Would the beta tester explain how well the tone controls work (do they add any coloration to the music or make little or no change at all, etc.?)
Also, I read that someone described some type of loudness control circuit. Could you give a little more detail of its effect, etc.?

Thanks

The tone controls are for bass and treble, and can be set over a -6 to +6dB range, in 2dB increments. You set them once and they apply to all inputs (and probably to all speakers.)

They seem to work as they're supposed to, slightly boosting or cutting their intended frequencies. I'm sure the manual will let us know the centerpoints that are being affected. As for coloration, I'm not sure. I thought adding bass always gave a warmer sound, and adding treble made things brighter? I always run at 0/0 and I find the 950 to be *very* neutral.

My Yamaha RX-V1070 receiver allowed for +/-10dB changes in bass and treble, so obviously the 950 can't make as big a difference. But I've never heard of anyone using those extremes anyway.

I think you need to start by using the fantastic triple crossover to integrate your sub with the front, center, and surround speakers. Then adjust the relative volume of the eight possible speakers (7.1) to balance the system. After that, you might not need to adjust the bass or treble much at all.

As I understand it, a typical loudness button increases bass and treble at low volumes, to compensate for the way we hear certain frequencies. As volume increases, the loudness curve should flatten out until it isn't boosting anything.

The 950 doesn't have a loudness button. Instead, it has a "Night" mode, with various compression levels. What this seems to do is to equalize the volume between loud and soft passages so you can listen at low or moderate levels. You can hear the dialog and not shake the house and wake the baby when a bomb goes off. I only played with it a little, and it doesn't artificially change the tone like a loudness button would. Instead it just changes the apparent volume. I'm not sure how they do it, but it works.

There's another setting that affects tone, and that's the "Theater Compensation" circuit. This adjusts for bright soundtracks that have been mixed for use in a large movie theater so they'll sound better in your smaller home theater. This is supposed to be very similar to the THX circuit in other units. I honestly haven't used it except to note that it does do something. I haven't tried it enough to know if I have a preference.



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JeffLH