Entre Entertainment Hub and
DV-5900M 400+3 Disc DVD Audio/Video Changer
Kenwood's
new Sovereign line represents the company's move towards creating a sophisticated
A/V system that will completely change the way you control your audio and home
theater. Each Sovereign product is rich in features and when connected to one
another, unleashes impressive capabilities. We evaluate two Sovereign products
in this review — the Kenwood Sovereign Entré Entertainment Hub and
the Kenwood Sovereign DV-5900M 400 + 3 Disc DVD Audio/Video Changer. While Kenwood
also has an A/V receiver designed to work with these products, we didn't have
it as part of this review. However, even without the receiver, these two components
performed amazingly well and certainly changed the way we view home entertainment.
When the Entré is connected to a DV-5900M DVD/CD changer, it will gather
both DVD and CD information, cover art and Disc Title/Track Title information
for practically every disc in your collection. In addition, it will organize and
display this compiled information so you can find and enjoy your favorite discs
with simple remote commands.
Kenwood
Sovereign Entré Entertainment Hub
The
Kenwood Sovereign
Entré has the most
potential of any Sovereign product and certainly more features than meet the eye.
The Entré connects to the Internet and uses the OpenGlobe and Gracenote®
gateways to access a wide range of services, including DVD & CD databases,
Internet radio, entertainment news and CE-Commerce™. While it looks like
a simple CD player, the
Entré has the
ability to store hundreds of hours of MP3 files on its internal 20 GB hard drive.
Actual storage time will vary depending on the compression setting (96
to 320 kbps). The default
recording rate is 128
kbps, but we found the 320 kbps setting produced the best sound quality for obvious
reasons. The built-in CD/RW drive worked well, giving the user several recording
options including the ability to make a copy to another disc or "rip"
an MP3 version to the internal hard drive. Once the song list is saved, the system
lists the CD in the appropriate music category for future access. Simply highlight
the CD you want to play and you're listening to your favorite music instantly.
You can even compile music for several portable MP3 players by using the front
panel USB connection to download the data directly into the portable unit. The
Entré can recognize most of the CDs stored in either the Entré CD-R/RW
drive or the DV-5900M changer by linking to the Gracenote® CDDB database over
the Internet. The CD song list is displayed along with the cover art. It really
was impressive to see all of the disc information along with the CD artwork. Internet
radio was equally simple and offered a large selection of channels including the
broadband-based Sirius Satellite Radio stations.
Connectivity
As part of the
initial setup of the Entré, the user must define the type of Internet connection
that will be used for accessing the databases and other online services. Three
different options exist for the Internet connection: a standard phone line for
dial-up access, a HomePNA (HPNA) connection and a USB port (2 on back one in front).
AOL is not compatible with this system, but Earthlink's ISP will work fine. The
second option uses the same phone line, but instead uses a HPNA network system.
The HPNA network is similar to how DSL carries data on the phone line without
actually using the phone service. However, it modulates the data above the spectrum
used by DSL systems, so it will work with existing DSL services. However, some
DSL service providers place filters in the phone lines that may filter out the
carrier used by the HPNA system. One should check this before committing to using
the HPNA system. We relied upon a Netgear (model PE 102) HPNA bridge to gain access
to our already existing cable modem using Ethernet Once the connection to the
Internet was established, the user must go through a series of self-driven menus
on the screen to setup the connection. This sounds complicated, but it is quite
simple and worked great for us. In fact, anyone who has used a product similar
to DirecTV should have no problem getting the system up and running. If they do,
Kenwood provides full customer support for this product. We did find that we had
to have the HPNA unit connected directly to our cable modem due to the firewall
built into our router. There are several menus for the network interface that
help determine the connection properties. Surprisingly, there's even
a section for screen adjustments. Here the Entré provides the reference
patterns needed for calibrating the display. PLUGE (Picture Line-Up Generation
Equipment), Needle point, color bars and a sharpness screen are provided to maximize
picture quality.
The
Entré communicates with the DV-5900M changer using a standard RS232 cable
provided with the unit. During the initial setup, the Entré collected information
from both CDs as well as DVDs stored in the changer and then compares the information
with the Gracenote CDDB and Open Globe MovieDB databases. Information such as
song list, total playing time, ratings, general descriptions, genre, as well as
cover art for each disc is downloaded from the sites. However, not all movie discs
were recognized by the automatic setup. In fact, about 20 percent of the discs
were flagged as "Unknown DVD". Fortunately, using the Options
menu for the unknown titles, I was able to get the Open Globe database to find
the information. Heck, even the Kenwood Sovereign demo disc was in the database.
We were told that many of the discs that have multiple versions (Dolby Digital,
DTS, Special Editions, Etc.) cause this problem.
