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Component Reviews

Sunfire Theater Grand IV AV Preamp/Processor/Tuner

Multi-featured AV Center does it all for home theater but is also a high end stereo and multichannel preamp

Published on November 11, 2005

Sunfire Theater Grand IV AV

Preamp/Processor/Tuner
MSRP: $4000

Specs and Features:

Auto signal-sensing input switching - automatically turns the unit on, selects your source and surround mode
7.1 Channel Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, DTS, DTS-ES and DTS Neo:6 decoding, plus Side-Axis outputs for 9.1 channels playback
Bob Carver's Sonic Holography Imaging in noise-free DSP for the soundstage enhancement of two-channel sources
Second zone plays sources independent of the main zone
Full-time digital downmix provides accurate two-channel output for tape recording, digital outputs, and second zone from multichannel digital sources
Nine channel (user settable) "PARTY" mode engages all speakers from any two channel source
Direct two-channel analog bypass mode
Preprogrammed and learning remote control with LCD display
Bob Carver's Dynamic Tuner Noise Reduction for dramatically improved clarity of weak FM stations
Simulated surround mode converts stereo inputs into five or seven channels of output
FM/AM tuner with Bob Carver's Dynamic Noise Reduction circuit and 40 presets
DSP tone controls
Three 100MHz+ HDTV compatible wide-bandwidth component video inputs and two outputs
Format conversion between S-VHS, component and composite video
Six audio/video inputs, each with audio, S-video and composite video
Three audio-only inputs, including Moving Magnet Phono input
Eight analog audio inputs for DVD-A, SACD
Digital audio (S/PDIF) inputs for six sources: four coax or optical, plus two coax only
Coaxial and optical digital (S/PDIF) outputs provide two-channel digital downmix from 5.1 sources
Balanced XLR outputs for primary 7.1 channels
Four subwoofer outputs
Side-axis side speaker outputs for completely enveloping soundstage (total of 9.1 channels!)
Comprehensive all-digital bass manager with crossover frequencies of 40 to 160Hz
24-bit A-to-D converter and 24-bit/192kHz Multibit D-to-A converters for the ultimate in sound quality
Separate trigger outputs and infrared inputs for both zones
FLASH memory upgradable just by playing a CD-ROM
IEEE-1394 (Firewire™) port for future expansion
Two-year parts and labor warranty

Intro

I’ve lived with the Sunfire Theater Grand III for a few years now, so was quite familiar with most of this new version. The main attributes that warrant the price increase of $500 on this new model are the addition of Dolby Pro Logic IIx, which creates not only center and surround channels but also one or two center rear channels. Few DVDs offer this option on their soundtracks and the matrixed option doesn’t make much difference to my taste, but if you have speakers and amps and don’t mind a couple of speakers which might end up right in the center of the entrance to your listening room, more power to you. The other new development is the conversion within the Theater Grand of both composite and S-Video inputs to the higher-quality component video. Since I avoid running my video connections thru the Theater Grand IV this isn’t a valuable feature for me but could well be for those with a variety of different video inputs with their various audio companions.

The Theater Grand now comes in a Platinum finish as well as the familiar audio black, and I asked for that. It makes it less invisible in my equipment cabinet and the "landing lights" LEDs on the front of the unit don’t stand out quite a strongly as they did with the black chassis. Also, there is now a dimmer control for the lights. The physical dimensions have little changed, and the forest of inputs and outputs on the rear of the unit are basically the same except for a switch of the AM and FM antenna connections at the left rear. The rounded corners on the cabinet look great and stand out more prominently with the platinum color. The main observable change on the front panel is that the squarish rectangular blue-type display in the top center of the preamp has been replaced with a more elliptical rectangle.

Hookups and Options

There are plenty of options on the rear panel of the Theater Grand. If you are a stickler for balanced connections between your preamp and amps, you will appreciate the balanced XLR sockets for the main 7.1 channel outputs. There are not just one but four subwoofer outputs, and the trigger option operates not just for the main room but also for the Zone 2 areas. And Sunfire is evidently still unique in the high end multichannel preamp field in allowing for Flash upgrades by simply playing an update CD which they send you rather than hooking up the RS 232 port on the back, as with competing AV preamps.

All the various decoding options are present in the Theater Grand IV except HDCD and Circle Surround, which are both of limited interest. All the various adjustments for both Pro Logic IIx and DTS Neo: 6 are included in the on-screen settings. Also of course the adjustments for the speaker distances, whether large or small, and the bass management settings. The range of the crossovers are from 40Hz to 160Hz in 10Hz increments. A disappointment is that - like most such processors - these adjustments are bypassed completely when listening to “source direct” or the 8-channel inputs. So you had better have your surround speakers all set up at roughly the same distance from your sweet spot as your front speakers or listening to multichannel SACD and DVD-A will be compromised.

The FM reception of the Theater Grand IV is excellent. There’s no way to turn off the Carver noise reduction built into the FM section, but it’s very effective on poorly-received stations. AM is about as poor as in most tuners today. You can set the tuner section for up to 40 different stations and the long row of “landing lights” on the unit’s faceplate are also buttons to select ten of the stations. (A bit of overkill if you ask me.) The remote is a rebranded TheaterMaster universal remote and can be taught to control up to ten different components.

