Lexicon DC-1 7.1 channel tips
Here are some Lexicon DC-1 7.1 channel tips I've discovered:
- Don't set the sides to "Dipoles", in certain modes the rear
channels will be muted!
- In THX Cinema mode when you set the surround mode from DECORR to
STEREO, you get stereo surrounds but there will be no steering between
the sides and the rears.
- In all the THX modes (CINEMA, AC3, DTS) the sides and the rears
are run in parallel. This is like an array of surround speakers
like the Movie Theatre's have. IMO this defeats the main purpose of
having 7 channels.
- The 7.1 channels, I mean sides and rears really shine with the
"Logic 7" modes. If you're 7.1 then these are the modes to use.
Am I correct here? The image is very wide. It is somewhat Panorma
like. How can I shrink this down? Turning down the surrounds level
doesn't really do it.
- I have dipoles for the sides and rears. I think dipoles are
the way to go, even with music. My sides are the old Altec Lansing
THX surrounds that I picked up cheap. Incredible speaker for
the price. My old rear speakers are the Boston Acoustic THX
dipoles. I definitely recommend getting surrounds with tweeters
in them like the Altec Lansing THX dipoles. The extra high end
is really nice in AC3 or DTS. It really adds a sparkle to the
surrounds. My old Boston Acoustic THX dipoles were designed for
Prologic and they roll off the high end.
- Don't have EQ's for my surrounds yet, but my feeling is that
EQ'ing inexpensive surrounds will give you much more bang for the
buck than having expensive surrounds with no EQ. I might be
wrong here, but this is my gut feeling. The room does weird things
to the surrounds, it is much more dramatic than what the room
does to the front speakers.
- You don't need a big rectangular room to get the benefits of
going to sides and rears. My sides are high on the wall directly
on my sides and my rear surrounds are several feet up on the
wall right behind and above my couch. Not the ideal setup I know,
but it is the best I can do in my room. Let me just say, I don't
have the perfect room but I am glad I went 7 channel. The effect
is very impressive.
- Seven channel steering is nice, but what is nicer is the
increased ambience. Now I am totally enveloped by the surrounds.
It is much harder to pinpoint the location of the surrounds
in seven channel. Since I am from the dipole school of thought
I consider this a good thing!!! (:
Seven channels? Just do it. You'll be glad you did.
erik olson
: I'm expanding from 5 channels to 7, and trying to make plans for speakers
and speaker placement.
: Help! Anyone with experience in a similar situation? Any thoughts from the
lexicon pros?
I have dipole sides and dipole rears and I'm quite happy with the results. I
am a strong believer of dipole surrounds for several reasons. The diffuse
nature of dipoles is more forgiving in listener postion and odd room
geometries, you get a wider sweet spot. I also don't like being able to pin
point the position of the surroud speakers, I find this annoying. And last of
all, the mythical 5 channel holophonic surround imaging is a joke, I haven't
heard it, and they don't mix movies that way.
When you go 7 channel chances are you will need to buy another amp. I
personally would take this opportunity to buy a bigger 2 channel amp with more
wattage for that passive sub woofer or left and right speakers. I went from
100W to 600W for my two 12" passive sealed subs. What a difference did that
make!
One more thing I'd like to say is that the Logic 7 algorithms are awesome,
and if you have already spent this much money on a DC-1 then you have to go 7
channel. There is no excuse, its worth it.
erik
Check out my home theatre tips page.