Plasma vs. LCD TVs

Not a week goes by where someone doesn’t ask me whether a Plasma or LCD TV is better. I’m actually getting that question more frequently than I used to.

Now, you’ll hear a lot of talk about Plasma vs. LCD TVs, and a lot of that talk is pretty outdated.

That’s why I’m going to give you my “2-3 years ago” answer, and then follow it up with my “today” answer.

And just to keep things fun, (and not to mention easy to read) I’m going to try to keep this very short and sweet. Imagine you asked me this question on an elevator, and we only have a few minutes to talk about it.

So, here’s my “2-3 years ago” answer:

At the time, I would have said that Plasmas are great because they come in larger sizes like 42” and above, and they handle motion smoothly with great black levels. This means dark scenes in movies don’t look washed out, they actually look detailed.

But plasmas were big and heavy, so mounts were generally expensive. They also sucked up power like crazy, and they didn’t typically come in higher resolutions. When you did come across a high resolution, they were pretty darn expensive.

LCD TVs were nice because they tended to have higher resolutions. So it was easier to find, say, a 1080p LCD than it would be to find a 1080p plasma. They were also lighter, came in smaller sizes and took up less power than plasmas. Some people said that because of that, they lasted a bit longer than plasma TVs.

On the other hand, they tended to have poor black levels, meaning dark images tend to look bright and washed out – think more grey than black. Many LCD’s also had a tendency to blur images during fast motion.

All in all, if you were looking for a “home theater” type of TV, to go with a dimly lit room, comfy chairs and surround sound, I’d have said pick plasma.

If you were looking for a bedroom or kitchen TV, secondary TV, or something to display your computer on, pick an LCD.

Now for the “Today” answer:

Take your pick. I mean, really, as long as you stick with good brands, and don’t opt for the cheapest TV out there, chances are very good that you’ll be happy with either plasma or LCD.

Some of the things I still mention:

- Plasmas still don’t come in smaller sizes, so if you want a kitchen countertop TV, it’s going to be an LCD.

- Although plasmas have gotten better, LCDs still take less power. In today’s environmentally-conscious world, that’s a real factor.

- Plasmas are still HEAVY!

- LCD’s have gotten way, way better with black levels. But I have to mention that the LCD’s that handle black levels great are generally more expensive than a comparable plasma, which has been doing it great for years.

- LCD’s have gotten much, much better at motion, especially with the introduction of 120 Hz TVs. If you haven’t seen one, give me a call. I will arrange to meet you at our showroom so you can see one in person. Seriously, my number is at the bottom.

Now if you really want to sit down and get bored to tears over the details, I’ll be more than happy to talk with you, but typically, the preceding is all I really say about plasma vs. LCD anymore.

I will say this again though; don’t be fooled by the tempting, cheap TVs out there. All my current generalizations about plasma vs. LCD pretty much go out the window when you’re talking about extremely low budget TVs… because they’re pretty much living in the past.

Ah one more thing… you know those articles where the author sits nicely on the fence and provides a nice balanced argument for both sides and doesn’t push his or her opinion on the reader?

This isn’t exactly one of those articles.

I’m actually going to go out on a limb here and proclaim my love for LCD TVs. I’ve installed plasmas and LCDs all over town, and while I have nothing bad to say about plasmas, I still personally choose LCD to grace my walls.

If you’re really curious as to why, give me a call at 847.471.4420 or email me at keith@inspired-electronics.com and we’ll chat.

If you'd like to learn more about what we do here at Inspired Electronics, Inc., visit our website at www.inspired-electronics.com.

Take care, everyone!

-Keith

Inspired Electronics, Inc. now carries Martin Logan Speakers

One of the things I like most about this industry is that I get to work with a bunch of really, really cool electronic stuff. The other thing I love is the look of pure delight on our clients’ faces when they see and hear a well-designed home theater system come to life in their own living room or basement.

Since we get to work with cool stuff, and we get to demo new lines as they come out, we feel we have a responsibility to only recommend the best products that fit within a client’s design guidelines and budget.

For some people and rooms, that means a great workhorse all-in-one home theater system, while others have in mind something more sophisticated and elegant.

With that in mind, I’m pleased to announce that Inspired Electronics, Inc. has been selected to join the elite ranks of dealers authorized to sell and install Martin Logan speakers.

Martin Logan uses a unique electrostatic panel design to reproduce the higher frequencies, combined with a traditional cone speaker to handle the lower frequencies.

