small audio/video system for elderly space

Dwhitt,

Hope I am not harassing you (HA!). I was looking at the latest issue of TAS and noted an ad for an Oppo Bluray player. It looks way more polished than their other models - brushed black aluminum face plate. My question would be, how well does this player work with redbook or sacd's?

You know, the NAD VISO TWO DVD/CD Receiver looks better to me all the time - a little slicker looking than the Decco, and I think they really poored it on the internals of those rigs. No Bluray - but for 2.1 channel sound and a smaller monitor, you don't really need any higher video resolution than the component out for standard DVD.

How about this for a system:

NAD VISO TWO DVD/CD Receiver
Era Flat Panel speakers in piano gloss black
Era Sub 8 in piano gloss black?

Looks and sounds good. Compact. You are set.

knownothing, you are right about the decco looks, nothing to look at, very office looking. i know it sounds good with the era stuff since they are out of the same dist., peachtree audio, the era is the old designer of ads product in the eighties. he designed some of the best small monitors then and has come back with similar .....now.....you are right about the nad two....looks are outstanding...looks like a piece of equipment but polished up a little, like detailing a car.....the little system you suggest is well, righteous. the wall mounts with the sub are everything i would want in my space....the era monitors are very detailed, i have never has a sub that worked well with time and pace ...i used the vandersteen ,2ce sig. and his sub and he got it close with the crossovers on the am inputs. you are not writing in the forum too much, i like input from others, i have a vast knowledge of product but it always good to hear what others think and like...in fact , last year i heard the era speakers with the decco and liked the detail. the nad receiver you suggest i saw also last summer on thir site and liked it. i was looking for this system when i had my cayin tube amp, tube cd and totem arro speakers that are on my system, jazz budget system on the gon site.....it was a very small and good sounding system for what i play...i will continue to think on it,,,the hunt is fun for me....if you like quitar players,,,,listen to jeff beck's new live cd....it is on raspody site....i listen to it last night and it is one of the best quitar cds i have heard in along time,,,i am in my 60s and he has always been a great player...take care and good listening....i enjoy everyones insight and comments...thanks dwhitt..........ill take a look at the oppo blu ray....but i am mostly into listeningto music than video ,.dwhitt

For what it is worth, the latest issue of TAS just gave the VISO TWO one of their "Product of the Year" awards.

I have not had that much trouble integrating a sub with satellite speakers. I use a cheap Radio Shack digital sound meter, a couple of test disks and my ears to get the crossover setting right. Fooling around with position in the room is the most critical part for me. The smaller the front speakers and the higher the crossover setting, the closer the sub needs to be to the other speakers to achieve a coherent overall presentation. For crossover settings much above 60Hz, I find this becomes perhaps the key factor in set up.

Enjoy.

Dwhitt,

For some information on the Oppo Bluray player (apparently not released yet), click hear and read 12/12/08 post:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?bhome&1228640920&openfrom&1&4#1

As you suggest, this may be overkill if your primary focus is two channel music listening and an efficient footprint, with video and multi-channel sound capabilities a secondary concern.

the blu ray in always interesting, new tech. is always interesting....i remember when sony did the beta which blew everything away...but i stayed with the vhs and i guess that is the reason sony failed, not at having a better playback machine, they just couldn't get it to the mass. dvd and redbook is about 98 percent what i need...would like sacd but i don't buy much, too expensive.etc. thanks dwhitt