Audio Design Associates Cinema Reference Mach II PTM-8150 - Manual (Page 59)

Page 58
Tone Controls
In a perfectly acoustic room environment, a THX system (electronics and speakers) would not require
any tone control, as the film experience would be delivered across a controlled system, providing a
sound field as intended by the film maker. However, in the real world, no room is acoustically perfect.
Even in a high-end custom home theater, where special attention has been paid to the room’s acous-
tics, there will still be subtle acoustical issues which will benefit from some slight level of tone control.
The Cinema Reference permits the adjustment of bass and treble levels in what is best described as
a parametric tone control, because in addition to setting a level (in dB) for bass and treble, you can
also adjust the frequency point for bass and the frequency point for treble. This is a critical feature of
the Cinema Reference Mach II, as the tone control takes place in the DSP.
The Cinema Reference also features two tone groups (A & B), where each individual speaker can be
assigned to either group A, B, both A & B, or to neither group. The premise for the two tone groups
allows you to group like speakers together in two distinct groups, where levels and frequency points
are aligned to best contour the speakers. In a THX speaker system, the front right, front center, and
front left speakers are typically similar in size, driver configuration, etc,. The same is true for the
surround speakers, as they too are typically the same size, driver configuration, etc. As such, you may
opt to set the front speakers to group A and the surround speakers to group B. As each group provides
a for a unique Bass Frequency & Level and Treble Frequency & Level, you have significant control
over the Cinema Reference Mach II’s acoustics and as such, the power to correct deficiencies in the
room’s acoustics.
While Tone presets are discussed in the next section, it is important to note that the Cinema Reference
Mach II features four tone presets. Not only do these presets store the frequency and levels of each
group, but they also store the speakers assigned to the various groups. As such, you can create some
tone presets more ideal for film playback, while other tone presets can be recalled that might be more
pleasing for music playback. ADA strongly suggests storing tone presets as you proceed with these
adjustments, to preserve the calibrations performed while permitting you to experiment with alternate
configurations. As a point of information, Tone Preset 1 is easily recalled under the Channel knob.
The other three Tone presets require additional maneuvering, also under the Channel knob.
Tone Presets - Out of the Box
ADA has designed four tone presets as shown in the chart below. These Tone Presets may be useful
to you as you select to customize your home theater with tone control. As such, you may actually skip
the Speaker Group setup entirely by first recalling one of these four presets. Please note, that while
the presets do have frequency settings in place, all levels are set flat to 0dB. At the very least, you will
need to adjust the levels to hear any effect these presets may have on improving your home theater
sound.
GROUP A SPEAKER GROUP A TREB A TREB A BASS A BASS A
(X=SPKR ACTIVE) C S L R SL SR B L B R FREQ LEVEL FREQ LEVEL
TONE PRESET 1 X X X X X X X X 6KHZ 0DB 260HZ 0DB
TONE PRESET 2 X - X X - - - - 12KHZ 0DB 120HZ 0DB
TONE PRESET 3 - - X X - - - - 12KHZ 0DB 120HZ 0DB
TONE PRESET 4 X - X X X X X X 12KHZ 0DB 120HZ 0DB
GROUP B SPEAKER GROUP B TREB B TREB B BASS B BASS B
(X=SPKR ACTIVE) C S L R SL SR B L B R FREQ LEVEL FREQ LEVEL
TONE PRESET 1 - - - - - - - - 6KHZ 0DB 260HZ 0DB
TONE PRESET 2 - - - - X X X X 8KHZ 0DB 180HZ 0DB
TONE PRESET 3 X - - - X X X X 8KHZ 0DB 180HZ 0DB
TONE PRESET 4 X - X X X X X X 8KHZ 0DB 180HZ 0DB