As 2004 draws to a close, the personal computing market has taken a keen interest in home entertainment, with wireless audio and video solutions like Apple's Airport Express, Slim Designs' Squeezebox, and El Gato's EyeHome bringing digital music and movies off of your Mac and on to your home theater system by way of second-generation wireless networking and advanced compression technologies. Windows users are meeting the new year amidst an onslaught of Home Media PCs outfitted with giant hard drives, TV tuners, PVR capabilities, and surround-sound audio cards.

This new breed of media machine is meant to interface with your high-resolution audio/video system as easily as it does with e-mail and the Web. Many of the new Mac add-ons and Media Center PCs are also following the small and wireless trend by blending in with the high tech elegance of modern home theater systems, using industrial design principles meant to make your living room look more like a living room than an electronics store. As components become smaller and user interfaces more sophisticated, designers can pack functionality into space-saving boxes that forgo the traditional front panel full of buttons and lights in favor of on-screen controls that disappear when you switch off the display.

A handful of audio companies are getting into the game by tackling what might be the ultimate industrial design challenge for the home electronics market: surround sound, "small and wireless" style. These manufacturers are taking the "home theater in a box" concept one step further by offering systems that attempt to create full-on 5.1 and 6.1 surround setups with a minimum of speaker boxes and cabling. Combining advanced engineering and materials with clever math and physics meant to trick the ears and brain into hearing sound sources where there aren't any, single-speaker surround sound systems claim to offer a six or seven-speaker experience from a single box (or two).

Can it work? Does it work? Niro USA thinks so, and they sent me their new mid-level system, the $600 Niro 600 as proof.

Five speakers in one box (plus a subwoofer, receiver, and remote).

Niro makes a full line of space-saving surround sound solutions that all make use of the engineering principals developed by company founder Niro Nakamichi. From the entry level 400 model on up to the high-end Reference and Niro Two systems (including 6.1 systems that employ two speaker array boxes for full-on front/rear surround), Niro's systems use cleverly designed surround sound enclosures that put up to five carefully arranged speakers in the space that one speaker would normally take.

The Niro 600 comes with a small set-top box that houses five separate speakers. The speakers are angled so that one (center channel) fires directly at the listener, and the other four fire at angles to create left/right front and rear channels. A separate hideaway subwoofer handles the low end, and a digital amplifier/control center decodes Dolby Digital and DTS signals and sends the juiced up information to the proper speakers.

The net effect is that with three boxes and two cables (plus that remote), you've got yourself a full-on 5.1 surround sound system. Set-up was really easy -- Niro forgoes standard speaker wire in favor of thicker cabling with modular connectors that plug into the amplifier. One cable goes to the set-top array, a second to the subwoofer. Audio inputs include two optical digital, one coaxial digital, and two RCA analogs. Another port on the receiver handles the optional "Movie Mouse," which I'll get to in a bit. There are no video ins -- this is an audio-only system, so if you're looking for an A/V receiver to handle video switching, you're going to have to look elsewhere.

The 600's receiver and set-top array are done up in a very sharp silver metallic finish -- the speaker box is actually brushed metal with contrasting grey speaker grilles. The amp is about half the size of a standard audio component (much smaller than your average A/V receiver), and the speaker box is quite small as well. Niro lists it's size at 9.3" w x 3.1" h x 6.1" d, and it takes up a little more than the middle third of my 20" Sony TV. The box must be placed atop your set and centered for optimal center channel sound, which is critical to the dialogue track on movies.

Does it Work?

I tried the 600 out with a variety of video and music sources, including DVDs encoded in both Dolby Digital and DTS surround, VHS and cable programming recorded in analog stereo, and audio from CDs and my iPod. I also connected the unit to my iBook via both an RCA patch cable (jacked into the headphone port) and optical digital tethered to a Maya 44 USB outboard soundcard.

