RE: THX and Arcam's reply to questions.

["Phillip Harris" <phil@xxxxxxx>]

Paul...

</Rant Mode On>
</Goat =3D Fully Gotten>

THX is little more than a tightly specified set of specs that are
intended to make movie theatres look and sound similar so that good old
George Lucas can mix his movies and they sound good in any cinema. THX
for home use is intended to be the same...

However THX do not actually tell anyone what the specs are *UNLESS* you
shell out the moolah (as a manufacturer) to get your kit THX certified
which means several things.

1) As a manufacturer you get to put another badge on the front of your
kit.
2) As a customer you get another badge to impress your mates which you
definitely won't know Jack Schitt about what it actually means coz you
can't find out.
3) Good old George (TM) gets to stick some more licencing cash in his
sweaty back pocket!

THX is *SUPPOSED* to be a guarantee of excellence but how many people
have seen the original THX certified DVD of Highlander? That was utter
shite!

THX specs do require that an amplifier produces a minimum amount of
power over a given frequency range into a given set of loads but who
here still believes that power =3D quality?

THX specs do require that speakers meet a tightly defined dispersion
pattern, but again I can point you at many THX certified speakers that
sound fine with movies but can't hold a tune when used for music.
Strangely enough I haven't come across many good music speakers that
sound shite on movies - perhaps this is just my bad luck though? (I
think not!)

Let me pose another question for you...

What happens when you produce a demand for a set of goals but those
goals are difficult and expensive to meet and so not as many people pay
you your fees for certification? Do you use it as a mark of
"excellence"? Not if you're Good old George (TM) - you produce a = cut
down set of specs, call it THX Select (renaming the real THX specs "TH= X
Ultra") and make it so more manufacturers can put shittier product
through but still get a THX badge.

Hang about though - perhaps we can get *ANOTHER* set of licencing fees
by changing a few specs and bringing out THX Ultra2? The manufacturers
will want that on their kit rather than THX Ultra if they're to keep
ahead of the pack and so we'll get repeat licencing fees too!

Summary : THX is a reasonable idea in principle but in practice is a
pile of steaming horse bollocks which does little more than add several
hundred quid to the cost of a decent AV component and line Good old
George's (TM) pockets.

You want an example?

Bryston make superb amplifiers ... They're bullet proof ... Hell,
they're bomb proof! They have a 20 year warranty FFS! We used them in
the studios at my old place and they sound stunning.

They do a five channel amp called the 9BST which has enough power that
you could almost take up spot welding with the thing if you wanted - it
costs =A33,200. The THX approved version of the amp is *EXACTLY* the same (and I mean *EXACT* - down to every component) except for *TWO* things.

1) The level trim pots on the five inputs are not present - instead a
simple resistor fixes the input sensitivity at the THX required spec.

2) It has a THX logo on the front.

It costs =A3500 more!

</Rant mode off>

See ya!

Phil


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Gale [mailto:groups@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 08 November 2002 11:32
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx > Subject: [ukha_d] THX and Arcam's reply to questions.
>
>
> I asked the following question of Arcam. Apart from the
> mistake (I think?) about THX being related to picture
> quality, anyone got any thoughts on this? As per a previous
> post, I recently got a Onkyo DVS939 DVD player but have had
> some problems with really bad lip synch (more than the 80ms a
> plasma is supposedly meant to take up with processing the
> picture). I'm going to borrow an Arcam DV88P at the weekend
> and do a side-by-side comparison but wondered how much of a
> difference a THX Ultra certified DVD player (the Onkyo) would
> make to the sound quality? (I'm toying with the idea of a THX
> speaker set in the future - but the one I've seen is =A35500!)
>
> 
>
> 
>
> Q: Do any of your DVD players have THX (ultra 2)
> certification? If not, how much of a difference does this
> make to sound quality?
>
> 
>
> A: In answer to your questions we don't currently make a THX
> specified DVD player, there are about 5 in the world and they
> are very expensive. It makes no difference to the sound as
> the THX specification only covers the Picture quality as THX
> is a list of specifications  that helps an amplifier process
> a Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 sound track. Or in THX Ultra2's
> case a true 7.1 sound track. The specifications are laid down
> in the same way for DVD picture quality. Any amplifier can be
> made into THX if it follows the Lucas specifications to the T.
>
> The DVD-A upgrade for the DVD players will be available
> within the next 2-4 months, although the price has not
> confirmed I think it will be around the =A3350 mark.
>
> 
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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