Men's Journal

Sony's RHT-S10

The speakers on your tv are tinny and underwhelming, but who wants to wire up a complicated stereo? Enter the sound bar: a single, svelte box packed with multiple speakers that uses sonic wizardry — bouncing waves off the walls of a room, in some cases — to simulate surround sound for your television. It’s not a perfect imitation, but it is simple and cost-effective. We tested four sound bars to find which are worth the space under your flatscreen.

by Mike Kobrin

Sony RHT-S10

The Sony performs well, particularly with dialogue and music, but despite being wide and a tad hefty (29 pounds), it doesn’t have quite enough bass for Kanye’s beats or Michael Bay’s explosion-happy flicks. Luckily the RHT-S10 has nearly every input and output available (including HDMI for top-quality digital audio), so you can easily plug in a separate subwoofer.[$800; sonystyle.com]

Acoustic Research HTB80
The HTB80 produces more bass and a broader range than expected from a small sound bar (37 by 7 inches). A glossy black case and touch-sensitive controls belie its budget price, but the tiny remote is second-rate. Of bigger concern: The HTB80 isn’t wall-mountable and only has analog RCA inputs — no high-fidelity digital sound here. [$150; acoustic-research.com]

Yamaha Air Surround YAS-70
The Yamaha is only four inches high and easily mounts to a wall but connects to the included mammoth stand-alone subwoofer via a tangle of cables. If you’re willing to look past a minor mess and the lack of HDMI, the Yas-70’s sonic clarity is outstanding for dialogue-heavy movies and acoustic music, and the virtual surround is a tad better than its rivals’. [$600; yamaha.com]

Samsung HT-X810
The Samsung earned top honors for being a complete package. Its built-in upscaling DVD player further simplifies your setup. The included subwoofer is wireless (you’ll still need to plug it into an outlet) and will cave your chest in with bass. Slick looks, a versatile remote, and scads of ports are icing on the HT-X810 cake. Our only issue: The LED screen is tough to see beyond 10 feet. [$700; samsung.com]

More Movies Made Easy

Iomega DVR Expander Drive
No more Sophie’s Choice with your recorded shows, thanks to this 500GB hard drive for your DVR (TiVo Series3 and HD, and Scientific Atlanta cable boxes). That’s enough to hold an extra 60 hours of high-def video or 300 hours of standard-def. [$200; iomega.com]

Roku Netflix Player

Netflix subscribers can download roughly 12,000 movies and TV episodes, but until now you’ve had to watch them on a computer. Roku’s Netflix box uses Ethernet or WiFi to bring the DVD-quality flicks to your TV, no postman necessary. [$100; roku.com]

Mediagate MG-450HD Wireless HD Server
The awkwardly named MG-450HD slurps up the digital music, photos, and videos on your computers via WiFi, then lets you play them back on your TV. It even supports HD video and internet radio. [$229; mediagateusa.com]

This article originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of Men’s Journal

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