Anyone used the 990 "Panorama" setting? If so, how did it sound? I'm not quite satisfied with the surround effect(s) I'm getting. My old Fosgate model 4 seemed to have a larger surround field than I'm getting with the 990. Any discussion would be appreciated.

I do have Panorama turned on in my system. Keep in mind, however, that the Pro Logic II adjustments (Panorama, Dimension, and Center Width) only apply when using Pro Logic II/IIx Music mode. Pro Logic II/IIx Movie mode and all other processing modes are unaffected by these three settings.

What processing mode are you using with two-channel sources? Also, do you have a 5.1 setup or a 7.1 setup?

Gonk,
I have a 7.1 setup with full range speakers in front and rear, small center and side speakers (and the monster subs of course).

Cool. When you are dis-satisfied with the surround effects, what sources are you listening to and what mode(s) are you using for surround processing?

It's rare to see true "full range" speakers - what are you using front and rear that pull that off?

Generally I don't think I get very discreet effects when watching DVDs (5.1 Dolby) and I generally use Dolby Pro Logic IIx movie mode.

The speakers are custom made for me by Madisound here in Madison Wisconsin. I use a DBX electronic x-over and bi-amp the fronts. The two subs are 18" Electrovoice drivers in 13.5 cubic foot vented enclosures, flat power to 24hz. The front and rear speakers are 12" in two and a half cubic foot inclosures crossed over at 380hz to a pair of 6.5" mids which are crossed over passively to a 3/4" concave kevlar tweeter at 3.5khz. For the center I'm using a Electrovoice 8" two-way studio monitor and the side surrounds are Descante 5.5" two-ways. I'm crossing the Outlaw over at 80hz for the fronts, 100hz for the center, 60hz for the rears and 120hz for the side surrounds. Power is Adcom 555a's for the front and subs, Dynaco (can you believe it) 150 strapped for mono for the center, Adcom 545 for the side surrounds and BK ST140 for the rears. The room is 23' by 13' with a sloped ceiling going from 7.5ft to 8.5ft. The projector is a Sony HS20 and the screen is 80" 16:9.

Hmm, might want to look at some new amps.
I've owned alot of Adcom grear in the past (including the 545-II amp), but the Outlaw 7125 made a big difference in the sound quaality.

I'm using the 7125 with the 990 and get very good surround effects with my speakers.
B&W 604 front, CC6S2 center, DS6 surround.
The DS6 surround is a bi-polar speaker, which produces a difused sound to simulate movie-theater type enviroment.
I'm keeping the sides (for now) but repalcing the fronts with B&W 804S and HTM3S.

When watching Dolby 5.1 DVD's using Dolby Digital processing, what you are hearing is exactly what is on the disc - all that the 990 or any other processor is doing is decoding the source. If discrete effects are lacking in those cases, it is a result of the original mix. When watching Dolby 5.1 DVD's using Pro Logic IIx Movie to expand the audio to the rear surrounds, all that Pro Logic IIx is doing is manipulating those left and right surround channels to produce rear surrounds from those signals.

The Model 990 is pretty radically different from the Fosgate Model 4 you mention. The Model 4 is an analog Pro Logic decoder that works only with stereo analog inputs. A good way to compare it to the Model 990 would be to use a DVD with a stereo track (Dolby 2.0) and apply Pro Logic IIx to that. If you want, you can then use PLIIx-Music and player with the Pro Logic II settings to see what you think. Also, system calibration could be a sticking point. Based on a link I found, there was apparently an HK clone of the Fosgate Model 4, and I found a manual for the HK. It included some test tones for calibrating each channel, but I have no way of knowing what differences may exist between the two systems' test tones - they should be comparable, but I don't know that for certain and there are still possible inconsistencies between the two. Did you use the 990's auto setup, or did you calibrate manually with an SPL meter?

I used the 990's auto calibration but had to set the sub's level manually. I've got some time today and will view "Yellow Submarine" which I know has great surround. I'll let you know the results of this...