Anyone tried a THX Home Cinema System?

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Has anyone tried a THX system? Are the much better than a non-THX system?

I was looking at Teufel THX Speaker Package and perhaps a THX amp such as Onkyo TX-NR5007. Is it worth spending extra money for THX?

 

[Anonymous]

I have got a set of THX speakers. They are great. But being THX branded means they are great but does defiantly not mean they are the best sounding speaker. My logitech Z2300 THX speakers sound great but compared to my B&W 685 running at 30 watts per channel the sound not anywhere near as good arcoss the mid range and high range. THX system do normally guarantee very good bass thou!!!

Hope this helps

Matt

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, it puts things into perspective. The B&W685 is very highly rated and got 5*. Are you impressed and do you think the money was worth it?

 

[Anonymous]

I love them to bits. i only run them with a denon m37 because i am planning to upgrade the amp in the next couple of years ( and i am 17 so i don't have to much money!!). So they are only running 30 watts per channel which is not much. but the place i got them had a massive switch bored which meant you could easily compare. and they where the best book shelf speakers they did apart from the 805's and higher B&W bookshelfs. They still sound amazing though. I would have them my THX speakers if i had to choose.

What is ur budget?

 

[Frank Harvey]

THX systems tend to work better at high volumes, which is usually louder than most of us with neighbours can possibly play them at. Also, it requires all electronics and speakers to be THX certified, and usually the room is built around the speaker system. So unless you have a dedicated room that you can convert into a dedicated cinema room, I wouldn't worry too much about a THX system. I have a THX speaker system, but when I switched my previous THX amplifier into THX mode, everything became dull, because I was playing at 'normal' volume levels, not the required volume level to get the most from THX.

If you really want to persue the THX system idea, hang on a short while and see what Ken Kreisel comes out with. He was the guy who pioneered the THX thing along with George Lucas in the late 70's. It's his speakers that have been used in mastering studios ever since, and he's bringing out new speakers soon which should put most other speakers to shame with movie soundtracks.

Keep an eye out here....

 

[Anonymous]

So what's KK vs M&K?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Who mentioned that?

 

[Anonymous]

I have had the THX in all the recent AVR. that i have had over the years, and personaly to be honest i found the THX is to be useless...the only time i found it helpfull it,s on those Bright sounding movie track's but then again u could achieve allmost the same result just by tweaking your own EQ with a alittle roll off at the top and a little boost in the bottom.

Don,t worry about THX , just because it,s THX approved it dosn,t mean that u are buying the best at the price u paying , A good product is a good product , regardless to whether it carry the THX stamp or not, sometimes u can even buy something cheaper and better than those that carry the THX badge.

Goodluck

 

[Anonymous]

i had tried thx system and i enjoy it...it is an elite system....bass managment...crossover fix and the very very important thing is their low cut filter and increase dynamic range
....it make the sound clean rather than dolby standart that had more bass that can blend the sound...

 

[Anonymous]

thx is not about bass....its only about clear.....how you manage your sound good in non thx...because when the first time i use dolby standard in 1994....i dont know what different between original sound and sound produce by my receiver...if your amp had crossover up to 150hz....what you totally know.... its only play loud bass and treble....thx is a flat playback.... doesnt mix with adjusment of your receiver....

 

[Anonymous]

its not dull.....its because you can play loud in softness sound without disturb your neighbors......

 

[Anonymous]

It's worth noting that THX itself is just a series of performance standards laid down, it's neither better nor worse than Dolby in that regard, since it's all a matter of personal taste as to what sound signature you like yourself. It's a useful selling tool for some manufacturers, and is in general promoted as being in some way 'better' than Dolby, but really it's not. If you like, it's a competing USA product to the market-leading German product.

 

[Frank Harvey]

THX should only really be used when playing at Reference Level, or near Reference Level. It is possible to use THX settings with non THX speakers which will bring certain benefits, but you'd have to try this for yourself to see if you prefer it or not. As I've said before, At normal levels, the system becomes dull and loses it's sparkle, which is why I've never used it on my previous amp.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks....i remember that.....its all a matter of 'personal taste'...(tell me if you all have something new....)