The electrostatic panel actually has less mass than the air it moves, which makes it incredibly responsive to even the most subtle nuances of sound, like the whisper of a violinist’s fingers on the strings, or the rustling of the grass in your favorite movie.

Martin Logan speakers have some unique characteristics that really beg for a professional to install and position them properly. For example, a slight amount of toe-in or toe-out can change the tonal balance and imaging of the speakers, which allows us to compensate for more or less acoustically absorptive rooms. Naturally, we take this into consideration when installing the speakers, but we really recommend a full audio calibration in order to get the most out of your speakers.

If you’d like to hear these or one of the other speaker lines we carry, or if you’d like to see the LCDs, plasmas, projectors, control systems, distributed audio, or any of the other systems we carry, call Keith at 847.471.4420 or email keith@inspired-eleectronics.com to schedule an appointment.

We’d love to put a new home theater system in your home, whether it’s Martin Logan speakers or one of the other excellent brands we carry. So please, call us today at 847.471.4420 to schedule your free in-home consultation, or visit us on the web at http://www.inspired-electronics.com/ to learn more about our company and how we can help you!

Thanks -

Rob

A Word on Brands

There seem to be countless companies out there all doing roughly the same thing, so how does one decide amongst the hundreds of companies out there, which will have the right product for them?

Since the introduction of high definition, and most notably, flat screen TVs, there seem to be more and more TV companies out there all claiming that they’re the best.

Choosing speakers is possibly more daunting… I’m in the industry and I couldn’t even name all the companies out there selling loudspeakers.

It’s the same deal with DVD players, media servers and remote controls. It’s enough to make you throw up your arms in surrender. So how do you choose?

Well, I’ve got my favorite brands that I’ve used, installed and enjoyed, so naturally my view on which brands are the “best” will be slightly biased… so I’m making a conscious effort here not to name names, at it were.

Instead, let me share some advice when you’re thinking about buying a product, building a system, or hiring an installation company.

1) Think back to any product you’ve owned in the past, and more importantly, think back to products you’ve had which have broken… got one in mind? Good. Now, how did the company treat you?

Were the tech support people helpful? Or were you shuffled around before you were able to find someone who would help? With any product, there is a chance of something going wrong. I wish I could say one company out there makes a perfect product, but the reality is that no one can guarantee you perfection.

The best products often come from companies who pay close attention to their clients, big or small. If a company really listens to you, chances are they’ve also put that much care into their product.

2) How diverse is the company you’re considering buying from? Kind of an odd question, but stick with me for a moment.

No company out there (especially an electronics company) can do everything, and do everything well. When you spread yourself too thin, chances are the quality gets spread thin as well.

Now, I will say that there a few companies out there with a very large breadth of products, who make some good equipment… however, even in those companies who make a wide variety of products, they usually tend to do one or maybe two things truly well.

Look for companies who focus on a specialty. If a company is good at something, truly good, and has a dedication to it, they tend to immerse themselves in it, and take great pride in making a fantastic product. Those who offer a “solution for everything” usually haven’t thought too hard about any of those “solutions” hard enough.

3) Ask around! If it’s one thing I know from experience, it is that you will get widely differing opinions from each person you talk with… however, ask enough people, and sooner or later you’re going to spot a trend or two.

When you hear a great comment about a product or company, stick it in the back or your mind and wait for confirmation. Same goes for when you hear something bad.

When you start hearing the same or similar thing over and over again, that’s the time to take real notice. It’s very rare to hear the same story, from different sources, and there not be at least some truth to it.

I bring this point up last, because I want to end on this note. When the time comes, and you’re really serious about investing in home entertainment and home electronics, it pays to have opinions you can trust, and we at Inspired Electronics, Inc. would sincerely like to offer ours. That’s what we’re here for.

We take an honest approach to our work, and consider as many aspects of our client’s project before offering advice. And having dealt with a wide variety of products out there, we’ve heard tons of opinions and have also had the opportunity to confirm or deny them as a result of hands on experience.

The most important thing to us is that our clients have the best possible products and service that also fit their needs and budget. We deliver the best possible service both when we install your system, and if something should go wrong. We focus strictly on Audio, Video, and Automation systems. And our clients consistently give us great marks on our knowledge and service. Want to learn more about how we can help? Call me at 847-471-4420, and I will personally give you a free initial consultation to help you decide on the right products and brands for your system

Take care everyone!

