Best THX moments in the cinema

[Brainstorm]

WOW!!! I told you, this was voted the number cinema event in the world around the late 1980s not sure if she still holds that status, but in my view this is one hell of impressive cinema, the first time I saw a film hear was "Indiana Jones and the last Crusade" 70mm six-track Dolby Stereo SR with Split-Surrounds via the Lucasfilm THX Sound System.

The force of high power sound via some 20 JBL 4675-A 15inc bass mid arranged in the five screen array five horns placed above the bass cabs for the mid high frequencies for Dolby formats 42 and 43 / 70mm six-track, some 8 JBL 4645 these subs go below the most lowest of rumbling of soundtracks.

Note the surrounds JBL 8330 can be seen though not clearly as they blend in very well into the auditoriums design, look carefully.



The dimming of the auditoriums lights gives it a different view, note above the screen the stars these twinkle back a throw, it is said upon the premiere of "Forrest Gump" back in 1994 they where put to startling use as "Alan Silvestri" opening score with that gentleness in the music really gave the film a smashing impact.



This side view of the Empire auditorium, note the plumb plushest red rocker chairs.

It's also said that "James Cameron" raved about the cinemas sound system upon the premiere of "Titanic" 1997 where it played exclusively in dts 70mm THX Sound System, as the best he's ever heard.



Aspect ratio set on the screen to, W/S 1.85:1 though I've only seen one film at the Empire in W/S which was "Alive" Dolby Stereo Digital THX, the rest in Scope 2.35:1 and a handful of Star Trek films like the Star Trek day on Sunday 8th October 1989 all five films presented in 70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo THX sound, except Star Trek the Motion Picture which was shown in Scope 2.35:1 Dolby Stereo A type.



This view showing a closer look of the red rockers, with the back part and the bottom part all movable for a rocking film show, and you them in this cinema, because when Indiana Jones throws a punch it will knock back into the chair LOL it's that good a film when I saw it there on September 13th 1989 Wednesday, and at £6.00 quid.



Upon my third attendance to the Empire Leicester Square, when I was working as a projectionist for UCI cinemas in Dorset 10 screen multiplex Tower Park, I met, Ilker Sherif' chief projectionists of the Empire back then, his now moved onwards but there's still someone there to run the shows to spectacular event levels.

Ilker' was kind to show me the booth which I must say is the heart of the machine, note the Philips DP 70 dual projectors 35 & 70mm capabilities these projectors won an academy award for technical excellence.

Note the cake plates these can hold up to a three hour feature film, something like "Lawrence of Arabia" would require two cake plates, note the bottom plate this can be rewound onto the middle cake plate or the top one, re-lacing the film back up takes only a few minutes at the most.



Closer view of the Philips DP 70, note the rectifiers placed behind the projectors, these power up the powerful Xenon lamps inside the projectors lamp house, in the old days carbon arc rods where used where the two rods come together and create an electrical charged bright light, much in the same way as arc welding, is done except where showing films.



Closer view of the print on the cake plate, note in the centre there is a mechanism this is called the feeder or the Brain the film is treaded though and past the little rollers and though the finger and then around a set of rollers up down up and around and onto the projector and back to the cake plate, then
lacing the projector up and start.



Holy cow now that's a rack system with some 15 JBL uri 6290 amplifiers or around 30 amplifiers for the JBL sound system placed to the right sides of and taking up three rack two & half rack framing, in the last two rakes placed to the left side, note two frames above JBL 6290 amps, is the Lucasfilm THX 3417 crossover monitor sound system, above that is a dual tape deck and above that a CD deck this is used for none sync music, that you hear coming from the front left and right stereo JBL in the auditorium.

Next to that is the Dolby DA-10 Dolby Digital processor below that is the Dolby CP-200 processor with multiple 27 band 1/3 octave EQ for left centre right split-surrounds left centre and right centre screen channels, and Dolby A type NR this is regarded as a fine Dolby processor within the industry, also in the racking is a Dolby SR type module for Dolby SR type prints found on all 35mm prints to day SR-D as there so called.

With around 15Kw of sound power you can imagine what "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" must have sounded like, as well as Star Trek, totally out of this world I swear.

[Brainstorm]

A different angle showing the awesome mighty powerful, note in this picture placed below the THX 3417 crossover monitor is a dts CD-Rom drive and decoder.



The Empire as a few surprises up it's sleeve with a laser show presented before each running of the show, it's used to fantastic effect which is played along with a high tech fast tempo musical piece, which last for around 60 seconds, though today it's not used well at least the last time I saw it operating was back in 1995, well Id be very surprised to know it back up and running.

As this played some funky Star Trek images played over the screen and around the auditorium walls with U.S.S. Enterprise attacking a Klingon bird of Pray LOL that was exciting, then the lights dimmed the music faded and moderately the music started up and grandly pressing on you body Star Trek 3 was a real kicker.

The newly refitted, Empire with enough firepower to destroy an entire planet.

