# Theater sound-Is it Flat?



## niceguy (Mar 12, 2006)

It's been a few months since I've been to a theater but I was wondering if the sound is designed for a fairly flat response or more radio like-inflated lows and highs...

I know there's a ton of variables and processing in the commercial Theater setup, but in my own setup in the past, it seems that at quieter times of a movie (quiet dialogue,etc), I have to crank the movie some just in time for a deafening explosion that's too loud....
FWIW, my center and rear surrounds/sub are all JBL and the surrounds/center are both Northridge and same sensitivity...the mains (for now) are AR 3 way 8" towers and are rated 2db higher than the JBL speakers..
I'm still tweaking and level matching some to compensate....

I just don't remember that issue in theaters, or maybe I've just not noticed?......

Jeremy


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## tcguy85 (Oct 29, 2007)

my Yamaha reciever has the auto EQ feature, i have it set to flat and i like the sound.


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## niceguy (Mar 12, 2006)

Well I'm going to be in the market for a new receiver soon, either Yamaha or Pioneer (always had good success w/both in HT) to replace my 5yo Technics A/V receiver. That's one of the features I'm looking for(ward to)...

Jeremy


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Note, there is a difference between "flat" in the environment, and "flat" on the EQ. 


I like "rta flat", personally. Some don't care for it in their car, but I think it sounds good. And from what I've gathered, home audio guys (and companies) shoot for having a relatively flat response. Check my "2.1" thread. I've done an RTA analysis on my front speakers and have a pretty relative flat response out of the box. I don't have EQ features on my receiver.


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## havok20222 (Sep 5, 2007)

niceguy said:


> Well I'm going to be in the market for a new receiver soon, either Yamaha or Pioneer (always had good success w/both in HT) to replace my 5yo Technics A/V receiver. That's one of the features I'm looking for(ward to)...
> 
> Jeremy


Low end Pioneer is junk.... the Pioneer Elites however are a different story. I also recommend you look at Denon. 

Here are my experiences with all 3 - Denon is probably the best all around when you include features, sound quality, and usability. 

The auto-EQ in the yamaha's is slightly better, and their video switching/scaling built into them nice. That said however, they have WAY too many DSP modes, none of which I like. They also like to default to these DSP modes a lot of times which is annoying. I also think Yamaha tends to color the sound and be very bright. Some people like bright, if that is the case Yamaha is great. I personally like a neutral or laid back sound, so I just don't like it.

Pioneer Elites sound the best, in my opinion. They don't really color the music too much, and offer superior processing to Denon and Yamaha. Most of them use all copper chassis and have superior build quality. That said, if you use it for video processing as well, their scalers suck. If you are just switching the video, and not doing any scaling/upconverting of the signal they are fine, and probably your best choice. If you want to use some video upconversion/scaling then go Denon or Yamaha (if you like their sound.)

I personally am debating between Denon and Pioneer Elite. I'm chapped about my old Denon having a small problem though. (i'm anal retentive) so I am trying to decide if I will even use the scaling. I'm leaning towards no, and thus leaning towards Pioneer Elite.

Just as some background I have sold all 3 brands for 3-4 years, I have also had all 3 in my home on the same audio setup. I liked the Pioneer the best.


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## bhg41088 (Nov 5, 2006)

Dolby and the X-Curve

"Also known as the wide-range or eXtended range curve, the X-Curve is defined in ISO Bulletin 2969 as pink noise, at the listening position in a dubbing situation or two-thirds of the way back in a theater, to be flat to 2 kHz, rolling off 3 dB/octave after that."

Looks like this:









"Dolby Stereo though...is crafted for playback over a system equalized to the X-Curve..."

Ref:
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_9_2/feature-article-curves-6-2002.html

I'm pretty sure this means movies are equalized to not be flat anyways. Theres more on it in the "Loudspeaker Cookbook," I'll look it up here in a minute.


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