over, detail resolution in the surround channels was excellent.
Moving next to Logic 7, Lexicon’s process for deriving 7
channels from
effect worked remarkably well on film soundtracks. (Logic
7 enhancements can be combined with some THX process-
ing on discrete
and DTS.) The addition of rear speakers driven with Logic 7
produced a more vivid feeling of sound effects moving
behind me rather than simply stopping near the listening
position. I had a greater impression of the wall behind the
listening seat disappearing. This effect was enhanced by
Logic 7’s other salient attribute, the perception that the
soundstage was continuous from front to rear. That is, pans
were seamless along the room’s side walls, rather than pre-
sented as a discrete jump from the front channels to the
rear channels. In addition, Logic 7 processing widened the
soundstage and created a more expansive feeling. Try the
chase scene in Toy Story (chapters 28 and 29 on the DTS
laserdisc) in which the toy car speeds through traffic; the
“real” cars whiz by as pans from front to rear, an effect vast-
ly more effective with Logic 7 than either straight DTS or
DTS/THX decoding. In addition to these benefits, seven
loudspeakers are, I believe, fundamentally better than five
for film-sound reproduction.
An interesting way to judge Logic 7’s effectiveness is to
compare a full
downmixed to two channels, then played back with Logic 7.
Here’s how you do it: Record a section of a film soundtrack
on a VHS machine (or cassette deck) using the
3
channel soundtrack into two channels for recording on a
Logic 7 decoding and compare it to the discrete
source. I did this with the scene in Dragonheart in which
the dragon flies 360 degrees around Dennis Quaid. The
sound of its wings beating, accompanied by Sean Connery’s
voice, moves from speaker to speaker around the room sev-
eral times, making it an ideal test of Logic 7 decoding.
If someone hadn’t heard the discrete version, they’d
never think that they were hearing a matrixed format. Logic
7 is that effective in creating the impression of wide chan-
nel separation. Indeed, I found it hard to believe I was lis-
tening to two channels decoded into seven. The channel
separation in the DTS original was better, generating a
stronger illusion of movement, but it was a much closer call
than I would have thought possible.
Overall, Logic 7 provided an impressive enhancement to
film soundtracks. The processing did, however, seem to
make the soundtrack less intimate, as though I were sitting
farther away from the action. The upside of this impression
is that my 14.5 by 21 by
I evaluated the
signal from a Mark Levinson No.31.5 CD transport, then
connected the
Reference One preamp. The No.31.5 also drove a Mark
Levinson No.360S
fed the ARC preamp. (Power amplifiers were Audio
Research Reference 600s.) I could thus switch inputs on the
Reference One and compare the No.360S to the
Granted, a $5,995
match for a $7,995
put the
The
tion was only fair. The
music with a grainy texture, with a darkening
of the upper midrange that resulted in a less
palpable rendering. The
bit hashy, and the soundstage was somewhat flat and
tening critically to
soundtracks, the
on the experience. I would rank the
the level of a $500 CD player. (That’s not bad considering
the $5,995
everything else that goes into a sophisticated
controller.)
The $6,500 Classé
esting contrast with the
better sounding when reproducing music. If the
DACs were comparable to those in a $500 CD player, the
Classé benefits from an
superb
formance is, however, offset by the
cated surround processing,
cessing, vastly better remote and user interface, and propri-
etary Lexicon
beauty of diverse design goals: You can choose the product
that best matches your priorities.
If you are uncompromising on both film and music repro-
duction, you can still enjoy the
formance without shortchanging High End music playback:
run the
analog preamp on the way to the left and right power ampli-
fiers. (The Krell
just for this purpose. Theater Throughput sets the preamp’s
gain at a set level so you maintain your individual channel-
level calibration when switching back to
log source signals that you will listen to in
the analog preamp and never go though the
D/A stages. Note that adding an analog preamp works only if
you have
the
Listening To Music Surround
My experience with
has left me contemptuous of the concept. The modes sound
gimmicky, often destroy the musicality of the front signals,
and their presence is purely marketing driven. That is, the
receiver must sport a huge list of surround modes for it to be
competitive on the sales floor, whether or not those surround
modes are well thought out or even musically appropriate.
But after living with the
let explaining the theory behind the
I’ve taken a somewhat different view. The
designed by Dr. David Griesinger, are all based on solid
research that relates the physical properties of
acoustics with our perception of sound. The
far from marketing gimmicks.
The
processor available today. But do
efit from this processing, or is a pure, unadulterated signal path
more musically engaging? Before tackling that question, I