Montreal 2001 Show Goodies!
by Rick
Becker
I also spent a few minutes listening to the Morel Applause Home theater system, consisting of five Soundspot SA-2 speakers and a 1S-9A Soundsub, the system costing $3495 CD. On silent display was their less expensive ($2200) Evit Home Theater system.
I also stepped into the Paradigm speaker room, but didn't stay since I have an excellent dealer back home who keeps me updated on them. Certainly, they have a wide range of products at excellent prices for both the music listener and the home theater enthusiast.
The most important home theater presentation at the show was probably the demonstration of the new Dolby Digital Pro Logic II. This system takes signals from ordinary two channel sources and converts it into a surround sound experience. We heard music first in ordinary stereo, then in Pro Logic II surround. A little spinning logo on the screen told us which was which, but the effect was obvious. And given the short demonstration, it seemed pretty convincing. This means that those of us with vast collections of stereo material can leap into the Surround Sound Era without having to replace our libraries. Whether the actual surround sound 5.1 Dolby Digital was an upgrade of the familiar 5.1 was not discussed, so I presume it remains the same, or they would have made a bit of noise about the upgrade.
As the early days of the Surround Sound Era are upon us, critics argue about how well a certain song may have been encoded or mixed, but the real issue is probably more of a "So What?" nature. The purpose of listening to music or watching movies is to be emotionally moved and/or intellectually challenged, or even simply, to be entertained. (enjoythemusic, if you will). For people of the Mono or Stereo Era, the early experiments of surround sound will probably not cause them to clear the "So What?" hurdle.
(Yes, I too, listened to experimental music on four-channel tape back in the late '60's).
But creative musicians will continue to explore surround sound possibilities. And manufacturers will be more than happy to supply the equipment. Production, acquisition, and wealth, lured by sex and power, are the driving forces of western civilization. Pro Logic II may well be the extra lift that many of us Mono/Stereo types need to get our juices and our dollars flowing in the direction of surround sound.
It is also important to recognize that surround sound does not have to wait for HDTV to become a broadcast reality. Now, with DVD and the possibilities of enhancing existing analog video, high quality pictures and high quality audio can be presented married, or not. The only question becomes "Does the music move you?"
I went to Montreal, and the music moved me. The Festival Son & Image is a wonderful event that I look forward to every year. As I've said before, if you live within 500 or even a thousand miles, come experience it. The people are friendly, and the listening opportunity is awesome whether you are just getting into it, or if you are already a serious listener. I hope I've written something that encourages you to visit your local dealer, and/or check out for yourself at the upcoming Home Entertainment 2001 show in New York, May 11-13. I hope to see you there.
My apologies to anyone whose equipment I might have missed. So much to see in so little time.
Now if I could just figure out those pesky French parking signs!
Click here to see
a
complete listing of show exhibitors.
Click here to see last
year's show coverage.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
