Aq as Important as PQ

[Spicoli]

I have been a fan of movies from the age of 9

The whole experience at the theater enthralled me. But when I got home to my 13 inch RCA tv to watch Jaws two years later. It was never the same.

Then big TV's came out (I owned the 36 inch JVC tube) still...no good.

I realized in 95 sound mattered, to replicate my theater experience. I soon started building a better if not OK Audio equipment standard.

What perplexes me most is that many people rely on PQ to get the best of Blu-ray and totally ignore AQ while they contemplate getting a new display.

Blu-ray is an audio and picture quality improvement. But it seems as if so many just focus on the Picture.

Why?


The point of this post is this....Why do we put so much stock in PQ when AQ is the other half of the story.


Some might say that simple minded produced pictures spend little time on audio...fair enough. But for me a movie enthusiast..I want the total package,

I just upgraded my system with new wiring and cables ....WOW!

If you love movies I beg you invest as much in audio as you did i video, you are only getting half the experience.

If you have not invested as much in your Display as your audio...why go Blu?

[Retroj23]

With lossless audio now the norm on blu ray, yes I would agree that picture quality is half the experience. Even with a decent receiver, speakers and sub, one can have very good home theater sound.

[Spicoli]

Originally Posted by Retroj23

With lossless audio now the norm on blu ray, yes I would agree that picture quality is half the experience. Even with a decent receiver, speakers and sub, one can have very good home theater sound.

Not just a quick validation but good point. Even with a system that is beyond a sound bar, you will enjoy a better experience.

A crappy sub and matched speakers is alway beter than TV sound or a sound bar.

Many Blu owners do not realize the efforts going into the audio mix.

I realize that you cant have a Blu-ray with no display, but that does not minimize the importance of a great audio environment.

I implore those who have not saved for good AQ...should.


*rant *soap box

[Retroj23]

Originally Posted by Spicoli

Not just a quick validation but good point. Even with a system that is beyond a sound bar, you will enjoy a better experience.

A crappy sub and matched speakers is alway beter than TV sound or a sound bar.

Many Blu owners do not realize the efforts going into the audio mix.

I realize that you cant have a Blu-ray with no display, but that does not minimize the importance of a great audio environment.

I implore those who have not saved for good AQ...should.


*rant *soap box

I agree on all your points. In the 90's, my uncle had a "dedicated" home theater room. I put dedicated in quotations because even thought he had a great CRT projector and Pioneer Elite player, he did not invest on HT speakers. Instead he had a crappy Sony boom box as surround sound! The sound experience was pathetic to say the least. Even at my young age I knew he should have spent some extra cash on something good. Good lord that laserdisc player alone cost him close to 3 gran! So why not spend a little extra on a good sound system?

[HAMP]

Both are correct, the AQ is just as important as the PQ. I have been to a few people houses who have some really nice HDTV's, but not a surround sound system. I cannot sit back and relax to watch a movie at those places.

To be honest, it’s not only 50/50 with truly enjoying it all. You can split it three ways, and the third is feeling it.

Some people like to use 'Buttkicker', but I enjoy the bass punching me in the chest or when watching something like Transformers, You can actually feel the weight of the robots as they walk with some deep bass subwoofers.

I liked bluray when I first seen it on my first HDTV, but I became hooked when I bought my first receiver that played PCM and all the other lossless audio. I enjoyed the bass I heard

But, when I really first felt the audio, it became a hobby for life for me and my wife who enjoy it as much as I do.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

60% audio
40% video

[HAMP]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

60% audio
40% video

How about:

40% Audio
40% Video
20% Felt

[rpatt]

I can tolerate reduced PQ much more than I can tolerate reduced AQ.

[BIslander]

Originally Posted by Spicoli

I just upgraded my system with new wiring and cables ....WOW!

I hope you did more than add new wiring, which is unlikely to make any sort of difference in sound quality.

[HAMP]

Originally Posted by BIslander

I hope you did more than add new wiring, which is unlikely to make any sort of difference in sound quality.

It can, if he went from telephone wire to 12ga.... lol

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by HAMP

How about:

40% Audio
40% Video
20% Felt

Felt as in fabric?

Otherwise, I count "feeling" as part of the audio category.

[Canada]

For me AQ is often more important than PQ. 3D movies try and often succeed to immerse you in the movie. Well done audio always immerses the viewer in the film.

[crazyBLUE]

For me AQ is definitely more important then PQ.

With a good sound system added into the mix, It makes the movie itself that much better especially with the sound tracks we get off A Blu-ray disc.

Don't get me wrong for I have spent a lot of money to have a great Image (PQ) But the sound system / sound track are what makes the experience that much better for me.

[octagon]

Audio is obviously important but I think I have a lower threshhold when it comes to both audio tracks and audio gear. I'm more sensitive to the differences between good PQ and very good PQ than I am to similar AQ differences.

I have decent audio gear (Paradigm monitors and an Onkyo 709) and on a bang-for-buck basis I'm probably already pretty close to my ceiling. There's room for improvement but for my purposes probably not all that much.

It's kind of the same with tracks. I can appreciate the really good ones but my 'good enough' point is relatively modest. Interview with a Vampire was distractingly flat. The Blues Brothers I was pretty okay with. I wish GoodFellas would get better audio treatment one of these days but I don't really mind the current disc.

[Cevolution]

The more I upgrade my audio gear the better it gets and the more I appreciate it. Imo you need to invest more in audio than you do for video to really appreciate it. I believe my recent upgrades to Emotiva amps and SVS subs have been the greatest additions to my setup to date, the improvements they have made to the quality is beyond what I had expected. After experiencing this I do think that most receivers (including many high end models) just don't compare to using amps, and that owning separate power amps and a very good quailty sub is an essential requirement for almost any setup.

[hometheatergeek]

I always recommended to clients when I was doing HT installs to buy the best sound system they could budget for. Without a capable sound system you are simply watching a movie. With a capable sound system you are now experiencing the movie.

[bigshot]

The size of the sound has to relate to the size of the screen. When I went from a TV to a ten foot projection screen, my sound system needed some work. First of all, I had to add a sub, then the width between the mains on either side of the screen showed me that my center channel wasn't big enough to do its job. Then came the huge task of balancing levels and equalizing.

I use my 5:1 system for both music and movies, so it has to be a natural balance. It amazes me online to see the huge divide between audiophiles who play music and cinephiles who play movies. The audiophiles generally are adamant about sticking with 2 channel. They resist even adding a sub. And the cinephiles seem to value huge booming bass and totally unbalanced EQ curves.

I tuned my system for music first, then just made minor adjustments in level to get the center channel and rears to mesh. Now that I'm done *everything* sounds good.

[lpnaz480]

Definitely love the audio more then PQ. Hearing battles behind me before they are on the screen. Constant rain making it feel like I'm outside. The car going in a circle from one speaker to the other. So many times I just sit there with eyes closed and listen to what's happening. Love it. Someday I will stop buying things and save up for my sub I want.

[LMN8R]

I've spent 3 times what I did for my display on audio gear and I have a modest sound system. To really enjoy a movie capable subs are a must for me.

[ivanpino]

A well balanced system should do the trick.