Even if you eschew the video section of the T.G. IV, you will want to run at least an S-Video or composite cable from its main video output to one input on your display for the On Screen Display. It also comes up on the small blue display on the faceplate, but only one function at a time, and can be confusing to operate. The Guide and Exit buttons on the remote bring up the OSD on your screen. The extensive menu permits adjustments of Trims, Modes, Tone, Inputs, Settings of the Zones, speaker adjustments, video and OSD, software settings etc. The proper selection of Zone 2 for feeding a signal to other rooms of your house is a bit frustrating but careful following of the manual procedure will eventually reward you. It does have the ability to play a different source in Zone 2 than is playing in Zone 1. This option is disabled as the unit comes from the factory and must be enabled to feed a signal at all. You can also adjust the volume level of the various sources, their maximum volume, and what source will be the default when using a particular input.

A very useful function is the Video Delay setting. This actually acts on the audio signal, not the video, allowing delaying the sound in 1 ms steps to match the delayed video on many broadcast programs due to extensive processing of the video image. Once selected, you can watch the lip sync of images on your screen while adjusting the audio delay using the joystick on the remote. (The next step would be to put this feature directly on a remote button to be accessed instantly, as one manufacturer has already done.) The Source Direct setting bypasses every bit of the digital processing in the T.G. IV and is best for completely analog sources such as stereo vinyl or exceptionally purist two-channel CDs or SACDs. The latest incarnation of Bob Carver’s Sonic Holography circuit is realized in the digital domain here, and it can be used with any two-channel source if you are sitting precisely in your sweet spot equidistant from your two frontal speakers. I found it similar in effect to the past analog iteration of the circuit - very subtle on most recordings but on a few adding an exceptionally realistic depth and spatiality. While it can also be used on the front L & R channels while in multichannel mode, I found the effect completely lost in that situation.

More effective than Sonic Holography is the latest version of Pro Logic II. It creates extremely effective surround and center channels on nearly all two channel recordings, often rivaling the effect on classical and jazz that one hears with discrete multichannel recordings. If the two-channel recording preserves a great deal of the L-R information, the level on the surrounds may be so high you will need to reduce them either with the OSD or by using the remote’s joystick on the REAR- option. This is especially true of binaural recordings, which create a very convincing surround field using Pro Logic IIx. Matrix Dolby Surround CDs also work very well with Pro Logic IIx. My idea of audiophile nirvana is playing the best of my many audiophile direct discs - especially those cut at 45 rpm - thru the Pro Logic IIx decoding for a fabulous surround field.

Gripes?

Any gripes? Well, just a few: The automatic source select doesn’t always work, and is not designed to work with “source direct” or 8-channel analog inputs. (But it is nice to turn it on prior to my wife watching a DVD on her own - then it switches instantly to the DVD player.) I was hoping one of the new features of the T.G. IV vs. the III would be a logical circuit for the Side Axis speakers - namely a matrix of the difference signal between the left front and the left surround on one side and the two rights on the other. Instead it continues as a mix of 80% of the R channel (on the R) plus 20% of the L channel and vice versa on the L.

The Phono input is a thoughtful inclusion but it is only moving magnet and many of us who haven’t given up on vinyl by any means have moving coil cartridges requiring more phono preamp power than the T.G. IV offers. Fine, we can use the Tape or DAT inputs instead. The T.G. IV selects the source which is turned on and ignores the other tape deck. But most of us with a solid state outboard phono preamp leave it on all the time, so the tape source plugged into the other input won’t be selected. In my case I require an outboard jerry-rigged Switchcraft switch to switch between MC and tape source. (I have four, including a Beta Hi-Fi - requiring a RussSound five-input switch for that.) My last gripe is that while many inputs on the preamp accept both analog and digital connections from the same source, when both are plugged in the digital always takes precedence. I wish there was a Menu option to choose between them to do comparisons.

Wrap Up

I also have a gripe about the copy on the Sunfire web page on the T.G. IV: “If your eyes get tired, the Theater Grand also includes...” and then it mentions the analog eight-channel inputs, “source direct,” phono input and tuner. Well, don’t get the idea from this that the T.G. IV is primarily a home theater/video component with high end audio considerations a second thought. It is also designed as a perfectionist stereo and multichannel preamp. All the digital processing circuits can be disabled using the eight-channel and source direct settings, and its ability to generate a clean and transparent frontal sonic image or an enveloping sense of spatial surround are truly impressive.

Even with the full-blown digital processing while viewing a DTS or Dolby soundtrack DVD, the T.G. IV still sounds impressive. I’m keeping mine and mating it with tube monoblocks on the front channels, which I find a perfect sonic marriage feeding my Von Schwiekert VR-2s. However, I still have solid state amps on the matching surround channels and the sound is just about as sweet and musical as on the fronts. The T.G. IV doesn’t suffer from a bit of the hardened, steely sound quality of some multichannel preamps and receivers.

- John Sunier

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