How Small Is Too Small A Room For Surround Speakers?

Question: My home theater is located in a 12 x 12- foot spare bedroom. A local A/V dealer told me this room is too small to install back surround speakers for 7.1. Is this true? If so, is there a speaker that can function as both surround and rear speakers so both channels can be hooked up to the same pair of surround speakers (thereby getting a 7.1 from a 5.1 speaker system)? STEVE TEMPLE / VIA E-MAIL

R.I.P., analog surround

Let's talk about audiophile equipment and component connections. It's no secret that the more high-end a receiver or other audio device is, generally the more jacks will be on the back. More complex means more advanced, after all.

Except doesn't seem to be the case anymore, especially for equipment set-up, and half of the connections you find on the back of a high-end receiver might very well be vestigial. It takes no less than 8 jacks to produce a proper 7.1-channel analog output (with a jack for each channel). If you have an ancient device that still somehow supports analog-out, or if you just like juggling wires, you have to run 6-8 cables from component to receiver to get surround sound.

Of course, virtually every surround-capable device on the market uses either HDMI or TOSLink to digitally pipe the surround sound through a single cable. The bandwidth is wide enough that either technology can handle 8 channels of uncompressed audio. It's one cable, with no effective change in sound quality.

At last: King Crimson in surround

The U.S. release dates are finally official for the first batch of KC on DVD-A (yes, DVD-Audio): Sept. 22 for Red, Oct. 13 for In the Court of the Crimson King, and Oct. 27 for Lizard. And as we reported some time ago, the surround mixes are indeed by Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson, with Crimson king Robert Fripp serving as executive producer.

The announcement came on KC's Web site, dgmlive.com, and it was just updated yesterday.

I'll let the DGM post speak for itself. Here's the direct link. (The dates there are for the U.K.)

Stay tuned to the print edition of Sound & Vision for special expanded coverage of these releases, as well as other surround titles coming soon — including Porcupine Tree's new studio album, The Incident, due Sept. 22.

— Ken Richardson

Atlantic Technology's new speakers

Atlantic Technology has unveiled three new series of home theater speakers, along with a set of new, powered subwoofers. The inspirationally-named System 1400, System 2400, and System 4400 speakers replace the System 1200, System 2200, and System 4200e models the company previously offered.

Each speaker series includes three different models: an LR front channel speaker, an MTM center channel speaker, and a selectable dipole/bipole surround channel speaker. A new speaker, the System 1400 SR-Z, brings the total number of new satellites to an even 10. The 1400 SR-Z is a dipole/bipole selectable model that Atlantic says is designed for use in the height channels of 7.1 or 9.1 systems that use Dolby Pro Logic IIz (but it also works as a standard surround speaker for 5.1 or 7.1 set-ups).

The new models feature subtle changes from the previous Atlantic speaker lines. The System 1400 and 2400 models now use Atlantic's "low resonance tweeter," and the System 4400 speakers offer new on-wall mounting options. Their visual designs have also been tweaked, to look similar to the company's floor-standing speakers.

Audyssey Labs introduces 10-channel surround

Yesterday, Audyssey Labs announced DSX, a new technology designed to add extra channels to a 5.1 or 7.1 surround-sound system. DSX, or Dynamic Surround Expansion, adds two front height-channel speakers, just as Dolby’s new Pro Logic IIz technology does, but it also adds two width speakers, each positioned 60 degrees to the side of the listener. The scheme also supports a center surround channel. The goal is greater listener envelopment and a more seamless listening experience.

You’re counting in your head, right? Yep, that’s a total of 10 speakers, plus a subwoofer. However, DSX is an a la carte proposition. According to Audyssey Labs chief science officer Tom Holman, of all the additional speakers you can add with DSX, the width speakers are the most important, because human hearing is most attuned to hearing differences in horizontal placement of sounds toward the front. You can use the height speakers instead of or in combination with the width speaker. And you can add one or two rear surround speakers in addition to the side surrounds.

Atlantic Technology gets high with new satellites

Good news for audiophiles interested in this new-fangled height channel business. Atlantic Technology has announced its first satellite speaker designed specifically to deliver height in a Dolby ProLogic IIz set-up. The 1400 SR-z's are dipole/bipole surround speakers intended to be placed above the main LR speakers in a home theater, adding more spacial detail to surround sound.

