I know there was a thread about live DVD concerts...aside from that what is the best you have heard? Can be DTS or DVD-A...would love to order a copy to show off the CTS sound system to my father-in-law....

Sorry, no 5.1 DVD-A yet for me. But for normal, vanilla, cds... Billy Joel, Scenes From an Italian Restaurant. Sounds incredible, depth to the song that I never noticed until now.

http://images.play.com/covers/137023m.jpg

It sounds great in my Acura TL

I test drove a fully loaded 08 CTS in March. The salesman had a DVD-A of the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over". He played the "Hotel California" track. It was incredible. I don't even have a CTS (YET) and purchased a DVD-A of the "Hotel California" album. It's rare, and the website I purchased from said the "Hotel California" track itself is worth the price of the album. I haven't got to try it yet. I hope they're right because it was quite expensive. I bought 4 5.1 DTS CD's also. Hope this helps. Lewis

This was discussed in detail in another thread about two months
back but I am more than happy to give you a rundown of some of
my favorite DVD-A titles...

Eagles: Hell Freezes Over
The Beatles: Love

Also, pick up these concert DVDs and you will not be disappointed
with the audio...

Pink Floyd: Pulse
Josh Groban: Awake LIVE (Kashmir on the violin is AWESOME!)

At the moment I have only one DVD-A, that being The Beatles Love. The music on this DVD-A sounds awesome in my CTS, however the vocals on most tracks are distinctly distant and echoey. Played this same DVD-A on my home theatre 5.1 system and found no problem at all - the vocals are as they should be on every track (at the correct sound levels). In using my home 5.1 system to 'qualify' my Beatles Love DVD-A disc I discovered that the main vocals on virtually every track are assigned to the front center speaker/channel. This test has proven that the front center channel (or front center speaker) is not functioning in my CTS. I would never have discovered this malfunction by only playing "2-channel" music in the car (i.e. HDD, iPod/USB, XM, CD, FM), with the vocals assigned to the left or right channels (or frequently both).
I have scheduled an appointment at the dealer to have the audio system checked out on my CTS. I hope they won't have to tear too much apart to locate & correct the problem.

OK. I picked up LOVE and Hell Freezes over. Both sound awesome. Not sure Hell Freezes is either a CD recorded in5.1 DTS or a DVD-A. I think it is a CD. The LOVE is definetly a DVD-A cause it says so right on it!

Anyways, they sound awesome. One odd thing though. When I listen to a concert at home on 5.1, it seems natural for the crowd noises to be behind me. For some strange reason, in the car, I expect them to come from the front speakers and it sounds out of place coming from behind me. I'm sure I could get used to it, but it was wierd.

M

At the moment I have only one DVD-A, that being The Beatles Love. The music on this DVD-A sounds awesome in my CTS, however the vocals on most tracks are distinctly distant and echoey. Played this same DVD-A on my home theatre 5.1 system and found no problem at all - the vocals are as they should be on every track (at the correct sound levels). In using my home 5.1 system to 'qualify' my Beatles Love DVD-A disc I discovered that the main vocals on virtually every track are assigned to the front center speaker/channel. This test has proven that the front center channel/speaker is not functioning in my CTS. I would never have discovered this malfunction by only playing "2-channel" music in the car (i.e. HDD, iPod/USB, XM, CD, FM), with the vocals assigned to the left or right channels (or frequently both).
I have scheduled an appointment at the dealer to have the audio system checked out on my CTS. I hope they won't have to tear too much apart to locate & correct the problem.

Update to my previous thread :
To further define this malfunction as being really weird... I discovered yesterday during a few tests that the front center channel/speaker in my CTS will in fact function if I turn the ignition twist-knob to 'Accessory' (and not start the engine), and then insert the DVD-A. Wow!.. what a sound from this audio system when the front center channel is operating and an excellent 5.1 music source is being played. Very impressive. Anyway, starting the engine at that point (with the DVD-A still playing) results in the front center channel to continue operating, which is great. What is not great is that when I turn off the car, and then later re-start the engine, I find that the front center channel once again will not function when I play the DVD-A.
The problem appears to be some sort of software glitch in the car's Infotainment system. I'm hoping the dealer's specialists will be able to solve the problem by re-flashing firmware to the system. I'll insist on the latest version firmware, of course.

