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(More customer reviews)The TERK VR-1 Volume Regulator is an electronic device that automatically limits the amount of audio that can be fed to an external stereo amplifier or home theater system, so that variations in audio levels between TV stations on a cable system or satellite receiver will be more or less "leveled out". In other words, no more barely able to hear one channel, while being blasted out of your chair when you surf to the next channel. It acts like a brick wall to excessive audio levels; you can throw a goodly amount of audio at it, but it will only output a fixed level and that's it! And it does it's job extremely well and without noticeable distortion. That having been said, however, keep something else in mind ... the psychological aspects of sound. A lot of the audio we hear today on the air waves is compressed audio, meaning that there is less dynamic range and more sound power within the audio "package". The result is that processed audio (audio that's been compressed) sounds much louder than audio that has its normal dynamic range. That's why some commercials sound louder than the program material that they're inserted into, and why some musical segways between the program and the commercials sound so loud. In other words, it's not just the peaks of the audio that make for a loud sounding audio material, it's also how much the audio has been processed during its production. The VR-1 (or any other volume regulator) can do very little to uncompress intentional efforts to pack more audio power into a sound channel. That would be asking a lot!
A device like the TERK VR-1 Volume Regulator isn't for everyone, the buyer needs to have some familiarity with interconnecting home theater audio components to achieve the desired results. It's not that the VR-1 itself needs any adjustments (in fact, there are no adjustments), but rather, the individual doing the installation needs to put the VR-1 in the correct place within the audio chain, but it's not at all difficult if that person has a basic understanding of audio component interrelations.
Perhaps the simplest way to utilize the TERK VR-1 is to feed the earphone output from the TV receiver into the "Left & Right Audio Inputs" on the unit. The "Left & Right Audio Outputs" are then fed into your stereo receiver (or home theater amplifier) and that receiver or amplifier is then used to drive the speakers that will reproduce the TV audio at a higher fidelity than the TV receiver itself could normally provide. The reason that you'll want to use the earphone output from the TV receiver is because plugging a cable into the earphone output will automatically disconnect the TV set's internal speakers. If the set's internal speakers aren't disconnected, then you'll hear the "blasting" audio from some of the channels coming through the set's internal speakers, and that will negate the "regulated" audio being fed to your external system. The very brief manual that comes with the TERK VR-1 fails to mention this point, but it's a very important one. If you're using a TV receiver without internal speakers, or if there is some other means to turn them off, then you could use the audio left and right outputs on the back of the receiver without consequence. If your set doesn't have an earphone or headset output on it, you'll have to try to have one installed by a qualified service tech, but make sure that he knows what he's doing, you don't want lethal voltages on any of the leads coming out of the set!
Once you have the earphone output feeding the VR-1, and the VR-1's output feeding your external amplifier and speakers, then simply set the volume from the TV set so that the sound is comfortable coming from the channel with the least audio level. Don't use the volume up and down on the TV set's remote from that point on. Instead, adjust the volume that you want for a particular show or movie only with the remote for your stereo receiver, amplifier or home theater system. The reason is that once you set the level into the VR-1 for the weakest audio source (TV channel), you'll want to leave that level alone and only play with the output level from your external system from that time on, that will keep the audio levels from all TV channels pretty constant, unless the cable or satellite provider readjusts their audio levels on the various channels from time to time. If they do, then just readjust the input to the VR-1 for proper output on the channel with the least audio level once again. None of this is mentioned in the abbreviated manual from the manufacturer either, they very much leave the new owner out on their own. I'll bet TERK gets lots of phone calls!
To summarize, the TERK VR-1 Volume Regulator (limiter) is a very effective piece of equipment when installed and used correctly, but their manual isn't a whole lot of help in that area. From what I've read elsewhere, the VR-1 converts the analog audio signal into digital format, then uses a mathematical algorithm to achieve its goal. In addition to maintaining a consistent audio level, the VR-1 apparently also employs algorithms to reduce noise (hiss) and to process the bass and treble signals separately for improved dialog recognition, with a response action as fast as 2 milliseconds. When all of this processing is over, the signal is converted back to analog format.
The VR-1 is a small, nice looking package but it can also be tucked away and forgotten about if so desired. It contains no adjustments, but it does have a front panel "Bypass" switch if you simply want to convince yourself or your friends about the job that it's doing. It comes with one set of RCA phono plug (on each end) connection cables and a wall outlet power cube for powering the unit. Oh, I almost forgot about the manual, you get that too! You'll chuckle when you see that little piece of paper folded over 3 times, but hey, that's what they call it ... an owner's manual! What more can I say?
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