Big Cinema Speakers / 70mm /vs. Home Theatre

[garyrc]

Interested at all in theater (cinema) speakers (esp Altecs) and sound or big screen (e.g., 70 mm) theatrical presentations vs. Home Theater?

Please see the posts in Updates and Modifications (not sure how we ended up there) in the thread: HOLLYWOOD BACKLOT

[Frzninvt]

The theater's that I have been to in my area are good, but cannot render the subsonic depth, articulate detail and sheer clarity that my home system is capable of.

The theaters have a good 30Hz rumble but are not capable of the sub-20Hz floor moving subsonics that I can achieve. Nothing like being pinned to the couch with sonic shockwaves.

While I enjoy going to see movies on the big screen I cannot wait until they are released on DVD so I can put them to the real test.

[SCOOTERDOG]

Yeah Just what Friz said...nothing more I can add []

[garyrc]

Yeah, Frzninvt, and SCOOTERDOG I know what you mean ....

I can get a lot deeper bass than can most theaters with my Klipschorns working in the "enhanced bass" position which allows them to still work throughout their range, in room corners built with high mass, studs 8" on center, walls, while my Klipsch RSW-15 subwoofer operates from 40 Hz down. Separately, the Khorns work to 31.5 (actually about 1 dB elevated there, thanks to the firm walls??) and the sub works to 20 Hz (down 4 - 5 dB compared to flat at 25 Hz), but together, they seem like they help one another create bass, and the bass has more authority than with either alone, and is only 2 - 3 dB down at 20 Hz, even though the Khorn really is not supposed to contribute anything at that frequency!

But, while I don't know of a theater that can do 20 Hz or sub 20Hz very well, there were -- for one brief shinning moment -- and still may be, somewhere, 70 mm 6 channel magnetic sound equipped theaters that can produce more convincing awesome power (SPL) than we can with our Klipschorns and subwoofers. In the San Francisco Bay Area, this occurred in 4 theaters out of maybe one hundred, and certainly would not apply to the execrable optical soundtracks in any theater. At first (1955 - 1976), such theaters, with huge "winged" speakers, with 5 channel stereo behind the screen (plus surround in the sides and back) with 4 - 15" horn loaded woofers per channel, with the woofer horns flush mounted between auxiliary wings to increase bass response, had a nominal cut off of about 35 to 40 Hz. When they all played at once, those 20 horn loaded woofers seemed to simulate much deeper bass. And, they were extraordinarily powerful -- the thunder, wind, and earthquake during and after the crucifixion in the 70 mm version of Ben-Hur shook the theater floor and caused a breeze to blow through the audience. On the DVD of that film the peaks are compressed -- this is true of many films on DVD! Even the repeated not-very-loud dropping of a tree trunk-like wood pillar during makeshift street repair in the 70 mm Porgy and Bess shook the floor of the theater with authority. Later (1977 to when 70 mm 6 channel mag all but disappeared in the 1990s) the same theaters installed subwoofers, in addition to the above described systems, but that was about the time that soundtrack quality began to go down, reaching a low point with the harshest digital tracks about 1990. Now, the quality is coming back up, but still without the warmth and richness of the best analog magnetic soundtracks.

Last year, I saw Phantom of the Opera in a Regal Cinema, which means that they could be using Klipsch cinema speakers. It was a digital multi channel presentation. When the DVD came out, I tried Phantom at home. After some fine tuning, I'd say the sound was about the same. Of course, their picture was vastly higher resolution, and was much bigger on my retinas, than with my 32" (good) TV, but, as in almost all modern theaters, it could have been brighter. Bring back carbon arc lamps! And 70 mm projection, too.

You might be interested in some of the posts in Upgrades and Mods under the rubric of Hollywood Backlot. In case you don't go there, look at this, and watch for it in a theater near you!

http://www.superdimension70.com/