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Re: Ayre D-1 vs Camelot (DVD players)

205.240.11.90

Hello -

There is an overwhelming amount of misinformation being presented to the public, both on the internet and in print. It would be impossible to try and correct all of the misinformation. However when that misinformation concerns Ayre products, I often make an attempt to correct it.

Regarding the transport used in the Ayre D-1, we make no secret that it is a Pioneer mechanism. As noted in my previous post, the Pioneer offers excellent performance and superb reliability.

I am still unclear as to why you refer mechanism to this as a "humble" transport with "inauspicious beginnings". Perhaps you could provide some examples of "proud" transports with "auspicious" beginnings.

For example, there is one company that takes a standard transport mechanism (with standard lasers, standard motors, and standard servos) and then adds a metal loading tray. Since the tray doesn't even contact the disc during play, there is no performance advantage whatsoever to be gained from this modification. But perhaps this is what you mean by a "proud" transport.

It is obvious that the DVD player test reports on the "Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity" web site are focused on deinterlacing performance and the "chroma upsampling bug". While these are real areas of video performance that should be examined, it must be remembered that in the real world both of these issues manifest themselves only briefly, during specific scenes on certain discs.

In contrast, the Ayre D-1 uses proprietary designs that give visibly improved performance (greater dimensionality, increased resolution, lowered grain and noise, et cetera) during *all* scenes of *all* discs. This leads to greater involvement and enjoyment while watching films. Since the reports that have been published to date on "Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity" have not explored this overall performance level, they must be considered incomplete.

A good analogy would be between a high-powered, high-feedback power amplifier designed "by the book" and a low-powered, low-feedback power amplifier from a talented designer with the aid of careful listening tests. The first amplifier may sound grainy and brittle all the time, but never clip, even on loud passages with inefficient speakers. The second amp might experience brief overloads on some discs with some speakers, but provide a beautifully rich and pleasing sound the rest of the time. I know which of those I would prefer to own. But then again, some people think that all amplifiers sound the same...

Of course, the ideal would be to have a high-powered amp that is liquid and involving. And that is why we are developing a solution for the "chroma upsampling bug" that will be retro-fittable to all Ayre DVD players. This will allow the viewer to enjoy superior picture quality of the Ayre D-1 at all times, free from even occasional disruptions of the "chroma upsampling bug" evident on specific scenes from a small minority of discs.

Best regards,
Charles Hansen
Ayre Acoustics, Inc.


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  • Re: Ayre D-1 vs Camelot (DVD players) - Charles Hansen 08:49:10 10/14/01 (0)


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