Owner's Manual SSP-600 Surround Processor - Classé Audio

Re-Equalization
The tonal balance of a standard film soundtrack will be excessively bright and
harsh when played back over high quality audio equipment in the home because
film soundtracks were designed to be played back in large movie theatres using
very different professional equipment. Re-Equalization restores the correct tonal
balance for watching a movie soundtrack in a small, home environment.
Timbre Matching
The human ear alters our perception of a sound based on the direction from
which the sound is coming. Thus two identical sounds arriving from different
directions sound somewhat different to us (based on the asymmetrical shape of
our ears). In film soundtracks, this can introduce discontinuity as sounds pan
from the front to the rear of the room, even if the speakers themselves are quite
well-matched.
The Timbre Matching feature filters the information going to the surround
speakers so that they more closely match the tonal characteristics of the sound
coming from the front speakers. This ensures seamless panning between the
front and surround speakers.
Adaptive Decorrelation
In a movie theater, there is an array of perhaps a dozen surround speakers so
that the surround information is literally all around you. This creates a diffuse
surround soundfield that envelopes you, drawing you into the action on the
screen rather than distracting you from it.
By contrast, in a home theater you often use only two speakers, located to the
sides and somewhat behind you. Even in more elaborate “7.1 channel” systems,
you still have only two speakers to the sides and two speakers to the rear – quite
different than the surround array for which the soundtrack was mixed. This
difference can make the surround speakers sound like headphones, lacking
spaciousness and envelopment. The surround soundfield also tends to collapse
into the closest speaker as you move away from the middle seating position.
Adaptive Decorrelation – another THX technology – slightly changes each
surround channel’s time and phase relationship with respect to the other
surround channels. This expands the listening position and helps create – even
with only two surround speakers – the same spacious surround experience as in a
movie theater.
Advanced Speaker Array
The people at THX have also found a solution to a problem that dogged high
performance multichannel systems for years: the apparent conflict between
optimal music and movie setups.
You see, movies are mixed in highly standardized environments, with even
spaced surround speakers in an array designed to provide a diffuse, enveloping
soundfield. Their goal is to draw you into the movie on the screen. If the
surround sound tempts you to look over your shoulder, the system has failed:
it has reminded you that you are safe in your living room rather than “in” the
movie you are watching.
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