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I've been living with 11.1 DSX for a couple of weeks now and thought I'd share a few comments. Disclaimer: Adding the 4 extra speakers, in my particular case, was expensive and time consuming. First, my NHT VT/VR/VC-3's aren't made anymore so finding 4 more matching speakers was a challenge. I found two used VR-3's for the Heights and wound up making the Wides and a new Center from kits. (The build was quite an adventure by itself.) Second, I had to purchase a Denon 4810. Third, running wires to the new locations was a pain and hanging 40 lb. Heights was interesting. So I suppose after all that it could be argued that I'm going to like DSX no matter what.
The listening position reference for Audyssey was screen center at 14.5 feet. My speaker positions are:
Front: 24 Degrees
Heights: 35 Degrees, 18 Degrees up from ear level, 4 feet above mains.
Wides: 60 Degrees
Surrounds: 95 Degrees
Surrounds B: 155 Degrees
My Fronts and Heights placement are not optimum. I'm not sure how the 45 Degrees up elevation recommendation would be accomplished in most home theaters. I would think it would have to be some sort of ceiling speaker. My room is probably a little wider than most dedicated theater rooms allowing 10 feet as measured from the main LP to the Wides. All my listening has been with both the Wides and Heights engaged as well as PLIIx. All the movies have been Blu Ray with lossless audio. I'm using the Denon's amp for the Wides and Heights, an Outlaw 7x200 amp for the other channels.
The first movie I watched was Watchmen. It's raining in most of the early scenes in the movie so the Heights got a good workout. The first thing I noticed was the soundstage seemed larger, more enveloping and seamless. Whereas before when I heard a particular sound or effect, especially from the surrounds, it was obvious where the sound was coming from. Now I'll hear a sound to the left, right, front right, etc, but the speaker's location seems to disappear. The other thing I noticed is it appears that the sound field has more depth to the left and right of the listener. There is a scene in Watchmen where their flying machine Archie comes at you and passes off to the left. I actually caught my head flinching to the right. That was a first. Master and Commander was another nice DSX experience. During one of the later scenes in the bowels of the ship, you really get the sense that the ship is above and all around.
I will say that all movies are not created equal and therefore the effects of DSX are not equal in all movies. But, so far, I have not watched a movie where I thought DSX actually hurt the experience. By that I mean I have not heard anything yet that actually drew me away from just watching the movie because the sound effect, dialog, etc., was so out of place.
I should also say something about the SVS AS-EQ1 and Audyssey. I have two HSU 3.3 subs in a room that could use some acoustic help. Concentrating Audyssey to calibrate the area around the two front middle seats has greatly improved the lower frequency response in that area. The bloat, boominess, etc. is gone. Also, I did not lose any base output as has been reported by others.
Anyway, hadn't seen too many posts on 11.1 DSX systems so thought I'd share. Summing up I guess you could say that 11.1 DSX and calibrating using Audyssey MultEQ and SubEQ has been a positive addition to my theater. Attached are some pics. Colors are a little off, but you get the idea.
Regards,
John
The listening position reference for Audyssey was screen center at 14.5 feet. My speaker positions are:
Front: 24 Degrees
Heights: 35 Degrees, 18 Degrees up from ear level, 4 feet above mains.
Wides: 60 Degrees
Surrounds: 95 Degrees
Surrounds B: 155 Degrees
My Fronts and Heights placement are not optimum. I'm not sure how the 45 Degrees up elevation recommendation would be accomplished in most home theaters. I would think it would have to be some sort of ceiling speaker. My room is probably a little wider than most dedicated theater rooms allowing 10 feet as measured from the main LP to the Wides. All my listening has been with both the Wides and Heights engaged as well as PLIIx. All the movies have been Blu Ray with lossless audio. I'm using the Denon's amp for the Wides and Heights, an Outlaw 7x200 amp for the other channels.
The first movie I watched was Watchmen. It's raining in most of the early scenes in the movie so the Heights got a good workout. The first thing I noticed was the soundstage seemed larger, more enveloping and seamless. Whereas before when I heard a particular sound or effect, especially from the surrounds, it was obvious where the sound was coming from. Now I'll hear a sound to the left, right, front right, etc, but the speaker's location seems to disappear. The other thing I noticed is it appears that the sound field has more depth to the left and right of the listener. There is a scene in Watchmen where their flying machine Archie comes at you and passes off to the left. I actually caught my head flinching to the right. That was a first. Master and Commander was another nice DSX experience. During one of the later scenes in the bowels of the ship, you really get the sense that the ship is above and all around.
I will say that all movies are not created equal and therefore the effects of DSX are not equal in all movies. But, so far, I have not watched a movie where I thought DSX actually hurt the experience. By that I mean I have not heard anything yet that actually drew me away from just watching the movie because the sound effect, dialog, etc., was so out of place.
I should also say something about the SVS AS-EQ1 and Audyssey. I have two HSU 3.3 subs in a room that could use some acoustic help. Concentrating Audyssey to calibrate the area around the two front middle seats has greatly improved the lower frequency response in that area. The bloat, boominess, etc. is gone. Also, I did not lose any base output as has been reported by others.
Anyway, hadn't seen too many posts on 11.1 DSX systems so thought I'd share. Summing up I guess you could say that 11.1 DSX and calibrating using Audyssey MultEQ and SubEQ has been a positive addition to my theater. Attached are some pics. Colors are a little off, but you get the idea.
Regards,
John
with my 3 year old daughter and the sound was really good. The dialog seemed much better. Hopefully other movies with more dynamic sound will be improved as well.
