Yamaha RX-Z11 User Guide

■ THX Ultra2

Before any home theatre component can be THX Ultra2 certified, it 
must incorporate all the features above and also pass a rigorous 
series of quality and performance tests. Only then can a product 
feature the THX Ultra logo, which is your guarantee that the Home 
Theatre products you purchase will give you superb performance 
for many years to come. THX Ultra2 requirements cover every 
aspect of the product including pre-amplifier performance and 
operation, and hundreds of other parameters in both the digital and 
analog domain.

■ THX Cinema processing

THX is an exclusive set of standards and technologies established 
by the world-renowned film production company, Lucasfilm Ltd. 
THX grew from George Lucas’ personal desire to make your
experience of the film soundtrack, in both movie theatres and in 
your home theatre, as faithful as possible to what the director 
intended. Movie soundtracks are mixed in special movie theatres 
called dubbing stages and are designed to be played back in movie 
theatres with similar equipment and conditions. This same 
soundtrack is then transferred directly onto Laserdisc, VHS tape, 
DVD, etc., and is not changed for playback in a small home theatre 
environment. THX engineers developed patented technologies to 
accurately translate the sound from the movie theatre environment 
into the home, correcting the tonal and spatial errors that occur. On 
this product, when “THX” appears in the front panel display, THX 
features are automatically added in Cinema modes (e.g. THX 
Cinema, THX Surround EX).

THX Cinema mode
In this mode, THX Loudness Plus is designed around the industry-
standard reference mixing level as well as adding other proprietary 
THX technologies such as Adaptive Decorrelation, Re-EQ, and 
Timbre Matching to recreate the theatrical experience at home.

■ THX Music mode

THX Music modes provide the appropriate THX processing to 
enhance music listening. THX Music applies a dedicated music 
profile of THX Loudness Plus, designed around the varying mix 
levels in music sources which are often very different than film or 
television sources. Additionally, THX Music applies Timbre 
Matching to the surround speaker channels.

■ THX Games mode

THX Games mode gives the benefit of THX Loudness Plus, as well 
as other THX proprietary features which provide the gamer with a 
more accurate listening experience at lower levels, while 
maintaining all of the directional cues critical to gameplay.

■ THX Surround EX

Dolby Digital Surround EX is a joint development of Dolby 
Laboratories and the THX Ltd.
In a movie theater, film soundtracks that have been encoded with 
Dolby Digital Surround EX technology are able to reproduce an 
extra channel which has been added during the mixing of the 
program. This channel, called Surround Back, places sounds behind 
the listener in addition to the currently available front left, front 
center, front right, surround right, surround left and subwoofer 
channels. This additional channel provides the opportunity for more 
detailed imaging behind the listener and brings more depth, 
spacious ambience and sound localization than ever before.
Movies that were created using the Dolby Digital Surround EX 
technology, when released into the home consumer market may 
exhibit wording to that effect on the packaging. A list of movies 
created using this technology can be found on the Dolby web site at 
www.dolby.com.
Only receiver and controller products bearing the THX Surround 
EX logo, when in the THX Surround EX mode, faithfully reproduce 
this new technology in the home.
This product may also engage the “THX Surround EX” mode 
during the playback of 5.1 channel material that is not Dolby Digital 
Surround EX encoded. In such case the information delivered to the 
Surround Back channel will be program dependent and may or may 
not be very pleasing depending on the particular soundtrack and the 
tastes of the individual listener.