Klipsch's nifty ProMedia 2.1 does bona fide stereo, and its subwoofer belts out more and better bass than single-box iPod speaker systems.
(Credit: Klipsch)I don't know why, but it seems like almost every iPod speaker I hear here at CNET is a wretched-sounding thing. Most have screechy treble, lumpy bass, and vocals never sound remotely human.
As always, you get what you pay for, and the cheapest ones tend to be the worst offenders, but hey, they're cheap.
Some, going for upward of $300 are somewhat less horrible, but for three hundred bucks, you could actually buy a nice set of hi-fi speakers.
The A2 speakers
(Credit: Audioengine)And since most iPod speakers are one-piece systems, they don't do stereo all that well. Sure, many incorporate some sort of processing to simulate stereo separation, but that usually messes up their already pitiful sound quality even more. With separate speakers, you can place them far enough apart to make stereo sound like stereo. Which stereo speakers, you ask?
I like Klipsch's little 2.1-channel iPod solution, the ProMedia 2.1 iPod/Computer Speaker system that goes for $150. It features a pair of two-way satellite speakers and a 6.5-inch powered subwoofer. Separate speakers means it does bona fide stereo, and the sub is big enough to generate real bass.
The larger A5 speakers
(Credit: Audioengine)For $199 you could buy a pair of Audioengine A2 speakers and hook them up directly to your iPod. In my opinion, the A2 sounds at least as good as any single-box $400 iPod speaker I've heard. Granted, the $600 high-end iPod speakers make a lot more bass, but it's still on the thick, boomy, and bloated side of natural. And they're $600! For that kind of dough, you could buy a small stereo receiver and actual hi-fi speakers.
You can read my complete A2 review here.
... Read MoreI'm not a big fan of small speakers or subwoofers.
They tend to sound, well, small, and most of them squash the life out of films and music.
Thing is, people like tiny speakers and subs, so lots of speaker companies make, and sell tons of iffy-sounding 5.1 systems.
The Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 system.
(Credit: Definitive Technology)But they're not all bad, I've cherry-picked three truly exceptional alternatives from Definitive Technology, Energy Speakers, and Mirage. My complete reviews are all on CNET, but I'll run down the highlights here.
The Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 System is a six-piece package with four 7-inch tall satellite speakers, one 10.5-inch wide center speaker, and a minisubwoofer. The injection-molded mineral-filled polymer cabinets have more of a high-end feel than your typical plastic or fiberboard cabinets. Can you say "rock solid?"
The subwoofer is a conventional, matte-finished medium-density-fiberboard box. It measures 13 by 10.3 by 13 inches. Its side-mounted volume control is a convenient design touch.
The satellites are two-way designs with a 1-inch aluminum-ceramic dome tweeter and a 3.25-inch midrange driver. Ah, but the midrange driver is acoustically coupled to a 3.25-inch pressure-driven planar low-frequency radiator on the top panel (so when the midrange driver moves in, the passive radiator moves out, and vice-versa).
The passive radiator effectively doubles the bass radiating area of the tiny midrange driver. The same technique is employed on the center channel speaker; it has a pair of 3.25-inch midrange drivers flanking a 1-inch tweeter--and there's a 3.25-inch radiator on each side of the speaker.
The subwoofer's 8-inch polymer cone woofer is acoustically coupled to a bottom-mounted 8-inch passive radiator. The combined radiating area of the driver and radiator is almost equivalent to a single 12-inch woofer. This little sub kicks butt!
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KEF's HTB2SE-W wireless subwoofer can be vertically or horizontally oriented.
(Credit: KEF)KEF's HTB2SE-W wireless subwoofer is first and foremost, a great subwoofer. The fact that it's a wireless design is icing on the cake.
The HTB2SE-W is a marriage of two existing KEF products--the HTB2 subwoofer and the Universal Wireless Kit--and I have reviewed both of them for CNET.
The subwoofer is a round design, a mere 7.7 inches thick, and yet it still manages to go deep into the bass. When it's vertically oriented, it stands 15.4 inches tall, or if you prefer, it can be horizontally oriented.
