THX What does/did it mean for you?

[brian-w]

I tried to search, so I hope this is not an all together duplicate conversation. THX is not “free” and it does have specific meaning/s. The conversation is what did it mean for you? Did it help your decision? Perhaps guide you to Arendal in the first place? Did it impact your perception (pre audition/listen) of the speaker for music or movies? Did Ultra vs Dominus vs Select matter in your search process? I suppose my tech question in the conversation is: why are the 1723 towers not Dominus rated? I own the 1723, love them! My room is larger, really just outside the Ultra room size category and into Dominus. So, my room size and the tower sensitivity with power handling is part of what drove me to buy/try the largest speakers from Arendal. What are your thoughts on the overall topic?

[laurence-chan]

When I first started to consider Arendal, I found this on their website:

Thx Ultra Certified – What Does That Mean?

[Lukas]

Let me ask you guys differently: do you know what the actual specifications of the different THX certifications are?

Did you know that THX belongs to pc accessories brand Razor, known for its gaming lines? I did not know that to be honest.

[brian-w]

Hi Lukas, I think THX has been bought and sold a couple times. Sad Disney never owned it, perhaps it would have help them with the overall quality of their surround sound mixes, haha! But their stuff is not terrible, just lacking in a few areas, my opinion. I really only keyed in to the Ultra room size (3000 cubic feet), distance to viewing area (12 feet), and the ability to provide a reference volume with limited distortion(-20db input being 85db output with 20db of headroom, subwoofers up to 115db, no clue on what they consider appropriate distortion levels). This certification is the closest to my use case.Dominus is for much larger rooms, something like 6500 cubic feet and 20 feet to listening area. I bet the 1723 towers get real close to the Dominus spec, if not achieve it. I’m only basing my opinion on the speaker sensitivity and power handling. I realize it’s likely more complex than my basic understanding. I wish THX was more transparent with all the specs required for the certification/s, but I suppose then they would have a hard time selling the brand. The original THX was very specific about cross over freq in theater applications. Pretty sure that’s what the “x” stood for in THX and why they used a sweep sound as the logo appeared before the movie. Timeless! That’s  all I think I know, hope I’m not far off on many thoughts! Look forward to additional education from others.

[Luis]

@Lukas actually no, not exactly sure… if you can share, that would be appreciated.

[arkmann]

Lukas didn’t know that my understanding is it was owned by Lucasfilm, George Lucas and Star Wars, when it first came out in theaters. Appropriate topic on May the 4th be with you!

[arkmann]

Brian thanks for the information. All I know about THX for home speakers is from the Arendal site and the Audioholics reviews of Arendal and Perlisten.

[Lukas]

THX was first sold in 2002 from Lucasfilm to the PC speaker/audio brand Creative from Singapore.
In 2016 it was sold to Razor.
So that is 21 years already. You can really tell by the focus they have on new products. It is all in the mobile audio realm.

The problem I see is, you do not really know what the specs of each certification are, as THX is keeping it a secret.
It could be absolutely useless to your system, but you pay for it anyway.

At the beginning of Dolby Pro-Logic and AC-3 sound it all made sense, but today, I personally do not see a benefit in it.

[arkmann]

Agree it’s a nice to have, not a must have.  Especially when interested in just listening to music.

[neil-h]

Sometimes we get overly concerned with numbers. There are so many other factors like setting up the speakers properly in the room for one. I just want to enjoy my music. Endless searching to squeeze out the last .1% is just exhausting and spending huge amounts of money for that tiny extra doesn’t make sense either. There’s a company we probably all know about who sells there speakers for 28k per pair. The Arendals are just a fraction of that. There’s no way they sound $25,000 better than the Arendals. Enjoy the music!

 

[Luis]

@Lukas… thanks for sharing.  Didn’t realize THX is owned by Razor now… interesting… very interesting.

 

@Neil… agreed; some folks are simply driven by measurements.  I simply prefer to listen and allow my ears to pass judgement.  If it brings a smile to my face, makes my toes tap and warms my heart and soul, then I’m sold… no need to look or research any further.