Page 12 - 2022-08-01 Sound & Vision

size might be overwhelmed by the result, with a
possible negative impact on the review.
letters

Roon Revelation
A er reading both your review (“Roon
Demystified,” April/May) and comments by other
Go Big or Go Home readers, there is still a ton of information about
When I see a review of a projector with a screen smaller than 100 inches (diagonal), I scratch my head Roon new users could benefit from. I want to
and say, “What’s the point?” You recently reviewed a Sony VPL-VW325ES with a 92-inch screen (April/ comment on the issue raised by Jon Johnson
May). I’m sure it was bright and looked great. But if you’re using a screen that small in this day and (Le ers, June/July): playing multichannel SACDs
age, why buy a projector? It offers nothing that you can’t get in a flat-panel display. It’s like reviewing a and DSD files. I ripped all my SACDs in both
Ferrari and using it to pick up groceries at the local market. It’ll get you there quickly and hold enough 2 and 5.1 channels and was frustrated that I
groceries for two, but that’s not what it was designed for. I would think the minimum screen size for couldn’t use Roon to play the files, so I tried
a review should be 110-120 inches, especially with some of the newer laser light sources. No one is something new. I used a Roon NUC (Intel Core
building custom theaters for such a small screen today. i7-10710U, or NUC10i7FNH1) as a core and
Brian Wiklem / via email connected it to my Anthem AVM 70 processor.
Anthem does not support DSD but Roon core
Technical editor Tom Norton replies: We live in an era in which large screen sizes are now available on can convert to PCM. It works like a champ.
flat-panel TVs at prices far lower than we might have imagined five years ago. At their maximum sizes Brian Fi erman / via email
they’re beginning to challenge smaller projection setups. You can buy a top-of-the-line 85-inch
(diagonal) LCD/LED, or an 83-inch OLED, for around $5,500. Howard Kneller, author of “Roon Demystified”
While it’s true you can get a brighter, punchier image from a flat-screen TV than any projector chimes in: Playing SACDs on a compatible disc
selling in the same price range, if your 80- or 90-inch projection screen is already installed, and the player is a straightforward proposition but with
room isn’t suitable for anything larger, a new 4K projector may well be a viable upgrade—and the many components playing DSD content can get
projector can be mated with a larger screen at a later time if desired. A smaller projection screen will complex. As you seem to have discovered, Roon
also give you a shot at ge ing be er results with high dynamic range (HDR) sources, as smaller is one of the few so ware products that converts
screens always produce higher brightness (given the same screen gain). DSD to PCM on the fly. It sounds like you are on
At Sound & Vision we don’t require our reviewers to use a standard screen size. Reviewers select a the right path. Happy listening and thanks for
screen size based on their individual situation, taking into account room size, viewing distance, and writing in!
preference. Some like si ing in the front row in a movie theater, while others prefer a seat further back.
If we required all reviewers to use a screen size that simulates a front-row theater experience (say, Big, Bad Bass
140-inches diagonal, or about 10-feet wide for a 1.78:1 screen), reviewers preferring a more modest In his review of the Monoprice 13-inch THX
subwoofer (June/July 2022) Mr. Kumin stated,
“It’s the most capable subwoofer I’ve ever
enjoyed, and by a pre y wide margin,” yet he
never mentioned what he was comparing it
to. By noting that the sub lacks a remote and
any sort of room correction, a mention of any
SVS sub would have been reasonable. And
when ordering products over a certain weight,
I think a comparison of customer service is
also warranted. It’s a good sub, but Monoprice
customer service can’t hold a candle to SVS.
Jim Helman / Montverde, FL

Daniel Kumin replies: Mr. Helman raises a point
regarding comparisons in equipment reviews.
Freestanding reviews, by nature, are just that:
free standing. If, as an extreme example, we tried
to hold every two-way bookshelf speaker we
review up against every other similar design we
have examined, a year’s worth of issues, cover to
cover, would not suffice. In the case of the
Monoprice subwoofer, I was using my experi-
ence of testing over many years and in the same
room numerous 12- to 15-inch subwoofers—
including models from SVS, Hsu Research,
Definitive Technology, JL Audio, and many
others—as a baseline, from which I concluded
its excellence. As for EQ and room-correction, I
was careful to note the lack thereof in the context
of the Monoprice’s value proposition, which I
nevertheless judged to be outstanding. Finally,
as useful as comparisons of real-world customer
service might be, that is simply not practical
given our relatively short editorial cycles.

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12 August September 2022 soundandvision.com