Keith Rose
Inspired Electronics, Inc.
www.inspired-electronics.com
keith@inspired-electronics.com
847.471.4420

Cheap speakers, good speakers, and expensive speakers

Last week, I spent some time talking about room modes in bass frequencies. I know, it was very technical and pretty dry - I'll work on making these articles a bit less dry in the future!

This week, I want to cover a question that I get pretty often - does it really make sense to spend money on expensive speakers? Don't the inexpensive speakers do the same thing, for a whole lot less money?

When I was in graduate school, one of the first things I learned is that the answer to every question is, "it depends." And that statement really holds true here.

Speakers really do come in absolutely every price range - from the tiny little cones that put out the music in your $20 clock radio to $60,000 each top-end Krell speakers. And you need to buy a dedicated amplifer for each of those!

A quick story about the Krells - not long ago, I had the chance to demo those speakers. The demo used a western movie as source material. All of the characters were sneaking around the old mining town, getting into position. Each footstep was crisp and clear, and you could easily hear the tumbleweeds rolling around the dusty street. When the main characters faced off, their ragged breathing was audible. And then the first shot rang out.

I was sitting in the second row of seats, and I happened to be wearing a dress shirt and tie. When that shot and the ensuing battle came over the loudspeakers, the drivers moved so much air that my shirt sleeves actually flapped in the breeze!

Do speakers make a difference? Well, those Krells certainly helped me to feel like I was in the middle of the action in a way that the clock radio speaker never could.

Is it worth spending $60,000 each ($300,000 for a 5-channel home theater) on speakers in order to get great sound? Well, for those clients who want nothing but the best, and price is no object, certainly it's worth it. And those speakers would be paired with top-of-the line amplifiers, video projector, screen, lighting control, seats, and a control system. In other words, the entire system is well-balanced between audio, video, seating, and control.

But for those clients with a more modest budget, I still believe it's well worth spending an amount on the speakers that's commensurate with the rest of the system. After all, why would you spend $1000, $5000, $20,000 on a flat panel or projection system, and then skimp on the speakers? Sound provides a large part of the movie or sports event experience.

Our rule of thumb is that we recommend clients to spend about as much on the audio portion of the system as they do on the video portion.

Does that mean that just because a speaker is more expensive, that it's better? No, of course not. It's easy enough to find expensive speakers that sound pretty bad. But finding good speakers in any price range is also easy to do, and if you rely on the advice of a trusted A/V professional, you'll be able to find speakers that perform very well in any price range.

Better speakers will reveal more of the detail and color of the sound, and will sound better in all parts of the room, because they have better off-axis response. That means the sound that you hear off to the side of the speaker is as good as (although may be fainter than) the sound you hear directly in front of the speaker. This is very important because those off-axis sounds have a way of bouncing off of the walls, ceiling, and floor, and reflecting to all parts of the room. If there are significant off-axis flaws, those can make the speaker sound horrible when you play a movie or music through them.

And just because a speaker sounds good in a showroom doesn't mean it will sound as good in your room. Your room is an integral part of the audio system, and has a profound impact on the overall sound (remember the article on room modes).

If you're looking for the best possible sound and video experience within any budget, call your local experts! Inspired Electronics, Inc. is one of just a handful of companies in Illinois certified for both audio and video calibration, and we can make your room sound better. Call us today at 847-471-4420 to set up an initial consultation.

An overview of Room Modes - Bass Frequency concerns in small rooms

So far in this blog we've discussed horn vs. cone speakers, box vs. architectural speakers, and an overview of speakers in general.

Today I'd like to provide a little background on the physics of sound, which will lead to a future entry on subwoofers/satellites vs. full-range speakers.

In the days when I first started playing with and learning about audio, the only way to get full-range sound (both good low frequencies and good high-frequencies) was to use a good full-range speaker. At its core, a full-range speaker contains one or more cones and/or horns in a single box, and the aggregate device reproduces all sounds from the lowest to the highest.

Cheap full-range speakers had only a single cone (or horn) that had to deliver all sound frequencies at the same time. Better speakers had two cones, a driver or woofer for low frequencies and a tweeter for high-frequencies. There was a crossover circuit that fed low-frequency sound to the driver, and high-frequency sound to the tweeter. The best full-range speakers added a mid-range cone and more crossover circuitry. Some more exotic speakers had multiple tweeters, mid-ranges, and even woofers to deliver more power or punch in those frequency ranges.

