Audio Video News

Lord knows it's hard to pull together a home theater that sounds great and looks good too. Especially in small spaces, it's tricky to fit everything in without overwhelming your apartment.

Z-Base 550 to the rescue. New from ZVOX, the Z-Base is a complete sound system - surround sound-bar speakers, subwoofer, amplifier, and virtual surround processors - all in a box designed to sit literally under your TV as the base platform for your whole system. The box is designed to hold your TV, so you don't need a separate location for this box. Put it on a stand, put the TV on top, and you're good to go.

More details . . .

The Z-Base 550 is said to support up to a 47-inch LCD screen (up to 90 pounds), and the scratch-resistant finish should stand up well to being used as the base of the TV.

The system contains a powered 5.25-inch subwoofer and a 60-watt amplifier, so all you need is AC power and a single audio cable and you're good to go. There are five 2-inch full-range speakers in the soundbar and it has auto on/off, with Energy Star compliance.

All this for just $499. Not bad for a single-box solution to your home theater needs. —Leslie Shapiro

ZVOX