Home Theater Surround Sound with Virtually No Speakers?

Over the past few years, home theater surround sound systems have been a great way for consumers to bring home cinema-style sound. These popular systems are usually made up of at least five speakers to recreate all those high intensity movie sound effects: a right and left main speaker, a center speaker placed on the TV, two rear speakers and a subwoofer. Add a Dolby Digital receiver to play back all channels, along with a big screen TV, a favorite movie and a bag of popcorn -- and, voila, you’re at the movies.

But, what if you’ve always wanted to add surround sound to a room but don’t have the space for multiple speakers? Or, hiding all those wires seems like a daunting task and they’ll detract from your room’s décor? You may be a great candidate for a new home theater technology, what manufacturers are calling virtual surround sound. These systems don’t rely on as many speakers, but because of breakthrough technology can still duplicate the surround sound effect you'd achieve if you wired and placed multiple speakers throughout your room.

Cambridge SoundWorks’ new SurroundWorks 200 is great example of how achieving surround sound can be simple. SurroundWorks uses a single multi-channel center speaker that is placed on the TV or mounted on the wall above it. Remarkably, this one speaker will essentially emulate the surround effect of five or more individual ones, thus eliminating the need for wiring and finding space for separate speakers. The SurroundWorks speaker is paired with a powerful subwoofer and a stylish DVD/AM/FM control console. The entire system is wired using just two foolproof connecting cables -- no need for hiding wires here. Because SurroundWorks is engineered to recreate surround sound with "invisible" speakers, it is truly installation and user friendly -- easy to place, easy to connect and easy to use.

While many folks will still opt for traditional multi speaker systems, for those who have limited space or want to add surround sound to a room without the fuss, the new breed of virtual surround sound systems offer the perfect solution. And they prove that sometimes less is more. $999.99; www.cambridgesoundworks.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content