Note that all of these sounds are delivered from a single box. This means that all of the sounds come from essentially the same place in the room.

However, research by Floyd Toole and others over the last 40 years or so has essentially demonstrated that, depending on the frequency, sound can have very different characteristics. High-frequency sounds are very directional, while low-frequency sounds are omni-directional - they radiate in all directions.

Low-frequency sounds, also known as bass, have the further characteristic of long wavelengths. The wavelength of a bass frequency ranges from about 56.5 feet (at 20 Hz) to 11.3 feet (at 100 Hz). Relative to a typical listening room in a home (which we consider to be a "small" room when compared to concert halls), these are very long waves, and have very different characteristics than higher frequency sounds that have wavelengths measured in inches or fractions of inches.

When a high-frequency sound is produced in a small room, the directional sound travels in one direction to a boundary (wall, floor, ceiling), and bounces to the next boundary, etc. until its energy is dissipated. This means when the speaker is pointed at the listener, the sound travels directly to the listener's ears, and also bounces off the walls. These secondary "bounces" hit the listener's ears a few milliseconds later than the original direct sound. Third- and fourth-order reflections hit the ear even later. At these frequencies, the human ear is very good at combining and differentiating those reflections. In fact, the earlier reflections actually reinforce the original sounds, making the listener's perception clearer and stronger.

Later reflections, on the other hand, are perceived as echoes. They are so far out in time from the original sound that the ear cannot recombine them into the original sound, but rather perceives them as a separate sound.

Low-frequency sounds act very different. The wavelengths are long relative to the room, and they emanate from the speaker in all directions. Every room will have one specific frequency for which the room length exactly matches the length of the sound wave. It will also have a frequency for which the room width exactly matches the sound wave length, and a third for which the room height matches the wavelength.

Let's consider just one of these for the moment - the frequency at which the wavelength exactly matches the length of the room.

When the sound emanates from the speaker at one end of the room, it travels the length of the room to the opposite wall, and bounces back and forth between the front and back wall. These reflections will reinforce themselves - the peak of the wave will be higher, and the valley of the wave will be lower. This is called a standing wave.

You can hear this effect very easily by putting a subwoofer in a room and sending a pure test tone through it. By varying the tone, it's easy to find a frequency that is too loud in one spot, but too soft in another. Quite literally, you can find a "hotspot" for that frequency, where it's too loud, and then take a step or two in any direction, only to have that sound completely disappear! This frequency is called a "room mode", and it also happens for wavelengths that are 1/2, 1/3, etc. of the room length.

Of course, this is all basic physics, so with a little math we can predict which frequencies will cause a room mode. Since every room has dimensions, it's impossible to completely eliminate room modes. However, by understanding what causes a room mode, we can compensate for them by proper subwoofer placement, multiple subwoofers, parametric equalizers, or other mechanisms of good audio design.

If you want the best possible sound out of your audio equipment, whether it's your home theater, stereo system, or even a mixing room, classroom, or auditorium, call your local experts! Inspired Electronics, Inc. is one of just a handful of companies in Illinois certified for both audio and video calibration, and we can make your room sound better. Call us today at 847-471-4420 to set up an initial consultation.

Distributed Audio options

Rob Schultz, President of Inspired Electronics, Inc., was recently published in Electronic House magazine's Ask a Pro section. Read the original article here: http://www.electronichouse.com/article/q_how_much_power_do_i_need_for_multiroom_audio or continue reading.

Q. I just moved into a house that is pre-wired for speakers & volume controls in 3 rooms, 2 outdoor porches, a media room and a family room. I will be buying a new receiver and amplifier but don’t know how much power I need or what Ohm speakers/controls I should get. Any budget conscious recommendations or guidance for a 1st time do-it-yourselfer? - John, Dallas TX

Rob Schultz, of Inspired Electronics, Inc. offers up this solution:

The most basic approach is to have a speaker selector and volume control unit at the head end, and split the output from the receiver. This is simple to install, and pretty inexpensive if the house is already wired. The speaker selector must be impedence matching, which means there’s a switch that lets you tell it how many speaker pairs there are. When you select the right number of speakers, the unit adjusts for the impedence of the speakers so you don’t blow the amplifier. The main drawback of this sytem is that you can only control what’s playing and the volume in the main room. So when your favorite song comes on, you have to run to the main room to turn it up!

