THX began life as a series of specifications for movie theaters back in the early 1980s when George Lucas was appalled by the varying audio/video quality that movie goers had to suffer. The first THX showroom opened in 1983 when the THX division of Lucasfilm opened. In 1990 the standard was applied to home sound systems, a sweet spot that has proved lucrative for the specification. The THX logo had long been considered a mark of excellence on home theater equipment. In its early days the logo was limited to relatively high end equipment that few could afford. Never a necessary mark of high end quality but many manufacturers chose to pay for testing at THX labs where it either passes or fails a series of explicit quality assurance tests.

I am probably of a generation that benefited most from this revolution of quality assurance standards in movie theaters. Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is surely seared into the DNA of a generation of movie goers as the specification for fine SF cinema. Unfortunately about the time Blade Runner was making its rounds the quality of the theater experience was horribly inconsistent. I saw the movie many times in theaters when it made it short rouds including in a few very bad conditions. Nobody appreciates the bigger picture, what Lucasfilm and the THX project has done for movies in general, more than those who remember how bad they were. In its time THX did a great job of illuminating those shortcomings. In recent history THX has done a remarkable job of producing a standard, any standard that unifies some measure of quality in audio and video reproduction.

Since the time of high end THX gear it has split into two groups, THX Select and THX Ultra and some would say this is where THX began a downward slide. THX was still a series of specifications requiring stringent testing at THX labs (paid for by the manufacturer), but the logo started appearing on surprisingly mainstream equipment. Lucasfilm would tell you that it was opening up the specification to more mainstream applications. The THX Selectcertification was applied as a reference at levels for rooms with around 2000 cubic feet of space. THX still retained the THX Ultra certification for its truly high end equipment designed to work with multi-channel music in rooms 3000 cubic feet or larger. The certification ostensibly guarantees your home theater equipment will play back high volume levels at low distortion and disperse sound in specific ways.

The THX logo has been tarnished in the eyes of many serious audiophiles. But with more and more different products coming out sporting THX logos, like 2.1 channel computer speakers, it's getting difficult to keep up with myriad of THX compromises and applications. What exactly are THX certified cables and interconnects supposed to do?

THX Integrated HT Spec

In June THX launched its Integrated Home Theater Specification. In this collaboration with Onkyo THX has helped create the first certified system of its kind, Onkyo's new HT-S990THX. What is an Integrated Home Theater system? Some call it Home Theater in a Box. Of course with Onkyo and THX branding behind the new product they're describing it as … "a space currently filled by home theater-in-a-box (HTiB) products"

Retailing at $1099 a fully THX certified home theater audio system has never been so accessible to the mainstream. And that's exactly the message from Robert Hewitt, vice president of sales at THX when he says:

“The THX Certified Integrated Home Theater specification provides CE manufacturers a means to bring more affordable, high quality audio to the masses. For years, THX has defined quality and performance in high-end home entertainment. Now, with the THX Integrated System specification and the Onkyo HT-S990THX, we are introducing a new category of home theater systems, one that bridges the gap between lower-priced HTiB products and premium home theater systems.”

So, it's not really HTiB like Zest is not really soap.

To Onkyo's credit, if you were looking for a budget home theater solution in one package you could do a lot worse than one of its HTiB systems that have received praise from reviews and users alike. The HT - S990THX is a feature rich system that includes:

• 32-bit DSP
• XM-Ready
• Onkyo's RI control
• Can decode Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES & DTS 96/24
• Includes processing for Dolby Digital ProLogic IIx, DTS Neo:6, THX Cinema2, THX Music & THX Games
• Speakers include a 1-inch soft-dome tweeter and dual 5-inch woofers
• 12-inch subwoofer with 230-watt power amplification module

But let's face it - does anyone take the THX logo seriously as a quality standard anymore?