Parasound AVC-2500 owner manual THX Cinema, Music Mode

THX Cinema

By pressing the THX button on the remote control or on the front panel, you can activate the advanced Home THX Ultra enhancements listed below. The AVC-2500 is among the very few AV Controllers designed and qualified for THX Ultra Certification. Films that have been encoded in Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic, Stereo or even Mono can all benefit from activating THX Ultra technologies. THX should be selected when watching movies that were mixed primarily for playback in large movie theater environments in which speakers are always mounted behind the screen. THX engineers developed patented technologies to accurately translate the sound from the movie theater environment into the home, correcting for significant tonal and spatial discrepancies between these environments. When the THX mode is selected on the AVC-2500, the decoded signal is modified with the following THX Ultra features:

THX Re-Equalization

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

THX Timbre Matching

The human ear changes our perception of a sound depending on the direction from which the sound is coming. Large movie theaters must use arrays of speakers to provide surround information for everyone in the audience. In a home theater, you need only two surround speakers located at the sides of your head. 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 and an uninterrupted sense of spaciousness.

THX Adaptive Decorrelation

In a movie theater, there is always a large distance from your seat to the speakers. In a home theater there are usually only two surround speakers that are usually located close to your listening position. Adaptive Decorrelation slightly changes one surround channel’s time and phase relationship with respect to the other surround channel. This has the effect of expanding the apparent size of your room and broadens your listening position to simulate the same spacious surround experience as in a movie theater, but with only two surround speakers.

THX Bass Limiter

This THX feature prevents distortion and possible damage to the woofers in your speakers or subwoofer. Details about the Bass Limiter are in the Setup section.

Music Mode

Dolby Digital

While in the Music ASP mode, the AVC-2500 automatically decodes Dolby Digital encoded source material. If the material was encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1, the AVC-2500 plays back all six channels independently. If the material was encoded in Dolby Digital 3/1 or 2/0, the AVC-2500 downmixes the signal to Pro Logic Surround.

DTS

In the Music ASP mode, the AVC-2500 automatically decodes DTS encoded source material. Since DTS is always encoded in 5.1, the AVC-2500 will play back all six channels while in the Music mode. Choose this mode for DTS music discs. Choosing the Music mode for DTS movies is not recommended because bass response may be attenuated.

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