Finally, after many days of glue, stinky fingers and back breaking moments, I am glad to report that the Boston speakers are working well (well is an understatement!) The time, effort and dust were all really worth its weight in gold.
When I first listened to the speakers, I lamented at the somewhat biased frequency response- the midrange was way shallow and the treble stuck out like a polar bear in the Sahara Desert.
Having been fitted with new foam surrounds, the speakers certainly exhibit less of that edgy character, and impress with their detail (more so in the treble department, there are two tweeter units as opposed to one). That said, I do prefer the Mordaunt Short speakers for music. The tweeter unit may not be as “garang” and involving as the Bostons, but the midrange timbre soothes and makes the best out of voices like Michael Buble’s.
And here is a little explanation on THX, taken from Wikepedia.
Definition of THX
THX is the trade name of a high-fidelity sound reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. THX was developed by Tomlinson Holman at George Lucas's company Lucasfilm in 1982 to ensure that the soundtrack for the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, would be accurately reproduced in the best venues.
The THX system is not a recording technology, and it does not specify a sound recording format; all sound formats, whether digital (Dolby Digital, SDDS) or analog (Dolby SR, Ultra-Stereo), can be "shown in THX." THX is mainly a quality assurance system. THX-certified theaters provide a high-quality, predictable playback environment to ensure that any film soundtrack mixed in THX will sound as near as possible to the intentions of the mixing engineer. THX also provides certified theaters with a special crossover circuit whose use is part of the standard. Certification of an auditorium entails specific acoustic and other technical requirements; architectural requirements include a floating floor, baffled and acoustically treated walls, no parallel walls (to reduce standing waves), a perforated screen (to allow center channel continuity), and NC30 rating for background noise.
So essentially, if you have THX certified equipment, you can expect a more faithful reproduction of the movie soundtrack, translating into a more cinematic experience. And that was certainly what I got- sharper swords, more explosive explosion, Hairs on end, I heard details in effects, scores and soundtracks than I missed out with conventional speakers.
The trade off: My 50watt Yamaha subwoofer, a solid piece of low note generator on its own, can’t really match up with the larger main speakers in terms of loudness and sheer conviction. The limited space in my hall means that it would be rather hard to fit a bigger (and more substantial) subwoofer unit.
And while my setup is less than ideal, I am looking forward to a widescreen TV and a larger sub to deliver a greater cinema experience at home. Till then, here are some visuals…
The huge Boston 555THX LCR -restored lovingly.
A close up of the hall setup, and my comically disproportionate subwoofer.
its finally here.
I laid my hands on some speaker surrounds from Sim Lim Tower. Armed with a container of speaker glue, here's what I am doing...restoring my beloved Boston THX speakers!
Enjoy!
The black surround foam- being coated with speaker glue
Glue is all around. Now the speaker looks wierd, dosent it?
Lo and behold, as the glue dries, the speaker looks so much better!
The restored Boston 575X dipole speaker.
There's more to come, when I move in my humongous 12 inch air mover!
Stay tuned.
Its certainly been a very long time since I posted anything here. Church's been busy procuring a new sound system in line with its renovation plan, and I've certainly succeeded in getting myself
over involved in the planning, review and research.
Well it certainly is a joy to be involved in something that you are passionate about- I believe that passion remains as your strongest driving factor.
Following my buddy's decision to move, I was blessed with a few new toys; The Atlantic Technology model 251LR speakers, the Atlantic Technology model 253c center speaker, and a Sherwood R-945RDSMKII HT Receiver.
Upgrading to an AC-3 (Dolby Digital) receiver isn't the latest trend in town, but it beats watching DVDs in Pro Logic mode. The 5 discrete channel really puts you into the middle of the action, all with greater detail and clarity. Woot.
A pity that there was some problems with the onboard DTS encoder- I'm sure I would have been offered a greater audio treat!
Finally, having a matched LCR (Left Right Centre) speaker system sounds great. For once, the frequency response is consistent- cars zooming past don't sound different as it passes through the speakers. The Atlantic Technology model 253c center speaker has midrange and treble controls, that allow you to match the midrange and treble response to your front speakers. Naturally, there was already a preset to match with the front speakers. =)
In an hour, I was watching Elektra and enjoying the upgraded, glorious sound of Dolby Digital.
Yet another turn of events. My tenants moved out, leaving me with their Boston THX home theatre speakers. It comes in matching LCR speakers (Boston 555X), dipolar surround speakers (575X) and the 595X sub woofer. Yes, this is my first pair of THX certified speakers ever, so I am very excited!
Now that the 595x sub woofer employs a 12' driver, I am so gonna have a hard time finding space for this massive low note generator in my house (freq response 20hz-80hz, +/-3db)
The catch is, the edges (surrounds) of all the main speakers have rotted away, leaving me with no bass response, and an extremely nasal midrange)
Nonetheless, I've gathered a few sites that can help anyone with the same predicament. Hope this helps.
http://www.decware.com/newsite/refoam.htm
http://www.speakerworks.net/
So much for the talk, now the visuals.
Boston 555X LCR speakers
A close up of the almighty..
The disintegrated surround thats messing up the sound...
Stripped clean and ready for re-foaming
re foaming 8 woofers ( 2 more along the way) isn't fun!
I'd be glad to report on how the restoration process went, so hang on tight!
till then,
noed resarf
