I have the 950 (awesome) and am running 6.1 right now. I want to go 7.1 next week and was wondering how the ICBM worked with it. I see in the manual that you use a Y cable to sum the surrounds. Does this mess up the surround processing of the 950?

If you have the ICBM downstream of the 950 (between 950 and amp), you could leave the 950 set up for 6.1 -- from the discussions I remember on the 950's decoding modes (CES as well as DD-EX and DTS-ES), the two surround back channels are mono anyway. On the other hand, using the Y-adapters (as recommended by the ICBM's manual) would probably make it easier to balanace all of your speaker levels. Either way, the surround processing of the 950 shouldn't really be affected, I don't think.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

I love my ICBM, but I know it is capable of only outputting a monaural rear surround signal, which is fine for EX and ES. But, the rear surround signal of DD PLIIx, though matrixed, is, if I understand things correctly, stereo. Using the ICBM between preamp and amp will mix the stereo signal into monaural won't it? If I'm correct about this, might there be an 7.1 ICBM-2 in the near future?

You are correct about the ICBM's rear surround being a mono channel. We haven't heard anything about a new ICBM, but that doesn't mean we won't see one. In the interim, one solution would be to set the rear surrounds to small at the processor (since any processor with PLIIx would also easily allow this) and let the bass from them go to the mains or the sub, then just bypass the ICBM entirely with those two channels.

Couple o'things to be careful about when using the ICBM between your pre-pro and amp:

First, since the ICBM is only 6.1 channels, I would use the EX/ES decoding modes instead of PLIIx processing. Combining two extracted surround-back channels may cause problems whereas dual-mono channels won't. In fact, it would probably be easier to run a mono surround-back from the pre-pro to the ICBM, and then use the Y-splitter at the surround-back output of the ICBM.

Also, I wouldn't use the time alignment feature on the pre-pro. If you combine low frequencies from variously timed signals, it could result in cancellations and re-inforcements at certain frequencies. For example: if you have one speaker that is 4 feet further than another speaker, combining their time-aligned signals will result in cancellation at 140Hz (which has a wavelength of 8 feet and would be 180 degrees out of phase with a signal delayed for 4 feet).

I sent a message to Outlaw and Scott kindly replied: "Unfortunately, we do not have plans for an ICBM-2." Of course that is "at the moment." Ya never know when things might change.

Thank you both for your replies. Your advice is much appreciated and will be most helpful.

Sanjay, I'm Rijax over at AVS, and I've always appreciated the tone and content of your posts over there. I've learned from you. I'm grateful.

Jack

Jack,

I've followed your posts at other forums too (hint: I have a pair of ULW-10s). Thank you for your kind words (and your service to our country). I'm grateful.

Thanks, Sanjay. It was my honor.