High-style home theater

November 11, 2005

Once upon a time, design and sound quality were mutually exclusive in the home-theater world. You could get a system that was pleasing to the ear but not to the eye, or vice versa--unless, of course, you were willing to invest some significant time, money, and effort into having a professional installer punch holes in your wall, put your equipment rack in the closet, and hide all your wires. The advent of the home theater in a box (HTIB) streamlined things somewhat--it made it easier to buy all your ugly gear in one convenient package and lowered the bar on sound quality along with the discounted price tag. But there's a niche in the HTIB world that's offering an attractive compromise: 2.1-channel, virtual-surround, home-theater systems. Using just two speakers, a subwoofer, and a small "head unit" that combines a receiver and a disc player, these models emphasize high style while still offering reasonable sonic performance. Surround effects are simulated using elaborate psychoacoustic and reflective effects, and while they're limited to a rather tight, centered sweet spot and they'll never duplicate the presence of actual rear-channel speakers, the best models offer a convincing approximation of enveloping sound. You'll pay a high price for this sweet combination--$1,000 minimum--but how often can you have your cake and eat it too?

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