|   Is a THX Home Entertainment Center really worth the big $$$$ | David Kirlew
Jan 11, 2002 2:18 PM | | I have a friend telling me I should not get a THX Home Theater but to get a Yamaha system instead. Is a THX Home Theater worth the money. |
| re: Is a THX Home Entertainment Center really worth the big $$$$ | s.solar
Jan 11, 2002 2:28 PM | | THX is just a stamp of approval. It just means that certain product has met their standards. It basically tells the consumer what they are getting as far as quality. Some people like this approach(more or less because its hard to trust manufacturers ratings). Others don't want to pay extra for this service. For a full blown THX theatre the speakers,wires,reciever,tvand all souces have to be certified. Though a system that is not THX can perform just as good or even better than equipement that is certified. Sometimes manufacturers don't want to pay for liscencing fees. |
| re: THX Certified Home Ent. Centers!!!KEWL!! | Scott2k
Jan 11, 2002 2:45 PM | | Your friend is right. THX is a certification from Lucasfilm. It is supposed to be a certain standard that components are measured up to. When in reality, many manufacturers meet or exceed these standards but just don't want to pay Lucas the $. Don't be fooled by labels like THX, or "120 watts per channel!" These are gimmicks that manufacturers use to lure the unknowing consumer into a purchase. You might want to narrow down your needs to budget, listening choice (HT vs Music) and post that info here to get peoples opinions. Good luck. |
| re: Go with the quality, not the label | Woochifer
Jan 11, 2002 2:51 PM | | THX is nothing more than an assurance of minimum performance, but that does not mean that other products do not meet or exceed the THX standards. It just means that those companies chose not to participate in the THX program and pay the royalties to Lucasfilm. In fact, some past products that have worn the THX approval seal actually failed to meet the THX specs when independently tested; so even the THX label is not an ironclad assurance.
In the case of Yamaha, the company does its own DSP implementations, and since they also produce their own processing chips, digital music products, and pro audio equipment, they do a lot of their own R&D and don't need to rely as heavily on third party suppliers as other companies, including most of the ones in the THX program. Why would Yamaha want to pay royalties to Lucasfilm and lose some design autonomy, when they've been developing their own home theatre specs and DSP technology for 15 years? Yamaha makes quality products (year after year among the most reliable models on the market) that don't have the THX royalties built into the price, and deserve a place on your short list. |
| Agree with Above. Go with Quality, not the Label! (nt) | xDoc
Jan 11, 2002 3:02 PM | | |
| OK, a slightly different view... | nick4433
Jan 11, 2002 3:45 PM | | I too think that THX is nothing more than a marketing gimmick and that it was designed to sell everything with a THX logo. However, I have had a chance to watch some DVDs with THX processing and to my ears they sound very good. My receiver is the only THX ceritfied equipment in my HT setup. I was recently comparing the Denon 3802 with an ONkyo 898 and the Pod race sounded better on the 898 in THX-EX mode. I tried the Cinema-EQ function on the 3802 and while it improvise on the overall quality, it still did not sound as good as the 898. However, there are some movies that sound better in plain old DD without any THX post-processing.
Although it is true that you do need everything THX certified to make a substantial difference, I believe that putting the receiver in THX mode does make a difference. To some that may not be worth anything but to some, it is. While THX may benefit someone somewhere, one should not go blindly after the logo and ignore many better products out there without the logo. |
| Buy THX! My McLaren needs an oil change! nt | Geo Lucas
Jan 12, 2002 7:19 PM | | |
| |
