Had to replace my BD player recently as it was dying after several years of solid service. Whilst in the shop in question (who shall remain nameless, but let's just say that they're not what I'd call a high-end hifi shop), I asked whether they had an Atmos system setup. The answer was "yes sir, fancy a listen". Having heard so many positive things about Atmos, had to try that out.
I think they had a 5.1.2 system, i.e. the usual 5 channels, with a sub (maybe two) and 2 speakers on the ceiling). The dem was of Transformers something or other. Frankly, the film was irrelevant and probably just aswell, as I've not enjoyed any of them.
So, onto the dem and....WTF is this shop thinking. It was the audio equivalent of checking out TVs in a shop where everything is set to VIVID! In this case, with the bass. All the surround and vocals were simply submerged between the lower frequencies, which had clearly been turned up to emulate an earthquake. It was simply impossible to tell if the rear or height speakers were doing anything. Ghastly.
Makes me wonder. Was that just the shop in question, or a general thing and if so, no wonder the audio market is in such trouble. If I took that at face value, I'd stick with TV speakers (if I had a TV).
I think they had a 5.1.2 system, i.e. the usual 5 channels, with a sub (maybe two) and 2 speakers on the ceiling). The dem was of Transformers something or other. Frankly, the film was irrelevant and probably just aswell, as I've not enjoyed any of them.
So, onto the dem and....WTF is this shop thinking. It was the audio equivalent of checking out TVs in a shop where everything is set to VIVID! In this case, with the bass. All the surround and vocals were simply submerged between the lower frequencies, which had clearly been turned up to emulate an earthquake. It was simply impossible to tell if the rear or height speakers were doing anything. Ghastly.
Makes me wonder. Was that just the shop in question, or a general thing and if so, no wonder the audio market is in such trouble. If I took that at face value, I'd stick with TV speakers (if I had a TV).