Classe Audio SSP-300 owner manual Re-Equalization Timbre Matching Adaptive Decorrelation

Re-Equalization™

Timbre Matching™

Adaptive Decorrelation™

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THX engineers developed patented technologies to accurately translate the sound from the movie theatre environment into the home, correcting the tonal and spatial errors that occur. With your SSP-300, when the THX indicator is on, the following THX features are automatically added:

The tonal balance of a standard film soundtrack will be excessively bright and harsh when played back over high quality audio equipment in the home because film soundtracks were designed to be played back in large movie theatres using very different professional equipment. Re-Equalization restores the correct tonal balance for watching a movie soundtrack in a small, home environment.

The human ear alters our perception of a sound based on the direction from which the sound is coming. Thus two identical sounds arriving from different directions sound somewhat different to us (based on the assymetrical shape of our ears). In film soundtracks, this can introduce discontinuity as sounds pan from the front to the rear of the room, even if the speakers themselves are quite well-matched.

The Timbre Matching feature filters the information going to the surround speakers so that they more closely match the tonal characteristics of the sound coming from the front speakers. This ensures seamless panning between the front and surround speakers.

In a movie theater, there is an array of perhaps a dozen surround speakers so that the surround information is literally all around you. This creates a diffuse surround soundfield that envelopes you,drawing you into the action on the screen rather than distracting you from it.

By contrast, in a home theater you often use only two speakers, located to the sides and somewhat behind you. Even in more elaborate “7.1 channel” systems, you still have only two speakers to the sides and two speakers to the rear – quite different than the surround array for which the soundtrack was mixed. This difference can make the surround speakers sound like headphones, lacking spaciousness and envelopment. The surround soundfield also tends to collapse into the closest speaker as you move away from the middle seating position.

Adaptive Decorrelation™ – another THX technology – slightly changes each surround channel’s time and phase relationship with respect to the other surround channels. This expands the listening position and helps create – even with only two surround speakers – the same spacious surround experience as in a movie theater.