Tannoy FX Listening Evaluation - Movies

"...ambient scores throughout were rendered well and sound effects came across clean and directionally-accurate."

- Clint DeBoer
Audioholics.com

U-571

No fair, you say! Well, yes, I suppose you're right. In playing the "Depth-charged!" chapter of U-571 you will find a complete lack of sub 45Hz frequencies in the FX 5.1 system - leaving this movie begging for a lower, tighter subwoofer. I didn't put this movie in for the punch, however. I put it in to see if the subwoofer would play down to its potential without distorting. It did so, while performing better than the Bose Acoustimass system I listened to the same material on. In my opinion, the Bose provided a complete clutter of the frequencies involved, muddying up the entire chapter with a distorted, uncontrolled mess of low frequency that left me wondering how on earth they could justify the cost of this system - or imply that it was somehow tuned to perform that way.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Listening to this DVD provided a great opportunity for the FX 5.1 to present a clean soundtrack and a large sound stage. The ambient scores throughout were rendered well and sound effects came across clean and directionally-accurate. The FX 5.1 subwoofer missed a lot of the low frequency effects due to its limited bass extension; however it again did a good job of keeping to its range.

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Similar to the last DVD, in viewing the DTS track of The Lord of the Rings, the FX 5.1 system displayed an accurate sound stage, providing smooth pans and well-balanced dialogue and effects. The orc battle at the end of the film is a great chance to experience any surround system's ability to handle a lot of effect information from simultaneous speakers. The small satellites performed well, though I felt that when the dynamics got a bit overbearing it may have pushed these drivers to their limit on the high-end. The audible effect was an overly bright (almost artificial), crispness that was not noticeable at low to moderate listening levels.