Big TVs, super sounds and comfy seats

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Gary Krakow

Columnist

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Small system, big sound
There are many rooms with great looking and sounding two-channel audio systems, but no home entertainment gathering, these days, could be considered complete without a bunch of items that take advantage of iPods and compressed music. The best ones I’ve seen and heard come from a company named Zvox.

They have two wonderful small sound systems that let you plug in your music, computers, satellite radios or even LCD TVs. You can even think of it as a single-box home theater speaker system with built-in amplifiers.

Their model 315 is 17-inches wide. Their new Mini is only 13-inches wide. Both have built-in subwoofers. Both sell for $199. And the 315 comes with a remote control. There’s an optional rechargeable battery ($49) and a carry case ($49) for the Mini. I have to tell you — both provide knock-out sound. The bass coming out of these small boxes is quite impressive.

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For better or worse, if you want to hear what your iPod really sounds like, I highly recommend either Zvox. They sound amazing and are well priced.

Image: I-Sonic
Polk Audio
The I-Sonic can do AM, FM, digital AM and FM, DVD, CD and even XM!
Keeping up in the all-in-one-box theme, Polk Audio was showing off their new I-Sonic boom box. It’s a compact home entertainment system (14.5 in. x 9.75 in. x 4.75 in.) with an AM/FM tuner, a digital HD radio (for high definition AM and FM broadcasts) and a DVD/CD player crammed inside. But, that’s not all. For $49, the price of an XM Connect and Play antenna, the I-Sonic is also a satellite radio receiver. There are 30 presets, a headphone jack and lots more. Suggested retail price is set at $599.

As for headphones, there are new offerings from Sennheiser, including the new lightweight, affordable and ‘over-the-ear’ HD201 ($24.95) and HD215 ($149.95), plus two new ultra-compact noise-canceling models, the PXC150 ($129.95) and PSC300 ($219.95).

Image: E3c
Shure Incorporated
The E3c, pictured here, and its new sibling, the E4c, are amazing sounding earphones.
At the other end of the spectrum there was an all-new earphone model from Shure called the E4c. With a suggested retail price of $299, it fits between the great sounding E3c ($179) and the top-of-the-line E5c ($499). Get rid of that piece of junk that comes with your iPod and hear the difference. It’s the best present you can give yourself — or someone else. (Hint, hint!)