Talk about giving your sub a workout !! (1 Viewer)

[Edward J M]

For LOTR - FOTR: At 10 dB UNDER reference, we recorded several peaks in the 108-109 dB range at the listening position 12 feet from the SVS 20-39 PC+ sub. The cave troll bursting into the room peaked at nearly 110 dB. I agree this soundtrack is mastered on the "hot" side and is very loud at "normal" receiver volume settings.

While LOTR - FOTR is very impressive with bass throughout, I still say the DTS version of The Haunting is TOPS for max'ed out LFE - especially DYNAMIC RANGE. Last night we played Chapter 10 again - officially called Creaky Pipes but more commonly known as the "coming Mother" chapter.

At 6 dB UNDER reference, the soundtrack (i.e., voices/sound effects/music) is not very loud at all - that is UNTIL the BASS hits! We recorded peaks of 112 dB (!!!) TWICE at the listening position during the door knocks during Chapter 10. We also hit a 112 dB peak when the ghost is sent to purgatory. There seems to be no limit to the amount of clean bass the PC+ can dish out - it is amazing.

Without doubt the dynamic range of The Haunting DTS is absolutely the highest I have ever encountered. If you do not own this version of The Haunting, you owe it to yourself to buy it if you are a bass junkie - you will not be disappointed. You need to approach this DVD with caution and work up to loud levels - wimpy subs need not apply.

Ed Mullen

 

[Chris James]

Hi Edward! Have you listened to Jurassic Park 3 in DTS. Specifically chapter 6? I know the Haunting is incredible, but the shuddering of air from the T-Rex and Spinosaurus is amazing. I'd like to hear what you think of the two.

By the way, I'm running a 16-46PCi.

 

[Edward J M]

Hi Chris!

Yep - JPIII is a true bass buster of a movie! In DTS mode at the same volume level (-6 dB UNDER reference), I recorded 109 dB peaks at the listening position during both the dino fight in Chapter 6, and the battle with the spino in Chapter 16/17, especially when the crane is falling.

Once again, the SVS played things I had never known were even present in this soundtrack - it's another one of those "yep, gotta watch JPIII again to see what we were missing" type deals! It's a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it!

It may not be a true apples to apples comparison, since I have no way to definitively tell which soundtrack (JPIII or The Haunting) is recorded louder overall. My subjective opinion is that the overall soundtrack (voices/music/surround) on JPIII is recorded louder than The Haunting. And since at the same volume setting - both in DTS mode - we recorded 112 dB peaks with The Haunting, I would still have to rate The Haunting DTS tops for bass dynamic range and max SPL.

At near reference levels, the PC+ is almost TOO powerful at 3dB "hot" (i.e., my current setting with all speaker test tones at 75 dB, and the sub test tone at 78 dB). I think Tom V recommends 3dB "cool" for the sub level (i.e., sub would be at 72 dB on the test tone) for true reference listening and I would have to definitely concur with him on this. I don't know how much more the PC+ can dish out, but I doubt it would tolerate a 6dB increase (i.e., going from -21 to -15 on the master volume) on The Haunting. That would equate to 118 dB peaks at the listening position. I'm not even going to try this - the laws of physics still apply and this is still one sub with one 12" woofer (albeit an amazing woofer). If I want to listen to The Haunting at true reference, I'm taking the sub setting down to 3dB "cool" before I do it. That will still give me 112 dB bass peaks, but with a louder soundtrack and voices.

Ed Mullen

 

[Duvall]

Quoting Edward J M:
>>At near reference levels, the PC+ is almost TOO powerful at 3dB "hot" (i.e., my current setting with all speaker test tones at 75 dB, and the sub test tone at 78 dB). I think Tom V recommends 3dB "cool" for the sub level (i.e., sub would be at 72 dB on the test tone) for true reference listening and I would have to definitely concur with him on this.