Sound Advice

We've all seen the commercial for that mini stereo system that promises to deliver really big surround sound from just two little speakers and a subwoofer and you may have wondered, as have I; "how does it do it?" Well, the answer is simple; it doesn't!

I finished hooking my new mini system up to my HDTV and, anxiously, flipped on a movie channel. It was an obvious improvement over my internal TV speakers. The bass was big and the highs out of sight! The midrange, however; that's where most of the presence is. That midrange was somewhat disappointing. Don't get me wrong; it sounded just great for a $100 sound system. The problem is, it cost more than a thousand!

I guess I should have known better. To get really big sound, you need to move a lot of air and that means really big speakers. From experience, I've found 12 and 15 inch systems with internal woofers, midrange speakers and high end tweeters produce the best full range sound.

As far as surround sound, that's the job of those two little speakers as the subwoofer is more or less non-directional. Well, you hear a hint of surround and it might be satisfying enough for some. For me, however, well, I guess I'm old school but I say to get the surround effect of a 5 speaker system, you need, like duh, 5 speakers!

So, if you're looking for a mediocre bookshelf system and have money to burn, by all means, order this one. As for mine, it's getting shipped back tomorrow. Then, I'll rent a van, head out to my local audio/video store and fill that van with several hundred pounds of surround goodies. It may not fit on my bookshelf, but it'll sound great!

Dave Allen, Radio Daddio