Home Theater Acoustic Panels

Boston Acoustics SoundWare XS 5.1 (black)

If you like to flaunt your home audio system, you're probably not going to buy the Boston SoundWare XS 5.1 speaker system. That's OK; it's not made for you. But lots of people who don't make home theater their hobby still appreciate a true surround-sound experience and Boston's system delivers that at an incredible size and price. The SoundWare XS 5.1 sounds surprisingly good, and we say surprising because its five satellite speakers feel only a little larger than a baseball in your hand. Combined ... Expand full review

If you like to flaunt your home audio system, you're probably not going to buy the Boston SoundWare XS 5.1 speaker system. That's OK; it's not made for you. But lots of people who don't make home theater their hobby still appreciate a true surround-sound experience and Boston's system delivers that at an incredible size and price. The SoundWare XS 5.1 sounds surprisingly good, and we say surprising because its five satellite speakers feel only a little larger than a baseball in your hand. Combined with its compact 100-watt subwoofer, it's one of the most decor-friendly speaker systems we've tested. Our one nitpick, design-wise, is that the speaker connections are difficult to use, but you'll run into that problem only when you set the system up.

As good as the SoundWare XS 5.1 system is for its size, it can't defy physics. The Pioneer SP-PK21BS sounds much, much better, but it's also a much, much larger speaker system. And even if living room decor is your priority, you should seriously consider the larger (but elegant) Energy Take Classic 5.1 system , which sounds considerably better as well. However, neither of those systems can compete if space is at a premium, and the petite SoundWare XS 5.1 ($500 street price) is an excellent, affordable option with solid sound quality.

Design and features

The cube satellites are incredibly tiny, just 4.43 inches wide, 4.25 inches high and 4.43 deep. Each one weighs just one pound. The speaker's rear is faceted, so instead of being a six-sided cube, the SoundWare XS satellite is a polyhedron. Its 10 "sides" also make it easier to squeeze the wee speakers into corners. If you place it on a shelf the speaker can be angled up or fire straight ahead. Or wall-mount the little guys with the included articulating bracket so you can angle the speakers in toward the listening area.

Since the SoundWare XS satellite's perforated grilles aren't removable, it wasn't immediately obvious that the satellites are two-way designs. Due to their tiny size, there normally wouldn't be enough room to squeeze a tweeter and a midrange driver on the front baffle. Boston's engineers worked around the limited space problem by mounting a .5-inch tweeter on a small bracket in front of the 2.5-inch midrange driver. That's pretty ingenious. We can't say the plastic speaker cabinet is especially well-built, but it doesn't feel flimsy or delicate.

Why do you need Home Theater Acoustic Panels?

“Yes, why do I need home theater acoustic panels “? Well, if you are asking me this question, the answer is that you have set yourself on the great task of making a stylish home theater in your house. You already have a home theater design chosen. You have gone out in the city as well as on the Internet, choosing the best sound system, projector and screen, video/DVD player to create a magical Home Theater experience. So all right, you have exceeded your budge, but your theater will sound better than the best commercial movie theater anywhere. After a lengthy and expensive installation, it’s all systems go…turn on the power, dim the lights and play your favorite DVD. The movie starts and you can’t wait to hear your new system in your very own theater. But wait, the dialog is muddy, the bass is all over the place and there is an echo that makes you feel that you are standing in centerfield of Yankee Stadium. What happened to the great sounding demo that you heard in the A/V Dealers showroom?

Most intelligent A/V Dealers want to create the best sound environment to showcase their high-end audio equipment. They understand that a room with four naked walls will cause the sound waves to bounce throughout the room, reaching the listeners ears at different time intervals. This causes muddy dialog as well as an echo effect.

To help control the sound in their showroom, the Dealers will have some kind of sound control product installed in the room. Most often, this product will be an acoustic panel which absorbs the sound waves emitted from the speakers. In effect, the panels prevent the sound waves from bouncing off the multiple walls.

Most showrooms will have fairly non-descript looking acoustic panels. The Dealers aren’t interested in how the panels look, but how they enhance the sound in the room. That’s great for their demos, but what about the investment you just made in your Home Theater system. In order to realize the true potential of your equipment, you will now have to invest in rather ugly acoustic panels that will surely enrage your wife and/or Interior Designer.

Well, because your A/V Dealer is in the business of selling high end equipment and not Home Theater Decor, he is most likely not aware of the breakthroughs in decorative acoustic panels. There are now several companies who have the ability to create designer-friendly prints on acoustic materials. The prints are wrapped around traditional acoustic panels which results in an acoustic product that looks similar to any large format canvass art.

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