prballard

Yesterday I finally got to put the TL sound system though it paces. I flattened all of the settings to have a true test. Note that there are more on the TL than your typical head unit. I set the bass, treble, etc. to flat, but the TL also has sub and center settings. I missed the sub setting when I listened to the demo DVD a few weeks ago. This lead to lots of bass distortion and I was hoping with this wouldn’t be the case this time around.

As some of you may have read from my previous posts I have been listening to DVD-Audio and DTS titles in my home for the past couple years. I have a number of titles now and I am itching for more. A couple of months ago I upgraded my DVD player at home to an all-in-one DVD, CD, MP3, DVD-Audio, SACD, JPG player. I have a number of SACD titles as well. Unlike the DVD-Audio and DTS they well not play in multi-channel mode or DSD stereo in the TL. Most new SACD (other than most Peter Gabriel ) are hybrid SACD/CD’s. That means they will play in all CD players in CD mode.

For the test I brought with me to the dealer: Night at the Opera, Queen; Tiger Lily, Natalie Merchant; LA Woman, Doors; Document, R.E.M. all in DVD-Audio; Globe Sessions, Sheryl Crow and The Classics, Police in DTS; and Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd in SACD/CD Hybrid.

I started with the DTS. My Favorite Mistake by Sheryl Crow was crisp and clear with good bass. I was surprised how good the DTS sounded. Roxanne, Everything Thing She does is Magic, and Message in the Bottle by the Police was good, but not great (SACD version sounds better). That didn’t surprise my because that is the way it sounds on my home system. The salesman sitting beside me was freaking. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. I told him to just wait; we haven’t even got to the DVD-Audio yet.

I switched to the beginning of Death on Two Legs and most of Bohemian Rhapsody. Now I was in disbelief. The TL system was really starting to shine. I have never heard that richness of sound in a car before. The closed in space brought a presence to the music. A wall of sound for sure, but in this wall you can hear every instrument, every note, as clear as it must have been in the recording studio. I played parts San Andreas Fault and Carnival by Natalie Merchant. They definitely didn’t fail to please. Riders on the Storm by the Doors was great. I was hoping for the same effect of the thunder sounding distant that I get at home. I mean it really sounds like it is two miles away. Unfortunately I could not recreate this in the TL. Maybe if sat on the center console I might have been able to achieve the imaging required. No matter most DVD-Audio’s don’t have that sort of effect anyway they just have great music. Speaking of which, the Document DVD-Audio by R.E.M. is produced by Elliot Scheiner (as is Night of the Opera). The designer of the TL’s audio system sure knows how to create some great surround discs. Any of you R.E.M. fans that have Document on CD will be blown away by this DVD-Audio. It is like you have never heard it before. I played the beginning of Exhuming McCarthy and most of Fireplace. The sound of type-writer dances across the dash and the Sax takes you to a near Nirvana moment.

Speaking of near Nirvana. I couldn’t get over how well Time by Pink Floyd sounded. Even though it was just a CD the clarity was amazing. The deep of bass was thunderous, but as clear as being there. Any car not as soundly built would have been literally rocking.

AcUrAgUy

Excellent review, thanks.

DSOTM was way ahead of it's time and is my all time fav. I look forward to hearing what you described for myself.

BTW - watched the DVD version of Pink Floyd at Pompeii on my 65" widescreen last night. It does not dissapoint and is also ahead of it's time audio-wise.

prballard

Get the 30th aniversary edition on SACD/CD hybrid if you don't already have it. I think about $15 at BestBuy. It is much better than the CD version or even the Mobile Fidelity Gold disc version.

need4spd_RENAMED

PrBallard,

Thanks so much for the review of what I have been hearing.

I have installed in the TL the following DVD-A discs:

Tiger Lily, Natalie Merchant; Globe Sessions, Sheryl Crow; Fragile, Yes and the Acura demo disk

As for CD's I have the RHCPeppers What hits and Tom Petty's Greatest hits.

I will have to put my DSOTM disk in and check it out!

I agree, it is unbelievable, all who hear it can not believe it (many mouth's drop when it is heard).

I have a friend who installs high end audio systems and has a recording studio in his house, he said the system is near perfect with the ONLY thing he would change being the location of the tweeters, like others he said they should have been up higher and not pointed at the windshield, HOWEVER, he said they were not bad enough to be worth relocating.

I agree, the amount of tight bass that the car produces would have others rattling apart.

Thanks again!

prballard

I have Fragile on my short list. How does it sound?

need4spd_RENAMED

One of the reviews I read was not so great, but I think it really shows off the system, and the imaging is good, picking of the strings sounds great. I would recomend it for the TL if you are a Yes fan of there old stuff, would have prefered Close to the Edge, but it was not released when I got the DVD-A's a month ago (did hear it on XM today though, sounded great).

EDIT - in addtion the vocals have a little too much echo on some of the songs, that is not present on the album (yes album) or cd.

prballard

My favorite is the "Yes Album". I would love to hear that in DVD-Audio

RJC RSX

oh man i listened to Tchaicovsky's 1812 overture in the TL on DVD-A and wow! The bells, the canon shots--unbelievable!

russ_777

For those of you who like Yes and are looking for something that will stress your audio system, they have released a couple of live recordings over the past few years that have absolutely astounding bass from the synthesizer. One of them is Keys to Ascension 2 recorded live in San Luis Obispo that has a superb recording of And You and I. Wakeman plays pedal notes on his keyboards that will shake, rattle and roll your house if you have a sub that will get down below 25 Hz cleanly. I've never listened to it in a car with a good sub, but it probably sounds even better since the acoustics of cars are better for low frequency reproduction than those of most listening rooms. Another one of the live recordings I'd recommend is House of Blues, which has a wicked performance of All Good People. It's amazing how much better those tracks sound with different instrumentation.

turbowhat

The Eagles Hell Freezes over in DTS is nice (mixed by ELS himself)
REM DVD-A is nice
Metallica DVD-a is nice

ben1233

Woah, I want to find this title so bad....This is the first song that I wanted to listen to with the new DVD-A system. Unfortunately, no one sells DVD-A's around here - pretty pathetic. Although we have a Best Buy opening next week, so they should have some selection.

The original poster mentioned he played SACDs on the TL's system. Does the DVD-A player play SACDs? I wasn't aware of that.

Many of you are also talking about REM Document. I purchased REM Automatic for the People last weekend. Is Document that much better? Should I be looking into buying that one too?

prballard

No it doesn't SACD's. What I said was it plays the CD layer (plain old CD) of a SACD/CD Hybrid just like all CD players.

Document is a canidate for sorround Disc of the year from Highfidelityreview.com I would check it out if I was you.

RJC RSX

check out www.digitaleyes.net