What is a good film to test a DVD player?

I think I might have mentioned "The Fifth Element" -- the Blue Diva sequence being my favorite. My Yamaha THX has a calibration microphone that goes through all the tests for all nine channels including the eqalization of each speaker since I have a melange of speaker brands. My front speakers, left and right, are the BOSE minis with a subwoofer, my presence speakers above those to the far left and right are Yamaha, the big sub-woofer is Jensen, the rear channels are B & W. I am replacing the two front channels with the B & W 705's because they utilize the Nautilus tweeters but will likely not replace the Jensen sub-woofer nor the two presence channels (they don't have to be full range). Yep, timber, I only monkey with the LFE late at night and compress it really by just turning down the Jensen manually.

"Lawrence of Arabia" is an excellent restoration both for picture and sound.

My primary HT speaker setup is all Polk - various sizes in various locations, 4-way 5-element towers up front left-and-right, full sized 6-element 3-way front and rear centers, full sized purpose-designed (switchable bipole/dipole) 3-way rear surrounds, and smaller bookshelf-sized 2-way speakers for the additional spatial effect channels, but all same-brand/same-series, timbre-matched, and tolerant of insane power levels

I use multiple subs, too - the front towers each have very healthy built in powered side-shootin' subs, a dual-12" side-shooter sub is a bit out from one corner at the front of the room, behind and well away from the right front tower, and a more modest, but still very adequately powered, single-10" downshooter sub is on the back wall, at the center of the room. The base isn't "boomy", or otherwise distorted at all - I can't stand that - and it doesn't over-power the sound track, but its definitely authoritative, gut felt, chest-kickin' Low Freq, tight all the way into the sub-audible, with extremely fast, well controlled attack and decay ... a bass guitar sounds like a bass guitar, and bomb or a cannon sounds very much like a bomb or a cannon. A well-recorded gunshot will startle helloutta ya.

For serious music listenin' though - not movies or TV - I generally prefer simple 2 channel stereo through my ancient Klipsch La Scalas. Of course, some rock benefits from includin' the big front sub - another few hundred watts always adds a little somethin' to good rock

The Red Violin,
The Piano, or
Blade Runner.

90% of film content . . .
is in the sound.

Ya know, Codeborg, I'd thoughtta recomendin' Bladerunner - a personal fave (the Directors Cut version, not the bowdlerized original release). The Vangelis score is intriguin', and the DD 5.1 soundtrack is well done overall - crisp dialog, good spatial renderin', credible effects. The cinematography, though, really can't be appreciated on anything less than an excellent, progressive-scan-capable, fairly large screen - helluva lotta shadow detail is lost otherwise, almost makin' it a different film. It is a challenge for even very good systems in that regard.

"Blade Runner" -- good choice for early surround which has been digitized to 5.1 in the Director's Cut, a distinct improvement over the version the studio insisted on, presumably to make the film more understandable to their condescending attitude that a general audience wouldn't get it. I disagree that sound is 90% of film content unless it's a second rate film that happens to have a great soundtrack like "Krull."

Can't go wrong with Polk nor the vintage Klipsh La Scalas -- I once owned two Jensen Imperials which took up a quarter of the room. We tested them by recording jack hammers down the street and replaying them! Two 30" woofers truly did make one's close fluttler. I still believe in the upper mid-range especially that the B & W's have purity I haven't found any better in A, B test in sound rooms. Of course, the B & W Nautilus speakers are heaven but a little too pricy for my pocketbook.

Did I misunderstand or are you saying that the receiver is self adjusting?
If so what model is it? I have an Onkyo THX receiver that came out just before 7.1 was available and am thinking of upgrading.
I have M&K LCR 750's for the L, C, R, Jamo direct/reflecting rears and a M&K 1200 watt sub. I was going to go with the dual subs but being in a condo kind of limits the volume.

Hmm, I don't have the model number in my head but I can look it when I get home. The unit cost was around $800.00 and one reason I purchased it was because of the calibration microphone configuration feature. It also equalizes the different brands of speakers to match up their response curves within the listening room area. For instance, the presence speakers are mounted close to the left and right walls of the room so there is a difference in the dispersion of the treble. The calibration mike hears this and adjusts the response. I am about to mount those two speakers on adjustable mounts so I can angle them into the room as advised by Yamaha. I will have to go through the mike calibration again. Indispensable in my opinion.

It's 9.1, incidentally as it includes two side surround channels and two rear surround channels.

$800!?! That seems incredibly cheap for something like that. I use a radio shack sound meter to set the channels but always end up turning the sub and center up after I initially set the levels.

Are there any movies utilizing 9.1 yet? I think I have seen a couple 7.1 but can't remember.

This is the only Yamaha 9.1 receiver I could find, if this is it you got a great deal my friend.

Did you mean to provide a link?

I will have to get a model number because I do have all nine outputs and the microphone calibration testing for nine channels. I think you've found a new model that has like got more powerful amps for each channel and other bells and whistles. Whether it is worth over $4,000. more I couldn't tell you. All I know is I have all 9 channels operating and they were calibrated using the mikes.

I have the RXV-1400 which is shown as a 7.1 receiver but has the two rear channel outputs! I would guess they are not discrete but merely the same signal as the two side channels and increasing the rear ambient soundstage. I have the rear speakers firing upwards from the floor and the calibration, of course, compensated for the level, polarity and equalization.

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/receivers/RXV1400.htm

The new "Star Wars" is 9.1 THX sound but whether that will be offered on the DVD is questionable. The receiver you've linked to is one of their flagship super-duper models which in AB testing at the dealer didn't sound that much different (then, I would imagine the rear channels were also not discrete).

At $799.00 and reading reviews of this model online, many of them user reviews, I think this is the best buy on the market.

The only way you would hear a difference would be with a 9.1 DVD playing. I would think it would be too subtle to justify the extra $3500, not to mention the scarcity of 7.1 much less 9.1 DVD's now or even in the near future.

Do you happen to know of any current DVD's that offer 7.1?

Just remembered there's a kinda-relevant, interestin', A/V gear-related thread from years ago Here

Sublime, a small-but-growin' selection of 7.1-audio-encoded DVDs are on the market, mostly recent releases of "blockbuster hit" extravaganzas. Just do a shoppin' search for "DVD + 7.1". There are some audio-only 7.1 DVD-A (DVD Audio) format music-only offerin's out there, too. A DVD player with digital audio output, connected digitally (optical or coax) to a 7.1-capable surround processor stage, would be required to reproduce the 7.1 sound. The codin' info is in the digital bitstream if its there at all; it will not be present in the line-level outputs.

That is correct, timber (I shouldn't wonder why!)

I do have some 7.1 music DVD's and my unit provides many setting for simulating the DSP channels (which are actually the two extra channels on 7.l, not the rear channels). Some DVD's of movie will show that they are DSP (Digital Spatial Presence). The 9.1 are the two extra rear surround channels providing for a configuration of two side surround speakers and two rear surround speakers. The Yamaha also provides a bit more delay on the rear channels and one could monkey with the ambient effects by changing the equalization manually on the rear channels. I find the simple "enhanced" setting for the two front DSP channels to work with almost anything including Dolby Pro Logic. There are settings for music video, old stereo movies, concert hall and many more. In Dolby Digital material, you can also provide diagonal lift to the center channel to the effect that voices appear to come from behind the screen rather than in front and somewhat higher up.