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WHAT IS HOME THEATER? There is no agreement, even among
"experts," as to what constitutes a home theater system.
Some are of the opinion that a home theater requires a large
video projector; some are of the opinion that home theater means
a DVD source with its higher video quality; some feel that surround
sound defines home theater. But we feel, as do many others, that
home theater is the mating of a high quality sound system with
a video system. Although they all will improve the home theater
experience, a large projection screen, a DVD, subwoofers or surround
sound are not necessary. What is necessary is a high quality
sound system.
You may be surprised to know that the goal of a home theater
system is not to reproduce an experience as good as that
in a movie theater. In fact, the experience can be much better
than that in a movie theater. Theaters have a number of sonic
problems that simply do not exist in the home. The biggest problem
theaters face is that they are so large that much of the audience
must sit far from the center or to the rear of the theater. This
fact poses almost insurmountable difficulties for natural sound
reproduction. Fortunately, it is much easier to achieve superior
sound reproduction in the home environment, and solutions to
many problems that theaters face are simply not applicable in
the home.
THE IMPORTANCE OF GREAT SOUND: It has been demonstrated
that better sound quality is more important than better picture
quality for improving the experience. When asked to compare video
quality, subjects rated normal video with higher quality sound
as better than high definition video with normal sound. Sound
is what generates the involvement in and the emotion of the experience.
What is more involving? A radio production of a thriller or a
TV production without the sound?
WHAT IS GREAT SOUND? Great sound is sound that is startlingly
lifelike. Great sound makes you feel that "you are there",
and communicates the emotions, the space, and the character of
the people, places, and things that you are hearing. Great sound
is not something that requires special training, experience,
or a "special ear" to savor and appreciate. Everyone
recognizes and enjoys great sound; they may just not know why
they like it.
A pair of THIEL CS6 speakers serve
as the front main pair with the model
SCS3 as the center and rear channel speakers.
Great sound can be described as achieving high performance
in four respects. First, the whole sonic spectrum, from the lowest
tones of a large drum to the highest harmonics of a triangle,
must be accurately balanced so that the character of all sounds
are natural and so no sounds are exaggerated or diminished. Second,
great sound is clear, clear, clear, so that all of the subtlety
and complexity of the sounds are communicated. Third, great sound
is spacious. The sound should not seem to come from the speakers
but should envelop you with a realistic feel of three-dimensional
space that surrounds and transports you "there." And,
fourth, great sound is dynamic, flowing effortlessly from whisper
to roaring without strain or distortion.
THIEL pioneered modern imaging (spatial reproduction), being
the first speakers to preserve and reproduce all the spatial
information in recordings by eliminating phase and time distortions
that other speakers generate. Although there are many other "phase
correct" speakers available now, we feel that our use of
Coherent Source® technology, along with diffraction reducing
techniques, provide unsurpassed imaging performance.
THIEL has also pioneered many distortion reducing and clarity
enhancing techniques over the years, including short coil/long
gap and copper stabilized magnet systems, improved types of electrical
components, very strong, well-braced cabinets, and metal driver
cones, among many others.
THIEL'S APPROACH TO HOME THEATER: An audio playback
system is indifferent to the source of its signal; it doesn't
care whether the signal originates from a music CD, a movie soundtrack,
or a computer game. So, a system that reproduces music naturally,
clearly, and dynamically will also reproduce movie soundtracks
naturally, clearly, and dynamically. A good speaker will also
provide a realistic sense of space, whether it be that of a warehouse
in which a movie character is being chased or the symphony hall
in which a soprano is singing an aria. For 20 years, THIEL has
applied innovative engineering to the task of improving the quality
of sound reproduction. The advances we have made in the aspects
of clarity, spatiality, and dynamics are as important to the
reproduction of a movie soundtrack as to the reproduction of
music.
SOUND REQUIREMENTS FOR HOME THEATER: The balance of
sonic values for an audio system used for a home theater may
be somewhat different than those of a system used exclusively
for music. In a music-only system, some people may not put as
high a value on either high loudness capability or deep bass
extension as they put on clarity, spatiality, or naturalness
of sound character. But many people feel deep bass performance
and the ability to play at very high volumes are more important
for movie playback, and will evaluate their home theater sound
systems with these capabilities in mind. Since you may not be
able to get all the clarity, spaciousness, naturalness, bass
extension and loudness that you would like in one speaker,
a personal judgment must be made. Keep in mind that an investment
in overall quality of sound (clarity, naturalness, spaciousness)
rather than quantity of sound (loudness) will enable you to experience
the richness and subtlety of both music and movies without the
strain of loud boomy bass and low quality sound which, although
it may be initially impressive, can, and does, become fatiguing
in time.
