First of all I would like to thank Peter (Fugueness) for hosting this event. Peter is someone whose A/V opinion I respect and his comments about the Catalysts speakers were confirmed yesterday at this event. I would also like to thank Mark Seaton, Mark put a lot of his time and effort into pulling this special event off and it really was a one of a kind. Having Keith Yates attend and share his incredible knowledge of acoustics made the afternoon truly special for all of us lucky enough to be there.
So what I heard Saturday was an all Mark Seaton 7.1 powered speaker system comprised of Catalysts LCR, Spark surround and surround back speakers and 4 (yes four) Submersive subwoofers. To top this off we watched images displayed on a SIM2 Lumis DLP projector (courtesy of cal87). Just writing this blows my mind, listening and watching it was over the top crazy fun.
It was my understanding Mark used a Berringer DCX2496 to EQ the Subversive’s. The Catalysts and Sparks were running sans EQ as there wasn’t time to setup the Audyssey pro rig Mark had brought along. To my ears, the whole ensemble sounded excellent and further EQ was unwarranted. Peter’s room is large and open and my guess is that the room, time constraints and requirements of the meet dictated placing the quad Catalysts in a non-symmetrical manner. Three were on the left side of the room and one was in the right rear. None were in a corner or true mid-wall location. The Sparks were positioned as best they could be under the time constraints.
My impressions … the build quality and appearance of all of Marks products is top notch. He had several of the new wood veneer finishes on display and they were very nice but honestly, my preference was for the basic black finish of the Catalysts/Sparks. The large chamfer of the front edge of the Catalysts makes them appear visually smaller than they are and is a very nice design touch that I assume has acoustical advantage as well. In any case, they are well made and nice looking and something I would be proud to own and display. But the real advantage of Marks HT products are true value they offer and the sound they produce. Even with all of the caveats of room and short prep time, I have never heard a better sounding system.
I was in the money seat for the first demo of Ratatouille (shotgun scene) and the sound clarity and bass impact were just about perfect. It was truly the best rendition of that movie scene I have heard and I cannot imagine it sounding better on any system regardless of price. Unfortunately, we spent quite a bit of time on War of the Worlds and it may just be that I am tired of that movie and its bass heavy scenes but it was not as impressive as what preceded and followed. The next standout demo was Open Range. Although the video quality is lacking, the shootout scene (Ch 14) is a great test of a systems dynamic capabilities. Again, the Seaton HT system rendered this scene better than any system I have heard. Mark got kind of crazy with the volume on this one a pushed it to reference and a bit above and the speakers remained clear and strong regardless … truly an amazing performance.
There was some time spent on two channel music and although I did not really sit in the “money seat” for any of the selections I can verify the off axis performance of the Catalysts was very good. My take is that these are HT speakers first and foremost but that they can provide clarity, imaging and soundstage that many “high end” cannot.
To sum it up, I cannot imagine there is a better audio option for a 3-6000 cf home theater than Marks combo that I heard yesterday. The powered DSP controlled Catalysts, Sparks and Submersive(s) take HT audio to levels of performance that you have to hear to believe. I am not unhappy with my current setup and I am not likely (note the hedging) to spend the considerable amount necessary to gain the 15-20% performance delta that I might realize, but if I were starting from scratch and had the budget, I would be very tempted. A truly a remarkable system (in my humble and uber-amateur opinion).
Thanks again for letting me hear your system Peter and it was nice meeting you all.
Some pics:
Catalysts LCR
Lumis/Sparks
Sparks Closeup
DCX2496 (command center)
Mark rolling eyes at question
More teaching-explaining
Keith Yates holding court
