allan espinoza

THX, should I be impressed?

Well, I have a yamaha rx-v2500 that has THX select and utilizes the THX surround EX, but my high expectations were brought down after listening. The receiver is great and its sound to me is awesome, but when i select THX, the volume and tones seem to decrease and does not neccessarily have that great of a punch to it as oppose to it being in standard surround. I just got this receiver so im still playing with it to pull the best out of it, but I see myself not wanting to use THX. Could i be doing something wrong in the settings? According to the manual, THX has its own settings that it uses. I calibrated using yamaha's YPAO and it did a pretty good job of doing so. Has your THX experience been likewise? another, is THX best used only on dvd titles that have been THX certified? Is THX surround ex the same as 6.1, just in addition to the additional center rear?

John Garcia

I never use the THX processing on my receiver for the same reason. It tends to roll the highs off and makes everything sound flat compared to when it is not egaged, IMO. EX is intended to be used with EX material, but since it is matrix, it works for 5.1 as well.

It makes no difference if the film is THX cert or not.

"The trouble with the world is not that people know too little, but that they know so many things that ain't so." - Mark Twain

HT: Marantz SR-8300, MA500 monoblocks x 2, 5X GR Research A/V-2s, Adire Audio Tempest sub, Denon 2900, Oppo 980H, Toshiba HD-A2, RC2000MkII remote, Panamax 5100, Panamax Max2 sub, Slim PS2, PS3 60G + 320G USB

Bedroom: Marantz PM-7200 Integrated, GR Research A/V-1s, Sony 222ES SACD, RC3200 remote, Panamax M8EX

Audio: Audioquest * Video: Bluejeans

My DVDs My HT

DerrikW

I never use THX processing either. Like John said, everything sounds too flat for me.

For me DD+PLIIx or dts+neo6 are more than enough to keep me happy.

allan espinoza

well i was surely dissapointed with THX. I always thought of THX as being the best and its processing and for a long time I always wished to own a THX receiver, but now that i do, it's become more of a symbol than anything else. On THX website they claim that you have to own nothing but THX certified products including speakers and interconnects to bring its full potential. do you believe it's true?

Eddie Horton

I also don't like THX processing and don't believe that you have to own all THX certified products to max out your home theater experience.

Lewis Besze

Allan, what you hear is the one THX's feature called RE-EQ,which used to be a good feature,when theatrical mixes were the norm on home video mainly on LD,and on many DVDs till recently.Most current releases are remixed to HT enviroment,some are call it "nearfield mix".
There is a good article that explains this:http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...es-6-2002.html


Some receivers let's you disengage this feature without affecting the rest of the THX processing,which can be beneficial IMO.

Jim Swantko

I agree - THX is a huge disappointment. I NEVER use mine - my processor stays in Logic 7.

Leo Kerr

THX probably should have stayed in the Theater program; that's where it probably made the most difference... at least when it worked. Basic standards such as how much noise bleed from neighboring theaters and how much air-handling noise were important improvements for many theaters, as well as a certain standard of equipment quality for the theater.

(If I recall, THX Theater Alignment did not specifically certify or require certified equipment; I think it required measurable and demonstrated performance.)

Leo Kerr

Christopher B

I never usually use THX on my Yamaha receiver either, I like the normal DD or DTS without the re-eq. If you read about THX it seems to me that it isn't necassarily supposed to make the sound drastically better, it is more about getting a consistant sound in any situation. The re-eq that rolls off the highs and has what they call timbre matching might be great if your system needs help to smooth things out and make the transition from one speaker to another more seamless. It seems to me that if you have a decent sytem and it is calibrated correctly, the re-eq takes away the crispness of the soundtrack. I believe the original idea in the theaters was to make sure that the theater met certain requirements with their system so that if you went to any theater that was THX certified, the sound should be the same as any other THX certified theater. With HT they tried to do the same thing.

Larry Sutliff

Back in the old Laserdisc days, many Dolby Surround tracks were very bright and they needed to be tamed in order to listen to them in the smaller enviroment of a home theater. Also, Pro Logic had a monaural surround track, so THX "de-correlated" the surround into a wider, more stereo like surround experience. With the advent of 5.1 sound, and better remastering of soundtracks on DVD's for home use, THX has become obsolete IMHO. But it still looks cool to see those letters emblazoned on a receiver!

My Movies

JackS

It seems to me that the greatest accomplishment of THX comes with their software.
DVD's that have the logo almost guarantees a pristine sound quality that is often missing with non THX disks.
When buying a disk with the logo you are assured that an extra ordinary degree of engineering has been applied.
This is not to say that non-THX disks can't sound just as good but that in truth, they often don't.

Lewis Besze

Outside of Lucasfilm and some Disney releases there aren't many THX releases these days.Most of my "reference" discs are non THX certified.