soundmatters reveals SLIMstage40 surround bar

Look out, Yamaha / Polk / Vizio / et al., you've got another rival heating up the surround bar game. Destined to hit CEDIA 2008, soundmatters' SLIMstage40 checks in at a luscious 3.3- x 3.4- x 39-inches in size and features 170-watts from eight internal amplifiers. The device houses four Linear Magnetic Drive main / satellite speakers and a trio of down-firing Extreme-Energy subs that are assisted by six mass radiators. Furthermore, you'll find three digital audio inputs (two optical, one coaxial), three analog inputs, a headphone jack, LED-backlit panel, an RS-232 port and an IR remote. Folks interesting in dabbling in faux-surround can snag one now for $899 to $1,199, depending on whether you spring for the bundle including the SUBstage100 subwoofer.

[avester @ Aug 12th 2008 10:10AM]

Flat surroround, isn't that an oxymoron or something?

[Ayman @ Aug 12th 2008 10:13AM]

It feels weird trying to impress your girl by placing it on the wall or on the table.... ALONE

[kjb434 @ Aug 12th 2008 10:21AM]

For the price, one could get a true surround system.....

I see these as good options for people that rent or don't want to mess with the wiring. And wireless surround speakers aren't that great because of potential interference.

[DooM @ Aug 12th 2008 10:22AM]

Iphone is better

[avester @ Aug 12th 2008 10:58AM]

Yeah, I showed the integrated iPhone speaker at my local HiFi store, and they were stunned! They are going to replace the whole speaker lineup with just the iPhones.

[BittenToDeath @ Aug 12th 2008 10:36AM]

I have a Sony Soundbar, and considering I have a tiny apartment living room, 2.1 looks a lot sexier than a 5.1 with wires all over the place. Plus, it has 3 HDMI in and 1 out.

[avester @ Aug 12th 2008 10:59AM]

Yeah, good 2.1 > Crap 5.1 anyday.

[jptech @ Aug 12th 2008 11:15AM]

what a useless turd that thing is.

too much technobabble, not enough speakers.

This is for people who are too lazy to install speakers.

And for people who have more money than brains!

[tanooki2003 @ Aug 12th 2008 11:26AM]

Junk,

I am sticking with my 7.1 surround system that i know sounds far better than this...lazy man's surround crapbar

[jntaylor @ Aug 12th 2008 12:34PM]

Yes, these will never match a true 5.1 / 7.1 system, but I think that its main use is to give people better sound than their puny TV speakers. People want the BOOM, but may not have the space or in my case: Proper Room Layout.

HT works best when your room is Theater Shaped, ie a square or rectangle room without open walls and the viewer is setting straight in front of the screen. In two of my three homes, have a viewing area like the above was not possible. One house was designed where in the family room, the fireplace was the center point of the main wall and the TV shelving was built to set beside the fire place. On my second house, the living room was a large open space with only full wall for the TV and the room had cathedral ceilings and hardwood floors. (Couldn't run speaker wires)

So, a system like this could at least give me a richer sound when multiple speakers wouldn't work.