THX certified?

[newguy1]

What exactly does thx certified mean? One of the Receivers I am looking at has it the other does not. Is this something that underlines the quality of sound that the receiver is capable of?

 

[MUDSHARK]

It means the one receiver has been certified to meet the THX standard, I believe. The other may meet it as well but just did not go through the expense of certification.

 

[MDS]

One aspect of THX certfication is meeting performance standards set by THX as alluded to by mudshark.

Another aspect is the receiver will include THX post-processing routines and decoders. THX surround is a decoder that is basically the same as DD-EX but can be layered on top of other decoders.

The post-processing routines are things like Re-EQ that re-equalizes the sound to cut the high frequencies, timbre matching and adaptive decorrelation. You can read up on what they mean at thx.com.

 

[jbrillo]

Here's a great article to read up on what exactly THX certified means. Some say it's garbage, some say it's great. I think it has some worth, but just b/c a product isn't THX certified doesn't mean it's not good. Ultimately it's worthiness must be decided by you. Read the article. It's worth it. Happy hunting!!

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_13_1/feature-article-thx-1-2006-part-1.html

 

[fmw]

I think the main advantage of THX is that the product's specifications are certified by a third party. That means you are actually getting what you think you're getting. As an example, a THX certified product may have a beefier power supply than one that is not in order to meet the certification standard for output power.

Also, the manufacturer will normally pay for certification only for its better products so you are usually buying one of the manufacturer's better designs.

I don't think it would affect the sound in any meaningful way and I certainly don't think it should be a deal breaker but it does have some value.

 

[3db]

I think the main advantage of THX is that the product's specifications are certified by a third party. That means you are actually getting what you think you're getting. As an example, a THX certified product may have a beefier power supply than one that is not in order to meet the certification standard for output power.

Also, the manufacturer will normally pay for certification only for its better products so you are usually buying one of the manufacturer's better designs.

I don't think it would affect the sound in any meaningful way and I certainly don't think it should be a deal breaker but it does have some value.

I don't know.. I don't recall the NADs being THX certified and I'd choose them over a THX certified Yamaha or Denon from a power supply/amp section any day.

I initially like the idea of the post processsing but I wonder if I would really use it if I had it. I just don't like the idea of paying for some feature I may never use.