Audio/Home Theatre Dilemmas

Great interest sparked by movies has lead to the development of present-day home theatres. We are witnessing a degradation of the audio quality through the mass production of various devices used for this purpose.

While on one hand the uninformed and unexperienced users get highly enthusiastic about technological novelties, on the other there is a less numerous group of audiophiles who stubbornly stick to listening exclusively in two-channel technology. There may be a dilemma between audio and home theatre sound, but the problem lies somewhere else: in the approach to the entire system. A successful system should be designed so as to guarantee the same high quality of reproduction, no matter which medium (music or movies) we use. There is no good or bad system in itself, just good or bad sound. If the experience and the principles of design that are gained with stereo systems are applied in home theatre systems, there will be no difference in sound unless it exists in the recordings. The Audio Tantra concept has emphasized for years that the imperative for the multi-channel technology is to set up the stereo system as good as possible. The user may or need not use the two-channel system as the basis of the multi-channel system, but the point is in not degrading the two-channel system (stereo audio) if he/she wants to use the multi-channel system.

 

Audio Tantra creates two-channel systems without any compromises as the basis of the possible future multi-channel systems, so that when such multi-channel system is used as a two-channel system, it works then solely as a two-channel system. There are plenty of music materials digitally recorded in studio or in concert conditions (Dolby Digital, DTS), where the picture complements the experience of music, conveying the moments that we have missed or wish to repeat.

With the emergence of SACD format, the multi-channel sound (the real 5.1 surround SACD, not the hybrid SACD version) has found its justification with "two-channel" audiophiles as well (not merely as a better stereo CD). Therefore, instead of compromises and pseudo-dilemmas, we recommend the use of horn-based systems, which offer you a tremendous advantage in that you do not need any additional subwoofer in your audio or home theatre system (there are no frequency variations or phase and timing distortions) and guarantee the same high audio quality in both cases.