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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Author
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Topic: THX returns to Cinemark > OT Speaker Cables
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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 04-18-2008 03:02 PM
As I said, THX certification of speaker cabling got into whether or not the wire used was appropriate for the task (the simple stuff, like is it made from copper?), but more importantly, it covered how easily the cabling could be pulled through walls, and how the insulation handled being pulled through walls.
I tried to find reference materials on the THX web site, but couldn't find anything that referenced the standards they use to certify cabling.
quote: John Walsh
THX is a good idea, but they get their money from the same people they are supposed to be overseeing. This means owners who falsify certs and don't keep up the equipment. It just can't work.
Paying for certification is common in the manufacturing business. When I worked at a telecommunications company, we paid UL to do certifications all the time. We sent them stuff, they burned it up, we paid them. That's how the process works.
Where the line gets crossed is when the certifying agency allows the product to be certified by the same company producing it. That's an inherent conflict of interest, and it's just asking for abuse.
If THX actually allowed this to happen and theaters abused it, then yes, it was a horribly bad idea. Crap like that endangers the credibility of the entire certification process and dilutes its value, as can be seen by the disdain shown by many members on this forum.
In concept, though, having a certification for movie theaters is a good idea. Properly executed, that certification should give moviegoers a way to find excellent presentations, and it would serve as a differentiator for those theaters that have gone through the effort of building their cinemas correctly and using the right equipment. It should follow, then, that any theater that has invested in THX certification would also give a damn about maintaining the other elements of the moviegoing experience as well, but one can never underestimate the ability for people and businesses to be incompetent.
Can a theater be as good or better than a THX certified theater? Yes, I believe so. The question is, how is the average moviegoer supposed to know? Until something comes along that's equal to, or better than, THX certification, it's the best we've got.
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Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002
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posted 04-19-2008 10:20 AM
quote: Scott Jentsch
I don't get into the oxygen-free, massage our electrons using mysterium glycosphate compounds, and other voodoo crap like that, but if you look past the over-active marketing by companies like Monster, they have a good product that, if chosen properly, isn't all that much of a price premium over the bargain bin stuff at monoprice.com.
Personally, I welcome the news that THX is growing. The public needs a brand that they can use to distinguish one presentation from the next.
The problem with Monster (and other companies like it) is that they don't just market hype - they market lies. And while some of their products are well made, their product line is incredibly overpriced - their top of the line RCA cable lists for $1500 for a 6 foot pair. This is just taking advantage of the insanely rich (or the richly insane.)
The only time I have seen Monster Cable at a reasonable price is when retailers that sell the medium priced lines have gone out of business. The other problem with Monster is that they have far too many different lines of cable. I count approximately 28 different lines of RCA connects (and that doesn't count different cable lengths.)
In addition, it's not that THX certification of cable couldn't make some sense if THX tested and certified lines of Monster Cable and permitted Monster to stick something on the packaging to indicate this. But that's not what Monster did - they came out with a separate line of cable that is "THX Certified" and priced (for a 4' cable) at $100, $80, $50 and $15 a pair. So this cable is THX-worthy and the $1500 cable isn't? Both the $15 a pair and the $100 a pair are equally THX worthy? And if all THX is is certifying that you can pull the cable through a wall, than that's not enough and I believe it's misleading, especially for lengths of cable that you would never pull through a wall (like 4').
As far as THX goes, I always liked the idea of move theatre certification because even it wasn't perfectly implemented, I thought it would have forced a competition between theaters to improve their presentation quality. But there were several problems:
- Theaters in New York never promoted the fact that they were THX.
- There was too wide a variance in the way that theaters that used THX sounded. I found that NYC theaters that were THX certified never sounded anywhere as good as the San Francisco and Los Angeles theaters that were certified.
- Theaters let their certifications lapse.
- THX seemed to have a fair level of success on the west coast, but there were few THX theaters in New York.
And now that THX is no longer owned by Lucas, who knows what THX certification really means at this point and how they enforce it.
Some years back, SMPTE tried to implement a program where SMPTE members would evaluate theaters. I think it was even supposed to get you free admission. Theaters were supposed to post a little notification in the ticket booth if they participated, but I only found one theater in Manhattan that did. I can't remember what SMPTE did with the reviews - whether there was any type of certification or not.
Not in terms of certification, but in terms of reviewing theater quality (and not that the public at large knows anything), maybe Zagat's should take this on. Even though they'd probably get stupid comments like "you can't hear the surrounds during dialog-only segments" and "I came in a little late and they wouldn't rewind the tape for me" and "they should have played this in THX instead of Dobly (sic)", etc., it still might push theater owners to think more about sound and picture quality than marquee and concession quality, which is where they usually put the emphasis.
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