Rotel's Crystal Ball
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THE ROTEL HOME THEATER a n d HI FI ENCYCLOPEDIA DEDICATION & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is dedicated to Jack Anthony, an independent sale representative par excellence, whose recent death after a long battle with cancer saddened many in the industry he helped to build. A mentor, and, most importantly, a friend, Jack gave me far more time and guidance than common sense might have dictated. In so doing, he taught me the real meaning of the word “professional.” Books don’t magically appear in a vacuum. At least this one didn’t. A number of people contributed. First, thanks to Scott Rundle of Rotel for his consistent patience and persistent cajoling. His mandate that this book be as objective and complete as possible merits high praise. That touch-of-class attitude isn’t often evident in today’s “eat your competitor” environment. Hyam Sosnow also deserves mention. Many years ago, he provided the framework for a related book that never saw the day. Well, Hyam, here’s some sunlight! Roger Dressler and Brent Butterworth read and commented on all matters Dolby. Likewise, John Dahl of THX, Lorr Kramer of DTS, and Mike Ritter of Microsoft’s HDCD team reviewed material of particular interest to them. Much appreciation to all. On a less personal level, I’d like to thank two people I’ve never met or spoken with: Jim Taylor and F. Alton Everest. Jim’s book, Demystifying DVD, is the source for technical information on this exciting technology. Likewise, Everest’s The Master Handbook of Acoustics is an indispensable source for anyone trying to understand how rooms and speakers influence each other. I recommend both volumes enthusiastically. But the last and most important acknowledgement is to everyone who will read this – or parts of it – to learn something you might not otherwise know. Thank you for your trust and effort. Len Schneider TechniCom Corporation January, 2003 AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR CUSTOMERS I will always remember my first meeting with Bob Tachikawa, Rotel’s President and son of the company’s founder. It was in Paris at the 1980 Festival du Son (Festival of Sound) audio show, nearly a year after I joined Rotel’s subsidiary in the U.K. Over dinner that night, our discussions led to the fact that many audio manufacturers were then producing highly “featured” models. Since Bob and I both shared a passion for music and genuinely abhorred listening to mediocre hi-fi, we soon fell into a determined mind-set to buck the trend and try to carve out a strong niche for Rotel by other means. We formulated a unique idea — a slim, high performance amplifier to be designed by a local British engineer. As we had already produced high-powered, critically recognized amplifiers in our own factories, we knew that credibility was not a problem. Our greatest challenge was engineering a high level of performance at an affordable price. That first integrated amplifier, the RA-820B, was elegantly simple and formed the basis of our Balanced Design philosophy: refined implementation of sound engineering principles. The goal, then as now, was to achieve the highest performance by using only quality components. And if that meant a Rotel product might not have some barely used features, so be it! The approach was, pardon the expression, a sound one as the RA-820B became a local legend and went on to win numerous awards in the U.K. It made Rotel a household name among those who knew fine audio. Today, we follow these same roots. Rotel’s success, we believe, lies in our ability to consistently produce electronics that both fulfill our customers’ needs while sounding as if they cost far more than they do! That’s why we’ve written this book. We think it will help you better understand both the technical features and the philosophy behind every Rotel product and we invite you to join us as we explore the true value of Rotel. More importantly, please take some time to gather a selection of your favorite music or movie soundtracks. Turn on a Rotel system and listen. We think our commitment to better sound will speak for itself. Thank you. Sincerely, Michael Bartlett Vice-President and General Manager Rotel of America PREFACE First, our thanks! The first edition (A Guide to Better Hi-Fi and Home Theater) of this book was so warmly received by our dealers that we couldn’t always supply copies when people asked for them. The enthusiasm was, in a word, overwhelming and it showed us that an objective book about audio and home theater was really needed. In the six years since that book appeared, much has changed. DVD came into the market with