Another question for everyone to think about! DO WE NEED THX?

[Jim Cornell]

My freind bought a $1,100.00 onkyo reciever, he needs a seperate amp to run THX, is this really necessary to have?

What ive heard, all THX is is an EQ, if thats ture, i dont like EQs on my system, so that counts me out!

Any replys would be appriciated, for everone to see, this is a question ive been wanting to ask, after going thru the recievers while i was buying the harman kardon, you caint touch THX built in for less than $800.00!

Also, im not even sure if denon has it on any of their units!

Denon is one of the most expensive!

On my new Harman Kardon, i had the wire to long on the center, and they were touching each other, silly me, all fixed and working great now, glad i didnt harm anything, id hate to use the warrany already LOL!

Im anxious to see replys on this!

Regards Jim

[boa12]

hey jim, really all THX adds is their trademarked re-EQ, adaptive decorrelation & timbre matching.

anyway, you can have like a THX 5.1 receiver that needs no additional amps.

i think you meant DD 7.1 EX (extended surr) or DD THX EX, or whatever, which are 6.1 &/or 7.1 formats. you then would need an add. amp for some of these units that have 6.1 or 7.1 preamp/outputs but only have amps for 5 speakers. f.e., my pre/pro has 8 preouts (including the sub) but my acurus amp is only a 5 channel. so i had to get a mono amp to add a rear surr center speaker. a lot of the newer receivers are putting in 6 or 7 channel amp modules so u don't have to add amps for the 6.1/7.1 formats & speakers.

as for the THX I've got some minor benefit from it's re-EQ. it takes out some of the brightness and resulting distortion from movies that are mixed more for big theaters w/ speakers behind screens. still trying to hear any differences with the other thx features.

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My Home Systems Page

[ShapeShifter]

Seems to me that it's now being market as hype to hike up prices on components marketed as upscale. I'll save my dollars thank you. Then by more speakers, music, videos and maybe amps.

Wes

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"KLIPSCH IS MUSIC"f>

[toddvj]

This is a touchy subject for me. People who don't think THX means anything have never owned it. With THX you get seperation in your surround channels even with prologic, and yes, even the so-called "mono" surround back speakers. Generic 7.1 doesn't give you that. You also the Re-EQ which makes the sound a lot smoother. When movies are mixed for a theater, they know that the speakers are going to be behind the screen, so they make the sound brighter. Without the screen the sound can be a bit harsh. Being Klipsch owners, we should be able to appreciate that. Another HUGE benefit with THX receivers is the Bass Peak Level adjustment. That means absolutely no distortion from your subwoofer. I watched The Haunting with a Denon 3801 and my subs made a horrible sound as they bottomed out. With my THX receiver, they handled it no problem. Jim, your friend needed the amp for THX-EX, not for 5.1. As for not being able to touch a THX receiver for under $800, look at Pioneer Elite. A THX select can be had for about $500, and you can get one with EX for about $700. Anyway, I don't think you can get a receiver that sounds good for less, THX or not. Denon only makes 2 THX receivers, one for $2500 and one for $3500. (The 4802 and 5800). Not necessarrily because of THX, but I wouldn't buy a non-THX Denon. For the short time I had the 3801, I constantly had problems with Poor sound quality, Distortion, and weak amplification. What good is 7 channel stereo, when the receiver keeps going into protection, because it can't handle the load. Because you know Klipsch speakers require a ton of power because they are so damned inefficient. At least when you get a THX receiver, you know that the wattage ratings aren't inflated, like some other receivers I know. Okay, so I might have made some enemies here, the legions of Denon owners, but I'm not saying Denon is junk, I'm just saying that they are not the absolute greatest like some people think they are. And I'm also saying don't knock something (like THX) until you've tried it. By the way, my receiver is a Pioneer Elite VSX-36tx. You can pick one up for a Grand or less, which is not a huge amount for a receiver, and, in my opinion (which is from experience, not just listening to what someone else told me) it will outperform just about anything else in its price category. Not exactly what I would call an overpriced gimmick.