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
Beta4Me:So what's KK vs M&K?

Who mentioned that?

You did when you said:

FrankHarveyHiFi:

If you really want to persue the THX system idea, hang on a short
while and see what Ken Kreisel comes out with. He was the guy who
pioneered the THX thing along with George Lucas in the late 70's. It's
his speakers that have been used in mastering studios ever since, and
he's bringing out new speakers soon which should put most other speakers
to shame with movie soundtracks.

Keep an eye out
here....

 

[f1only]

I did have a Pio THX certified amp & sold it after a demo listening to my present A/V amp which i find more musical, better base, midrange & detailed through the same speakers.

I must admit though my speakers are certainly not to THX standard or probably come up to anywhere near it.

Having said that i dont want anymore troubles with my neighbours, after my stepson used a cheap Pany dvd amp surround system & i had complaints from 3 doors away.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Beta4Me:FrankHarveyHiFi:

Beta4Me:So what's KK vs M&K?

Who mentioned that?

You did when you said:

FrankHarveyHiFi:

If you really want to persue the THX system idea, hang on a short while and see what Ken Kreisel comes out with. He was the guy who pioneered the THX thing along with George Lucas in the late 70's. It's his speakers that have been used in mastering studios ever since, and he's bringing out new speakers soon which should put most other speakers to shame with movie soundtracks.

Keep an eye out here....

Aaah. Although I didn't mention MK......

And won't be......

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:Beta4Me:FrankHarveyHiFi:

Beta4Me:So what's KK vs M&K?

Who mentioned that?

You did when you said:

FrankHarveyHiFi:

If you really want to persue the THX system idea, hang on a short while and see what Ken Kreisel comes out with. He was the guy who pioneered the THX thing along with George Lucas in the late 70's. It's his speakers that have been used in mastering studios ever since, and he's bringing out new speakers soon which should put most other speakers to shame with movie soundtracks.

Keep an eye out here....

Aaah. Although I didn't mention MK......

And won't be......

Oh. That's unfortuante, because I really have no idea what the difference between M&K & KK is? Isn't M&K co-founded by KK???

 

[Frank Harvey]

M&K was founded by Ken Kreisel. MK Sound was the company that came after Ken disbanded M&K, bought by a European company. KK Sound has been started up in the US by Ken Kreisel to follow on from where he left off, and coming to the UK soon! I'll post up any news I get as and when I get it

 

[Sliced Bread]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
THX should only really be used when playing at Reference Level, or near Reference Level. It is possible to use THX settings with non THX speakers which will bring certain benefits, but you'd have to try this for yourself to see if you prefer it or not. As I've said before, At normal levels, the system becomes dull and loses it's sparkle, which is why I've never used it on my previous amp.

For what it is worth, I've found that THX settings on my non-THX missions, proved to improve standard DTS and Dolby Digital but detract from HD material.

Standard DTS and DD gained better integration between the channels and therefore a more convincing sound-field, but a very very slightly less open midrange.

HD material on the other hand, does such a good job of producing a good sound field that the THX modes add nothing, but does still detract from the midrange.

SO THX for TV & DVD's and no THX for blurays in my (limited) experience.

EDIT: Adding to FrankHarveyHiFi's comments, I completely agree that the sparkle can be lost however if you disable the THX ReEQ after changing to the THX mode I've found that the sparkle returns.

 

[Frank Harvey]

There will be certain benefits for using THX in a non THX system, but they'll be limited. The reason the integration thing works out better is because THX crosses all the speakers over at the same point, and keeps the frequency range the speakers have to deal with within a range that the speakers can deal with comfortably. I think I explained this earlier in the thread, or in another thread, I can't remember now. But many of the THX benefits can be enjoyed by following some basic rules, without having to actually use THX.

I think the reason it works for SD audio and not HD audio is that HD audio has a flatter response, whereas SD audio can be quite boomy and inconsistent.