ARE HOME THEATER SPEAKERS DIFFERENT? Some people feel
that movie soundtracks require special home theater speakers
to enhance the intelligibility of dialogue. It is our opinion
that people feel this need because the speakers they have heard
either have poor clarity or because the speakers obscure the
dialogue due to an incorrectly balanced sonic spectrum. It is
true that some soundtracks are poorly mixed, with dialogue too
quiet and/or muddled for good lucidity. However, altering the
speakers to compensate for deficiencies in some soundtracks would
result in properly mixed, good soundtracks sounding wrong and
unnatural.
Speakers designed especially for dialogue have two problems, in our opinion. First, they attempt to increase intelligibility by restricting ambient, reverberant energy in the vocal region. This reduction causes all sounds in this region (not just the voices) to be unnaturally dry. Secondly, the methods used to achieve the restricted energy dispersion invariably cause other sonic problems such as unnatural sound character or reduced spatiality. We feel there is no substitute for true clarity to ensure high dialogue intelligibility while preserving the natural characteristics of all other sounds. Of course, "regular" speakers are completely compatible with other Dolby (r) Pro-Logic and THX equipment. An additional benefit of speakers with clear, natural sound characteristics is that they will, unlike special home theater speakers, sound excitingly realistic when reproducing both movie soundtracks and music.
HOME THEATER SOUND SYSTEM TYPES: There are several
ways to configure a home theater sound system. The simplest is
to use a normal two-channel audio system, which, if of high quality,
can provide very satisfying results. The performance of this
main system is of the greatest importance and the other, more
complex, configurations should not be considered as substitutes
for a high quality main system, but only as optional additions.
Other possible configurations are the addition of a center channel,
the addition of one or more subwoofers, and the addition of surround
speakers. For many people, the best approach to assembling a
great home theater sound system is the step-by-step, building
block approach, starting with a good main system and adding other
components as their budgets allow.
A CENTER CHANNEL is used to improve the perceived center
placement of sounds that should seem to come from the screen.
However it will also tend to cause all sounds to seem
to come from the screen, reducing stereo and other spatial effects.
To mitigate this problem, the center speaker should be played
at a reduced volume level and should either be positioned as
far from the listeners as the main speakers, or used with a processor
that provides time delay to the center channel signal. Another
possible problem with a center channel is that, unless its sound
character and radiation are well matched with the main speakers,
the sonic presentation can be disconcerting and unnatural. Also,
since many soundtracks put even more demands on the center than
the left/right channels, the center speaker should be able to
play as loudly as the main speakers.
It should be kept in mind that the problem a center channel
attempts to solve only exists if the main speakers do not "image"
well or if the listeners are positioned significantly away from
the center of the listening area. If the listeners are not too
far from center and the main speakers image well, a system without
a center channel will often provide a better, more natural and
spacious presentation.
SUBWOOFERS can be used to extend the low-frequency
bass range or to enhance the loudness capability of the main
speakers. If the main speakers can provide the range and loudness
of bass required, subwoofers are not necessary, or even desirable,
since they cause their own problems of integration and balance
which are not shared by full-range speakers. It is difficult
to completely solve the problems caused by a subwoofer occupying
a different location than the main speakers and those caused
by the necessity of matching phase and roll-off characteristics
with those of the main speakers.
SURROUND SOUND speakers may be added to the sound system
to retrieve spatial information, in addition to the stereo information,
contained in the movie or music recording. This addition can
provide a significant enhancement of the experience but in no
way substitutes for the quality of the sound from the main speakers.
Years ago, such information on soundtracks was limited to diffuse
spatial effects which gave rise to the belief that the rear speakers
did not need to provide the range, volume or quality of the main
speakers. However, many modern soundtracks include rear channel
information that is wide range, dynamic and meant to be localized
to specific directions. Therefore, we think it is desirable that
the rear speakers be similar in quality and character to the
main speakers. Also, because modern soundtracks include sounds
meant to be localized, we feel it is necessary that the rear
speakers radiate their energy toward the listening location,
as the front speakers do; that the rear speakers not radiate
energy away from the listeners, toward the walls, or in multiple
directions, all of which will obscure directional effects. As
the new discrete multichannel formats become more commonly used
for both movies and music, the importance of four similar, high
quality, forward radiating speakers will increase.
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