THX Question (1 Viewer)

[Robert.CB]

If you buy a THX certified receiver, dvd player, and/or amp, but do not buy THX certified speakers. Would there be a significant difference, because you didn't buy THX certified speakers? If so, what would the difference be?

 

[Lev-S]

No. It's just a badge.

 

[John S]

The certification is not what is important.

It is the ability to achieve the performance that certification entails.

Get great speakers, they will rock, and possibly rock better than THX certified products.

 

[GordonL]

That was real informative.
Read the THX FAQs. It'll tell you everything you need to know about the THX program and what problems it addresses. In a nutshell, if you don't believe the problem exists for you, don't buy it.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

There is currently NO outside testing/certification for your home theater equipment. You can find "High Power Digital Home Theater" equipment selling on eBay that make claims similar to equipment with Yamaha/Dennon/Paradigm/B&W names on them.

How do you tell the truth from the lies?

One way is to have an outside organization set some standards then test products to make sure they comply.

This is what THX certification is: promising that the equipment meets some standards.

So if you dont know what you are looking for in HT equipment, looking for a certification sticker like THX is a good thing to do.

However, there are lots of good HT products that meet or surpass the THX specification.

For speakers - spend some time in the "Speakers and Subwoofer" fourm and you will find about 20 or so brands that crop up as being well-respected.

But remember - speakers have 'flavor'. It's important that you try and audition speakers to determine if they meet your taste. Just because some else raves about butter-brickle ice cream does not mean this flavor is superior to chocolate to my taste buds.

THX certification does not really gurantee how a speaker sounds. They cover a lot of technical issues like efficiency, throw patterns, etc., but this does not really tell you how it sounds.

Beware: manufacturers tend to only get their higher-end speakers certified by THX. Because of this, stores often take better care to setup the rooms & speakers for the higher-end demonstrations. This naturally makes the THX certified speakers sound better than the 'shoved against the wall' speakers that are lower priced.


Hope this helps.

 

[Jeff W.]

THX = This Here is more eXpensive.

 

[Jeff W.]

But seriously. The THX badge does mean it had to pass some sort of quality test, but that doesn't mean that those without the THX badge are of lesser quality.

Unfortunately getting the THX badge does cost money and they pass this cost on to you. Is it worth it? Not really, but it can't hurt (other than your wallet).

 

[JamesGL]

is this why Harman Kardon no longer get their receiver THX certified?

 

[Jack Shappa]

THX certified DVDs often SUCK, THX certified theatres often SUCK, and there are tons of equipment that sounds awesome without the certification. The manufacturers PAY for the badge. Yes they have to meet some "standards", but you're better off knowing what you're doing and buying speakers based on what really sounds good and performs well in your room, not some badge whose importance is debatable.

- Jack

 

[GordonL]

That's pretty much true for anything in life.

But for the joey six-pack who doesn't want to know/care about the technical issues involved, nothing wrong with buying THX equipment.

 

[Dave Nibeck]

Don't forget the THX certified speaker wire. I absolutely guarantee that they will transmit electricity from your receiver to your speakers.

I think I read that you can even buy THX certified power cords. If true, these will transmit electricity from your outlet to your receiver.

 

[John S]

Gordon L.
Good last point there.


It does make it so the truly uninformed, know nothing about HT and audio type person, can put together an awesome system.



I mean if every component was THX certified, I'm banking you would have a real nice setup.

 

[Robert.CB]

Thanks for all your responses. So basically, a certification gives you the comfort of knowing what you buy will work the way it should. But, even though it is certified does not mean it will perform the way I would want it too or at least to my listening preferences.

I was leaning towards THX equipment, because I thought that that was the only way you could hear the THX encoded audio was to do it through THX certified equipment (receiver, dvd, etc.). Is this correct?

What you all are also saying is that I could build a system (comprised possibly of THX certified equipment and non-THX certified equipment) that would sound as good as a THX certified system and sound good to me without the label with lot more knowledge on how to do it and of the products that I could use.

Sorry, for all the questions, etc. I am still within my first few months of infancy in the home theater world.

 

[Jeff W.]

No there's no such thing as "THX encoding". You don't need a "THX" stamp on anything to play any DVD (etc) in existance. If a DVD says "THX" on it, it just means THX engineers supervised the transfer and mixing during the DVD authoring process. Nothing more.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

We all were at one time. Questions are always welcome.

This section from our Primer/FAQ: What is THX might help.

 

[Robert.CB]

Hey Guys,



Thanks for being patient and understanding.

Sorry. I had read over several receivers and that had THX Surround EX decoding (in which the dvd's would be encoded). What I was aiming torwards was asking if you do not have a receiver that can decode THX Surround EX then would you not receive the realism that the THX Surround EX encoded dvd could provide?

And does not having THX Surround EX decoding on your receiver, depending on your receiver, still allow the capability to have a 7.1 system that provides realism with dvds that can take advantage of a 7.1 system.

Thanks.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Ahhhh.. I get it.

You are looking for the receivers that support the rear-center speaker. This is called "Dolby Digital EX" or "DTS Ex", not "THX Ex".

I dont know how many disks actually support the rear-center speaker. Even if you dont have a DDEx receiver, you will get all the sounds out of the 2 back speakers with a 5.1 system and a "EX" encoded DVD.

I dont have a 7.1 system, but people who do say it works great for some disks. You should look for a receiver that supports 7.1 if you are in the market.

 

[JohnMW]

I was under the impression that Lucas (THX) and Dolby co-developed Surround EX, then eventually Dolby licensed it under it's own name. Correct me if I am wrong.....

** edited a small grammatical error.

 

[Jack Shappa]

Sure there is. The fact that he just paid more than he had to because he wanted a badge. Nothing is free, remember? And the fact that he might have gotten something better, or more appropriate to his setup, for less money.

- Jack

 

[John S]

Robert.CB....

6.1 and above is somewhat important, in my opinion.

This gives you Dobly EX, and THX EX flagged DVD will trigger the Dolby EX. And Visa-Versa. A Dolby EX flagged DVd will trigger THX EX.

It works well, very well in my opnion.