Today's show:
In this episode we focus on surround sound and home theater
audio. We'll discuss virtual surround systems and provide some
tips on how to improve your listening experience at home.
Virtual Surround:
What is virtual surround?
Based on research on how the ear actually perceives and processes
sound, a virtual surround system uses usually one, but sometimes two,
speakers to simulate a full 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 surround sound
system. This one speaker is often mounted in the same place you'd
expect to find a center channel speaker.
Options:
The
SurroundBar by Polk is designed to complement flat pannel televisions
and create a simulated surround sound environment for those who cannot
or simply don't want to install speakers all around their viewing
room. The speaker is based on patented Polk technology called SDAtm.
The speaker itself is comprised of seven 3½" Dynamic
Balance Drivers and three ¾" Dynamic Balance Dome
Tweeters which, according to the manufacturer's website, deliver
"clear, natural midrange, high frequencies and lifelike
imaging."
The Polk SurroundBar retails for
$949.95 US.
These two new offerings from Yamaha are based on the same concept as their original Digital Sound Projector, the YSP-1.
While the Polk product is a speaker that takes the place of the five,
six or seven speakers normally found in a full surround sound system,
the Yamaha products are actually a full processor, amplifier and
speaker in one unit. They support decoding of all the major
surround sound formats: Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital and DTS.
The
YSP-1000 uses forty 1 5/8" drivers and two 4 3/8" woofers while the
YSP-800 uses twenty-one 1 5/8" drivers with two 3 15/16" woofers to
create a full surround sound experience from one unit. The tiny
drivers create precisely
focused beams of sound aimed for optimum surround
sound effect.
The units retail for $1700 and $800 US.
Like
the Yamaha products, the MainStageHD from Soundmatters is a complete
processor, amplifier and speaker in one package. The website
doesn't indicate what surround sound formats it supports, but it accepts
digital audio inputs via Toslink and Digital Coax, so one would assume
it supports either Dolby Digital or DTS.
Not
much is known about the unit at this time, except that it was supposed
to be available by now. It's supposedly very close, and will
retail for $379 US when it hits the shelves.
There is also a product called the NIRO 400 and the Movie Mouse
Listen to the podcast for a listener review of this product.
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