Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater My Audition Thoughts

Good points about difference in CD quality. On a poor system, there's less audible difference between a poor album and a good one. By contrast on a good Axiom stereo system the differences are significant. On a good surround system, the (few) good surround albums are breathtaking.

If you don't have SACD, even DVD players can play the DD 5.1 compatibility track on DVD-A albums. Examples of good DVD-As are Eagles Hotel California and Fleetwood Mac Rumours. If you have SACD, IMO the best example is Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon. Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road SACD is very good -- clearly deliniated soundstage with good use of surround.

Alison Krauss + Union Station Live is an even better example of how good SACD can sound. I highly receommend it.

Amazon.com link (I particularly agree with the first comment in the review section on this page.)

I don't have Allison Krauss -- Union Station, but I've heard it on several surround systems. It's very good, but as the Amazon reviewer said, not much surround activity. Maybe that's appropriate for the type of music.

Of course how to use surround is controversial to many artists and engineers -- some feel it's unnatural, since the live concert soundstage is up front, not to the sides. Others feel judicious use of surround simply expands the stereo image out to 180 deg, giving the artist and engineer more options, which if intelligently used positively contributes to the listener experience.

Personally I like a significant amount of surround, if it's properly done. That assumes your surround speakers are at about 90 deg -- music from behind feels very artificial and uncomfortable to me.

That said, how (and whether) to take 30-yr old stereo material and remix for surround is tricky. But it can be done, as witnessed by some of the below albums.

The difference in albums is amazing. Diana Krall -- The Look of Love (5-ch SACD), Norah Jones -- Come Away With Me (5-ch SACD), Carol King -- Tapestry (5-ch SACD), Peter Frampton -- Frampton Comes Alive (5-ch SACD), Neil Young -- Harvest (DVD-A), REM -- The Best of REM (DVD-A), are all great music but in general make somewhat limited use of surround.

By contrast Eagles -- Hotel California (DVD-A), Fleetwood Mac -- Rumours (DVD-A), David Bowie -- Ziggy Stardust (5-ch SACD), Elton John -- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (5-ch SACD) and Pink Floyd -- Dark Side of the Moon (5-ch SACD) make more extensive (but still appropriate) use of surround. Even if you aren't a fan of these groups, it's worth trying the Pink Floyd album to experience what good surround is like.

If you have Axiom speakers in a 5.1 config, and a regular DVD player but not an SACD player, at least try the good DVD-As. The Dolby 5.1 track on these will give you an idea of what good surround is like on a good speaker system. It's an amazing experience.

pmbuko
Thanks for the heads up. I just got my first referral check the other day! Good to know that it "pays" to spread the gospel.