Alephtec Technologies, a
Vancouver-based distributor for brands such as Bösendorfer and Graff, pulled out all the
stops for its display in Montreal with a system costing in the neighborhood of $100,000
CDN. For the audio-only demonstration, the company contrasted a live band with music
played through Bösendorfer VC-7 speakers powered by Graaf
GM 200 OTL tube amplifiers and fronted by a complete dCS digital system, including the
Verdi La Scala transport, Elgar Plus DAC, and Verona re-clocking device.
While the audio demo proved interesting, it was the
home-theater demonstration that was the Standout -- in particular, the high-definition
video display. Bösendorfer speakers and Graaf electronics were again used for sound, and
on the video side the company had a rack consisting of two JVC SR-VD400U D-VHS
high-definition video recorders (two were used to minimize the time for switching from X2
to Moulin Rouge, the two demo movies), the company's propriety PC-based audio-video
server (used for displaying video images to show off the system's video resolution prior
to the movies), two NEC-based DLP projectors (one for the JVC recorders and the other for
the computer server, again to minimize the time for switching), and a Stewart Filmscreen
projection screen (just one!). Audio and video were channeled through a Theta Casablanca
III.
Top (left) and bottom of the video-equipment
rack.
While the list of components was staggering, so too was the
video image they produced. Doug Schneider, who gauges everything he sees again against
film projection in a top-quality theater he frequents, has never seen a home-theater video
display as impressive as this one. Colors were deep; definition was outstanding; and fast
onscreen movement, often the Achilles heel of video displays, was sharp and crisp --
amazingly so. By far, this was the best DLP projection Doug has seen to date. In most ways
the image equaled that of film in a good theater, and in some ways it actually surpassed
it.
