Quested to Introduce the Z type speaker (z for height axis)....The Z8.

[Peter CINERAMAX]

The whole Quested Atmos Trinnov thing was anticipated by me on the weeks prior to 11/13/13.

I cross post my comments then....

I'm pulling a chair and going to park my butt here to start my campaign to try change the way surround sound is currently implemented in the finest screening rooms; just yesterday we finished calibrating our 15.10 channel surround system in www.cineramax.com moon/system Albiorix . What transpired was nothing short of a revelation, but first a little background.

I recently attended a game changing demonstration of the Dolby Atmos system at the Dolby Labs facility in Burbank.  A facility central to the development of Atmos itself. That experience was revelatory:  the multichannel mix could best be described as a full blown  holo sonic 3d sound field with a dozen or so tricky foley bits wrecking hell about the room, panning around your head, flying into your gut  through your body then orbiting and zooming everywhere within that defined holo sonic 3d sound field. If such hollosonic 3D sound field has been heard before by systems such as the one that was introduced by harman at CEDIA and CES a few years ago but never came to market, and what we have completed here in Moscow City just now (which takes the harman experience to the next 140 decibel level),even achieving that gets you 85% there (already leaving Dts Neo X way back in the rear view mirror) These persnickety Atmos sonic pirouettes provide the last 15% to achieve surround sound perfection, almost....Atmos.

Enter my new goal. Because while the Atmos Dolby room sounds great from a frequency response and sound mix aspects, it is beyond a doubt Indispensable to achieve 100% Surround Nirvana no doubt about it, the only problem with the current implementation is their sound reproduction system sucks in many a way as it uses stock cinema equipment  profile.

It's them Horns that are the culprit, me thinks. In contrast the Quested LT series achieve insanely loud at least 135 decibels of uncoloured sound, the horns at Dolby sound harsh by comparison.

Another big issue that I have had with every freaking micro perf "supposedly high end system" from everyone and their mother particularly Steinway in Beverly Hills design center'a 2 systems, Meyer cinema system demos at infocomm, and the Dolby room is A very annoying reflection interference in the upper bass/lower mid regions that screams: there is a micro perf here!  allowing some sound to pass through and leaving others to ricochet behind the screen!!!

I too had that same problem here during our initial commissioning of moon/system Albiorix. One month ago I was resigned to the same fate when I left back to the states with the system 85% completed in a months commando style installation that was a constant struggle with logistics and customs and subs that don't speak any English or Spanish ... A generous system breakin and the final trinnov calibration removed the microperf veiling from the experience....

[Peter CINERAMAX]

So to answer IRJ972 querie, as per Roger. The sound quality of the z 16 and the z8 is IDENTICAL, the difference being more spl to accommodate front channel needs or a larger space.

[irj972]

Thats really interesting, so if the Z8 and Z16 have the same quality but theres additional SPL available with the Z16, how does the LT10 rank assuming it has higher SPL capabilities than the LT8/Z8?

What I think would be really useful is a frequency, SPL, suggested amplification matrix to help potential customers evaluate the various options. Appreciate this collaboration and product range is new but the range is pretty overwhelming.

Keeping this simple and not complicating it with wides and heights, for the LCR speakers in a reasonable 17 * 30ft room you could potentially go with any of these

3* LT10 passive + AP-750 each
3 * LT8 passive for smaller rooms + AP-750 each (or possibly 2 per bridged AP-300?)
3 * Z8 (only active) so AP-750/AP-300
3 * Z16 (active), same sound Q as Z8 but >SPL, AP-300 each

maybe thinking of LCR separately isn't a good idea though and the front speaker array need to be considered a as a whole, ie WLCRW+HHH! Dman, thats a lot of speakers!

[Peter CINERAMAX]

CAVEAT: Any attempt to influence Quested prospects herein away from the LT-Series towards the Z series do not reduce our enthusiasm for the upcoming Jeff the BLAND'S  ATMOS QUESTED OPEN HOUSE extravaganza, we are waiting for Datasat to come up with Card so that Roger and I can show everyone the best atmos system in America for 2015. Jeff's Petit trianon will blow away anything at CEDIA 2014.


