THX Reciever w/o THX Speakers?

[r0n]

Do I need THX speaker to use THX Receiver? I know you can use any speakers but will not use the full capabilities of the receiver? I have decent speakers but they are not THX certified... Kef Fronts, infinity CC3 center, Atlantic Technology Dipole for rears and (2) Audio Source 15" subs. I know I shouldn't mix them up speaker brands. =)

Just purchased Yamaha rx-v1400 and side speakers to complete the 7.1. I am worried that my surround won't sound right. I was told I should only get thx certified speakers and to use a thx reciever or it won't sound right.

Thank You....

[Woochifer]

Do I need THX speaker to use THX Receiver? I know you can use any speakers but will not use the full capabilities of the receiver? I have decent speakers but they are not THX certified... Kef Fronts, infinity CC3 center, Atlantic Technology Dipole for rears and (2) Audio Source 15" subs. I know I shouldn't mix them up speaker brands. =)

Just purchased Yamaha rx-v1400 and side speakers to complete the 7.1. I am worried that my surround won't sound right. I was told I should only get thx certified speakers and to use a thx reciever or it won't sound right.

Thank You....

That's BS. Don't worry about using THX speakers with a THX receiver. The THX program is basically a certification program. Manufacturers pay to participate in the program, and for THX to do the certification tests. THX has performance criteria as well as design requirements for the products that it approves. It certainly does not mean that THX approved products are any better than those without the designation. Yamaha did not participate in the THX program until this year, and even then, the biggest improvement that's come about is their YPAO room acoustic calibration feature. And the YPAO has nothing to do with THX, YPAO makes a bottomline improvement in the sound quality of your system, THX approval does not.

The THX speaker specs are probably the most useless standards that they have, and not a whole lot of speaker manufacturers participate in the program. B&W used to have a THX certified series, but all of their most recent product introdutions are not THX approved. Even the Nautilus 802s that Lucasfilm uses at Skywalker Sound are NOT THX approved. For the longest time, a THX surround speaker had to be dipolar. This standard dated all the way back to the start of the THX home program. Well, not all speaker manufacturers make dipolar surrounds, and there's no consensus on the use of dipoles as surrounds. IMO, dipoles were fine when everything was Dolby Pro Logic/Surround, but with 5.1 and 6.1 discrete soundtracks, direct firing and bipolar speakers are more effective.

What you need to concern yourself with on speakers is how well they match and how well their tonal characteristics fit with your preferences. ANY speaker that has reasonable accuracy will work fine with your receiver. But, I would strongly recommend that you start by matching the front three speakers. Also, make full use of the YPAO calibration, and tweak the settings with a SPL meter and test disc. Having the levels properly calibrated, and having the speakers placed properly will go much further towards improving your sound quality than limiting yourself to speakers wearing the THX badge.

[TinHere]

Do I need THX speaker to use THX Receiver? I know you can use any speakers but will not use the full capabilities of the receiver? I have decent speakers but they are not THX certified... Kef Fronts, infinity CC3 center, Atlantic Technology Dipole for rears and (2) Audio Source 15" subs. I know I shouldn't mix them up speaker brands. =)

Just purchased Yamaha rx-v1400 and side speakers to complete the 7.1. I am worried that my surround won't sound right. I was told I should only get thx certified speakers and to use a thx reciever or it won't sound right.

Thank You....
THX is certification that some manufactures pay a licensing fee to aquire. The good news for consumers is that they must meet certain criteria to get certified. The absence of THX certification does not mean that the product didn't meet that criteria, just that they didn't want to pay for it. That isn't to say that all products would get certified, just that some that could chose not to.

To answer your question, you don't need THX certified speakers to have speakers that will meet their criteria and/or sound as good as certified speakers. Same is true of components.

You are correct that mixing and matching speaker brands is not ideal. Timbre matching is what will give you a seamless soundstage. Placement of the speakers is also more important than whether a speaker is certified or not. In other words, great speakers won't sound great if they aren't set-up correctly. The YPAO in your receiver will help compensate for less than ideal placement and room characteristics that might not be ideal, and while it can balance the system it won't make unmatched speakers sound like a matched set. If it sounds good to you, that is all you really have to worry about.

Here's a link to the THX site:

http://www.thx.com/mod/products/homeTheatre.html#about

[r0n]

That's BS. Don't worry about using THX speakers with a THX receiver. The THX program is basically a certification program. Manufacturers pay to participate in the program, and for THX to do the certification tests. THX has performance criteria as well as design requirements for the products that it approves. It certainly does not mean that THX approved products are any better than those without the designation. Yamaha did not participate in the THX program until this year, and even then, the biggest improvement that's come about is their YPAO room acoustic calibration feature. And the YPAO has nothing to do with THX, YPAO makes a bottomline improvement in the sound quality of your system, THX approval does not.

The THX speaker specs are probably the most useless standards that they have, and not a whole lot of speaker manufacturers participate in the program. B&W used to have a THX certified series, but all of their most recent product introdutions are not THX approved. Even the Nautilus 802s that Lucasfilm uses at Skywalker Sound are NOT THX approved. For the longest time, a THX surround speaker had to be dipolar. This standard dated all the way back to the start of the THX home program. Well, not all speaker manufacturers make dipolar surrounds, and there's no consensus on the use of dipoles as surrounds. IMO, dipoles were fine when everything was Dolby Pro Logic/Surround, but with 5.1 and 6.1 discrete soundtracks, direct firing and bipolar speakers are more effective.

What you need to concern yourself with on speakers is how well they match and how well their tonal characteristics fit with your preferences. ANY speaker that has reasonable accuracy will work fine with your receiver. But, I would strongly recommend that you start by matching the front three speakers. Also, make full use of the YPAO calibration, and tweak the settings with a SPL meter and test disc. Having the levels properly calibrated, and having the speakers placed properly will go much further towards improving your sound quality than limiting yourself to speakers wearing the THX badge.

Woochifer, Thanks for the reply. I knew the concept of have the THX badge. I was sure on the speaker mix matching thing. That's good to know. Thanks for the extra education on the last 2 paragraphs.

[r0n]

THX is certification that some manufactures pay a licensing fee to aquire. The good news for consumers is that they must meet certain criteria to get certified. The absence of THX certification does not mean that the product didn't meet that criteria, just that they didn't want to pay for it. That isn't to say that all products would get certified, just that some that could chose not to.

To answer your question, you don't need THX certified speakers to have speakers that will meet their criteria and/or sound as good as certified speakers. Same is true of components.

You are correct that mixing and matching speaker brands is not ideal. Timbre matching is what will give you a seamless soundstage. Placement of the speakers is also more important than whether a speaker is certified or not. In other words, great speakers won't sound great if they aren't set-up correctly. The YPAO in your receiver will help compensate for less than ideal placement and room characteristics that might not be ideal, and while it can balance the system it won't make unmatched speakers sound like a matched set. If it sounds good to you, that is all you really have to worry about.

Here's a link to the THX site:

http://www.thx.com/mod/products/homeTheatre.html#about

Thank You, well answered. I'll defiantly need the YPAO feature for the unmatched speakers. So far I've got good comments on my home theater setup from some friends. They like the surround sound. Currently have Pioneer vsx-d906s with a carver tfm-24 running the fronts. The yamaha should be a big difference compared to the Pioneer.

-R

[spacedeckman]

I probably didn't even have to put "probably" in that sentence. I'm pretty dang sure about it.