The component video from the DV-5900M CD/DVD changer is passed-through the Entré on its way to the display. The reason for this is the Entré either switches to the DV-5900M video or displays its own video. This is how Kenwood decided to implement the two components in a seamless fashion. The approach works well and because the video switching is capable of passing a high bandwidth signal, we didn't see any video degradation. A Pass-through button on the remote allows the user to switch between the two video sources at any time. This can come in handy if you want to see what the Entré is doing while the DVD/CD changer is actively displaying something.
The size and button placement on the remote for the Entré was logical and easy to follow. The buttons for Music, Movies, and Internet Radio were labeled well. I liked the way the navigation buttons worked, particularly with the many menus this system has.
The Entré is a powerful unit with a lot of built-in features. This component offers a large number of features including the ability to download the latest system software upgrades on demand. In fact, we downloaded the latest software update the night we received the unit from Kenwood. The Entré is basically a powerful computer with a friendly user interface. As with almost all computers, there were a few occasions where we caused the system to freeze and had to initiate a system reboot by holding down the power button on the front panel. This was rather infrequent and was always rectified once the system was reset.
Kenwood
Sovereign DV-5900M DVD Audio/Video
Changer
The
Kenwood Sovereign DV-5900M is massive component both physically and functionally
and is like no other product we've seen in the past. The 403 disc capacity gives
consumers ample amounts of storage space for their DVD and CD collection. Kenwood's
Rental Zone™ has three slots in the carousel, complete with separate Play
and Eject controls for each disc for easy insertion and removal without disturbing
the more permanent collection. This was the very first player certified by Faroudja
to meet their high video standards. The Sage/Faroudja video processing chips used
in this changer, remove the jagged "staircase" artifacts associated
with processing progressive scan video. The result is progressive scan video with
enhanced subtle details and colors creating a picture with film-like attributes.
Besides being highly attractive to videophiles due to its video processing, the
DV-5900M has the ability to flip double-sided DVDs, which is something we've not
seen in any product in this class. The DV-5900M is compatible with a large number
of formats including DVD Video (Dual sided), DVD-Audio, CD, CD-R, CD-RW and MP3
encoded media. This changer was also able to playback VCD and SVCD we recorded
on our Data-Video DVR-3000 review unit. DVD-Audio as well as DTS and Dolby Digital
bitstreams are decoded inside this player and make use of the six channel analog
outputs on the rear panel.
Aside from the massive 403 disc capability, the video processing in the DV-5900M is by far the most attractive attribute of this product. The highly regarded Sage/Faroudja DCDi Deinterlacer and Video Enhancer chips (FLI2200 and FLI2220) are used for the high performance progressive scan outputs. First, the MPEG video is decoded by the Panasonic (Matsushita) MN677521HB chip and then sent to the FLI2200 deinterlacing chip. This high performance deinterlacer uses a 16Mbit SDRAM for storing multiple fields of video for cadence-reading of the 3:2 pulldown sequences. While the implementation is not cheap, the results are stunning, and far better than strictly relying on the sometime erroneous repeat flags stored in the video stream. To further improve video performance, the FLI2220 video enhancer chip is added to the video chain. The back-end audio processing uses the Burr Brown (now TI) PCM1602KY 6-channel 192KHz/24-bit delta-sigma DAC for the six channel outputs. Kenwood actually chose to use the better of the two parts available with this part number. This is an impressive move on Kenwood's part and reflects their commitment to detail in the back-end audio design. The 2-channel mix line outputs use the Burr Brown PCM1748E 96KHz/24-bit DAC.
The
rear panel has the standard DVD interfaces that include component, s-video and
composite video as well as 5.1 analog outputs for the DVD-Audio and decoded DTS
and Dolby Digital bitstreams. All connectors are gold plated to ensure a good,
long-term connection. Digital audio is offered in both Toslink and coaxial. Unfortunately,
the power cord is not detachable, which would have certainly made it easier to
connect in the limited amount of space we had to work with. The
changer is quite large, not only in width and height, but in depth as well. I
could barely get the huge changer to fit in my custom-made cabinets. Be sure to
check dimensions before you decide to put it into an existing cabinet in your
system.
The remote for the DV-5900M was painful for me to get used to. I didn't particularly like the layout and I found the buttons to be somewhat non-intuitive. Chapter search buttons were stacked on top of each other rather than being placed left and right. However, the orange colored power button was useful in our dimly lit room.
Many of the new DVD-Audio players currently on the market lack bass management features, which can cause some problems for satellite/sub speaker systems such as ours. The DV-5900M includes bass management for its analog outputs, but we preferred using an outboard unit to handle this due to the rather high crossover frequency (100Hz) used in this unit. We currently have an M&K BMC mini Bass Management Controller that uses the 80 Hz crossover point.
