No, these aren't HTiB systems — home theaters in a box. You'll need to add more than just a TV to them before you can kick back and enjoy a movie theaterlike experience at home. But this trio of home theater speaker systems — Energy's act6 ($800), Hsu Research's Ventriloquist VT-12 ($498 factory-direct with the Hsu STF-1 subwoofer), and JBL's SCS300.7 ($699) — shows that compact subwoofer/satellite speaker packages have come a long way. Each brand carries a legacy of speaker innovation and excellence, and each system here is a far cry from the cheesy stuff you'll find at the local discount warehouse.
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Hsu Research, the youngest brand, made its name with unconventional subwoofers of impressive performance and remarkable value sold factory-direct, and it's now applying the same approach to complete speaker systems. Energy, a brand of Canada 's Audio Products International, has well-established street cred for value and performance. And JBL is familiar to aficionados of both music and cinema sound as well as audio professionals around the world.
No lightweights, then, but what do they bring to the HToB party? To find out, I set up each system in turn in my home theater. The systems Energy, Hsu, and JBL sent us have five, six, and seven satellites, respectively, but all use essentially identical speakers for the front left/right and the surround positions; JBL and Energy use the same speaker for the center as well.
Front speakers went on adjustable stands flanking a 42-inch Gateway plasma HDTV, while each center speaker sat just below the screen. Left/right surrounds went on my usual high, side-wall shelves, while the single and dual back surrounds in the Hsu and JBL systems were placed high on the back wall. Although I explored the Hsu and JBL systems' 6.1/7.1-channel performance, in the interest of a level playing field I did most of my listening in 5.1-channel mode.
All three makers recommend connecting the satellites directly to your A/V receiver (or amplifier), with the subwoofers wired to your receiver or preamp/processor's subwoofer output, so that's what I did.
JBL SCS300.7
The JBL package qualifies as an HToB system since it comes in one box — a really big box. It's the only system in our group to include a full 7.1-channel array, with seven slick silver satellites (say that three times fast!). They're identical except that the center speaker is horizontally oriented.
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SETUP Speaking of hardware, JBL supplies everything you need to mount the satellites on the wall, on swivel shelf mounts, on the supplied short stands, or any combination of the above — dedicated floor stands cost extra. It even includes cable in generous lengths, with the wire ends already stripped.
Blending the sound of the subwoofer with tiny satellites almost always requires extra effort, and the SCS300.7 system was no exception. JBL recommends starting with your receiver's subwoofer crossover set to 100 Hz, so that's what I did. At first I still heard the “hole-in-the-midbass” effect so common with such systems. Bumping the crossover up to 120 Hz helped a bit, but what made all the difference was moving the three front speakers about a foot farther from the front wall. This underscores how even relatively tiny changes in speaker placement can have big results.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE Once balanced and tweaked, the SCS300.7 sounded amazingly similar to many far bigger JBL systems I've auditioned. That is, it was clear and squeaky-clean, with crisp, airy highs and a distinct absence of any extra midbass warmth. Some male vocals (and TV announcers) sounded a little less authoritative, but the payoff was impressively clear and intelligible dialogue and clean, punchy vocals.
Tracks like “She Dreams of Trains” on the six-channel DVD-Audio mix of Vince Gill's High Lonesome Sound showcased the clarity and definition of this carefully crafted surround production, especially the lifelike vocals. And songs like “Given More Time,” which over the last half-minute or so gradually pans the vocal from center front to left rear, revealed a cohesive sound field, proving that the SCS300 satellites worked well all around.
When pushed, the system played surprisingly loud without strain. Stereo recordings sounded a bit “squished” dynamically at extreme volumes, but with multichannel rock at headbanging levels, things stayed clean right up to within 4 or 5 dB of what my larg er reference speakers can do — impressive.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE Soundtracks for big-production movies like The Italian Job keep the action moving almost continuously, and the JBL system handled the bustle adroitly. Chapter 4's speedboat chase is perfect for evaluating continuity across the front and blending between the front and surround channels, as boats zoom in every direction. The SCS300.7 kept the roaring, whooshing parade convincingly “whole,” from hard left across the screen to hard right, by no means a universal achievement among mini sub/sat speaker systems.
