Scott Wilkinson

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Ask S&V
Compact Home-Theater Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 30, 2011
I read in a recent Ask Scott post ("Building a System") that you thought full-range speakers in the system under discussion would be overkill for watching movies. One of the reasons for using bookshelf or compact speakers for the front left/right channels—tonal matching—was also highlighted as an appealing quality in Home Theater's review of B&W 805 compact speaker system (seen here).

I am looking to set up a surround system for the sole purpose of watching movies (no music) in a 12x12 room. As a general rule, do you recommend a system with matching front and surround speakers over a system with full-range fronts and compact surrounds, knowing there will be a sub either way? Most of the systems I see reviewed in magazines as well as all the recommended systems at my favorite local hi-fi store match large floorstanding front speakers with small surrounds, but your advice seems to contradict this.

Johann Dutton

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Ask S&V
Conference Room Theater
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 25, 2011
I would like to set up a conference room with audio/video capabilities. I am planning to use a 7.1 A/V receiver for audio and InFocus 5124 LCD projector for video. This would be used for training and presentations as well as watching an occasional ball game or movie.

Ideally, a presenter would be able to use the A/V system for a slide show from a computer (potentially with a sound track) and talk over it with a wireless microphone. However, most receivers only allow a single input source to be selected. I have not been able to find an A/V receiver that would let me mix a microphone with the 7.1 sound system and watch a slide show from a computer video input. Do you have any suggestions?

Jim Kay

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Premiere Design
Constellation Altair 2-Channel Preamp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 23, 2010
With a dream team of audio engineers and designers, the newly formed Constellation Audio is bound to make some serious waves. Along with the Hercules monoblock power amp, which I profiled a few weeks ago here, the company's first offerings include the Altair 2-channel preamp, which sports one of the coolest-looking industrial designs I've ever seen.
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Premiere Design
Constellation Hercules Monoblock Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 02, 2010
Founded in 2009, one of the newest kids on the audiophile block is California-based Constellation Audio. Not that its principal players are newbies by any means—in fact, Constellation has assembled a "dream team" of engineers and designers to create unparalleled audio products, among the first of which is the Hercules monoblock power amp.
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Constellation Lyra Phonostage & Crux Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2011
Two more members Constellation Audio's new Performance line are the Lyra phonostage (left) and Crux 2-channel power amp (right), which delivers 250Wpc into 8Ω. Like the Vega preamp and Sygnus CD player/music server/DAC, these products deliver virtually the same sonic character as their counterparts in the Reference line for about a third the price, and they look wicked cool to boot.
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Constellation Sirius Universal Disc Player/DAC
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2011
New to Constellation Audio's flagship Reference line is the Sirius universal disc player/DAC, which houses the transport, audio circuitry, and power supply in three separate chassis. (The transport and DAC are shown here.) The transport can play CDs, SACDs, and DVD-As and output the native bitstreams from each to the DAC through a proprietary optical connection. Other inputs on the DAC include two AES/EBU, S/PDIF (RCA and BNC), and two USB ports, which lets you play digital files from virtually any source.

I heard the Sirius playing various cuts using the Constellation Altair preamp, two Hercules monoblocks, and Tidal Sunray speakers, and it sounded spectacular—super clean and well articulated with excellent imaging and definition. Bernadette Peters singing "Blackbird" was a revelation.

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Constellation Vega Preamp & Cygnus CD Player/DAC
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2011
Constellation Audio produces some extraordinary audio components, and the brand new Vega preamp (left) and Cygnus CD player/DAC (right) are no exception. Both are members of the company's Performance line, which uses virtually identical circuitry as the much more expensive Reference line with less costly components and construction techniques. Still, these products provide over 90 percent of the Reference line's performance at about a third the price—$15,000 to $20,000 each—and they share the same gorgeous industrial design.
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The Big Picture
Content Theater
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 11, 2011
Today, I attended a couple of sessions on 3D in what is called the Content Theater. The material was displayed from a Sony 4K digital-cinema projector using a dual-lens RealD polarization system projecting different 2K sections of the imager for the left and right eyes. The polarization-preserving, perforated screen was from Harkness and measured 24x13 feet.
Premiere Design
Continuum Caliburn Turntable
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 29, 2010

During Michael Fremer's recent appearance on my podcast, he told the story about how he fell in love with a turntable he had reviewed for Stereophile—and how his wife had wholeheartedly approved of buying it, even though it cost as much as a high-end luxury car. That turntable is the Caliburn with Cobra tonearm from Continuum Audio Labs in Australia.

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Ask S&V
Conventional EQ vs Audyssey
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 09, 2011
Other than auto-calibration, what's the difference between "traditional" EQ units like those from DBX and Rane and systems like Audyssey?

Theo Nicolakis

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