Video performance was excellent on the DV-5900M and the benefits of the Faroudja processing were rather obvious. Scenes from the introduction of Star Trek's Insurrection showed excellent deinterlacing processing. The scene where the children are jumping through the straw looked detailed and the sloped roofs of the structures were free from jagged edges. Color rendition was superb, exemplifying the performance of DVDs such as Toy Story. The unit did take considerable time to change a disc and almost just as long to start playing it once it was selected. On certain discs we could hear the changer humming quite loudly, but it never affected performance in any way. This seemed to occur only in the beginning when the disc is spinning at the highest rate. As long as the unit is in a cabinet, this shouldn't be a problem.
Listening
to 5.1 DVD-Audio is a very different experience than standard two channel recordings
because so much of the ambiance is created by the mixing engineer. No longer is
the music limited to the imaging of the front two channels. These new DVD-Audio
discs bring you right into the middle of the music. We had several new discs as
part of this review including Fleetwood Mac's Rumors and the Eagles' Hotel
California. These are two classic recordings we always enjoy listening to.
These 70's recordings sound excellent on DVD-Audio. Even when transferring the
old analog tapes to the DVD-Audio format, the highest fidelity is preserved for
us end-users. It's simply wonderful. Another great DVD-Audio disc provided to
us is a collection of jazz cuts from various movies called "The Bedroom Mixes"
- Jazz at the Movies. The brass in this recording is very clean without
an edgy side heard in poor recordings. The DV-5900M delivered reference quality
sound from this superb audio format. Kenwood engineers did a great job designing
this huge DVD/CD changer and the quality of the audio would impress many critics.
The internal DTS and Dolby Digital decoders worked perfectly with our demo material.
As movie and music
collections become very large, the need to organize becomes important. The Kenwood
Sovereign Entré both archives music as well as controls your A/V setup
while the DV-5900M provides the massive disc storage needed to complete the system.
Kenwood's Sovereign line integrates complex components and is certainly worth
more than the sum of its parts. As an integrated system, the features are rich
and powerful especially with the connection to the Internet databases. Information
provided by Open Globe and the CDDB sites proved to be very impressive. The system
is geared for the more serious home theater enthusiasts willing to pay for the
luxury of an integrated set of electronics. Even so, the cost is fairly reasonable
for the performance. As with any complex system, there were some glitches we ran
into, but most of them were fairly benign. Kenwood's Sovereign line is a giant
leap forward in providing consumers with a fully integrated audio and home theater
system. The bar for home entertainment has certainly been raised once again.
- Kevin Nakano
Latest Information from Kenwood regarding their Sovereign Products
The following information was provided to us by Kenwood's PR rep.
NEW SOFTWARE FOR KENWOOD SOVEREIGN ENTRÉ ENABLES CONTROL OF THREE DVD CHANGERS AND PERMITS CONTROL BY CRESTRON®
Free Online Upgrade For Current Entré Owners; Company Also Announces Technology Upgrade for DVD MegaChangers, Free For Current Owners
LAS VEGAS, January 9, 2003 - Kenwood announced a major software upgrade for the Kenwood Sovereign Entré Entertainment Hub, enabling the Entré to control up to three Kenwood Sovereign 400-disc DVD changers with Rental Zone™ simultaneously, and, for the first time, allowing devices made by Crestron and other manufacturers to interface with and control the Entré. Kenwood demonstrated the software, including the three changer support feature, here today at the Consumer Electronics Show.
The company also announced a technology upgrade for its 400-disc DVD megachangers and said those who had previously purchased the megachangers would be able to obtain the upgrade free from Kenwood.
Brian Towne, director of product management for Kenwood USA, said the new Version 2.0 software for Entré would be in new products beginning in April and that current Entré owners would automatically be upgraded with the software at no charge when using the Entré's built-in online services capability, powered by OpenGlobe technology.
Towne said the Version 2.0 for Entré also includes changes to the user interface, such as fast, one-button access to media information stored in the Entré. In addition, third-party control devices can now interface with the Entré using either its USB or Home PNA port with an Ethernet adapter.
"These
new features will make Entré and other Kenwood Sovereign components even
more suitable for installations in high-end integrated home systems," said
Towne. "Of particular importance is the addition of three-changer support,
a feature we've had a lot of requests for."
Towne said the technology
upgrade for Kenwood DVD megachangers, affecting models DV-5900 and DVD-5050, would
make disc loading 20 percent faster and would make layer changes (needed when
playing 2-layer discs) 59 percent faster. Damping to reduce noise caused by elliptical
discs (discs which have a slightly off-center hole) has also been added.
New DVD megachangers shipped in March will incorporate the new improvements, Towne said, and beginning at that time, current owners can receive the technology upgrade to their changers at no cost by contacting Kenwood customer service and shipping the unit to Kenwood's service center.