Even sounds panned to the rear stayed believable. Bucking JBL's intentions, I placed the surround speakers on their sides, aimed just slightly forward and tilted up to bounce some sound off the ceiling. This enhanced ambience while preserving enough direct sound for instruments and voices.
JBL supplies a hefty subwoofer with the SCS300.7 system, largely explaining the king-sized master carton. And as expected, the SCS300 sub pounded out thunderous bass to below 35 Hz, with more than enough volume to match the satellites even when I tried the 7.1-channel setup, in which two back surround speakers were directly behind my listening position.
With seven satellites and a very capable subwoofer , this is an awful lot of system for the bucks. On a sheer sounds/pounds-per-dollar basis, JBL's SCS300.7 speaker system is tough to beat.
PDF: Fast FactsPDF: In the Lab
Hsu Ventriloquist VT-12/STF-1
Hsu Research's value-packed HToB entry comes in two cartons, but both could almost fit in the JBL's master pack. More important, the seven-piece, 6.1-channel suite applies some clever engineering to a problem that has dogged minispeaker systems from Day 1: tiny satellites simply can't produce enough bass to blend seamlessly with subwoofers. Hsu's fix is the Ventriloquist VT641 center speaker, which has inputs and outputs for the left and right front speakers. Front L/R signals from your receiver are routed through the center speaker, where special crossover and mixing circuitry let its dual woofers fill in the warmth and weight for the left and right channels that would otherwise be missing or heard mostly as boom from the subwoofer.
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It's a practical solution because the L/R satellites can be very small while still maintaining good stereo separation — it's difficult to hear where frequencies below about 200 Hz are coming from, especially with a centered source like the VT641. The Hsu VT254 left/right satellite is a simple “one-way” speaker with just a single 2 1/2 -inch “full-range” driver. However, I discovered a surprisingly elaborate “crossover” circuit inside — really a response-shaping network, since there's no tweeter to cross over to!
SETUP I arranged the Hsu system like the others, with the center speaker just below the screen and the L/R fronts on stands to either side. Hsu supplies no brackets or stands beyond a simple tilt base for the center speaker, but the VT254/251 satellites include both keyholes and threaded inserts for mounting hardware. Though equipped with serious multiway terminals, the VT254s are so light that my heavy speaker cables tended to pull them out of position.
Hsu includes a switch on the back of the VT641 to defeat the “ventriloquist” action, allowing you to judge its contribution to the overall sound. With it switched off, the system sounded thin and weak — with it on, the sound was rich and full. But there can be too much of a good thing, and the midbass was a little gooey. The solution was simple: I put the VT641 on a shelf above the TV, and the heaviness nearly disappeared.
I heard smooth, extended treble when I sat between the L/R front satellites, which I toed in and adjusted for my seated ear height. But when I moved out of the sweet spot, either by standing up or by moving much to the right or left, treble “air” diminished. The sweet spot was plenty wide enough for three-across seating, however.
The Ventriloquist VT-12 is a 6.1-chan nel system, with a single back surround (the VT251) that's identical to the VT254 but has dual inputs. If you have a 6.1-channel receiver or amplifier, you bridge these inputs and feed in the back surround signal. But if your system is only 5.1-channel-capable, you can connect the left/right surround outputs instead (in parallel with those speakers), and the VT251 will generate a back surround channel by summing the L/R signals. I also tried placing the side surrounds on their backs, bouncing sound off the ceiling at about 45°, and this dramatically improved the ambience for movies.
MUSIC/MOVIE PERFORMANCE There was no question that the Ventriloquist worked as advertised. The Hsu system sounded warm and rich, lending authority to male vocals like James Taylor's (one of my reference voices). The VT641 center speaker matched its mates exceptionally well, but I heard some falloff in the treble when I listened from off-center.
