Star Trek and the AMC ETX (Enhanced Theatre Experience)
You won’t hear me complain about the price of a movie ticket.
At one point in my life, I was a home theatre enthusiast. While I am an audio engineer by training and consider myself an audiophile, I now live in a small apartment with an even smaller baby, so loud in the living room is not going to happen.
Even should these circumstances change, I don’t think I would bother dropping the money on building my own system, because the AMC Enhanced Theatre Experience is on par with going out to a rock concert… almost.
Last night I went to see Star Trek. In my opinion, the may be the most near-perfect science fiction film of all time. I have my critiques, but this is not a movie review blog. I do talk about media and technology, and holy crap, this movie was an earth-shaking, eye-popping, ear bleeding supernova of an event.
Check out this pic I grabbed before the trailers started:
- The surround sound was dizzyingly spacial but not distracting (credit to the mix engineer)
- There was no distortion, ever. Even at deafening volume. This system clearly has boom to spare.
- Super smooth low end, even an inaudible infrasonic note that shakes you in your seat. Credit the 57,000 Watts to push this kind of power.
- The highs were never piercing. Credit the placement of 11 speakers for not having to throw sound over a distance.
- The picture was amazing. The $115,000, 250lb Sony 4k projector sprayed a gigantic and crystal clear picture; the contrast and colour were phenomenal. My friend commented that he could notice the low refresh rate compared to his new 240Hz display at home.
In a world of over-promise and under-deliver, the AMC Enhanced Theatre Experience kicked my ass, and I can’t wait to go to the theatre again.
