Video Asylum

Posted by John C. - Aussie (B) on October 28, 2002 at 15:11:18

In Reply to: adding surround to my stereo posted by Mpoes on October 28, 2002 at 09:48:07:

I messed about with added ambient sound for decades starting off with Audio Pulse units, then a Yamahah DSP1, then a Fosgate 2 (still have it), a citation, ....

Now many were ok and gave a nice ambience BUT I never fed the mains through the processors, only the second preamp output through to the processor to the rears.

I resisted CDs for awhile but eventually decided to listen more seriously so became involved in outboard processors and also in HT. Using the processor for CD AND ambient sound was not thrilling as it meant the mains were being processed also. This gave what I term a "mush effect" -> soundstage muddled and some fidelity destroyed. As the fidelity of the 2 channels improved this "mush" effect of the added ambience became more obvious.

I invested (heavily) in a Meridian 861 processor but this sophisticated piece of hardware still did not satisfy in its version 2 incarnation. Most of the DSP surround modes mushed up the music. HOWEVER the version 3, which upsamples in all 6 channels is another story. At last it does add ambience without the mush effect.

I'm like you, very wary of investment in such a rapidly changing field, but Meridian processors are card based like computers with upgradable software. The downside is the high cost of entry.

So, I would suggest you tread carefully as many processors which are very good at HT fall in a heap with critical music. But they are improving.

John

Peace at AA