IntroductionWhen you hear the prestigious terms “THX”, “Dolby Digital” or “DTS”, does it mean much to you or the person down the street walking his or her dog…well probably not. In the audio industry, these standards are known as the pure heavy weights, second to none and will probably remain that way for as long as I walk this planet. THX may not be as well known to you as the more commonly known Dolby Digital, however allow me to explain the principles behind THX and what exactly it is and how it has any relevance to a PC speaker system review.
Some 20 years ago, THX was conceived by George Lucas (creator of the Star Wars series) who seemed not satisfied with the sound he heard in many movie theatres at the time, he wanted something done about this – Especially to improve the audio quality of his popular movies. In 1980 Lucas set out to develop a set of quality control criteria for theatres, a standard that is still used in cinemas in this present day. His aim was to ensure that his films, as well as those of other filmmakers, would be accurately reproduced for moviegoers for whom sound was an important part of their overall film enjoyment, just like the PC gamer and MP3 fanatic who demand the best from their speaker systems.
After Lucas’s raging success with his THX standard, he wanted to bring this audio brilliance to the home, and eventually to your own personal computer. Lucas began research on the Home THX audio system in 1986; it would take four years of work before the Home THX Program would be introduced. Today, there are more than 45 licensed manufacturers producing THX Certified components for Home Theatre.
Altec Lansing, one of these 45 licensed manufacturers, I personally consider the leader in personal computer speaker systems on this planet, but that’s just my opinion, you may disagree. After meeting up with the folks from InnoVision Australia (official Altec Lansing distributors in Australia) in Taiwan a couple months ago for the Computex computer expo 2001, they promised me a test sample of the totally unbelievable and mind blowing ADA890 PC speaker systems, certified to meet the all important THX and Dolby Digital standards. Stick around as I take you on an adventure of the most amazing speaker system I have ever had the pleasure of using.
