When it comes to enjoying a good action movie, Ken Vanacoro has spent thousands of dollars and gone to great lengths installing a sound system to enhance his home theatre.
"It's very time intensive to get up into the ceiling and run wires, like with these speakers, across the studs -- to come this way, and then come back to the media cabinet," he says.
Consumer Reports Jim Wilcox says there's an easier way to get great sound that could also end up costing you less money.
"Get a sound bar," he says. "It's basically an array of speakers that are housed in a single enclosure, and it's designed to be placed unobtrusively either above or below your TV."
Most sound bars plug in right out of the box. Consumer Reports tested eight sound bars, ranging in price from $300 to $1,300.
The top rated was the Marantz es7001 ssx, which combines six speakers and digital amplifiers to create very convincing surround sound.
And all the components are housed within a stylish aluminum enclosure that's only six inches high. But at $1,300, this high style comes at a high price.
For $400 less, the $900 Denon dhfts3 has surround sound and a stylish sub woofer. But remember:
"With any of the pieces that do surround sound, you actually have to have sound reflect off of walls in the back of the room," says Gavin Helps from Audio Video Unlimited. "To give you that kind of idea that sound is coming from there."
To get more bang for your buck consider the Sony HTCT 100. This two-piece package has three speakers and a separate subwoofer, which enables it to produce deep bass. It's also ultra-compact, at less than three inches high.
"Despite its small size, the Sony was surprisingly clear and it was able to create a pretty wide sound field," says Wilcox.
And priced at $400 dollars, it makes for easy listening that's also easy on your wallet.
Before you buy a major system, check out the setup in the store to make sure you can plug in your HD cable box, your blue ray player and a game system.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