unexpected velocity, many new surround formats appeared, and consumer buying habits also changed. And so The Rotel Encyclopedia you’re now holding in your hands contains some significant differences. The first is that we wanted to give consumers the same information that we formerly made available only to salespeople. In our view, knowledge truly is comforting – and the more knowledgeable both consumers and sales professionals are, the more satisfactory their collaboration as they assemble a home entertainment system or add a critical component to an existing system. To that end, we’ve updated this book with a lot of new information – we’ve re- written whole sections and added others – to bring you the most up-to-date details we can. We trust you’ll find our efforts interesting and helpful. Above all, we hope you enjoy this book. After all, that’s what home entertainment is all about! Thank you. TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication & Acknowledgements An Open Letter to Rotel Salespeople and Our Customers Preface What To Expect 1 The Right Stuff . 1 . The Wrong Stuff 1 What You’ll Find and Why You’ll Find It 1 Section 1 3 Rotel, A Specialist Company Preview 3 Our Mission Statement 3 Early Rotel History 3 Balanced Design 4 Better Parts 5 Circuit Topology 5 Critical Evaluation 6 Summing Up 6 Our Engineers 7 Performance and Value 7 Critical Praise 7 Points of Difference 7 A “step up” line 7 A “full line” supplier 8 Rotel makes it better . 8 . So Rotel backs it better 9 Section 2 11 Basic Component Technology Preview 11 Power Supply Highlights 11 Introduction 11 Transformers 12 Rectifiers 13 Regulators 13 Capacitors 14 Analog Circuit Highlights 15 Theory 15 Simplicity 15 Good Parts . 15 . In the Right Places 15 Simple on Paper, Simple on the Circuit Board 16 Practice 16 High Current – The Real Story 17 A Note on Impedance 17 The Power Story: Watt’s It All About? 19 “I want a 100 watt amplifier!” 19 At the Beginning 19 “Go Fast” and “Get Loud” 20 Power Factor 20 The Real World Gets Worse 21 The Sensitivity Spec Explained 22 Watts: Meaningful Measurements 23 A Question and a Surprising Answer 26 Digital Technology 27 Introduction 27 Basics 28 From Analog to Digital . 29 Just a Silly Loaf of Bread 29 Digital Performance Parameters 31 Rotel’s Crystal Ball 32 From Digital to Analog 33 Digital Filtering 33 D/A Conversion 34 Types of D/A Converters 35 Multi-Bit 35 The Digital Derby 36 The Multi-Bit Dilemma 36 The Low- (or Single-) Bit Answer 37 A Balanced Perspective 38 Compact Disc Laser Pickups 38 Introduction 38 Three-Beam Pickups 39 Single-Beam Pickups 39 HDCD: Stretching the Digital Envelope 40 Introduction 40 CDs Aren’t Perfect? 41 Sonic Implications 42 Professionally Speaking 42 The Heart of the Matter 42 HDCD’s Beginnings 42 HDCD Encoding 43 Getting to the Decoder 45 At the Decoder 46 Going Forward . 48 . To the Future 49 The CD 49 Another Perspective 49 Compatibility Issues 49 Beyond the CD 51 What Makes Rotel’s HDCD Players Different? 51 The Road to Better Digital Sound 52 Early Digital Demons . 52 . And Early Exorcisms 52 The 21st Century: Data, Data Everywhere! 54 CD-R and CD-RW 55 The Essential Difference 55 Introduction to CD-Rs and CD-RWs 55 CD-R Advantages 56 CD-RW Advantages 56 The Consumer vs. Professional Question 57 How the CD-R Works 57 Recording 57 Playback 58 How the CD-RW Works 58 Recording 58 Playback 59 General Notes 59 Recording Speed 59 Recording Formats 59 Recording Software 60 “Image Files” and “On-The-Fly” 60 Recording Tips 61 Disc Handling Precautions 62 Long-Term Storage 63 Compatibility 63 MP3 64 Introduction 64 How MP3 Works 65 MP3 Today 67 Section 3 69 Home Theater History Preview 69 Introduction 69 Home Theater Historical Highlights: 1909 - 2002 69 Film Sound 71 Optical Soundtracks 72 From the Audio Side: Quadraphonic Sound 74 Optical Part II – The Sequel 75 The Future of Film Sound: Enter the Digits 76 Data Compression: Can We Hear It? 77 Making Sense of the Claims 77 Have You Lost Anything? 78 Home Theater: A “Work In Progress” 79 The Future of Digital Audio 80 Field of View 80 Section 4 83 Home Theater Basics Preview 83 Excitement Has Its Benefits! 83 Defining Home Theater 83 Home Theater Components 84 The Sights – TVs 84 Direct View Sets 84 Rear Projector Sets 85 Front Projectors 86 Flat Panel Display Devices 87 Video Source Components 87 VCRs 87 DVD Players 88 Laserdisc Players (A Historical Note) 89 Satellite Boxes and Cable Converters 90 NTSC Video – Getting the Signal from One Unit to Another 90 S-Video 91 Component Video 91 Digital Video – Getting the Signal from One Unit to Another 91 Section 5 93 Home Theater Audio Preview 93 Introduction: Defining the Issues 93 Grammy vs.