The 1400 SR-z speakers use dual 3 1/2-inch polymer-treated cone drivers with Atlantic Technology's High Frequency Assistive Radiator (HFAR) technology, which the company claims expands the speakers' range while keeping the physical size small. Indeed, the speakers are quite small; each satellite measures just 12 1/4" by 8" by 5 3/8", and weighs only 7 pounds.

The speakers will be available by the end of May, with a suggested retail price of $425 per pair.

— Will Greenwald

Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson: Superstar!

. . . or so you might surmise from the high-profile placements he's been getting in the press lately. As you know, we here at Sound & Vision have been longtime supporters of Steven Wilson and his modern progressive-rock band Porcupine Tree, especially owing to their interest in high-resolution reproduction and surround sound. (For a list of interviews, articles, and reviews, simply enter Porcupine Tree in our search window.) So it's especially gratifying to see Wilson popping up prominently in other magazines these days.

First, he's on the cover of the current issue (March 2009) of EM: Electronic Musician. Inside is a substantial interview focusing on Wilson's new solo album, Insurgentes. You can read the interview here. And after you finish the final screen, be sure to click on the "Extended Interview" link.

What's more, the current issue (April 4, 2009) of Billboard has Wilson's byline on an "Opinion" article called "The Album Is Alive." Subtitle: "Technology Doesn't Mean the End for Extended Work — or Artistic Packaging." You can read the editorial here.

Meanwhile, this year — like every year  — will continue to be a busy one for Wilson. First up: the initial pair of King Crimson reissues, Lizard and Red, which he has remixed in surround (more details to come). Next up: a new Porcupine Tree studio album, expected this fall, supported by a tour.

— Ken Richardson

Boxed Set of the Month: Pearl Jam's "Ten"

Let's see now . . . two CDs, one DVD, four LPs, a buncha other stuff, and a cassette! What, no 8-track? Despite that, the Collector's Edition of Pearl Jam's 1991 debut, Ten (Epic/Legacy), truly goes to Eleven — and as such, it's without question our Boxed Set of the Month for March.

In an increasingly non-physical-product Entertainment Age, this box, subtitled Pearl Jam 1990-1992, is the epitome of how record companies — when they do get physical — are pulling out all the stops for certain projects. I mean, just look at that thing above.

List price for the Collector's Edition: $199.98. Amazon.com is selling it here at $134.99.

Another thing that the box doesn't have, however, is — hello? HELLO?! — a surround mix of the album itself. Sigh.

Some details:

First 308.5 Iosono Surround System Installed In the US

That's right.  The Peltz Theater, part of the Museum of Tolerance/Simon Weisenthal Center in Los Angeles, was just completely renovated. The multi-million dollar improvements include a 308-channel audio system. Plus five subwoofers. Nice.

Because the theater was designed with this system in mind and stripped down to the struts for the renovation, all of the speakers are hidden from view. "The system utilizes waveform synthesis allowing for effects and movement of sound that have never been reproduced before now. Because of the way the sound is distributed, every seat in the house is a good one."

This is the first theater in the country with an Iosono 308-channel system. Because this theater is used for special events and fundraisers, it can take advantage of this custom configuration. There really isn't a lot of material out there mixed for 308.5. I'm comfortable mixing for 5.1 - I wouldn't know what to do with 308 discrete channels!

Keep reading for the video specs of this theater.

PTree in action, Crimson in surround!

I just got word from Porcupine Tree's manager, Andy Leff, that the band has the following release dates scheduled for 2008:

March: acoustic album
May: Lightbulb Sun (shown above left) in surround
September: live album
November: Steven Wilson's "sprawling" first solo album

Busy, busy, busy! The customary proviso: Whereas those dates are pretty solid, they're not locked-in 100%.

Meanwhile, as if that weren't news enough, Leff also tells me that he's now handling King Crimson and "working on getting the entire catalog reissued in 5.1," hopefully with mixes done by . . . Steven Wilson! Currently, Leff and Wilson are "waiting on Robert Fripp [who guested on PT's Fear of a Blank Planet and Nil Recurring] to hear Steven's work on some of the older KC stuff before he gives us the green light to proceed."

Just imagine the likes of Larks' Tongues in Aspic (above right), Red, and Discipline in surround. Oh, baby. —Ken Richardson