OK. I picked up LOVE and Hell Freezes over. Both sound awesome. Not sure Hell Freezes is either a CD recorded in5.1 DTS or a DVD-A. I think it is a CD. The LOVE is definetly a DVD-A cause it says so right on it!

Anyways, they sound awesome. One odd thing though. When I listen to a concert at home on 5.1, it seems natural for the crowd noises to be behind me. For some strange reason, in the car, I expect them to come from the front speakers and it sounds out of place coming from behind me. I'm sure I could get used to it, but it was wierd.

M

FYI: Almost no recordings are "recorded" in 5.1, instead they are mastered or re-mastered into 5.1 from a regular recording.

Your second point is well taken. As I said in another thread, 5.1 is great for home theater but a poor application in a vehicle (IMHO).

Acura was the first car company to put DVD-A into cars that I know of. Here is the link to their DVD-A site - it has some pretty good links to where to get DVD's as well as some more info on 5.1 in cars:

http://www.panasonic.com/ELS_Surround/default.asp

.

Always keep your favorite concert DVD in the player. I've discovered that when the crossing gates come down on the railroad tracks, I just put the car in Park and watch the video. The train seems to go by in no time then.:p

Anyone ever wonder where the main amplifier unit is for the Bose 5.1 cabin surround system in their '08 CTS? I can advise that's it mounted on the left side-wall inside the trunk, and is accessed by pulling back the trim piece on that side of the trunk. You have to remove three plastic keepers (two of which are the attachment points for the cargo net). I've attached a photo below to give a better idea of the physical location of the amp unit.
Okay.. so why would I even go in there? Well, I wanted to locate the amplifier unit to see if I could find & fix a mis-applied plug that could explain why I've been having problems with the front-center channel not working when I play a DVD-A disc (5.1 surround sound). The vocals on my Beatles Love DVD-A always sounded distant and echoey in the CTS, and I realized when playing this disc that the front center channel just wasn't working most of the time. I am happy to report that after removing and then re-installing each of the four (4) plugs to the Bose unit several times, the front-center channel problem has been completely resolved. I'm guessing that by removing and re-installing the plugs a few times I've removed any surface oxidation that was present on one or more of the pins/sockets of the plugs & amplifier unit, which would have caused a signal continuity problem between the amp and the head unit. With proper continuity now on all of the connection points to the main amplifier unit, the 5.1 audio system in my CTS absolutely rocks! By fixing this problem myself I'm sure I've negated 2 or more trips to the dealer otherwise made to have them figure it out.
:spin:

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg195/RAB_2008/IMG_1772.jpg

:bouncy: RAB, good thinking and good find. I like that kind of troubleshooting (doing what you can). We can save ourselves a lot of troubled times sometimes by thinking a little and applying a few simple troubleshooting techniques. I'm an ATSS (Air Traffic Systems Specialist) for the FAA working on RADAR and BEACON systems and I fix more problems with simple common sense thinking (as I call it) like you used. I compliment you and thank you for sharing with the rest of us. Lewis :bouncy:

Lewis, thanks for the compliment. It's good to share findings such as the one I've described in this thread. I've certainly learned a lot from other folks in this forum since becoming a member here about a year ago.
I've done my share of troubleshooting over the years. Troubleshooting absolutely requires the common sense approach! As info I'm a QA Test Engineer with Electro-Motive Diesel. We manufacture latest technology (computer controlled) high horsepower diesel-electric locomotives for customers all over the world.
Cheers
RAB.

I highly recommend Michael McDonald's "Motown". Some of the cuts are absolutely stunning.