!7: Saved Sony 3.1 Sound Bar: January 2012

!±8± The Many Features of the HTCT 500

Most people consider a great entertainment center set up to consist of 5 (or even 7) massive and well placed speakers. They expect them to be expensive and to deliver theater quality sound. The HTCT 500 is designed to be such a device, and several reviews have confirmed that. The only baffling aspect is the use of 3 speakers instead of 5 or more.

It works much like the wave radio you may have heard about. This sound bar generates a wave of sound that continues to reverberate off of your particular home theater setup. The quality, therefore, isn't so much based on the quality of the speaker as it is based on the acoustics of the room. The typical room (both in size and material component) tends to accommodate for excellent sound quality with this Sony sound bar.

This particular model is unique in that it is actually a bar rather than a tall-standing, more equally proportioned rectangle. It comes as a 3.1 setup, meaning it comes with 2 other speakers plus a subwoofer for enhanced bass. The placement of the bar itself is the true heart of the sound quality, but the other two speakers are what provide the actual affect of surround sound. That means that they offer the affect of sound in a specific location (so if an explosion is supposed to happen to the left of the viewers, then the speakers can offer that.)

The only side affect of having something this impressive is aesthetics. Most people like to show off that they have an impressive sound system by the size of the speakers they have. While this sound bar is more compact, which allows for better variety of placement, it doesn't appear to be that great in quality.

A typical 6 or 7 speaker set up tends to be quite pricey, but you're paying for several different speakers. With the sound bar, you're paying for fewer parts, but the price is the same as several parts. Add that to the fact that you lack the physical appearance of great sound and it may seem a little steep. This bar runs about 0.

Giving up the aspect of awe-inspiring size has it's other benefits too, however. Fewer speakers does mean more room, but it also means less cords. You won't have to worry about the big tangled mess of cords that tends to swarm any home theater set up. It also means having fewer cords that run all around the room because of speaker placement.

Something that expensive may seem a little much for what you're getting. However, it is a Sony product, which is a company that has certainly proved it self in sound quality. It may not be the best in the business, but it certainly has a reputation.

So having the htct 500 means a more compact way of doing what, basically, has already been done before. You lose some of the physical aspects of great surround sound, and if you already have the quality, it's not much of and advance. It is, however, an incredible piece of technology and innovative to say the least. If nothing else, it at least holds that to its name.