The Z-Base575 is a speaker and a TV base.
(Credit: Zvox)Sound bar speakers vastly simplify home theater setup and installation, but their sound quality always falls short of bona fide 5.1-channel speaker-subwoofer-based systems. The single-box Zvox Z-Base575 get closer to that ideal than most.
The problem with sound bars is they're too small. Even pricey bars like Yamaha's YSP-3050 ($1,199 MSRP) can't generate full-blown home theater impact. And it's a bit bigger than average (31.5 inches wide by 6.1 inches high by 6 inches deep), but films like "Mission: Impossible III" sound tepid over the YSP-3050. The film's explosive effects lack the excitement you'd get from a 5.1 system. Yamaha's technology is amazing, but it can't produce high-impact sound from skinny cabinets. I'm not singling out Yamaha here; Denon, Marantz, Polk, Samsung, and Sony sound bars all--to varying degrees--squash dynamic range of movies.
Stepping up to the YSP-4000 ($1,600 MSRP) won't make that big a difference; in my CNET review I noted that it stumbled with big special effect-driven flicks like "Mission: Impossible III." The explosions fell flat, the bass was rumbly, and the Yamaha couldn't play loud at all. Hooking up an Acoustic Research HT60 subwoofer to add extra muscle helped a little, but the YSP-4000 still lacked punch.
Part of the problem is that almost all sound bar speakers are too small. Zvox's Z-Base575 is big and very, very deep. How deep is it? Sixteen inches! So unlike other surround bar speaker systems that can either be wall-mounted or set on a shelf, the Z-Base575 was designed to be used as a base under your TV. Don't worry, the sturdy medium-density fiberboard cabinet can support heavyweight displays.
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It's big enough to sound great, and cheap enough it's a no-brainer solution for lame sounding TVs.
(Credit: Zvox)I get letters about this all the time.
They usually go something like this: "I'm no audiophile, but can you explain why all of the new, slim, pretty, thin HDTV's sound so bad? I bought a 46-inch Samsung LN46A850 for its great picture, but when I got it home, the sound was tinny. So I bought a sound bar but it had its own issues and I don't want to use multiple remotes. Any ideas?"
The problem is mostly caused by just how skinny these TVs are: There's no room for decent speakers. More than that, I'm sorry to say that sound quality isn't a priority for TV manufacturers, and they know that most buyers accept "good enough" sound. So there's no real demand from consumers to get better sound from TVs. And I guess the manufacturers assume anyone who really cares will spring for a better sound system.
My advice: Check out Zvox speakers; I've reviewed many over the years for CNET. The best bang for the buck model is the 315. It sounds great for $199, and since you can hook it up to the TV's audio outputs, you won't need to use a separate remote (that's also true for some other manufacturers' soundbars).
Consider the 315 only if your TV has a headphone jack--or if its audio output jacks can be set to "variable." Then you'll be able to control the 315's volume with your TV's remote (the 315 doesn't have its own remote).
To learn more about the 315 check out my CNET review.
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I'm asked this question all the time: "Are there any great-sounding TV speakers?"
People want "something good," but they don't want hassles, and they sure as hell don't want to decipher techno-babble setup instructions. Nowadays there are plenty of single speaker systems to choose from, but most of them don't sound all that good, and setup--while way better than a bona fide multichannel system--is still more complicated than it ought to be.
(Credit:
CNET)
Enter the Zvox Z-Base 550 Low-Profile Single Cabinet Surround Sound System ($500). From the front, it looks like just another sound bar; viewed from the side, it's not. The Z-Base 550 is 26 inches wide by 3.6 inches high by 14.5 inches deep. The Z-Base is a TV stand/base!
That extra dimension--depth, and the built-in 5.5-inch subwoofer--allow the Z-Base 550 to produce a fuller, bass-rich sound than any super svelte sound bar on the planet. Yes, you can hook up a powered sub, but you don't have to.
In keeping with Zvox's no-brainer, keep it simple mantra, the Z-Base 550 doesn't have any buttons or controls at all on its front or rear panels; you access volume and other controls via the small credit card-style remote. Connectivity covers just the bare basics: two stereo RCA analog inputs and a subwoofer output. That's it.
It's a solid performer--the "Mission Impossible III" Blu-ray instantly sounded like a slam-dunk win for the Z-Base 550. Not much surround, but dialog was impressively natural, and over the long run, that's crucial. More technically ambitious (and much more expensive) sound bars, such as Yamaha YSP models, aren't as clear.
Tom Hannaher of ZVOX Audio and I were chewing the fat about the state of the consumer electronics business when the subject veered over to flat-screen TV manufacturers. They're all under incredible pressure to slash prices while they load on more and more features, and it's getting kinda scary.
I've had folks in the TV biz tell me not to wait any longer to buy a flat display because the manufacturers are starting to substitute lower-quality parts to keep lowering retail prices. But long before they do anything drastic that would affect picture quality or reliability, they cut audio quality. Where five years ago they might have invested $4 of the budget on speakers, they now might spend a buck.
The ZVOX 325 powered speaker will beef up the sound of your TV.
(Credit: ZVOX Audio)It's the same sorry story with power amplifiers; the accountants are pinching pennies everywhere they can. Hey, it makes sense. TV buyers obsess about image quality and maybe read the reviews, but sound--it's an afterthought. On the dealer's showroom floor they never have the sound turned on, and there's a good reason for that. It sucks.
And since most flat-display buyers wind up using the sorry speakers built into their awesome looking TVs, they're missing out. Now sure, the sound may not be all that awful to the average person, but that's mostly because they so easily get used to hearing no treble, no bass, no dynamic range, and as Tom put it, "Flat TVs have flat sound." Most, something estimates range as high as 80 percent, of folks just settle and never upgrade to better speakers. That doesn't make any sense.
Tom's company is here to help. It makes great-sounding, highly affordable speakers designed to work with just about any TV. I wrote a rave review of the ZVOX 325 here at CNET. If you have high def video, why settle for lo-fi sound? Sleek and skinny new ZVOX models are coming soon.
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