Acurus ACT 4 házimozi processzor teszt

Akkurátus fejegység, fejedelmi filmnézésre

2016. november 18., péntek, 16:05

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Acurus ACT 4 home cinema processor review

An accurate refiner of home cinemas

The high class of home cinema devices is an exciting area. Because these are rather pro tools, they represent a completely different world than what we consider as top category. The 16-channel ACT 4 is a special member among high end processors, since what it offers, could not be done by others in its field.

Who is Acurus?

Before we guide our reader to the details of this article's subject, it is worth to mention about its short back story, since it became available in Hungary only in the near past. Acurus is property of Indy Audio Labs, an American company which founded by three electronic engineers and a physicist back in 2008. Right from the start, they created only such tools that are capable of giving professional performance to home users.

All Acurus products are designed and manufactured in USA and being born by containing intuitive control functions, modern aesthetics and high quality standards. Not just home cinema (they also create 5 and 7 channel power amps) but stereo and multiroom components can also be found in their range. Anyway, according to statement of founders (Rick Santiago and Ted Moore) we've seen at online sources, ACT 4 was the milestone what for they started this whole project, including brand building and creating manufacturing partner connections in their homeland.

Premium, but how much?

You can call a lot of products high end nowadays, because the notion theoretically means that these devices represent all the best between limits of present technological limits. This is not always true in real life, or at least not clear. Namely, for many people an AVR with 2 000 euro price tag is the top of everything. Surely there are lots of others, who consider an Arcam receiver as representative of high end. But there are also some obsessed fellows, who spend the price of a family house (or two) for a multichannel system that is built from a monoblock-based chain. So what makes a tool, in this case, the ACT 4 became high end-like?

Our article's star does not use classic shiny looks, extravagant design and cool sounding features to get obtrusively in the forefront. Instead its target is the specific category that is also known as the border of consumer devices. ACT 4 must severely do well specifically as a home cinema processor, it has to ensure all the basic functions of this role, and it must do all of this in a straight way. So some convenient features are quite simply left out from it, yet on the other hand it can show properties that justify the modern ambitious thoughts of its developers. This is a bit like hypercars, which are going through their own evolution. Those vehicles do contain the DNA of racecars but refined to street use, so an average customer can benefit their performance as well. Before we over explain this, let's face some facts.

In the world of top category, made-for-home-use cinema processors you'll meet names like Datasat, JBL Synthesis or Trinnov. These are essentially 20 000 - 30 000 euro priced extreme performing devices, which have left low-profile, commercial layers to enable much more precise settings and adjustments. You can set even the tiniest, finest parameters on them, and have acoustic correction that is similar to those you find in a professional mixing studio, of course, in our case, with a limited number of speakers. Latter means nut just 5 or 7, more like 16, 24 or 32 channels. Let's just stop here for a second, and think about it. Installing this amount of speakers in one home cinema room. Indeed, this requires not only the proper sized apartment, but a patient wife as well. We also have to consider, that unlike it's cheaper rivals, ACT 4 can handle not one or two, but three discrete subwoofer channels. This can be especially practical when our room, targeted to movie watching, is not perfectly symmetrical or acoustic anomalies do generate a need to put in a compensating third subwoofer. The result is going to be much more like a THX-qualified cinema (there is no such thing in Hungary at the moment). As a matter of fact, beyond these brands we mentioned above, there is no more commercial category. If there is a need for more than 32 speakers, that's not home situation, that's actual industrial movie theatre territory.

Important conditions

As we mentioned above, users can configure all discrete 13 channels in companion with 3 more active subwoofer outputs. So ACT 4 is the only one to offer this quantity factor under the 18 000 euro range. Home cinema processors that can control this amount of outputs (Trinnov Altitude 32 8-16 for example), usually get in stores for typically more than 20 000 euros. Of course you can't always place this amount of speakers. But when you have two or more seat rows or a bigger from average sized living room, from that point ACT 4 becomes practical indeed. Because in a huge environment, you still have to make a sphere-like sound field, which is the whole point of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats. This is exactly why you can see not one or two, but a lot of speaker rows above you in a cinema that was built by modern standards. ACT 4 with its up to date software can drive 3 rows, which means six height channels in a Dolby Atmos/DTS:X capable installation.

The 7" display is also a feature what you rarely see, but many users would love to have it on a home cinema device, despite we can only dream for some more years about to have this on integrated receivers. To make it's configuration as precise as possible by the way, you can set up each channel's curve for optimizing the system to your room's acoustics. What do we mean by that? This processor is compatible with measurement programs such as Omnimic or Room EQ Wizard. These make possible to set up and monitor the frequency curve, impulse response and other parameters for each channel. You can save four different EQ profiles in the device's menu, which allow to have 6 band EQ for every particular speaker. If someone finds this too complicated, fear not, you can ask for hungarian Acurus distributor Házimozi Stúdió team's help, they can manage the complete measurement and setup.

Using Acurus ACT 4

Soon after Házimozi Stúdió told us that the ACT 4 arrived, we visited their showroom where it waited us already completely hooked up. The processor was connected to power amps also made by Acurus, the whole chain drove Revel Performa3 loudspeakers (F208 as front channel with C208 center and S206 surround speakers) in the house's livingroom-like apartment.

In real life the ACT 4 is just as clean as on photography, actually standing face to face it whispers some high end computer-like nature because it's tablet-sized screen and the almost shamelessly low amount of physical buttons. The rear side however is a lot more crowded but to save our reader's time we won't specify each of its connectors, just important ones: we get HDMI 2.0 (HDCP compatible) in and outputs, analogue XLR sockets and Ethernet input as well. Latter is not serving for internet radio or to get programs of several online services, it is being there for control. You can acces and manage the most important functions from your computer or mobile device quite easily, based on IP, this way you don't even have to install any apps, it is enough to open your browser. Besides network control, RS-232 is also given, so if you want to integrate ACT 4 into his intelligent home environment, it is possible to embed your home cinema system's commands into your house controlling software. The web-based platform ran quick and smooth while we've tried it.

