Thanking you in advance

Nan

Hi Nan

That must have been a really great…or really bad tune!

Receivers generally have circuitry in them to prevent a total melt down should a short occur. The first thing to do is completely disconnect the speakers and speaker wires from the back of the receiver, then turn it on. If your receiver recovers, there is a short in either the speakers or the speaker wire and your receiver will live to play another day. If this is the case, use an AA battery and touch the speaker leads to either end of the battery. Don’t hold contact, just quickly touch the wires to the battery, if you get a clicking sound, that speaker and wire may be OK, if not there is a short. Do not reconnect to the receiver and bring both speakers in for service.

If the receiver still shows overload without any speakers connected it has failed and you will need to bring it in for service. We can repair it in store. I would suggest getting an estimate just to make sure it’s economical to repair. Even if you determine the problem is in the receiver you should test the speakers and wires as described above as a shorted wire or speaker could be the original cause.  If you are unsure, bring everything in and our service staff would be pleased to help get your Jack back.

Mark

I recently purchased an HD TV and am enjoying the better quality of picture.
  I have an extensive collection of DVD movies and am wondering what my best
option is for viewing them on the new TV.  Is the up converting DVD player
worth the purchase?  Will an HD DVD player play the old DVD’s?

Meagan

Hi Meagan

First, you don’t want to invest in an HD DVD player as they lost the battle against Blu-Ray and are going the way of the dinosaur. You really have two options, 1) a Blu-Ray player which will maximize the performance of your TV when connected correctly as Blu-Ray discs offer the highest resolution available. These machines will also play regular DVD’s and most will up-convert the DVD’s lower resolution to 1080p thus enhancing the DVD’s quality.  (2) Your other option is a regular DVD player that will up-convert the signal to 1080p, that being said, be careful what you buy. There are low end versions of these on the market that are junk, they are mostly no-name and do not deliver a great picture. The best rule of thumb here is “you get what you pay for”. If you’ve invested in a nice HDTV, don’t spoil the experience with a lousy source. Panasonic, Sony, Marantz or Pioneer Elite are all brands I recommend.

Another note of interest, you will need an HDMI cable in order to take advantage of the Full HD, 1080p experience. A descent quality cable will be required. Don’t let someone “throw in” a cheap one as it will often degrade the signal.

Mark

Thanks

Kevin

Thanks for for question Kevin! We must get this one twice a day. There is much misleading information on this topic, mostly from inexperienced salespeople who mis-interpret something that they have been told.

Truth is, there are applications for both technologies. I’ll start by saying that Plasma is better, a bold but very true statement if you are not biased. Currently Plasma delivers better blacks and black and white are the foundation that your picture is based upon. It is the nature of the technology that is responsible, to put it simply, when a plasma TV creates black, it does not energise the cell (pixel) therefore no light is emitted. An LCD on the other hand always has light of varying degrees on behind the cell. Then, the light is “blocked” by the cell in order to create black. Unfortunately the light cannot be blocked 100% and the result is varying degrees of grey. When you have light area next to the dark area your eye interprets the grey as being black due to contrast.

Plasma also has faster pixel speed so you are less likely to encounter “digital artifacting” which is a blur following fast moving objects. Depending on the brand, you may also find colour that is more true to the eye on plasma.

LCD does have some advantages in the right circumstances, if you are installing your new TV in a room with significant uncontrolled sunlight LCD due to it’s anti-reflective front screen and the aforementioned back light technology is the display of choice. Also, if you are seriously into gaming or wanting to use it for a computer display, LCD would be the way to go.

Some people have claimed that LCD will last longer, this is simply not true. For the most part they have a similar life span, in fact, there are some Plasma TV’s on the market today that have a 100,000 hour life which is 34 years if you watch TV for 8 hours a day.

As for size, it is not economical to produce Plasma panels below 37″, that is why there are very few of them. My best advice is to stay with well respected name brands, deal with a store that will stand behind their goods and find a salesperson that knows what they are talking about. Don’t buy “cheap” as you will pay the price later.

Here are some  stories that customers came in with after visiting local “big box” stores; 1) you will need to recharge the gas in a plasma every year (2) if you have small children, don’t buy a plasma as there is too much radiation (3) plasma technology is dead and finally (4) they burn out really fast. Our staff were quite amused at how much wrong information is out there. This is why it is most important to deal with someone that has YOUR needs in mind and will provide the right product for your purpose.

Hope this helps

Mark

Robert

Hi Robert

The “B” word!  A situation usually caused  in a couple of ways. Very common on cheap, no-name big box units…you know the story, you get what you pay for and lesser priced units do not have the right gas mixture (usually just neon) and are therefor more susceptable to this issue. However, the main causes are poor initial set-up and lack of information from the store where it is purchased. Since Samsung is a quality brand I have to assume the latter is the culprit in your case. 

I would have hoped that the store where you made your purchase would have explained a few things at the time of purchase. First, watching a 4×3 on a 16×9 screen will eventually cause uneven wear of the phosphors which is what caused the bars on either side of the screen. Your Samsung has various modes to make the 4×3 picture fill the screen, using these modes would have prevented the problem from occuring. 

