RE: THX and music replay...

["Phillip Harris" <phil@xxxxxxx>]

> You wrote:
> 
> "Although that amp has the THX badging to show that it has 
> been certified by Good Old George (TM) to meet the THX spec 
> it actually sounds fairly pants when playing music."

Correct ... And it referred to *ONE* amp rather than *ALL* amps...

> ... which, to be fair, says that THX _might_ sound pants for 
> music, rather than that it always does

No - it says that that one amp which is THX certified sounds pants for
music whereas another amp which is THX certified sounds really nice on
music and hence the THX spec oes not guarantee the actual quality of
sound - just paper parameters that the amp complies with.

> > Uh huh - but Lucasfilm *DO NOT* release those specs to the 
> public so 
> > how do you know what you're buying into and whether you 
> even *SHOULD* 
> > be buying into THX certified kit.
> 
> Intel do not release the technical design for the PCI north 
> bridge. How does the public know whether a Dell PC is a good one?

Because comparisons between PCs are generally quantifiable numerically
... Speed can be measured, charted and logged, specification can be
listed and have meaning in the real world. You of all people should be
aware that for audio kit you cannot buy just on specifications.

I think you're getting a little surreal here in your comparisons Mark
... A PC either runs your software or doesn't. I can't get Word to give
different results from the same input using a different computer except
one may be quicker than another. In the analogue world of audio there
are big differences between kit, some speakers sound good on some amps
and not on others for example... There is a lot of mixing and matching
that has to go on to get a system which sounds good. In your example of
PCs have you ever come across a printer which works better connected to
a Dell machine than a Compaq?

> 1: By recommendation, 2: By trial
> 
> In the same way that, say, many companies will ONLY by PCs on 
> MICROSOFT's Hard Compatability List, many people DO see value 
> in an independant accreditation that something meets a baseline.

Uh huh - I refer you to my above comments.

> However, a personal trial wins every time.

Agreed...

> This seems at odds with your original post, which included 
> such choice phrases as "in practice [THX] is a pile of 
> steaming horse bollocks"

In my opinion it is ... The original THX specs did have relevance to
Dolby ProLogic decoding in movie theatres and how that processing
should
be applied to small scale or domestic envorinments. Now many of the THX
principles that are rolled up in the specs (main speakers that do not
have a response below 80Hz for example) actually predjudice the spec
against ever being able to reproduce music cleanly and accurately.

I'll give you another example. The KEF THX Reference speakers that I
*LOVE* for movies require the use of the KEF THX Reference subwoofer -
a
huge beast of a box with a single 15" bass driver. It complies
tightly
to the THX specs and will pressure load a room to the extent that your
ears hurt if it's needed by an explosive sound effect but hand it a
piece of music and it sounds slow and ponderous.

Phil



http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
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