Video Asylum

Posted by Dan G. on April 25, 2001 at 12:37:15

In Reply to: My first DVD player coming, have a few questions. posted by JRL on April 25, 2001 at 11:34:45:

Like anything, it is not ideal to stack compoents, but assuming it doesn;t fall off, you should be OK.
The sonic benefits of a DVD player over previous formats is the ability to pass a Dolby Digital (5.1) sound.
To take advantage of this you need a Dolby digital receiver or a receiver with a 5./1 channel input and a DVD player with an on board decoder.
BAsed on the age of your receiver, I bet it has neither (DD nor 5.1 input), but I bet your new DVD player does have a built in decoder.

Bottom line- if you want to experience the sonic advantages of your new DVD player, you will need a new receiver that is DD (also called AC-3). The good news is that these can be bought starting at $200 probably, and a very solid unit (Outlaw 1050 or a Denon or Onkyo) could be had for $400-600.

dg