Some seemingly great receivers, such as the Denon 3805 and the Sony ES lines, are not THX certified. Is it correct to assume that, while a receiver with THX is likely to sound great, not having the THX certification doesn't mean a receiver won't sound just as good?
I want to get a great receiver but don't want to feel as if I'm shorting changing myself by not getting this stamp of approval. Is the THX cert a stamp of approval I should be worried about?
I am sure that others here will disagree with me, but I would have to agree with your statement that "while a receiver with THX is likely to sound great, not having the THX doesn't mean a receiver won't sound just as good". There are MANY awesome receivers that are not THX certified...the ones you mentioned plus NAD and others. When a receiver is labeled at "THX Certified", all it means is that the receiver has "met" a certain set of criteria for performance. It is up to debate as to how stringent those criteria are. Some THX Certified receivers have very poor power supplies, so I sometimes wonder how tough it really is to get THX Certification. There are many receivers out there that could very easily meet that criteria, but those companies choose not to help line George Lucas' pockets by slapping that THX logo on their products.
So, in short, get a receiver that sounds good to YOU and will fit YOUR needs. If it has THX Certification, so be it...if not, you will still have a receiver that sounds great.
THX is kinda like an opinion on a receiver, thats all..........but its a very well respected and intelligent opinion that I listened to and bought a THX certified receiver, the Yamaha RXV2400
you have to pay thx to get your system certified. some manufacturers are not willing to do that on all if any of their equipment.
so just because it does not have the thx certification doesn't tell you anything.
and like johnny said many have questioned the thx certification process as their are still some inferior equipment that have thx certification.
and before anyone thinks i am bashing thx no! i'm just stating that not all thx certified equipment is going to be good just because it has a thx logo.
The Yamaha 1400 and 2400 are the best examples I know of the benefit of THX. It forced Yamaha to offer variable crossover settings instead of their stupid 90db fixed setting. In order to receive THX certification a receiver must be able to drive a load of 3.2 ohms so that theoretically means all THX receivers can drive 4 ohm speakers with no problem. Theoretically mind you. Some sort of cinema eq and timbre matching is included also which I have found on all my receivers THX or not to be very beneficial. THX is not the holy grail but is of some benefit generally and a large benefit in the case of the two Yamaha's but I would not base my purchasing decision on THX or no THX.
I can't believe all the discussions on THX certification. A movie theater has different acoustical properties than our livingrooms. Movie soundtracks are not recorded for our "livingrooms." They're recorded to sound best in a theater. A THX receiver has certain features (see THX.com) that makes a movie's soundtrack that we are listening to in our livingrooms sound as close as possible as the director intended it to sound in a theater. Period! That's it guys. That being said. THX does not mean one receiver is "better" than another. Hope that helps and puts this silly discussion to rest once and for all.
but on some of the early thx certified recievers when you played a thx equalized movie the reciever would do it again so you got double thx equ'ing. that did not work correct.