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Empire Cinemas Limited knew they had a task on their hands when they assumed responsibility for the Empire cinema, in London’s Leicester Square. Once the flagship cinema of the UCI chain, and the venue for many European film premieres in the past, the theatre was sorely in need of a refit; its once state-of-the-art surround sound system was outdated, and it had lost its THX licence, the Lucasfilm sound specification seen by many as the ‘gold standard’ for cinema sound. When the newly formed Empire Cinemas group took over the venue in late 2005, they knew that they wanted to return the cinema to its former glories — and surpass them. And they wanted that THX licence back. So they turned to some of the best names in cinema sound to help them. The completed installation, a custom-built system assembled with the help of the Harman Group and renowned London-based cinema installation specialists Bell Theatre Services, includes an impressive array of Harman Group equipment. There are Crown power amps, dbx DriveRack 4800 processors, and JBL custom ScreenArray™ speakers containing technology for which JBL engineers received the Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Everything is networked with CobraNet™ technology, and managed using Harman’s proprietary HiQNet™ control protocol.

The involvement of JBL is no surprise to anyone familiar with the history of cinema sound; some of the earliest products developed by company founder James B Lansing over 70 years ago were cinema loudspeakers, and sixty percent of cinema speakers sold today worldwide are made by JBL. Indeed, the former sound system at the Empire was built around JBL speakers, which is what led the Empire’s new management to contact Harman Pro UK, the British arm of JBL’s parent group. And Max Bell, Managing Director of Bell Theatre Services, was only too happy with Empire’s choice. “We’ve always used JBL speakers”, says Bell. “For me, they’re the best on the market — and JBL are still the only speaker company that has a proper research division, which means their products are always improving. We’ve always had a close relationship with Crown International, too — we specify a lot of JBL/Crown systems.”

One of the reasons Empire Cinemas took on Bell Theatre was that the latter have had a long association with the venue — Bell had carried out the Empire’s previous refit, back in 1988. And Empire were sparing no expense this time around, as André Mort, Technical Manager at Empire Cinemas Limited, explains: "As a new organisation within the UK cinema industry, we wanted to show that only the best would do for such an important venue." "They said ‘Go for it. This is our flagship; we want the best’," adds Max Bell. "So that’s what we gave them".

The refurbishment, which reportedly cost a six-figure sum, involved enlarging the projection screen to dimensions of 18.2 by 7.68 metres, reconstructing and acoustically treating the space behind the screen and rebuilding the THX baffle wall, and completely revamping the cinema’s sound system. The completed setup comprises a Dolby CP650 digital processor, five newly THX-certified 96kHz-capable dbx 4800 DriveRack processors to manage the loudspeaker channels and handle delay compensation in the auditorium, and the power amplifiers: 13 CTs 3000s, six CTs 8200s, and five Crown CTs 2000s. This range of amps drives the generous complement of 16 JBL 4645C 18-inch subwoofers and 42 JBL 8340A surround speakers (each of which has a dedicated amp channel), as well as the five JBL Custom ScreenArray™ 5632 full-range, four-way speakers, which handle the Left, inner Left, Centre, inner Right, and Right channels. Everything is managed via Harman’s HiQNet™ digital control protocol from a PC in the projector room.

In keeping with their usual hands-on approach, Harman closely assisted Bell Theatre as the refit proceeded, providing advice on system design and configuration and ensuring the equipment arrived on time. This was a particularly important role, given that the entire refit had to be completed in just two weeks, before the start of the important summer blockbuster season. As the project neared its end, Harman also sent Mark Bailey of JBL’s European Technical Support team to help fine-tune the finished auditorium’s acoustics.

With the work complete, the reopened Empire is now capable of an earth-trembling combined sound output of 56kW — a great improvement over its former 13kW best. And of course, the THX certification is now firmly back on the cinema’s wall. The only element remaining from the original installation is a Dolby CP200 analogue processor, which has been retained for those occasions when the cinema wishes to screen restored 70mm analogue prints. Thus the Empire is now capable of handling the best in analogue and digital formats, as befits a top-flight London cinema. “I’ve been involved with The Empire for many years,” comments André Mort, “and the performance of the new system has greatly exceeded my expectations.”

Dave Budge of Harman Pro UK comments, “It’s a pleasure to be involved with Empire Cinemas, who have committed to this considerable investment in the name of making the cinema experience at the Empire truly memorable.”
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The spec as follows:-

Dolby CP650SD (10 channel AES/EBU Output Studio version)
Dolby CP200/DA20/MPU-1/SA10 retained for 70mm magnetic and backup replay. CP200 Modified with CAT 64B EQ cards removed for lower noise operation.
2x SDDS DFP2000 (One main, one backup)

5x DBX4800 24bit/96Khz Loudspeaker Management Systems with HiQNET Control. Digital Feed from CP650, Analogue Feed from CP200/SDDS.

5x JBL Custom Screen Array each fed by 1x Crown CTs2000 and 1x Crown CTs3000 Amplifiers

16x JBL 4645C Sub Bass fed by 8x Crown CTs 3000 Amplifiers

42x JBL 8340A Surround Loudspeakers individually driven and time-aligned from 6x Crown CTs8200 8-Channel Amplifiers

Total System Power 56kW

The system now carries THX license

Screen size has now been increased to a maximum 18.26x8.14m