Audyssey DSX and speaker decisions

[Spanky Ham]

I won't recant my rant about trying to find the demo at Cedia this past week, but I did hear the Audyssey/Integra demo. Apparently the real demo was offsite and you had to find some girls who were the gatekeepers. Anyway, the demo I heard was pretty good. Unfortunately, they only played the Dolby bluray music disc. I would have liked to have heard a movie, but I could see the potential with a movie.

With that back drop, how will the new formats affect your design and purchasing decisions? For those that don't know, Audyssey DSX uses a 9.1 surround system. They run five front channels, two height channels and two surround channels. Dolby now has two height channels as well. I know one mag reviewer mentioned that some people with a fixed budget might go with cheaper speakers instead of fewer and more expensive speakers. So, will anyone expand their budget? Does anyone care about the new formats?

[bemis23]

i predict that even most people on here will not bother with 9.1 audio for a couple reasons:

1) How many people have the space/WAF/$$ to build and mount 9 speakers plus one/multiple subwoofers?

2) How much material will be recorded/encoded in a true 9.1 format? It's hard enough to find true 7.1 and thats been out for years.

3) The law of diminshing returns comes into play in regards to spatial orientation effects very quickly, unless the entire theater room is specifically designed to achieve the effects. I know a few speaker nuts, and I don't think many are willing to invest the kind of capital required to make these specialized theaters in their houses when the ROI when the house is sold is probably about 0%.

Just my $.02

[Chris D]

I too heard the Integra demo of Audyssey DSX and Dolby DPLIIz. Thought they were good, but not earth-shattering. I think money is MUCH better spent for a quality 7.1 setup, rather than a compromised 9.1 setup if money is an issue.

Audyssey and DPLIIz for me are nice to haves, but not a deal-breaker for a purchase.

I didn't hear anything about an off-site Audyssey demo, BTW. There was one for THX, though.

[rickp15]

I can't imagine the 2 front height speakers having that much of a signal so I don't think a high dollar speaker would be in order for most people. I have the DPLIIz and chose not to use the two high fronts because;

A) The line arrays I built are floor to ceiling.

B) My screen wall has no extra room on it.

C)The Yamaha reciever does not have pre outs for them.

[rickp15]

I just had a thought, what if I rewire the top two mids and tweets on the arrays for the high speakers? May be more trouble than its worth, I will think about though.

[wettou]

I can't imagine the 2 front height speakers having that much of a signal so I don't think a high dollar speaker would be in order for most people. I have the DPLIIz and chose not to use the two high fronts because;

Very nice I love the DY Speakers that must move some air! I wish I was electronically inclined

May be when I have time in my old age I might go back to school and learn speaker design

[Chris D]

Nice design! I hope if you're using that for home theater with front projection, that you're painting the wood black, or at least using dark acoutically-transparent fabric. (even then the light wood would show through, though)

I wouldn't bother re-wiring the top drivers. Think about what the "front height" speakers do--they pull the sound stage up in the vertical, to give you a front sound wall. By building such a tall array, your sound field already takes up your entire front wall!

Would like to hear that in person.