The BIG QUESTION
I really enjoy reading 'THE BIG QUESTION' every month, it's interesting and answers questions you sometimes wouldn't think of asking, and also good to hear what readers think. It often shows differing views and proves that what works for one doesn't always work for others and we all have different tastes.
I would like to make a sugestion for a futre Big Question, At what pricepoint does home cinema kit match budget stereo?
Base the test on the current best buget kit, the Marantz Pair with the Warfdale speakers for example.
Then start with a buget home cinema, and improove the kit untill it matches or beats the sound quality of the budget stereo kit.
I personally would find the results very interesting.
Thanks.
Thanks Andrew, I'll look forward to it!! Without giving the game away, what kit was used?
Ah, that would give the game away... 
great idea , i look forward to that one ..
maxflinn:great idea
Yes, I thought so...
Jonathan told me that this particular Big Question was your idea Andrew. Really enjoyed it!
very good , ill be studying the results closely ...Andrew Everard:maxflinn:great ideaYes, I thought so...
One thing that struck me during the latest/last big question was the kit used to play the music tracks.
Who puts the kit together?
On the fourth track I was a bit sidetracked as I was listening more to the music than what bitrate it was, as even on the higher version I was left wanting to hear more from the system. In other words, it seemed to lack clarity, sounded a bit dull and I was just wanting to hear the music in its finest detail.
Difficult to explain, I feel, but I would have loved to have heard that particular track on a good balanced and calibrated setup were I could hear ALL the instruments more clearly and defined, hence my slightly confused answer to the final choice.
I certainly wouldn't buy the set-up used that day as it would make me feel so disappointed with the purchase. I would however take that particular track with me for any demo that I was about to hear.
An excellent reference.
Well, the system was built round the NaimUniti, for the reason that it's just been upgraded to play hi-rez music files, and I think we simply wanted to show just what it, and the music could do.
Have to say from the brief listen I had when we were setting up those probably wouldn't be my speakers of choice with the Naim - the set-up I have at home is more to my taste - but I thought the system did a pretty good job of making it easy to hear the differences, and what I heard then coincided pretty well with what I'd heard the previous day at home when selecting tracks and testing them for the BQ session.
i must say i think last month was the best yet,those guys really new there stuff.
Yes and i had a fantastic day too,really nice to see what else is out there,great company too,the choice of music was very good to.i joined naim online and downloaded mz barb,s album,also on my walkman too.would love to take part again in the future,it was a very long day for me but very well worth it.
Saw you were outed to your employer in the Mag sonycentre, but glad you enjoyed the day.
The Question I have is, were the 16/44.1 and Hi-rez tracks the same other than the bit-rates, i.e. were the Hi-rez downloads the same mix as the CD tracks or were the CD tracks possibly more dynamically compressed ("Louder") as are many commercial releases? How did you make sure this was so.
A way around this, and maybe this is what you did, is to make the 16/44 track FROM the Hi-res Track. This would be slightly unfair since the 16/44 Tracks have gone through an extra conversion step. A way to eliminate this would be to make an arbitary conversion of the 24/96 Track to say 24/88.2 that way each track would have gone through the same number of steps.
Thanks, Neon K
No, the tracks were downloaded from the various sources just as the consumer would. We're a consumer magazine, not a hypothetical one.
Funny you should mention that...
June issue, on sale May 5th.
Consulting Editor, What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision/whathifi.com Audio Editor, Gramophone