Home stereo question

For the most part, the THX certification simply means that the speakers are capable of producing a certain frequency response range, and that the dispersion of the soundstage fits a certain pattern. Most respectable speakers would probably pass the THX test if they were subjected to the testing. It's mostly a marketing thing though. You'll notice that higher end speakers never carries THX certifications because the type of people that buy those speakers aren't going to be swayed by something like THX certifications.

With regards to mixing and matching brands, I wouldn't mix and match brands even if they both carry the same THX designation...even if two brands are THX certified, the timbre of the speakers can be completely different. i.e. Klipsch has a set of THX certified speakers and so does Polk audio. Klipsch is known to have a very bright character, whereas Polks are on the warmer side (relatively speaking). You really want to voice match your speakers as closely as possible so that the soundstage is consistent. At the very least your front speakers should be voice matched...you can get away with surrounds that aren't voice matched with your fronts though.

Agreed: for surround sound systems, matching all your speakers with the same series is optimal. My first surround system did have mixed and matched stereo speakers from different brands. When I upgraded my receiver to an HDMI one, I upgraded to a matched 7.1 surround system. The main speakers are towers, and the surrounds are bipoles. I went with 7.1 because of the characteristics of my room (vaulted ceiling). In many situations, 5.1 is perfectly adequate and fills the room nicely. With matched speakers, surround effects are seamless (and there's a convincing soundstage). Apart from Klipsch and Polk, there's also KEF, Fluance, Axiom, Definitive Technology, etc. Many different brands with certain sonic qualities, but all good.

As for receivers, I have noticed the lossless audio decoding schemes really shine with blu-ray music concerts (be it rock or classical....lot of opera on BD). They're all in high resolution audio (usually 96khz): only a few movies are encoded in HD audio. I got my Harman Kardon years ago, so it supports DTS-MA, TrueHD, but just 1080P pass through. If I want 3D or 4K, I'll use second outputs on BD players as the audio quality of my Harman Kardon is quite good. For searching for a new surround receiver, I would no longer recommend Harman Kardon anymore though. They seem to have wanted to go to small form factors that don't have the high current amplification HK was known for. I think Denon might be the best brand, but Onkyo, Pioneer, Yamaha are other good brands to consider.

RE Dolby Atmos. It is an interesting technology and is actually quite revolutionary for audio engineering. It and DTS's X use object oriented encoding/decoding. Instead of having to mix for a fixed number of channels, engineers just define the sound's location in space. It's up to the decoder, then, to define which speaker gets the most sound. It's application does make the most sense in movie theaters (which can have any number of speakers). For home use: I don't think there are much movies that specifically have effects going overhead.

Colorblinded wrote in post #18409637
It may be 2AM brain, but the quoted section seems to agree with what I said.

To excerpt ONE key sentence from the website quote: "Yes. Mixing and matching speaker brands and styles is fine."

and the paragraph continues
"However, THX recommends that you keep groups of speakers similar. This means, the Front speakers should be from the same manufacturer and designed to work together. Surround Left and Right speakers should also be identical to each other, as should the Surround Back speakers."

IOW I can have Klipsch THX front L/C/R, I can have KEF L/R Surrounds and then Polk L/R Surround Back

Wilt wrote in post #18409817
To excerpt ONE key sentence from the website quote: "Yes. Mixing and matching speaker brands and styles is fine."

and the paragraph continues
"However, THX recommends that you keep groups of speakers similar. This means, the Front speakers should be from the same manufacturer and designed to work together. Surround Left and Right speakers should also be identical to each other, as should the Surround Back speakers."

IOW I can have Klipsch THX front L/C/R, I can have KEF L/R Surrounds and then Polk L/R Surround Back

Right, you can according to THX, I just wouldn't.

But back to what I said, there are limitations to how you should mix & match, even according to THX. Up to the individual end user whether they put stock in/follow THX guidelines to the letter, or play it tighter or looser.

Colorblinded wrote in post #18409819
Right, you can according to THX, I just wouldn't.

But back to what I said, there are limitations to how you should mix & match, even according to THX. Up to the individual end user whether they put stock in/follow THX guidelines to the letter, or play it tighter or looser.

Prudence is always good practice, as marketing claims are so often 'just so much BS'. And, to your point, THX does point out the difference between 'large' vs.'small' speakers even when both are THX certified.

I think that's also the limitation of trying to use THX as a source of information. They make their money trying to have the most brands approach them for a certification. And it's just that: a certification that the audio component matches their designated range of specifications. A THX certified Polk speaker won't sound identical to a THX certified Klipsch speaker, because they use different drivers and enclosures. You "can" mix and match speakers, and if you're not watching surround heavy material, you may not notice separations of panning effects. If you're getting a new speaker system, I would have them matched. I immediately heard the difference with my own system watching BD movies (panning effects are seamless). The only speakers that don't have to be matched are subwoofers (since they're meant to fill the room with a low tonal range).

Audio Speaker Guide

Scott Wilkinson's recommendations

davesrose wrote in post #18409853
I think that's also the limitation of trying to use THX as a source of information. They make their money trying to have the most brands approach them for a certification. And it's just that: a certification that the audio component matches their designated range of specifications. A THX certified Polk speaker won't sound identical to a THX certified Klipsch speaker, because they use different drivers and enclosures. You "can" mix and match speakers, and if you're not watching surround heavy material, you may not notice separations of panning effects. If you're getting a new speaker system, I would have them matched. I immediately heard the difference with my own system watching BD movies (panning effects are seamless). The only speakers that don't have to be matched are subwoofers (since they're meant to fill the room with a low tonal range).

Audio Speaker Guide

Scott Wilkinson's recommendations

Agreed, and this is why I don't even consider THX certification as a factor when speaker shopping.

Yeah, my speakers weren't cheap and aren't THX certified. The towers and center speakers are especially dominant in my living area. But it even passed the significant other factor because when I popped in the first BD movie, she exclaimed "Wow, this sounds better then a movie theater"!

davesrose wrote in post #18409979
Yeah, my speakers weren't cheap and aren't THX certified. The towers and center speakers are especially dominant in my living area. But it even passed the significant other factor because when I popped in the first BD movie, she exclaimed "Wow, this sounds better then a movie theater"!

Sadly, with a lot of movie theaters, that's a pretty low bar.

Still, good to hear you got the OK on that. Had a similarly amusing conversation with my SO in the car the other day... even she could tell that my car had a better sound system than hers

Yeah, I'm a bit of an audiophile, so I've got the SACD player for classical music and turn table for classic rock. For awhile I was getting into headphones since it doesn't cost as much to get into *audiophile hi-end*: Sennheiser headphones with Benchmark DAC/ tube headphone amp with NOS vintage tubes. Sounds awesome, but can give you the helmet hair