The Center speaker is different from the four satellites. First is
its casing. The center unit is built in the controller box. Videologic decided
that instead of manufacturing an extra piece of hardware for this set, it
would be better to implant the central speaker with the controller. I applaud
them for the move. If you remember in our previous DigiTheatre review, this
wasn’t the case. The center unit was a piece and the decoder another one,
which resulted in more wires to connect and extra space wasted.
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Controller
- Center Speaker
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The configuration panel of the DigiTheatre DTS
is quite an improvement compared to the DigiTheatre system. Videologic decided
to keep it as basic as possible by not implanting a LCD screen and these entirely
useless buttons that are generally resulting in nothing more than confusion.
The front panel features six buttons. First is the mode button, it let’s you
chose different sound modes. You have the choice of DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby
PRO LOGIC, Stereo, Theatre, Hall. The first three are of course different
home theater standards. Both the DTS and Dolby Digital is obtained from a
digital source such as a DVD Player or one of these newer DSS receivers. Dolby
PRO LOGIC is the older home theatre standard that is achieved through the
Analog stereo RCA jacks. The other three choices can be considered as different
sound schemes. Stereo plays back the stereo signal through the front left,
front right and the subwoofer. Theatre uses all the speakers to create the
effect of a real theatre. Hall is a similar mode to the theatre, but tightens
high frequencies to reproduce the effect in a smaller room.
The next button is the level. This let’s you adjust the volume level for each
speaker. In order to obtain the most realistic results, each speaker has to
be operating at the same volume level. Following next is the Mute button,
as most already know, it turns the sound off of every channel. Next is the
test button, this passes a hissing sound to each channel in order to verify
if all the speakers were successfully connected. Last is the power button,
it of course turns the system on and off.
The center unit not only hasn’t the same casing,
but also uses a totally different driver from the four other speakers. It
uses a 100mm/3.94 inch bass/mid frequency drive unit with a concentric high-frequency
tweeter. The driver sits on a .5" high stand with a 4" rubber feet.
The Subwoofer’s driver is the exact same product used in the expensive
Videologic PRO system. It’s an 8" magnetically shielded driver.
The driver it self is built in a MDF wooden cabinet. The Cabinet hosts the
audio decoder and the 220 Watts (RMS) amplifier. Unlike in the Sirocco PRO
system, the DTS set features a protection grill. The back of the unit feature
all the inputs and outputs. Similar to the DigiTheatre, the DTS set features
both the optical (toslink) and coaxial (RCA) digital inputs. An analog input
is of course also available (RCA). Each of the four satellites is operating
at 30 Watts, the central 30-Watts and the Subwoofer is rated at 75Watts. This
is quite an improvement compared to the DigiTheatre set that was capable of
67 Watts in total. The dimensions of the subwoofer are 350 x 245 x 400mm;
13.78 x 9.65 x 15.75 inches.
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Subwoofer
- Front View
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Subwoofer
- Back View
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