The subwoofer sports front- and rear-mounted 10-inch woofers. However, only the front woofer is powered by the 250-watt onboard digital amplifier; the rear woofer produces bass passively, motivated by the internal air pressure created by the movement of the front woofer. I think it's one of the coolest-looking subwoofers around.
Thanks to HTB2SE-W's wireless design it can be placed anywhere in the room, but it does have to be plugged into an AC power outlet. Yes, the wireless sub has wires, but you don't have to run a cable back to your receiver or surround processor.
The KEF HTB2SE-W has a suggested retail price of $1,200. It will be shipping next month.
Seven channels from one skinny speaker? We'll see.
(Credit: Atlantic Technology)Atlantic Technology claims its FS-7.0 Surround Bar is the first loudspeaker capable of reproducing all seven channels of a home theater soundtrack from a single wall-mountable enclosure. A matching 8-inch powered subwoofer will be offered for optimal integration with the FS-7.0.
A lot of very expensive soundbars are either tweeterless, or include just one tweeter, like Bowers & Wilkins' $2,200 Panorama. The FS-7.0's front baffle includes three 1-inch soft dome tweeters, for the front left, center, and right channels. The front panel also has a pair of 4x6-inch woofers.
Surround channels use full-range 3.25-inch drivers mounted on the sides of the cabinet. The Atlantic Technology FS-7.0 and SB-800 compact theater system will be available this month at suggested retail prices of $800 for the FS-7.0 in Gloss Black and $300 for the SB-800 subwoofer in matte black.
The Dome system combines sleek good looks and high quality sound.
(Credit: Focal)Focal Audio, aka JM Lab, may not be a well-known name in the U.S., but it is France's largest speaker manufacturer. I had Focal Mini Utopia speakers in my reference two-channel system for years and the Focal Grande Utopia EM ($180,000 per pair) is the best sounding speaker I've ever heard.
Maybe that's why the Focal Dome 5.1 satellite/subwoofer system ($2,595 MSRP) review by Michael Trei in Sound & Vision magazine piqued my interest.
The Dome replaces the Sib and Cub 5.1 system I favorably reviewed a few years ago. Unlike the Asian-built Sib and Cub, the Domes are manufactured at Focal's factory in Saint-Etienne, France.
The Dome 5.1 package is Focal smallest home speaker system yet. Trei writes: "the Dome satellite's cast-aluminum enclosure feels solid enough to withstand being run over by a small car." Each satellite speaker has a 4-inch woofer and a 1-inch aluminum/magnesium inverted dome tweeter, similar to the one Focal uses in its upscale Profile and Electra S models. Optional stands are available for the sats.
The matching cylindrical, rounded-top subwoofer has a single downward-firing 8-inch woofer and a built-in 100-watt amplifier.
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Can little woofers make high-quality bass?
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)Bass, really high-quality bass, is something I associate with large speakers and subwoofers. Smaller models generate significantly less bass output, but thanks to clever design it is possible to eek out more bass than little boxes used to make. But trust me, you can't predict bass performance by reading speaker specifications. Listening is the only way to learn what a speaker sounds like.
Speaker designers use all sorts of tricks involving bass ports and equalization techniques to boost bass, but bass quality, if not quantity, suffers in direct comparison to larger designs. Right, size still matters.
That may change: Atlantic Technology and Solus/Clements, two American speaker manufacturers, announced that they have joined forces to develop, market, and license a revolutionary new loudspeaker design protocol capable of delivering deep, low-distortion bass at high volume levels. This technology, dubbed H-PAS, (hybrid pressure acceleration system) will allow smaller cabinets and small drivers to achieve levels of performance "...normally associated with much larger speaker systems."
The new patent-pending system combines elements of several technologies: bass reflex, inverse horn, and transmission line in a unique cabinet design. H-PAS does not require the use of special drivers, any kind of onboard electronics or outboard equalization--it is a purely passive system, completely compatible with all amplifiers and receivers.
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A music-oriented home theater speaker system from Dynaudio.
(Credit: Dynaudio)First thing, determine your system's priorities. Will you watch movies or listen to music? Most folks do one or the other.
Since more home theater speaker buyers watch movies than listen to music, I'll start there.
