Cinema Sound, Devotion

Colleagues, Hanukkah and Christmas greetings from Tacoma as I'm no longer on the Hood Canal. We don't talk much about cinema sound here very much but I had the I had the opportunity to see the film "Devotion" twice this past week as a birthday gift from my oldest son and my brother. The first time I experienced the movie was in a theater that did not use JBL Speakers, and the sound was not that good. It sounded like it was on the edge of distortion. The picture was good and I liked the stadium seating. The second time , with my brother, was in an AMC theater with a flat floor but lounge type seats that my brother likes. The surround speakers were JBLs. I'm assuming that behind the screen were JBLs also. No matter how loud the sound got and it got plenty loud, the sound never got distorted or distressed. The sound was much better in the JBL equipped theater. My brother and I had an intrinsic interest in seeing the movie as our late Father was with the Marines at the Chosin reservoir, where the action takes place. I recommend you see this movie.

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Originally Posted by Ed Kreamer

We don't talk much about cinema sound here very much but I had the I had the opportunity to see the film "Devotion" twice this past week...

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Earlier this week I was talking to the folks at ATI who build the Datasat processors and BGW amplifiers for DTS theaters. Commercial cinema has really been dominated by Dolby and JBL and most theaters use Dolby's servers and processors along with Crown amps and JBL speakers, but there are alternatives.

Most local theaters in my area use JBLs. I have seen EV speakers at one venue and the local art house has Meyer Sound, but it seems to me that the installation, set up, and calibration are the real determining factors of the sound quality in theaters. I expect a skilled installer can make any of these brands sound good and a hack can screw up the best speakers.

I know a few years ago that Klipsch had been somewhat successful in their theater business, but I am not sure if they have continued pursuing it. Quite a few years ago TAD was trying to take on JBL's dominance but I don't think TAD is still in the commercial cinema business. Apparently Dolby is also in the cinema loudspeaker business, but I don't know how much market penetration they have made.

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Originally Posted by Ed Kreamer

My brother and I had an intrinsic interest in seeing the movie as our late Father was with the Marines at the Chosin reservoir, where the action takes place.

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A few years ago I had a somewhat similar experience with my best friend. His dad was in the Navy and spent much of his WWII time on the aircraft carrier the USS Hornet. It is now a local museum. We toured the ship together and shared stories of his dad.


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