Impressions of Surround Sound...

Posted by Estes (A) on December 29, 2001 at 17:37:10

I have recently added home theatre to my 2 channel stereo. I tried to do this as inexpensively as I could but while still having decent components. I added a Technics SH-AC500D decoder an Acurus 3 channel amp (used), a set of Energy speakers for center and surrounds. Previously I ran my DVD player into my Aargon dac and listened to everything in 2 channel mode.

After a dozen movies here are my impressions:
1)Surround add something to action adventure movies where there is a decent amount of info for the rear channels

2)I have a negative view of the centre channel, especially on older movies or something like "Finding Forester". These movies are basically mono and I find myself switching to "Stereo" to get better imaging. I have my stereo speakers set up reasonably well and dialog appears to come from the TV in this mode. In Dobly Digital, because the centre is not of the same size and quality it sounds more constrained. I understand that most people don't have speakers set up to image well, so they need the centre channel. I would rather have spent the money on a subwoofer.

3) I can't really tell the difference between DTS and DD on the same movie. This may be the result of poor mastering and limitations in my system or simply that I am watching the movie and the sound is a much smaller part than the visuals.

On the plus side home theatre does allow for more people to be involved in the experience and as I said in the beginning it can be fun with movies where lots of stuff gets "blowed up" as John Candy used to say.

I wonder what others have experienced when moving from 2 channel to surround. Regards to all!

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Topic - Impressions of Surround Sound... - Estes 17:37:10 12/29/01 (22)

surround is a complete waste of time and money - petew 11:22:28 12/31/01 (7)

Re: you are not stupid but may have hearing problem - Emad 11:15:13 01/05/02 (0)

Re: surround is a complete waste of time and money - Valnar 19:10:42 01/03/02 (0)

Improper setup - bstan 12:22:19 12/31/01 (4)

wrong - petew 11:51:17 01/05/02 (3)

Re: wrong - bstan 14:59:15 01/05/02 (2)

apologies - petew 16:36:04 01/05/02 (1)

Not necessary - bstan 19:49:30 01/05/02 (0)

Re: Impressions of Surround Sound... - John C. - Aussie 12:06:23 12/30/01 (6)

Re: Impressions of Surround Sound... - Estes 12:35:26 12/31/01 (5)

Even with the SH500, I best the movie theaters - bstan 12:47:45 12/31/01 (4)

Re: Even with the SH500, I best the movie theaters - Estes 18:27:21 12/31/01 (3)

Sound vs. Video - bstan 08:07:10 01/01/02 (2)

I do listen close to reference volume - bstan 08:33:12 01/01/02 (1)

Re: I do listen close to reference volume - Estes 15:35:32 01/01/02 (0)

What was your SH500 setup? - bstan 11:23:26 12/30/01 (5)

Re: What was your SH500 setup? - Estes 12:24:25 12/31/01 (4)

Without an SPL meter, correct setup is unlikely - bstan 12:41:12 12/31/01 (3)

Re:SPL meter... - Estes 18:20:09 12/31/01 (2)

ambience of outdoors and roomsizes - bstan 08:24:02 01/01/02 (1)

Re: ambience of outdoors and roomsizes - Estes 15:37:45 01/01/02 (0)

Re: Impressions of Surround Sound... - Old Guy 21:48:35 12/29/01 (0)

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