Question for What-Hi-Fi review team re a Panasonic Blu-Ray DMP-BD55 Player

[admin_exported]

HI

A question for the review team or anybody that has done the same thing.

I have just purchased this week a Panasonic DMP-BD55 Blu-Ray player and made the following connections.

HDMI cable (VDH Flat) to the TV Panasonic TH-42PZ81B, 8 analogue cables (VDH The Name) to my Denon AVC-A11SR surround amp. I have left the Blue-Ray play outputting 7.1 surround sound and with no sound output via the HDMI cable as recommended by Panasonic.

The speaker system is Quad using 22L2 front left and right, L2 centre and 9L2 for the surround but no subwoofer installed (a compromise with my wife). I have left all the work on speaker configuration to the Denon including changing the 7.1 to 5.0 change, I could install 2 KEF pods for rear speaker sound; base is through the 22L2 speakers

Have I done the right thing? Will installing the KEF pods to make 7.0 make a difference, they are already wired but not connected and also should I try and purchase a subwoofer?

By the way the picture is just Fab and sound is so clear and with plenty of movement, if thats the right thing to say.

Thank you.

 

[nads]

well first off 7.1 sound tracks are the exception not the norm.

So i would not bother with the extra 2 speakers but i would get a sub.

 

[Tom Moreno]

I have to agree with nads. The Rear Back channels of a 7.1 channel soundtrack are encoded in such a way at source that they will always be compatible with a 5.1 channel system as many cinemas are 5.1 only.

I used to run a 5.0 system mainly because of the thinness of the walls in my flat, but when I stepped up to Blu-ray there's so much more low frequency information that's carried in the high-definition soundtracks that it was making that speakers spit out a horribly distorted noise when the soundtrack pushed a rock-bottom note that made me very uncomfortable for the health of my speakers. So the (re)addition of the subwoofer came soon after and immediately relieved my LR's from the strain of the LFE channel. This never became an issue with DD and DTS tracks. And I also find that Denon's night mode does a very good job of controlling the subwoofer for late night listening without removing it completely. If it's the box that's the issue, well there are ways to try and play with that hot potato. KEF (and other manufacturers) makes an interesting sub, the HTB series, which has a very small form factor which might even allow for it to be hidden in the room.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks I will investigate