Specifications

It had long been the practice of stereo buffs to connect their
television to a stereo system. The advantage was the use
of the larger speakers and more powerful amplifier of the
stereo system. Even though the sound was greatly improved, it
was still mono and limited by the broadcast signal.
Inthelate1970’sandearly1980’stwonewhome
movie formats became widely available to the public:
VCRandlaserdisc.
By1985,bothformatshaddevelopedintoveryhighquality
audio/video sources. In fact, the sonic performance of some
videoformatsexceededaudio-onlyformats.Now,with
theater-qualitysoundavailableathome,theonlyelement
missing was the "surround sound" presentation found in
movie houses.
Fortunately,DolbyandDTSencodedDVD’semerged
with the same surround sound information encoded on
home releases as the theatrical release. Additionally,
new high-resolution home-viewing formats such as Blu-ray
as well as high-definition content provided via cable or
satellite have evolved which include multi-channel encod-
edaudiothatisvirtuallymastertapequality.Allthatis
requiredtoretrievethisinformationisadecoderandaddi-
tional speakers and amps to reproduce it.
Hometheaterisacomplexpurchaseandwerecommend
that you consult your local MartinLogan dealer, as they
are well versed in this subject.
Each piece of a surround system can be purchased sepa-
rately.Takeyourtimeandbuyquality.Noonehasever
complained that the movie was too real. The following list
and descriptions will give you only a brief outline of the
responsibilities and demands placed on each speaker.
Front Left and Front Right
If these speakers will be the same two used for your stereo
playback,theyshouldbeofveryhighqualityandabletoplay
loudly(over102dB)andreproducebassbelow80Hz.
Center Channel
This is the most important speaker in a home theater
system, as almost all of the dialogue and a large por-
tion of the front speaker information is reproduced by the
center channel. It is important that the center speaker
beextremelyaccurate andmate wellwith thefront
speaker, and that it is recommended for use as a center
speaker. This is not the place to cut corners.
Surround Speakers
Werecommend(alongwiththefilmindustry)thatthesur-
roundspeakersplaydowntoatleast80Hz.Surround
speakers contain the information that makes it appear that
planes are flying over your head. Some may suggest that
thisistheplacetosavemoneyandpurchasesmall,inex-
pensive speakers. If you choose to do so, be prepared
to upgrade in the future as discrete multi-channel digital
encoding is proliferating rapidly and the demands on sur-
round speakers have increased.
Subwoofer
Withanygoodsurroundsystemyouwillneedoneor
morehigh-qualitysubwoofers(the.1ina5.1,6.1,or7.1
channelsurroundsystem).Mostmoviesoundtrackscontain
large amounts of bass information as part of the special
effects. Good subwoofers will provide a foundation for the
rest of the system.
home theater
HomeTheater11
Figure 8.Dynamo500SubwoofersastheLFE(effects)channels,
MartinLoganClarityspeakersasfrontandsurround(effects)channels,
MartinLogan Fresco as the center channel.