TAG McLaren AV32R DP
AV Processor

Tag Take 2

TAG McLaren AV32R DP
TAG MCLAREN HAS UPGRADED ITS MOST SUCCESSFUL AV PRODUCT. ALVIN GOLD REVISITS AN OLD FRIEND AND IS STILL IMPRESSED

When TAG McLaren demonstrated its first AV processor exclusively to HCC back in our December 1999 issue, we knew the company meant business. That model, the AV32R, is still going strong, thanks to a series of significant upgrades. So what's changed? Quite a lot, actually.

The AV32R is a standalone multichannel preamp and home cinema processor, which in its standard form produces six channel outputs to drive a five-channel power amplifier and active subwoofer. It accepts multiple digital and analogue sources, which are digitised at the input for further processing and can deliver: Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital, DTS and Tag's proprietary TMS, which generates multichannel sound from two-channel sources. This is achieved by a 32-bit SHARC processor.

Unusual refinements include a clock link to TAG's own DVD-32R DVD player to reduce jitter for improved audio clarity. Upgraders can also specify their AV32R with Digital Radio (DAB) tuner options and/or EX7.1 sound decoding.

As noted in our original AV32R review, this was the first true TAG McLaren product, and it has become the core model around which TAG's audio-visual strategy has evolved. Just recently, the company announced a stripped-down version called the AV30R, which retains the same basic engine as the AV32R, but with some simplifications, reduced upgradeability, and a lower price. The company also announced a completely new model, the AV192R, which is a double-height processor with enhanced specifications and performance.

Existing AV32R owners who lust after the AV192R need not feel disenfranchised. Some 85 per cent of the AV32R, including the basic circuit board and power supply, are retained in the AV192R, and AV32R owners will be able to have their units rebuilt to the new standard. In effect, you hand in your AV32R, and the full purchase price is credited against the new model when it becomes available.

The new bits

Enhancements to the AV32R, now fitted as standard, include an improvement to the analogue output circuit, which now carries an analogue feed from digital sources, a 5.1-channel bypass, and 24-bit/192kHz DACs. This functional improvement means the unit can be used as a DAC. In its D/A role, the unit will recognise data up to 24-bit/96kHz (unencrypted, of course - there is no DVI interface for the processor as yet).

Audio is available at this resolution from so-called DAD discs, a subset of DVD-Video - in stereo. Dolby Pro-Logic II is now included as standard in this model and older units can be upgraded.

DTS ES discrete and DTS Neo:6 are included as part of the latest V3.50 firmware upgrade for AV32R EX (7.1-channel) models. The upgrade also updates the standard DTS decoder, by standardising the 10dB LFE channel boost in all modes other than Music.

Other changes include DTS ES matrix detection and switching, configurable power-up display brightness, enhancement to the way brightness is synchronised over the TAGtronic bus, and the capacity for single-session adjustments to Night Mode, lip-sync and centre channel level trim. Also included is a new multichannel matrix processing mode that derives a surround back channel for those with the 7.1 AV32R but who are not using THX post processing.

The trademark qualities of the AV32R remain as they were before - highly explicit imaging providing an immersive surround sound experience, first-rate image stability and a high level of detail. But it takes several days before the processor loses a certain edge to the sound and really begin to sing.

Singing for its supper

What really makes the TAG processor sing so sweet are two factors. In surround sound mode from a digital source it is the quality of the spatial processing, which is virtually state-of-the-art, with improvements available elsewhere only at much higher prices

The new higher resolution DAC stage also goes a long way to eliminating a tendency to flat depth imagery - not a noticeable problem with the old model, but made obvious here simply by the new model's apparently more seamless, better integrated quality and its greater transparency. The characteristic TAG lightness of touch remains apparent. For its latest audition, the TAG was coupled with a JMlab Electra system, with the main speakers used as surround backs, and JMlab Mezzo Utopias taking the place of the main fronts). Putting them together proved to be a great combination.

The other improvement, of course, is the analogue bypass, which finally means that the unit can stand its ground as an audiophile two- or six-channel preamplifier for use with analogue stereo or multichannel sources - as a spell with a Marantz DV-12SI (an excellent DVD-Audio player, and in some respects an even better CD player) quickly showed. But in this mode the unit is more or less an open window, and comparable in stereo to TAG McLaren's excellent DPA32R, again slightly lightweight, but highly detailed and articulate all the same.