PA-6F System DVD - Audio 5.1
Multi-Channel Surround Sound Music
Multi-channel audio comes off as a bit of a gimmick to some, while others see it as a revolution in music. For me it's a great way to practically guarantee a high quality recording from a studio. Rarely have I brought home a DVD-Audio disk and been disappointed in the recording - the same cannot be said for CD.
Diana Krall's S'wonderful, a rendition of a Brazilian Jazz tune sung in her relaxed style, is the perfect test for your tweeters. Every sentence of the song starts with an extended Ssssss. All those Ss sung in Krall's relaxed middle highs are a perfect test of a speaker's sibilance. I am pleased to report that the distortion sometimes heard when the letter S is pronounced into the mic was, in this case, at a minimum - the tweeters were able to roll with the S's like a speaker system worth twice the price.
Frank Zappa's Halloween is one of my all-time favorite DVD-Audios. The disk contains a reproduction of a memorable concert from the late 70's, featuring bouncing bass drums, singing guitars and even a sitar performance thanks to Ravi Shankar. The recording quality is excellent; Zappa pushed the limits of recording technology in his day, and these Halloween concerts were actually recorded specifically for Quadrophonic.
When I closed my eyes, I was immersed in sound and could hear the crowds cheering all around me. The track Zeets had a particular encompassing effect, where the drum beat seemed to circle the entire room. The timbre seemed well-matched and the complexity of the individual drum beats wasn't lost on the smaller surround speakers. Most 5.1 speakers systems will present compromised rear effects just because - let's face it - they get away with smaller, cheaper surround speakers. Only occasionally do you really find full frequency range coming out of the surrounds, and then it's understood that it won't sound as full as the fronts in a full sized 5.1 system. In the case of the PA 6F, the cohesion of the single sound effect circling the room was surprisingly well done.
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