One day last year I had the opportunity to hear a better 2- channel setup than most if you could dream of, and DTS's 11.2 surround studio setup in SoCal back-to-back using the same source material. The 2-channel system was at Randy's Optimal Enchantment in Santa Monica and included Vandersteen 7's, Audio Research electronics, the top of the line Basis turntable with an Air Tight PC-1 Supreme, and a DCS-based digital front end. It sounded glorious. (Randy, BTW, is a gentlemen, a scholar, and a great host).
The DTS system was all digital using proprietary DCS hardware and software with a Macintosh-based source and GUI, 11 Vienna Acoustics speakers of various sizes, two huge Vienna Acoustics subwoofers, and all driven by Ayre Acoustics amplification. This setup was in a huge room and had a mastering console in the middle of a speaker array that looked like Stonehenge with a hemispherical cage above which held several height channel speakers. The system software was running a prototype of DTS NeoX optimized for 11.2 channels, with Audessey-based room equalization.
DTS had high definition digital masters of everything we played at Randy's place on consumer 2-channel media, (vinyl and CD's). Fellas, it wasn't even close. Randy's set-up sounded like a very good stereo reproducer - maybe the best I've heard. The DTS set-up was like a time and space warp machine - it put you in the recording venue. Not only that, with movement of the Mac's mouse, it moved your apparent location anywhere in the venue. It was mind-blowing.
Having heard this, it is very hard to take stereo seriously, except as a historical footnote to real high definition audio. This is what I want in my home, and my 5.1 system is much closer than to it than 2-channels can ever be.
The DTS system was all digital using proprietary DCS hardware and software with a Macintosh-based source and GUI, 11 Vienna Acoustics speakers of various sizes, two huge Vienna Acoustics subwoofers, and all driven by Ayre Acoustics amplification. This setup was in a huge room and had a mastering console in the middle of a speaker array that looked like Stonehenge with a hemispherical cage above which held several height channel speakers. The system software was running a prototype of DTS NeoX optimized for 11.2 channels, with Audessey-based room equalization.
DTS had high definition digital masters of everything we played at Randy's place on consumer 2-channel media, (vinyl and CD's). Fellas, it wasn't even close. Randy's set-up sounded like a very good stereo reproducer - maybe the best I've heard. The DTS set-up was like a time and space warp machine - it put you in the recording venue. Not only that, with movement of the Mac's mouse, it moved your apparent location anywhere in the venue. It was mind-blowing.
Having heard this, it is very hard to take stereo seriously, except as a historical footnote to real high definition audio. This is what I want in my home, and my 5.1 system is much closer than to it than 2-channels can ever be.
