inquadwetrust
300 Club - QQ All-Star
Thank you so much! :upthumb
If you have a minute, could I just ask what configuration of your Involve equipment you would advise in my situation?
I would be primarily playing back SQ LP's through the Surround Master with the occasional QS encoded CD and LP.
Would you suggest an "Involve + SQ Vinyl" setup in that instance rather than an 'Involve + SQ "by the book" unit?
Adam, mine is set up to reflect your needs, SM Vinyl Beta for SQ and then the Involve/QS/RM. Of course I could not compare the SM Vinyl Beta to the original SQ decoder in the SM but I could compare the SQ LPs I have that also appear on SACD and DVDA. I've been blown away by how good they sound and how closely they match their discrete counterparts. The sound is smooth, natural and without any artifacting. You will need to add a switch as well if you wish to move between sources. I bought this lovely U.S made box so I can switch between the Oppo BDP-83, the Media PC stereo analog out and the Rega RP1. The switch is passive and does not introduce any color to the sound and is silent in operation. The Involve/QS/RM decoder is often really wonderful at synthesizing quad too; examples would be the Hi-Res FLAC of Nick Drake's Bryter Later which effortlessly and musically surrounds you, Nick's voice in the phantom center, female backing vocals and strings behind with guitars and percussion up front. I have the half-speed cut LP version of Heart's 'Steamboat Annie' which is another great example of what this box can do, enveloping the music around the listening space and creating subtly discrete effects throughout.
I leave the SM on Involve/QS for anything stereo or QS and reboot for SQ. What is interesting is how cohesive the sound field is; I made minor tweaks to the speaker angles, currently around 35 degrees for the fronts and 30 degrees for the rears. No Audyssey or speaker calibration applied and I utilize the SM in 4.0 mode only, leaving my center for 5.1 specific material. I used the track 'Money' from the SQ encoded DSOTM LP as my baseline and A/B between it and the 4.0 DVDA version. They sound almost exactly the same, the discrete version edging slightly ahead in terms of positioning but both sounding as smooth as each other and the direction of the sound is pretty much identical.