-=> On 24 Nov 96  06:44 you wrote to me <=-
 JA>         We run a Toshiba 4x CD Player (PC Type) with the standard
 JA> audio CDs in the PC System (Pentium 166/64MB RAM/etc) into a HP
 JA> CDR with the new HP copying software that operates from Windows.
        Sounds good, except I'm not running Windows, so I don't know
if would work for me.  I'd have to check what software is available
for the Amiga (none from HP I'm sure, but I think I saw some show up
on Aminet on the Internet recently).
 JA>         Oh, BTW, the local Circuit City outlets are now using the
 JA> Carver AL IIIs as the primary demo speakers in their Home Theater
 JA> room. The one up the street from my house had them set up where
        Really?  Hard to believe a chain store would carry 6 foot
speakers.  They wouldn't be easy to return or deliver.
 JA> they sounded horrible! I spent almost an hour with the salesman I
 JA> know, "dialing them in", with my little cheapo Radio Shack SPL
 JA> meter. They sound great for audio only. The Home Theater center
 JA> channel and rear speaker match ups are still awful and detract
 JA> from the AL IIIs.
        I haven't even tried to find a center channel for the AL-IIIs
yet, but I imagine it would be difficult as they're probably faster
than 99% of the center speakers out there.  I know of one ribbon
center (from Apogee) and one electrostatic one (Martin Logan).  I
haven't read anything about the Apogee, but even Stereo Review
admitted the Martin Logan Center is terrible.  The radiation patterns
just aren't conducive to horizontal placement.  I was thinking of
auditioning something like the B&W HTM center when I get to that
stage, but I'm not sure it would sound acceptable either.  What I'd
really LIKE to do is get a front screen projector and a drop down
acoustically transparent screen and put a 3rd AL-III in the middle,
but that's an expensive solution.
        I have some Definitive BP-2 bipolar surrounds, but I still
don't have them hooked up yet, so I don't know how well they will
work.
        The AL-IIIs are very room sensitive due to their bipolar
nature.  I fiddled with placement for almost two years before I found
what I consider to be the best placement thus far.  They absolutely
MUST be at least 3 feet from the front wall.  Any less will be a
compromise.  If a room can't support 3 feet from the wall, the room is
unsuited to these speakers.  My room BARELY meets this requirement (I
could go as far as 4 feet without them sitting out in the room to the
point of being obtrusive or introducing other problems).  
        I haven't been to a Circuit City in awhile, but I'll try to
stop by soon and see if they have any set up.  What kind of room do
they have them in?  Were they at least 3 feet from the front wall?
The "theater" rooms I recall from Circuit City were pretty darn small.
Dipoles need breathing room.
        It'd be a shame if the AL-III got a bad reputation from poor
listening environments.  I know Best Buy's speaker room is an absolute
joke.  If there IS any halfway decent sounding speaker there, I'd
never guess it because they just haphazardly  have the things hooked
up with no regard for room acoustics, speaker placement, or even
stereo alignment.  I recall much of Circuit City being the same way,
except possibly for some of the small theater rooms.  I've never met a
salesman yet at EITHER store that really knew what the heck he was
talking about.
        I went over to Best Buy the other day looking at tape decks
(I was thinking of getting a budget one just to make tapes for the
car) and when I started posing questions about the Sony 3-head model
they had (most expensive one they carry), I could tell instantly the
guy was trying to BS his way through the questions because he didn't
have a clue what any of the extra features were about.
        The AL-IIIs work great for me with movies, but that's without
using a center speaker or surrounds.  It'll be interesting to see how
I fare when I try to add these in later.  Right now it's not my
primary concern, however.  I plan to work on improving room acoustics
next.
 * AmyBW v2.14 *
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