Dolby Pro Logic II listening recommendations

[krabapple]

well, movie does things that Music doesn't so, it's six of one, half of another
(they';re both doing enormous amounts of processing, of course)


see table 2 here for a summary.

Movie adds delay to rear channels ,has 'autobalance' (which directs vocals to the center channel) and has no options for adjusting center witdth, dimension, panorama. Music doesn't autobalance, does add a shelf filter to rear channels, and has user-configurably options. The behavior of delay is inscrutable to me from what's written in that white paper. I *think* the receiver's delay settings apply for Music, while there is an additional delay setting for Movie, but I'm not sure.

[Rspaight]

Fascinating. Thanks again.

Ryan

[krabapple]

Reading hte white paper again reminds me, I should add that Panorama won't *just* remove the shelf filter int eh rear channels -- it also broadens the apparent soundstage, moving some instruments well to the 'side'. That's what it was originally meant to do, the addition of shelf-filter-toggling was added to the code later.

So I kinda wish they'd just make a toggle for that, separate from Panorama.

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

Thanks for all this info, krabapple. I appreciate it.

The B&Ws supply more than enough bass, so no need for a sub. I've never owned one and don't see a need to. Right now, I'm using 4 speakers: the B&Ws and some old Polk monitors I was using in my studio. Not certain that I have a need to use more than four right now, but I do find your info extremely helpful in figuring all this out.

BTW, the $300 Pioneer AV receiver allows the same speaker setup choices as the Elite series models do. That's cool.

[krabapple]

For *stereo*, no matter how much bass a floorstander provides, there are almost always sound reasons for having a subwoofer, having to do with the laws of physics and room acoustics. The best floor positions for mid/treble range speaker are practically never the best place to have low bass drivers, in terms of room interactions.

(A set of full range speakers *all around* works, though -- that's what a DVD-A/SACD mixing stage is supposed to have. )

A center channel creates a more realistic soundstage -- in fact home 'stereo' was originally meant to have three front channels, as it did in the theater. But of course at the time no one could figure out how to encode three channels into a vinyl record....

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

Sorry to keep bothering you about this, krabapple, but do you have any suggestions/recommendations for speakers/subs for a 5.1 setup? (Hopefully somewhat affordable ones.)

[krabapple]

STOP BOTHERING ME.

Not really. There are so many options out there now, I can't possibly keep up. My own setup consists of 5 NHT SuperOnes (which were discontinued a couple of years ago, I think) and a Velodyne F1000 (which dates from 1995). Obviously I'm no longer cutting edge. Both those brands have served me well though.

[Rspaight]

I'll second NHTs. I love 'em.

Yes, the Super line was discontinued a few years ago. Now there's the SB series. The SB1 is the rough equivalent of the old SuperZero, and the SB2 is the replacement for the SuperOne. There's also an SB3, that's rated down to 39Hz. I've got a pair of those in the stereo system in the basement and they do a fine job. I compared them against B&Ws when I bought them, and the high end was a *lot* less strident, while still adequately extended. They're a "bright" speaker, but not harsh.

Ryan

[krabapple]

All these brands named so far are well-thought of. Add to that, Paradigm. And for subs, Hsu. I think the Sound & Vision magazine website might still have one of Tom Nousaine's subwoofer roundups online.

A friend of mine's happy withe a sub he got from partsexpress.com..one of the larger Dayton models, I think some assembly was required, but that brings the price way down.