Hi IRJ,

A matrix eh? Very left side of the brain, but one must use both for best results.

Roger will publish some guidelins, in the meantime Im cutting to the chase..

Think of the Lt  series amt as 2014 models the z the 2015, then my coaxial that shall be the 2016.

Forget about lt-10 and lt-20 because the z series is more nuanced, closer to the custom studio monitors when sitting nearfield but operating at mid-far...




Both Guy and Roger are enthusiastically saying to go for the Z series even for the mother of all atmos soundstages (which is not that large but has 35 speakers in 28 channels). At first impression I said "these Albions are trying to sell me more amps".




Speaking to Roger he has genuine enthusiasm for having tamed what i called the samurai sword air-cutting "swoosh" molecular-blast of the uncalibrated un broken in lt-20's and lt-10's. They can be made to sound great with calibration, but for Roger these things need to sound perfect out of the box uncalibrated.

I agree, after fixing dozens of horn-based or poorly designed dome based systems, it is the logical thought.

So it's February 2015 and lets leave the Lt series AMT in the category of strictly for sport arena PA sound reinforcement; henceforth ok? Let's focus on the upgrade options.

The Lt-8 I proclaimed was the best surround sound speaker I had heard in 2013, and for surround I am comfortable for surround positions near the MLP and only when speakers must be inside the walls covered with fabric. And they only work at a certain height and upside down, there is a small hole in a few hundred midbass  frequencies created by the crossover, curt measured, and the hole tilts down, so reverse the speaker an voila. As i said the best in wall surround speaker i had ever heard. The LT-24 whoever has no crossover limitations but it does have dispersion limitations when used horizontally, stack em however like in TRITON 1st Heights and they rock.

So am thinking 5 z8 and 3 lt-24 stacks behind screen for 1st heights, Dolby accepts vertical d'appolitos for surround if aimed from wall positions, so you could say I favour the lt-24 vertical as in Triton surrounds  (hope to have a few pics soon), NOW that after unloading on Roger that" he was stubbornner than Churchill" (which there is a familiarity there), 4 weeks later he acquiesces to prepare the lt-24 for U mount, what he had referred to as "flimsy toilet paper holders.... " .

So for surrounds I prefer the lt-24 vertical ....like in Triton because they are aimable better than the lt-8 which are for in-wall stealth installs. Capiche?

So how about the z 16?

I am sure it's going to be the sensation at ISE but when you are getting into this kind of coin I may want to explore the Europa concentric conceptual the z112 (seriously-after the 45 minute meeting with the atmos brass they described this as the utopic solution (PREMIER NIRVANA TRADEMARK )for behind the screen  mains). And Q can build it.



The zeilings seem like a great solution for the immediate mlp while the lt-24's can act as ceilings depending on kill zone, and angles, but certainly can be used for remaining 8 ceiling positions for a small kill zone TRITON, and on wider kill zones for the rear wall ceiling junction 45 degree last height pair.

ISSUES BEING DISCOVERED IN THIS JOURNEY.
IE. To tilt or not to tilt for maximum immersiveness, that is going to be a heated thread when i start it. On one end I want to emulate dubbing stages practices (tilt laser aimed to your nose), on the other end Roger points to that so much aiming creates cancellations appreciable in stereo that will exacerbate, the answer will lie in between, that and ceiling speaker spacings (turns out the owner of Titan followed my crazy idea and implemented an adjustable track system-brilliant), the  wall to ceiling atmos screen (which we can get at great prices directly from the ex-engineer at SMX screens), calibration issues related to high channel count (quested Hans Zimmer tackled that one in an 80 speaker studio), CINERAMA in Seattle has refractor panels with absorption and BAD panels in rear, meanwhile Dolby Cinema is hiding the acoustic treatments behind the EUROPA like fabric canopy, the research is endless . As I said  we don't have all the answers, but surely have twice as many as the next guys and Roger does not deny that...

Cheers!