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.
posted by noed-resarf @ 12:08 AM
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