Typical home-theater systems produce "sweet spots," places where the audio sounds perfect. Usually this is right in the middle of the room, so people sitting off to the side don't get the full listening experience. But Audyssey Laboratories' MultEQ technology uses an algorithm to detect room acoustics, speaker placement, and other information. Then, it optimizes the sound for everyone in the audience. Users begin by placing the system's microphone at eight different locations in the room. At each location, the home-theater receiver plays a test tone through the main and surround speakers, which the microphone picks up. This tone is modified by each speaker's unique design characteristics and location and is further altered by the reflections of the sound bouncing off the walls of the room. The MultEQ system then calculates how each listening position is different and independently compensates for all of them, simultaneously modifying the audio to improve the experience for each person. Setup, which is automatic with the push of a button, takes about 10 minutes.
For details, go to www.audysseylabs.com.