You can also use a speaker selector in the main room with individual volume controls in each room. Hopefully the pre-wire has service loops to the right volume control locations, and you know where those are! Use impedence matching volume controls in this scenario. Now you can adjust volume in each room, but you still have to go back to the main room to change what’s playing.

For either option, we plan a minimum of 20 watts per zone, and 40 watts for outdoor zones or large rooms, and we spec 8 Ohm speakers. For more zones or when more volume is desired, we use either a high-power stereo receiver with a speaker selector, or a low-power receiver with a distribution amplifier, such as the Niles 1230 (12 x 30 watts) or Niles 1260 (12 x 60 watts).
By splitting your audio signal, you decrease power and volume by as many ways as you have zones. So if you have a 50 watt amplifier split 5 ways, you get only 10 watts per zone - not even enough for background music.

More advanced options allow you to control the equipment from each room, provide metadata feedback on the keypads, and play different sources in different rooms.

If you're interested in having audio throughout your home or business, visit our web site at http://www.inspired-electronics.com, or call Keith at (847) 471-4420.

Architectural speakers

In my last post, I talked about box speakers. These have a well-earned reputation for having the best sound at any given price point.

But architectural speakers (those that are built into the structure, such as in-wall and in-ceiling speakers) have made great strides over the last few years, so that the best architectural speakers are pretty close to box speakers at a similar price point.

The main advantage architectural speaker have over box speakers is that they can blend in with the room, and they don't take up any space. After all, if you bring in an interior designer, or just spend a lot of your own time and energy putting together the perfect room, do you really want to muck it up with speakers? Sure, those boxes may be great in the theater or game room, but what about the living room or dining room, where there aren't a bunch of other electronics in view?

Many people are even willing to give up some of the audio quality benefits of box speakers in order to "get the electronics out of the room." After all, you're not watching movies or concert videos in those rooms, you're really just listening to background music.

Of course, when your favorite song comes on, what do you do? If you're like me (or my wife!), you want to turn it up. And this is where poor speakers really start to show their deficiencies, regardless of whether they're boxes or in-walls.

There are a couple of factors that give box speakers an advantage over architectural speakers. Those factors can be mitigated or even overcome by good speaker design and proper installation.

First, the box is a resonance chamber. The chamber is designed during the speaker design process, and can be changed during early prototype testing to give the speaker the proper tone, timbre, and resonance. With a built-in speaker, the wall becomes the resonance chamber. You may have a big open box, there may be firebreaks in the wall (making a smaller resonance chamber) or there may be insulation in the wall (absorbing some of the sound). For in-ceiling speakers you may even have a huge void (the attic) behind the speaker.

Good installation can help here. First, insist that the installer use a back box that's designed for the speaker. Since the back box is designed before production, you will get many of the same characteristics as a box speaker, and you will avoid most of the problems of architectural speakers. Generally, back boxes are available for in-ceiling speakers and higher-end in-wall speakers. However, the back boxes may not fit well in a standard 2x4 wall, or may be too high for the cavity above the ceiling. In addition, some back boxes are designed as pre-construction boxes, which mean they must be installed before the drywall is put up.

The second advantage box speakers have over architectural speakers is their inherent rigidity. The box is joined on all edges, and is usually made of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). This construction is highly resistant to the types of forces that speakers generate when asked to deliver high sound output. Architectural speakers, on the other hand, usually have an ABS plastic or aluminum "spider" - a sort of cage that houses the driver and magnets. Since there are narrow legs separated by relatively wide gaps, the speaker is much more susceptible to those forces, which can flex the entire speaker out of shape, forcing the cone to be out of shape. Of course, this can impair the sound quality at those volume levels.

Again, proper installation is a good first line of defense. These speakers need to be firmly mounted to a well-constructed wall. In doing so, the speakers gain back some of their stiffness. In particular, if you can attach the speakers to 3/4 or 1" drywall which is glued and tightly screwed to good wooden studs, the speaker will have gained considerable stiffness. And a good back-box will also help to stiffen up the speaker - indeed, most better architectural speakers are designed to work best with a back-box. Beyond that, some speakers have specific design characteristics which help with this problem. James Loudspeakers, for example, have an integrated back-box made out of welded aircraft aluminum. These are essentially box speakers that are designed to fit inside the wall. And other speakers have aluminum or more exotic spiders, which further reduce flexing.

For a professional opinion on what speakers will work best in your listening environment, call Inspired Electronics, Inc. at 847.471.4420 for a free in-home consultation, or visit our web site at http://www.inspired-electronics.com/.