OTHER TECH

My 42-inch widescreen HDTV monitor has a narrow top lip, so I put the speaker on a short stand just below the screen. Niro recommends a minimum distance of 6 feet to the listening position. I found that about 8 feet was ideal.

The system provided a sweet spot about as wide as a full-size sofa. In terms of breadth and imaging, the front sound field rivaled or even surpassed that from many conventional front speaker trios I've heard. The sound poured forth broad and deep, with no localization on the speaker. It extended to the left and right of the TV screen, while dialogue remained centered.

I dared the Niro 1.1 Pro system with the DVD of Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, a mind-blowing spectacle with a montage of sound from every channel - it even puts dialogue in the surround channels. The Niro created about a 170° sound field, so while I never heard anything directly from my sides or from behind me, I did hear plenty off to the side just in front of me and even behind the TV screen. To my ears, the Niroson Cinema 1.1 processing was not quite as effective in creating an apparent surround field as Dolby Virtual Speaker, but the effect was surprisingly satisfying. I became absorbed in the movie, and when the crystal flakes tinkled their way down before Santine made her grand entrance, they really did sound like they were falling evenly throughout the front half of my room.

The overall tonal balance was good, with some warmth that didn't sacrifice clarity, and the little sub did its job admirably. This system won't help you break your lease, but it has enough muscle for home theater. DVD image quality was on par with that of most other modestly priced HTiB systems, good but a tad less sharp than with some of the best players.

To test stereo playback - the system lacks Dolby Pro Logic II and can't play multichannel audio discs, though it will play MP3 files on CD-R/ RW discs - I spun the latest CD from Prairie Home Companion favorites Robin and Linda Williams (Red House). The sound was full and rich, flattering their voices. Not surprisingly, they sounded much better in conventional stereo than in Pro Logic, which contracted the sound field.

The Niro 1.1 Pro plays the Mini Cooper to the SUV of a full 5.1-channel system. It's cute, fun, and fast, but lacks the power and majesty of a complete surround sound system. Still, like the Mini Cooper, it's a good value, and you can park it in places other systems can't fit.