Dolby Pro Logic IIz Adds Even More Speakers to Your Home Theater

Filed under: Home Audio > Receivers



Remember the good old days, when a 7.1 system was considered overkill? Well move over Grandpa, because Dolby's latest version of Pro Logic II called IIz moves home theater into the world of 9.1. Pro-Logic IIz calls for the new speakers to be mounted to the side and a few feet above the main front left and right channels, presumably on the wall. The Dolby Pro Logic IIz decoder identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in stereo or multi-channel soundtracks, such as ambiance and some amorphous effects like rain or wind, and directs it to these new "height speakers", similar to Yamaha Cinema DSP and their "presence channel" system.

Onkyo's new TX-SR607 ($599) is the first receiver to include DPL IIz, and it should show on most of the '07 models this year, as well as receivers from other brands. DPL IIz works with traditional stereo and multi-channel soundtracks, so you won't have to worry about replacing your DVDs or Blu-ray discs with new DPL IIz encoded versions. Whether more realistic rain drops is worth the price of a new pair of speakers is up to you.