Recently Filed in Surround Sound

Surround-sound speaker systems for your theater room can range wildly. You can be happy with a 5.1 setup that’s right out of a home theater in a box, step up to more weighty cabinet and bookshelf models, or have a larger system that uses towers all over the place—including the center channel and surrounds. We asked our friends over on the AVS Forum for some recommendations that our readers can use for the holiday season. In our “AVS Recommends” series we’ve already discussed options for… View this story
Speakers • Bookshelf Speakers • Speaker Systems • Subwoofers • Surround Sound • Buyers Guides • Audio • Info and Answers • Slideshows

The center channel in your surround-sound system usually does the bulk of the heavy lifting, whether it’s all of that movie dialogue or music vocals that are being pumped out. You’ll want a pretty powerful speaker doing the job of center channel, and MartinLogan is lending a hand with its new “Feature” model. The Feature is an electrostatic design that is internally powered with a high-resolution 150-watt switching amplifier. The internal amp also gives you a bit of flexibility and reduced wire clutter because you… View this story
Speakers • Bookshelf Speakers • On-Wall Speakers • Surround Sound • Audio • Product News

Home theaters in a box ain’t what they used to be. And more wattage isn’t the only thing making them more powerful these days. Just look at the new HT-S9100THX theater package from Onkyo—whose A/V receivers come highly recommended by the DIY theater experts over at AVS Forum. This theater package combines a 7.1-channel speaker system with an Onkyo receiver that delivers 130 watts per channel and a slew of high-performance goods. Among them: THX Loudness Plus technology Four HDMI v. 1.3a inputs Onboard Faroudja… View this story
AV Components • Receivers • Speakers • Speaker Systems • Surround Sound • Home Theater • Product News

Sonance is one speaker stronger, thanks to the SM55 SST. The new single-stereo model will actually double the size of the company’s Surface Mount selection—which means now there are two! The single-speaker solution is designed for situations where an array of speakers won’t fit, but you can’t do an in-wall or in-ceiling install. The unit includes a dual-voice coil 5.25-inch carbon fiber cone woofer with two flanking, wide-range 1-inch silk dome ferrofluid-cooled tweeters. Just like the existing Surface Mount SM55 unit, all you need is… View this story
Soundbars • Surround Sound • Audio • Product News

If you love that piano-gloss look to your super sleek flat-panel TV and need a speaker to match, Pinnacle Speakers has the design for you. The company has introduced its Quantum Series of flat-panel speakers, so you can have a wall-mounted (if you desire) elegant piano-gloss front left/center/right channel speaker that looks like it was built with your television. The lineup is available in five models that range from $499 to $1,999—the QP 3, QP 5, QP 7, QP 9 and behemoth QP 15. All… View this story
Speakers • On-Wall Speakers • Surround Sound • Audio • Product News

We know that slim is in when it comes to flat-panel TVs these days. It’s also become very chic when it comes to the sound that accompanies your wall- or stand-mounted TV. Interior decorators—of the professional and novice variety—continue to rejoice over the proliferation of soundbars for convenient and unobtrusive audio in your living room, bedroom or other room. The SLIMstage40 from soundmatters makes a further statement in this category. At measurements of just 3.3 x 3.4 x 39 inches, SLIMstage measures even slimmer than… View this story
Speakers • Soundbars • Surround Sound • Audio • Product News

For the obsessive home theater aficionado, it’s the ultimate horror: you enter a friend’s house and spot a home theater system. Everything looks reasonably normal at first—left and right speakers flank the screen; a center channel sits above or below; but then you notice the rear speakers, stacked on top of the entertainment center at the front of the room. Or on top of the front left and right speakers. Or maybe one is at the side of the room and the other is in… View this story
Speakers • Surround Sound • Home Theater • Audio • Info and Answers • Slideshows

Paradigm’s Monitor Series loudspeakers already sound pretty darn good. Now the Canadian company went ahead and gave it bit of a design makeover, too, just when you thought the Monitors couldn’t get any better. This is v.6—the sixth version of Paradigm’s Monitor Series. The new magnetic grilles now have ultra-low diffraction, and they stay perfectly centered over the baffles unless they’re removed, thanks to redesigned and reinforced placement of the magnets keeping them on. Other exterior improvements include nickel-plated screws added to all bookshelf, floorstanding… View this story
Speakers • Bookshelf Speakers • Floor Standing Speakers • Surround Sound • Home Theater • Audio • Product News

PSB Speakers wants you to “imagine” what “affordable high-end” loudspeakers should be like. Got that image in your head? OK—now does it come in dark cherry and black ash veneers? That’s how PSB’s new “Imagine” line looks, and it will show off these beauties at CEDIA Expo 2008 this fall. The series consists of the Imagine T three-way tower speakers, Imagine B two-way bookshelf models, Imagine C two-way center channel and Imagine S tri-mode surround channel. You’ll find sonic precision with solid cabinet construction and… View this story
Speakers • Bookshelf Speakers • Floor Standing Speakers • Surround Sound • Home Theater • Audio • Product News

For those of you who were fans of the curvy flagship Palladium P-39F floorstanding speaker Klipsch debuted earlier this year, the company has announced more of the same to turn you on. It’s expanded the Palladium lineup and design principles to six more speakers. The additions to the Palladium Series include: the P-38F and P-37F floorstanders, the P-17B bookshelf speakers, P-27C center channel, P-27S surround and P-312W subwoofer. Basically, you can construct an entire rockin’ Palladium surround system. The series is about mixing performance and… View this story
Speakers • Bookshelf Speakers • Floor Standing Speakers • Subwoofers • Surround Sound • Home Theater • Audio • Product News

Don’t think you can easily transform your room into a home theater room? Think again, says Epson. The company announced last year that it had put together an “Ensemble" Home Cinema System that incorporates speakers from Atlantic Technology. The theater bundle is now being shipped to U.S. dealers, so better get started rearranging your living room. Epson’s pretty much made the system as easy as possible and convenient for you to add in your home. The goods include a choice of 1080p or 720p Epson… View this story
AV Components • DVD Players • Displays • Front Projection • Video Screen • Speakers • Speaker Systems • Surround Sound • Home Theater • Product News

I remember the first time I experienced stereo sound while watching a movie at home. My parents had just purchased a stereo from Sears. I wasn’t older than 13 but I distinctly remember hooking up our Hi-Fi VCR to the new stereo and marveling at the sound of the jets moving from one side of the room to the other in “Top Gun.” We’ve come a long way since then. Today’s home entertainment rooms aren’t complete without at least five speakers, and the move to… View this story
Surround Sound • Movies and Music • Audio • Info and Answers