Tommy's Blu-ray debut features two soundtracks: a "Quintaphonic" 5.0 mix and a more traditional DTS-HD MA 5.1 presentation. For listeners unfamiliar with a Quintaphonic track, Sony has included an informative and detailed writeup found on a two-sided leaflet located inside the Blu-ray case. The details are better left to the included information, but what listeners need to know is that the Quintaphonic track retains the basic front left, center, front right, back left, and back right speaker configuration, but the sound engineers accomplished the implementation of five channels of equal fidelity through only three magnetic soundtracks through the technique of "matrixing" -- or combining -- the front and back left and right tracks into one, while leaving the center, or primary, channel with its own discrete soundtrack. No matter the complicated technical elements behind the track; Tommy was the first -- and only -- picture to utilize this then-revolutionary sound process, and Sony's audio engineers have diligently worked to use the finest elements available to recreate as closely as possible the picture's original Quintaphonic sound presentation. The Quintaphonic mix on the Blu-ray disc is actually presented as a DTS-HD MA 5.0 soundtrack, but it retains much the same feel, spacing, and rawness of the original presentation. Indeed, the Quintaphonic track yields a listening experience that's unique to say the least; surrounds are pushed heavily and regularly, carrying as much bulk as the front, but not at the expense of decent clarity and great strength. If anything, Tommy's too loud at reference volume and the material just seems hurled at the listener from every direction, yielding something of a confused but unique and worthwhile listen. Switching to the 5.1 mix yields a much more traditional, though still surround-heavy, presentation. Clarity takes on an immediate boost as well; sample chapter nine, the "Pinball Wizard" segment, with both tracks; the differences are quite striking. Either way, Sony's dual presentations both impress, one as the original track reproduced about as well as can be, the other a more refined and traditional-sounding offering that's still in and of itself a quality listen and worthwhile track. Why not watch Tommy twice, once with each track?
