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Home Surround Sound vs Movie Surround Sound What's the Difference?

post #1 of 69
10/11/11 at 12:13pm
Thread Starter 
Home Surround Sound vs Movie Surround Sound
What's the Difference?
Contributed by Axiom Audio


Movie theaters are compelled to use big horn-loaded speakers in order to fill large movie theaters with powerful sound without having to use huge amplifiers (for the same reasons, horn speakers are also used for stadium and outdoor concerts). As such, horns will do the job, but there is a cost in fidelity and natural sound quality. Horns tend to make many sounds a bit aggressive and screechy at times, especially instrumental sounds.

Home surround sound doesn't need to use horn speakers because the rooms are way smaller, so speakers that are more natural-sounding can be used instead.

Read the complete article at HomeToys.com
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post #2 of 69
10/11/11 at 12:22pm
So gosh, I guess all of us who are running Klipsch in our HT set ups are misguided
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post #3 of 69
10/11/11 at 12:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_jitsu View Post

So gosh, I guess all of us who are running Klipsch in our HT set ups are misguided

Was this article written for the kindergarten daily news?
Sheeesh, talk about no beef. None at all in this article.

Test,
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post #4 of 69
10/11/11 at 12:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_jitsu View Post

So gosh, I guess all of us who are running Klipsch in our HT set ups are misguided

+1

I had to double-check the date of the article , it is so full of yesterday's obsolete generalizations and old-wives' tales.

It read like a best-buy sales person's spiel, condescending to the technically naive or to the Bose crowd....

Of course, some of this comes straight from the THX party line so consider the source....
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post #5 of 69
10/11/11 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_jitsu View Post

So gosh, I guess all of us who are running Klipsch in our HT set ups are misguided

Yeah, I hate all those screechy sounds in movies with my RF7's. It's like all those screechy sounds are in the room with you and it makes you jump because it's too screechy, horny, real.
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post #6 of 69
10/11/11 at 12:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by test4echo101 View Post

Was this article written for the kindergarten daily news?
Sheeesh, talk about no beef. None at all in this article.

+1

Wow... what a disappointing (and just plain terrible) article. I was expecting some enlightening insight into the difference between mixing for the theater and mixing for the home (seems to be a hot topic lately.) And we get ... "horns are screechy"???
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post #7 of 69
10/11/11 at 12:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ekscden View Post

Yeah, I hate all those screechy sounds in movies with my RF7's. It's like all those screechy sounds are in the room with you and it makes you jump because it's too screechy, horny, real.

rofl

Yes... I'm five years old.
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post #8 of 69
10/11/11 at 1:35pm
Those Triad Plat guys have wasted a lot of money ...
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post #9 of 69
10/11/11 at 1:47pm
Not only Klipch, but JBL horn-loaded speakers all over the American theaters should sound like crap, though... such a disappointing article, IMO.
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post #10 of 69
10/11/11 at 1:47pm
it sort of reads like a high school essay about surround sound, circa early to mid 2000's.

is hometoys.com one of those sites so starved for content that they accept any/all freelance articles even vaguely related to topics their targeted demographic would be interested in?

i guess editorial standards are a quaint notion from a bygone era when paper was king.
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post #11 of 69
10/11/11 at 1:52pm
Article contributed by Axiom Audio, who, by a strange coincidence, don't use horns in their designs.

I must have broken ears, because my speakers with horn loaded CDs sound pretty good to me.
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post #12 of 69
10/11/11 at 1:55pm
Anyone want to buy my 3 Klipsch RF 7IIs BUYER BEWARE they are horn loaded....the best speakers I ever purchased to date.
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post #13 of 69
10/11/11 at 1:56pm
We should probably start a support group fellas, I'm having a hard time dealing with this right now.
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post #14 of 69
10/11/11 at 2:16pm
Pioneer (TAD) and JBL would disagree with this article.

Best system I have hard would include high end horns. As an owner of TAD compression drivers and a person that has heard JBLs best systems I will say that Axiom audio is peddling something foolish and have never experienced a truely high end HT setup.

Lets face it if you want to have a high end home theater system it starts by realizing that 6.5" driver and dome tweeters with < 90dB sensitivity, extremely limited dynamics and limited Directivity are pretty much like own a BOSE system and no better then a BOSE experience!!
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post #15 of 69
10/11/11 at 2:58pm
Quote:


Horns tend to make many sounds a bit aggressive and screechy at times, especially instrumental sounds.