The VT254 worked reasonably well in the L/R surround positions, but the speakers tended to “point” their locations a bit. For example, during The Italian Job's climactic chase (Chapter 14), as the cars and bikes zoomed across the rear channels they occasionally “pulled” into one or the other too distinctly. Adding the VT251 into the mix, fed from my receiver's back-surround channel, made it harder to localize the L/R surrounds.
I was surprised by the VT-12's ability to play loud, with full, clean dynamics — plenty loud enough for material like live jazz combo recordings at real-world club levels. Only at extreme volumes did the system begin to sound a bit “congested.”
Hsu's STF-1 is one impressive little subwoofer. It went plenty low for true home theater action, with meaningful volume all the way down to 25 Hz — a lot more than I expected. It wasn't boomy yet had me running for cover during the scene in The Italian Job when the armored truck blows through the pavement.
By coming up with a novel solution to a longstanding challenge, and by refusing to be bound by hard-and-fast speaker-design “rules,” Hsu Research has produced an astonishing little system. Its performance is far more impressive than its modest looks suggest, and its value even more so.
PDF: Fast Facts
PDF: In the Lab
Energy act6
Energy is no stranger to HToB systems. Its Take5 and Encore series have won nearly universal praise for their astute balancing of performance, cost, and style. Energy's newer, smaller act6 array follows the same winning formula: five identical small, classy-looking satellites with adaptable mounting hardware and a small-footprint subwoofer specifically designed to support them. Unlike the JBL and Hsu satellites, which have plastic enclosures, the Energy act1 is made of machined aluminum, which gives it a heftier, more luxurious “feel.”
SETUP I set up the act6 identically to the other systems. Like JBL's SCS300 satellite, Energy's act1 requires you to remove the supplied wall-mounting hardware to connect the speaker wires to the spring-clip terminals inset in its bottom.
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MUSIC PERFORMANCE Up and running, the act6 system was the closest match to my “big” everyday rig, with very even, uncolored vocal tones and smooth, steady highs. Treble was a shade airier than the Hsu Research, but less bright than the JBL. The overall presentation on music was first-rate, with precise, solid imaging and well-balanced sound from everything I tried.
And this was equally true for multichannel music. The Canadian system pounded out stuff like the blues-rocker “One Dance with You” from the Vince Gill DVD-Audio disc with real authority, remaining crisp and clean up to surprisingly lifelike volumes. Among the three systems reviewed here, I'd guess that the Energy wins the loud/clean sweepstakes by a nose over the JBL.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE Soundtracks sounded excellent as well. The act6 beamed up a seamless front soundstage, presenting a cohesive image from the three front speakers and keeping The Italian Job's zillions of pans and shifts impressively together, never drawing attention from the action to an individual speaker. And the little Energy satellites worked well as surrounds when they were aimed about 30° rearward to bounce some sound off the back wall.
Although Energy's subwoofer was the smallest of the lot, it had no problem keeping pace. And while it didn't quite match the Hsu or JBL subs in lowest-octave oomph, it came very close.
Even the ultra-small satellites delivered a surprisingly robust midbass punch. To ease setup and get the best possible blend between the sats and sub, you'll want to use a receiver (or processor) with an adjustable crossover frequency — indeed, the same could be said of all three systems. I used a 110-Hz crossover frequency instead of the “standard” 80 Hz, but this is likely to vary from room to room.
For my taste, Energy's act6 is the most sophisticated-looking of these three systems. It also scored high with unusually refined sonics for stereo music and solid, dynamic surround performance — qualities that may well be worth the extra money to some listeners.
PDF: Fast Facts
PDF: In the Lab
The Bottom Line
Are these mini marvels ready to kill off high-end home theater speakers once and for all? Of course not. But it would be hard to exaggerate how much better they are than the speakers that come with typical mass-market microsystems, and the more I listened, the more impressed I was with their remarkable value.
Do you demand a real eight-piece, 7.1-channel suite for not much more than five bills? JBL's got yours. Insisting on tiny satellites but reluctant to settle for lumpy low-end sound? Go see Hsu. Ready to upgrade to a home theater system with style and well-balanced sound but still need to save space? Take an Energy break. Whichever one you audition or select, you won't be disappointed.