technabob » htib

lg home theater claims 10.1 surround sound

technabob — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:20:32 +0000

LG is showing off their new HT752TP “flat home theater” system which claims the unique distinction of producing “10.1″ virtual surround sound.

The system simulates additional channels in between its standard 5 speaker surround setup, to produce the illusion of 10 individual speaker locations. It features a unique design with clear acrylic and aluminum flat speaker panels sitting atop glossy black pyramid bases. Beyond that it’s got all the requisite home-theater-in-a-box goodies, including a built-in DVD player and HDMI output. And no, the Korean chick in the picture does not come in the box.

[via AVING via Engadget]

a home theater even your girlfriend could love

technabob — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 01:15:22 +0000

Sure, there are countless “home theater in a box” systems out there, but most of them are generic, cheap looking silver boxes that look like something that only belongs on a shelf at your local Best Buy.

(*Siamese cat not included.)

Leave it to those shmancy European designers to come up with something with a little more style. Designed by Marcel Wanders, the minimal “Theatre + DVD” system, is a simple black wooden table with a full home theatre receiver hidden beneath its surface. The system features a 5.1 surround amplifier, subwoofer and a DVD player. The surround speakers are housed in black “pebble” enclosures that make the whole system seem very “zen.” The subwoofer amplifier is rated at 30 watts RMS and the satellites are rated at just 5 watts per channel. While this certainly won’t blow the roof off your media room, it’s probably sufficient for most smaller living spaces.

Available from Dutch electronic manufacturer, Holland Electro (click on the “Marcel Wanders” link to view the online catalog,) the system is priced at 299 Euros (about $389 USD).

[via crave]

philips ambisound hts8100 home theater in a box

technabob — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:38:17 +0000

Single-box surround systems seem to be all the rage these days, with systems like Yamaha’s YSP line of sound projectors and the iLive Virtual Surround System recently in the news. Now Philips has revealed their entry into the virtual surround market with their Ambisound HTS8100 system.

The Ambisound system features virtual 5.1 surround sound from a single 5-inch deep box and a single subwoofer. It features a complete 5-channel amplification system and a built-in upscaling DVD player with HDMI 1080p output. Video processing is provided by a Faroudja DCDi chipset, so upscaling quality should be excellent. The Ambisound HTS8100 lists for $799, but can be found on Amazon for as little as about $650.

[Order From Amazon]

ilive virtual surround sound system with ipod dock

technabob — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:06:45 +0000

In the market for a complete home theater setup without a lot of clutter? The iLive iHTD8817DT DVD Virtual Surround Sound Speaker Bar (now that’s a mouthful,) is a complete home theater in one piece of hardware. As a bonus, it even features an iPod dock.

Channeling much of its style from Yamaha’s YSP surround systems, this one is a complete home theater in a box. It features a slot-loading DVD player, AM/FM Stereo and a media player dock.

The iLive Surround system is the first product to offer the new SRS TruSurround HD4, which provides virtually positioned speakers from a single device. The TruSurround HD4 chipset allows devices to process inputs of 1.0 to 6.1 channels and reproduce them in a virtual surround field using 4.0 to 5.1 speakers that are all positioned at the front of your home theater.

Pricing and a release date have not yet been announced.