¨

I find this sooo ironic coming from a company whose speakers have unsupressed metal cone breakups right in the lower treble, and has to resort to heavily lobing dual dome tweeters just to avoid power compression.
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post #16 of 69
10/11/11 at 4:43pm
The article was contributed by Axiom. And if they think it will make people choose their cardboard-built components over JBL's and other real speaker manufacturers, they're dreaming.
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post #17 of 69
10/11/11 at 6:24pm
Actually having owned TAD speakers, I can honestly say my Martin Logans are heads and shoulders above them for sound fidelity and the finest speakers I have owned to date. I'm in the camp that isn't crazy about horns.
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post #18 of 69
10/11/11 at 7:03pm
This article is generalized to the point of absurdity while at the same time coming from a suspected biased source, but I have to agree with Splicer in the fact that horn drivers aren't for everyone. Personally I find horn tweeters to be fatiguing over time though they do sound nice in small doses.
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post #19 of 69
10/11/11 at 7:22pm
I never liked the sound of horn speakers and have always stayed away from Klispsch
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post #20 of 69
10/11/11 at 7:27pm
I also agree that horn tweeters are difficult to listen to when listening to music. I would never consider a pair of Klipsch speakers for a 2-channel setup or purely audio setup. However, when I listen to friends Klipsch systems for movies, I like them. I don't LOVE them, but I like them. But it's all personal taste. Which is why I don't own any commercial speakers. I couldn't find a pair I liked enough to buy. DIY is my cup of tea.
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post #21 of 69
10/11/11 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by deewan View Post

I also agree that horn tweeters are difficult to listen to when listening to music. I would never consider a pair of Klipsch speakers for a 2-channel setup or purely audio setup. However, when I listen to friends Klipsch systems for movies, I like them. I don't LOVE them, but I like them. But it's all personal taste. Which is why I don't own any commercial speakers. I couldn't find a pair I liked enough to buy. DIY is my cup of tea.

I hope you're not basing your opinions on horn loading based on just that. Have you heard a Geddes Summa? A Seaton Catalyst? Danley Synergy Horn?
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post #22 of 69
10/11/11 at 7:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eternal Velocity View Post

I hope you're not basing your opinions on horn loading based on just that. Have you heard a Geddes Summa? A Seaton Catalyst? Danley Synergy Horn?

I've heard enough to know they aren't my favorite tweeter. And Klipsch are not the only brand. But that is me, I'm not saying they aren't perfect for someone else. I love ribbon tweeters, while some people hate them. This hobby is all subjective. It isn't like classics cars where horsepower or matching serial numbers makes something better. It's personal taste, and for me, a horn tweeter gets straining after about 2 minutes of music.
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post #23 of 69
10/11/11 at 9:27pm
wow....you're strained after 2 min?

i guess i should only listen to my horned load speakers for no longer than 90 seconds.
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post #24 of 69
10/11/11 at 9:27pm
That article is something else. I guess I'll just chuck out my JTR stuff
I'm sad that I wasted 3 minutes of my life by reading that and another 1 minute having to post about the 3 minutes I lost reading that LOL
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post #25 of 69
10/11/11 at 9:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smokarz View Post

wow....you're strained after 2 min?

i guess i should only listen to my horned load speakers for no longer than 90 seconds.

Like deewan said, it's a personal preference. Horns have always been too harsh for me. Maybe I haven't heard the best there are but the one's I have don't suit me either.
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post #26 of 69
10/11/11 at 11:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ishniknork View Post

Maybe I haven't heard the best there are

No, you haven't. And I say this as a guy who's more sensitive to the ills of most horns than most people.
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post #27 of 69
10/12/11 at 5:20am
thanks for saving me from wasting my time, guys.

Sheesh, talk about a handful of grenades on a single target!

James
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post #28 of 69
10/12/11 at 5:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splicer010 View Post

Actually having owned TAD speakers, I can honestly say my Martin Logans are heads and shoulders above them for sound fidelity and the finest speakers I have owned to date. I'm in the camp that isn't crazy about horns.

This article is about Home Theater not 2 channel music.

When it comes to home Theater your Martin logans are distortion machines

Remember, different applications have different priorities. MLs can sound amazing for a specific application as long as you never push them and there isnt any real dynamics.
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post #29 of 69
10/12/11 at 5:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nillaz View Post

This article is generalized to the point of absurdity while at the same time coming from a suspected biased source, but I have to agree with Splicer in the fact that horn drivers aren't for everyone. Personally I find horn tweeters to be fatiguing over time though they do sound nice in small doses.

Well here is the science....you can not play dynamics peaks of +30db with electrostats or dome tweeters, they play them with high distortion and clipping (no life). You also have very poor off axis response with dome that are without waveguides.

Conclusion, if you want clean dynamics and you want accuracy (controlled directivity) you have to choose the product that gives you that.

I 100% agree that horns are not for every application. I have posted that its application specific and I wouldn't use horns if Im enjoy music at 8 feet away (my office).
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post #30 of 69
10/12/11 at 6:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by deewan View Post

I also agree that horn tweeters are difficult to listen to when listening to music. I would never consider a pair of Klipsch speakers for a 2-channel setup or purely audio setup. However, when I listen to friends Klipsch systems for movies, I like them. I don't LOVE them, but I like them. But it's all personal taste. Which is why I don't own any commercial speakers. I couldn't find a pair I liked enough to buy. DIY is my cup of tea.

Exactly....Don't you just hate it when you are enjoying the "Horn Loaded" klipsch for movies and then the Darn ole' soundtrack kicks in....breaking glass and your eardrums. Sheeesh I heard (well actually read it) all now. Maybe it was a non treated room. I wouldn't trade my Klipsch for 2 channel music or movies.
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