It's hardly an overstatement to claim movie-oriented home theater systems succeed or fail based on their center channel's performance and sound quality. The center speaker delivers virtually all the dialog and it can, depending on the mix, convey upward of 80 percent of a movie's soundtrack. The center speaker has a big job.
So invest 30 percent of your 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 system budget on the center speaker, the Center Centric HT approach. As always, when it comes to sound quality, size matters. Bigger centers tend to sound better than small ones.
The subwoofer is the next most important player in a home theater sound system. Invest the next 30 percent of your dollars on the sub. The sub is largely responsible for home theater impact and power.
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(Credit:
Steve Guttenberg)
I recently participated in a Podcast focusing on subwoofer performance with Home Entertainment magazine's Editor-in-Chief Geoff Morrison, Director of (loudspeaker company) Revel Products, Kevin Voecks, and Brent Butterworth, a freelance writer for a number of magazines including Sound & Vision.
Voecks immediately zeroed in on the importance of placement, which is absolutely crucial to getting the best out of any sub. I'd go so far as to say an average sub, perfectly placed and set up, will outperform a great sub that's been carelessly placed and set up. That's because the sub's interaction with room acoustics can play havoc with sound, all too frequently resulting in boomy, uneven bass.
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With Pro Logic IIz some receivers will produce 9.1 channel surround.
(Credit: Dolby)The Dolby Web site is bubbling with excitement about its new processing trick, "With Dolby Pro Logic IIz, rain in a movie now seems to be actually falling on the listener's roof, concert videos bring a more intense sense of being at the performance, and orchestral works deliver more palpable depth, power, and connection." The "z" in Pro Logic IIz signifies the Z axis, otherwise known as height.
Sounds interesting, but when I setup and listened to the first receiver (an Onkyo TX-SR607) with Pro Logic IIz, the height speakers didn't lift my spirits.
Pro Logic IIz can, depending on the receiver's capabilities, either augment a 5.1 or 7.1 channel speaker system with two height channels. In other words, in a 5.1 channel system with Pro Logic IIz you'll have five speakers in the front of the room--left, center, right, left height, and right height--plus a surround speaker to both sides of the main listening position.
The 7.1 system with Pro Logic IIz uses the same speaker array--plus two rear surround speakers.
Once you have a receiver equipped with Pro Logic IIz, and wall mount the height speakers three feet or higher over the main left/right speakers, you're all set. You won't have to buy specially encoded movies or music.
According to Dolby, "Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in all content--stereo and 5.1 broadcast, music CDs, DVDs, 5.1 and 7.1 Blu-ray discs, and video games. Dolby Pro Logic IIz processes low-level, uncorrelated information--such as ambience and some amorphous effects like rain or wind--and directs it to the front height speakers."
Nice idea, did it actually work?
... Read MoreSubwoofers do bass, it's their thing. That's easy enough to understand, but even if you've picked out a great sub, there's no guarantee you'll wind up with great bass in your room.
Two subs are good, four are even better.
(Credit: Polk Audio)Why's that you ask? Room acoustics are tricky to understand, and picking the right spot for the sub is key. I've covered this before in my Subwoofer Setup Guide blog, but this time I'd like to take a different approach--using two or more subs to smooth out bass-busting room anomalies.
"Standing waves" within the room can cause large frequency-response variations at the listening locations. That's why some of Paul McCartney's bass notes are clear as can be, some seem much lower in volume, and some are bloated. That happens because some of Paul's notes are reinforced by your room's dimensions, while some are diminished.
Further, the subwoofer's frequency response changes significantly from one listening location to another. When you're sitting near the center of the couch all the notes might be even, but move over two or three feet, and the bass gets lumpy. Stand up and walk around the room, and the bass can sound radically different from spot to spot.
Adding a second (identical) sub automatically reduces the first sub's workload, which effectively lowers the distortion for a given playback volume of bass. Predicting room acoustics for amateurs and pros is fraught with uncertainty, but generally speaking, placing the subs on the midpoints of opposite walls is a good starting strategy (as in my illustration above). Diagonally opposite room corners can also work well.
Four subs, located at the midpoint of each wall will produce even smoother bass response throughout the room.
And yes, two decent 10-inch subs, properly placed can deliver higher quality bass than one 12-inch sub. Two $600 subs can sound better than one $1200 sub.
