Home Theater in a Box: Not Just for Newbies?

Are these all-in-one home theater systems finally shedding their "cheap" stigma?

When it comes to Consumer Electronics, there’s no denying high-definition is the hottest topic. It’s all very visually exciting, but what about the sound you might ask? It’s not surprising but once folks buy a new HDTV, or an upconverting DVD player, they finally start to think about audio! Unbelievable! What people need to remember is that audio is more than 50-percent of the experience. What? Without audio, movies like “Star Wars” or “Transformers” would sound pretty flat.

So, the first item that many people purchase after a new TV or DVD player would be a new audio system so they can finally experience true digital 5.1 surround sound. While some folks may go the route of buying a stand-alone A/V Receiver with separate speakers, other folks want something simpler and less intrusive. At the same time, they don’t want a lot of wires running all over floor or huge speakers that don’t fit into the decor of the room. What to do?

So, many people opt for a product fondly called the “Home Theater in a Box” (HTiB) because the entire audio system is packaged within one carton or box. Since their inception, however, they’ve changed quite a bit. Today, these pre-packaged systems can be just as good as separates with high-quality speaker drivers, and are now offered from quality audio companies. And, some HTiBs may also include a Blu-ray Disc player/changer. There are countless variations on a theme. Many systems come with sleek and futuristic speakers, or diminutive cube-like ones that easily blend in. Some systems can also be individual components packaged together, or designed to look like a long tubular speaker to complement that new flat-panel TV. With these beauties, everything – including electronics and drivers – are housed in one tubular container.



History
I’ve used this analogy before, but it’s a great one to embrace. In the beginning, there was the rack. No - not the instrument of torture found in the dungeon of a medieval castle, but a Rack System full of audio gear. It was this gigantic piece of furniture that housed your prized audio equipment with overly large speakers. If you remember way back in the day,” you measured the prowess of your system by the size of your speakers – the bigger, the better, and the taller. The system included an amplifier, tuner, turntable, equalizer, and tape deck, besides the speakers (usually of a three-way or four-way design). Later, systems added a CD Player/Changer and/or a DVD player/changer too. The bottom part of the rack would normally house storage for records (if you’re old enough to remember those large grooved vinyl discs), and later on tapes or CDs. The quality of the system would be judged on the amount of power (watts) that it produced. Upscale systems included a rack made of real wood.

Some “cheap” or inexpensive systems fused all of the products together, and others actually had separate components on each shelf of the rack. While Rack Systems are still available today from a few brands like JVC, they are clearly a dying breed category. As time went on, however, the Rack System evolved and was downsized, as cheaper models became known as Midi or Bookshelf System. The smallest ones became Mini Systems, and teeny tiniest ones became Ultra Minis or Micro or Executive Systems.

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[Link: electronichouse.com]