So, I've had several Toyota cars over the years, and the JBL systems have always had this DSP setting for a pseudo surround sound. I am a big fan of surround sound having been into home theater since the 1990s.
But, no matter what settings I have changed I could never get the DSP on these JBL systems to sound better to my ear than pure stereo. It seems to push way too much to the center of the sound stage, losing the nuance you get from stereo separation and imaging.
So picking up my 17 Lux Cruiser last weekend and spending 6 hours driving it home, I thought for sure, this 19 speaker Mark Levinson system would handle the surround sound processing better. And to be sure, it sounded great. I nudged the bass up a bit and faded to the rear some and it was good.
But then I shut off DSP on a song that has very good stereo separation and imaging, and even my wife sat up and took notice. It was that much better. So no, even with this system, I still seem to have a bunch of wasted speakers from not using DSP.
How about you? Do you use it? Do you like it better than having it off?
But, no matter what settings I have changed I could never get the DSP on these JBL systems to sound better to my ear than pure stereo. It seems to push way too much to the center of the sound stage, losing the nuance you get from stereo separation and imaging.
So picking up my 17 Lux Cruiser last weekend and spending 6 hours driving it home, I thought for sure, this 19 speaker Mark Levinson system would handle the surround sound processing better. And to be sure, it sounded great. I nudged the bass up a bit and faded to the rear some and it was good.
But then I shut off DSP on a song that has very good stereo separation and imaging, and even my wife sat up and took notice. It was that much better. So no, even with this system, I still seem to have a bunch of wasted speakers from not using DSP.
How about you? Do you use it? Do you like it better than having it off?
