker cable from Blue Jeans
cableandDVIGearSHRHDMIcables.
CD: James Taylor
That’s Why I’m Here
I’m not a huge
James Taylor fan.
In fact most of
his music kinda
puts me to sleep.
But his CD’s have
some incredibly
good fidelity and I
like listening to a particular track called
“That’s Why I’m Here” because it really
helps me gauge if the front channels are
imaging correctly and everything sounds
tonally balanced. When I engaged Audyssey,
found the vocals to be more forward,
but the highs to be a bit too laid back. I
toggled between “Audyssey” and “Flat” and
preferred the latter. With DEQ engaged,
the bass was more prominent and full,
especially at low listening levels. Toggling
on/off Audyssey revealed some interesting
sonic observations. With Audyssey engaged,
JamesTaylor’svoiceseemedmoreanchored
and forward, but the snare drums seemed
to loose depth in the soundstage. The
speakers didn’t seem to sound quite as
wide but instead took on a more focused,
intimate sound. My personal preference
was No Audyssey in this case but it was
really a matter of taste over which end
result was more accurate. I ultimately
settled on “Audyssey Bypass L/R” to achieve
the benefits of bass correction on my subs
and activation of DEQ, while not EQ’ing the
main channels.
DTS CD: Diana Krall
Love Scenes
Track #2 “Peel
Me a Grape” had
Diana’s vocals
centered straight
ahead while the
bass rattled my
floor joists. I was
in awe that despite
my room was shaking with so much tactile
energy, I still heard all of the great reverb
from the surround channels in the recording
and the twang sound of the bass. There was
excellent separation of musical instruments
and no sigh of strain or smearing like I’ve
heard on lesser designed systems. With
DEQ engaged, the bass was definitely fuller
sounding, but the surround levels seemed
a bit too hot and her voice which was
anchored dead center seemed further
away. I toggled between Audyssey modes
and DEQ on/off and ultimately settled on
“Audyssey Bypass L/R” with no DEQ.
Intrack#3“IDon’tKnowEnoughAbout
You” I actually did hear distortion but
quickly realized it was part of the recording
likely caused by preamp clipping during
the recording process. The Denon combo
was revealing enough to showcase this
recording flaw.
CD: Genesis
Live Over Europe 2007
Nothing put a
bigger smile on
my face when
the legendary
progressive rock
band Genesis got
back together for
one last tour to
remind the world of their musical genius.
In two channel stereo, the sound of this
double disc concert CD is a bit flat and
sterile, but the experience is far more
enjoyable once you engage Prologic IIx
Music Mode.  I started out with track #3
“Land of Confusion” and toggled between
DEQ on/off and Audyssey modes and settled
on DEQ On and Audyssey Bypass L/R. This
allowed me to achieve better bass response
to make the recording sound fuller and
more involving.
Track#4“IntheCage”likedbeingplayed
loudly on this system. Towards the middle
of the song as they progress over to the
“Cinema Show” instrumental, the music was
so enveloping that I was starting to feel that
“better than being there” experience on
this Denon rig.
I checked with Audyssey to better
understand why I was hearing recessed
vocals with DEQ engaged and here is
what they told me:
Dynamic EQ is only *exactly* right
for movie content that is produced to an
absolute standard SPL and thus can be
directly compared to the SPL measured in
your room. Music content is not produced
under standardized conditions and so
there are cases where Dynamic EQ will
be off depending on the reference level
at which the music mixer made decisions
about how much bass to use.
It was clear to me that the benefits
of DEQ are really source dependent
so you must experiment to determine
if you prefer using it on the particular
program material you’re listening to.
Editorial Note
About Audyssey DEQ
“Combine this product
with the matching 10CH
POA-A1HDCI amplifier
and you’ve got a perfectly
balanced design”
GeneDellaSala