The other issue is the importance of a proper set-up when you first install your panel. Here’s the story…when a panel (plasma or LCD) comes out of the box it is in what we call “torch mode”. That is to say that the colour is usually set too intense and the brightness and contrast are too high. They may look good in a showroom in this state where one brand is competing with the next for the supreme picture as the most intense colour and brightness tends to catch your eye, but this is not how you should watch your set at home.  A flat panel that has been properly adjusted by a well trained technician will offer a more pleasant viewing experience and will reduce the risk of “image retention”(our industry’s more market friendly term for burn-in). There is no “break-in” period for plasma or LCD TV’s. The pinkish hue on bright white backgrounds may be caused by the gas mixture (primarily neon) and it’s reaction with the phosphors (neon tends to glow red after running for awhile). It may be able to be adjusted (slightly) in the service menu for primary colour alignment, this may also affect the colour of fleshtones so without seeing your PDP I cannot accurately comment.

As for solutions…The “orbital” mode in this case would not have helped, it is designed for smaller items on the screen like the network monacker, etc. White wash may reduce the “image retention” but it sounds like you have already run it several times. We have a device that will generate a pure white signal that may further reduce the bars, you can contact me to discuss this should you wish.

I understand Samsung’s position, on one hand the actual panel is now “defective” but on the other hand this is not a manufacturer’s defect.  Has the store where you bought it offered any assistance?

I hope this helps

Mark

Hi

 An older Dual turntable is likely better than a moderately priced unit you would buy today. In your case if the stylus was no longer available we could replace the cartridge. (the part that holds the stylus) I would suggest that you bring in your Dual and we will check it over. If it is a belt drive model you will likely need to replace the belt as well. We would also re-balance the tone arm to ensure proper tracking. We stock an assortment of styli, cartridges and belts and may be able to have a look at it while you wait.(provided you come in when the service techs are here)

Mark

Hey there Mark,

Is there anyway to restore CDs and LPs that are scratched, that skip, or are just plain dirty? I’ve heard of ‘miracle liquids’ that fix CDs, and that if you wash LPs with dish soap and warm water at least it will clean up some of the hiss from years of dirty fingers etx.

What’s the word on the street?

Thanks,

jimme

 Hi Jimme

There is a device called CD or DVD Doctor that can restore scratched discs. It’s an odd looking widget that spins the disc via a crank and sands then polishes it. Works very well.  If there is a small scratch on a CD that is making it not readable, some people use toothpaste and a very soft cloth to polish out the scratch. No guarantees on that one.

As for LP’s…there are many wives tales. Finger prints are usually the least worry. Small scratches, dust/debris particles and static build-up make more crackles and pops than anything else.

Cleaning the LP helps but find a special solution. Tap water and soap will leave tiny mineral deposits in the grooves, if you insist on using water, use only distilled. Use a very fine record brush for the dust etc. that will also draw static electricity from the vinyl.

Hope this helps keep the snap, crackle and pop to your breakfast cereal.

Mark Stoakes
Kromer Radio Ltd.
Where Entertainment Begins
www.kromerradio.com

I also have a 6 year old Sony with the cassette behind the face plate / head unit and 10 pack CD/MP3. It’s still new in the box, I never bothered installing it in my wife’s car before she split on me.

My question is the same for both, I would like to add an i-pod input, an i-pod dock would be better, any comments?

I am an electonic guy, I was just wondering if people were doing it, maybe your service dept or a web link?

Kevin

Hi Kevin

if all your old Alpine gear is still working well, I would leave it alone. It sounds as though it is a more significant system than the Sony and I don’t see any advantage in making the change. In your case I would look at a direct FM interface for your iPod. It will allow you to play your favourite tunes through the system with little modification to the system and no alteration to the car. This would be in-expensive to do. There are lots of other devices as well. Check out the Harman/Kardon drive and play. This has a neet little pod that controls the iPod, an LCD display that can mount on the dash or consol and you can put the iPod in your glove box!.

Hope this helps

Mark

Now that everyone owns an iPod, I get a lot of people asking me if there are smaller AM/FM radios that can play an iPod and actually sound good. Boston Acoustics did a great job with its famous Recepter. It was the first serious tabletop radio with decent sound. The evolution of this product is going to really make iPod owners happy for two reasons: the first is the sound. The new Boston Horizon Solo and Duo-i compact AM/FM radios give you solid, clean bass response across all listening levels. For the price, you’ll be genuinely surprised at how much these radios perform like big sound systems.

The second reason is that the Duo-i docks, plays and recharges your iPod all at the same time. And it fits just about anywhere.

The Solo has a rotating faceplate that lets you place it sideways on a shelf or upright on a counter.

For you non-iPod people, both the Solo and the Duo-i have auxiliary inputs for media players other than iPod. 

Duo-i $229
 

Solo $129

Jack Nation members get a discount at Kromer! Just mention your membership when you come in, and enjoy a 10% discount on either the Solo or the Duo-i.

Thanks for reading, talk to you again soon.

Mark Stoakes
General Manager, Kromer Radio Ltd.