To sum it up, use of ACT 4 is child's play, but it's configuration takes care and deep audio technological knowledge. Considering it's physical appearance, the only thing we could criticize is the stone-age fashioned, sort of retro looking remote control. It is a fair excuse however that they supply it only for the first setup. Also it is part of the truth that most users won't really see any of their remote controls and ACT 4 neither, because well-built home cinema rooms conclude hidden electronics, that are put into a completely elsewhere being rack mount. This is why IP-based controllability is so important.

Sound quality

After our short introducing, the only thing that was left is to actually sit down and listen to the 5.2.4 channel system built around ACT 4. It was obvious for the distributor to choose Revel Performa3 series loudspeakers since we've met these models and also wrote detailed articles about them. To generate bass, two REL G1 subs were supporting the system and to make Dolby Atmos/DTS:X soundtracks audible, they installed 4 in-ceiling height surround speakers.

But how could we define that sound-orgy, that was produced by 9 pieces of speakers, driven by 200 W/ch power amps and completed with 2 more, 600W/each subs? In turn, this 3000 W of summed power wasn't that kind of untreated disco room feel, rumbling towards the listener, it was much more carefully organized in different steps, with unexpected amount of detail. Served on a tray. We got a huge amount of dynamic range with minutely saved shades and surprisingly clean details. Waking up from the first minutes of astonishment, we could not let silent the constantly critical thinkers in ourselves. But Acurus and Revel together became stunning.

Sound field was spacious and revealing. We didn't feel that the system wants to dominate above us, it rather created a releasing, lightsome way of drawing movie soundtracks around us. We've heard the surround heights from above, but not with that unpleasant rattling like what you get in a shopping mall. They just added an extra feel, like helping to deepen the vertical dimension of sound field. To put this in a metaphor, we've felt like sitting in a planetarium, only this time it wasn't the stars but noise of cicadas, engine noise and musical reverbs moving above our heads.

All these impressions mentioned aren't important at all compared to how fast ACT 4 could illustrate and communicate details. We've heard these speakers before, connected to obviously cheaper electronics (such as Arcam AVR850). They sounded great back then as well, but the result was sort of over refined. The only thing what we missed with different devices, was that particular kind of unsparing clarity, to present more of that silence between sounds and more illustration of physical vibrations and impulses. Well, this is what Acurus could achieve at an academic level. In fact we get an effect that is similar to systems driven by mono blocks for each channels. Dialogs were flying from the picture with speed and dryness, while (e.g. watching the car blowing sequence of 2 Guns movie) objects (like pistols) clanking in characters hands, creaking car doors and cricket song in the background are all separated from each other. Still, overall picture stayed contiguous, and details from above or behind did not became dominant at all. We could feel the virtual space becoming bigger than the room itself, going to many directions, but everything just supported events on the screen, in a careful way.

In Marcus Miller's record called Panther (from Legends Of Jazz BD) the bass strings rattled with firm decay, when the musician hit them. A metallic incidental spice was generated in the air, what we wouldn't call a sound, rather just a feeling. We've experienced indescribable side-effects shown as frequencies, all caused by the bodies of those instruments. It would be too hackneyed to say, it felt like sitting between audience's lines, that is not describing our impressions. We rather felt like not being in the showroom anymore, but somewhere else, in a studio environment. The suddenly grabbed drum hit and orderly held down bass strings created low frequencies that shook seating under us intensively. This gave a weightless feel, made us think that we were transparent. With all this we're just trying to hint that above a certain level - and yes, ACT 4 is over that line - the point is not how clean is the sound, but how much can we let ourselves set loose between sound waves.

Ending thoughts

After we heard what the Acurus ACT 4 is able to, we can only encourage everyone - regardless if he can allow himself a more, than 9 000 euro device or not - if he/she ever will be able to sit down for a couple of minutes to try this system, just do it. Not just to get a radical experience, but also to perceive how much detail is hidden on a high-res Blu-ray disc's sound channel. With properly analytic speakers and a precise, low-jitter processor all the dirty, foggy layers go away, and what stays is clean information. All this could seem confusing as you read it, but in real life Acurus electronics give us an accurate picture of how clean, uncolored sound should be like - in Dolby Atmos style. The details arranged in a planetarium shape made us feel that the room was bigger than its actual size. This is an experience that unfortunately you can't (and perhaps never will) have in a Hungarian cinema, although it's just so much different to watch a movie this way. To get the full joy, you'll need all the other system components as well, so to read the price of a whole configuration takes low blood pressure, a well fatted bank account and a properly big environment as well. Don't forget however, that ACT 4 is on the toplist of home cinema processors available today although other rivals cost even many times more.

Our oppinion

Details held by clinical precision, gently illustrated sound field with exemplary dynamic range handling

It shows several functions that could be found only essentially more expensive home cinema processors (controlling 13.3 channels, able to drive 6 height surrounds, IP-based control, HDMI 2.0 etc.)

The touch panel display points at today's needs and gives ability to a faster setup procedure

Software promises flexible long-term use thanks to its upgradability

To get all of its features and configure it well, professional assistance is crucial

Neglected IR remote control

Compass

Distributor:

Házimozi Stúdió

+36-70-3330099

2045 Törökbálint, Kastély u. 20.

www.hazimozistudio.hu

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