By and large, the Niro put out clear, accurate sound no matter the source. Using both Dolby and DTS-encoded DVDs, the set-top array created a pretty impressive surround field given its diminutive size. Dialogue was clear and very "out front," and the sound in action sequences tracked very well whether it seemed to be coming from the left, right, or behind me. The subwoofer was more than adequate for my smallish living room and bedroom, and I didn't find the need to max it out. The surround feeling generated by the 600 doesn't measure up to a full-on system with speakers physically placed all around the listener, but watching movies with the Niro was still really fun. More than once I found myself looking towards the window to see if rain, bugs, or a prowler had crept inside before realizing it was "just the movie." I got a similar effect playing DVDs and movies on my iBook. Niro sells an optional flat screen monitor mount for the 400 and 600 systems, and while I didn't feel so comfortable mounting the speaker box on my iBook's relatively unstable display, it felt quite sturdy atop a freestanding 17" flat panel LCD. This makes the Niro an interesting option for hardcore gamers or those who use their Macs as the core of their entertainment system -- tuck the subwoofer and receiver out of the way and affix the array to your monitor, and you've got yourself a very tidy surround setup.

Niro is up front about the limited sound field ranges of their systems (the 600 is recommended for 300-400 sq. ft. rooms), and I found that sitting directly in front of the system, about six to ten feet away, produced the best results. It was also important to position the array with open space to the left, front, and right -- our living room TV is usually tucked next to a jog in the wall that creates a small corner. This positioning put the Niro about two feet to the right of a wall which effectively blocked some of the sound from getting out to the listening field and greatly diminished the surround effect. Moving the array to a more open space fixed the problem, but that also meant moving the TV (to preserve realistic-sounding center channel dialogue). Bass/Treble and Center/Rear/Subwoofer controls (all accessable from the remote) allowed me to tailor the sound to my liking, but couldn't do much to compensate for less than ideal positioning of the main unit.

Therein lies the catch-22 of a system like this. Single-speaker surround arrays are most effective where space (or style) prohibits the use of a traditional five or six speaker setup with all the accompanying components and wires. In a dorm room, small apartment, or den, giving up the more robust capacities of a traditional 5.1 system is worth the space saved by a smaller system. However, systems like the Niro need relatively uniform rooms (i.e. no corners or funny angles near the speaker box), open soundfields, and optimal placement to perform their best. Anything less and the difference is noticeable.

The 600 also sounded great hooked up to a CD player or iPod, though the effect was somewhat similar to a high quality monoural radio (like the Tivoli PAL series). Highs were clear, mids were clean, and the subwoofer had ample power for bass and other low-end tones, but the sound was all coming from one place. If you're used to stereo separation, you'll notice it's missing from a one-box setup. The 600 also features two Dolby ProLogic II modes for simulated surround sound from analog sources. I'm not a big fan of simulated surround, particularly when listening to music, and so left PLII off most of the time.

Movie Mouse

Niro also sent along their Movie Mouse, an optional add-on remote speaker array meant for low-volume listening (like at night, when you have to be quiet as a mouse). Finished in a matching silver metal casing, MM contains a full on 5.1 speaker array and connects to the SPA amplifier via a one-plug cable similar to that of the main array and subwoofer. The cable extends about 23 feet in length so you can rest the MM directly in front of you -- on a coffee table or your lap, most likely. The MM is meant to create a "personal surround sound field" so you can mute the main speakers and get the full on 5.1 effect without generating much volume. It's a neat idea, but I didn't find it to work very well. In short, for the $199 MM costs, I'd rather have a quality pair of heapdhones (wireless ones, even) for silent listening. I also wish it had a mute button right on the enclosure (though it is controlled by the 600's remote).

Conclusion

Niro makes a quality product -- the 600 left no doubt about that. The question here is whether or not clever engineering and mathematics can make up for the presence of five separate speaker enclosures. The answer, I think, is yes and no. If you're used to a quality home theater system with speakers placed around the room, the Niro may leave you a little short. As good a job as the 600 does of targeting sounds around the listener, it simply can't match up to a full-on traditional system. However, if you've never heard a good surround system or are willing to lower your expectations a bit in consideration of the convenience (and good looks) afforded by the Niro's small, sleek form factor, you might just love this setup. It couldn't be easier to add a surround sound setup to your A/V rig or Mac, and if you've got a small, squarish room (and can put the system in the center along one wall), you can take your movie and gaming experience to a new level with a system like this.

The deciding factor here may well be the price. $600 can buy you a lot of home theater these days if you're willing to put up with six or seven boxes and a bunch of wires. I've listened to a few Onkyo systems in the $400-500 range that I'd be quite happy to call my own, and the drawbacks of having to place those extra speakers around the room are made up for by the ability to compensate for odd room layouts by way of careful placement. Logitech, Altec Lansing, and other companies also make excellent sounding 5.1 computer-specific systems that can be had for under $300 (or less than $100, if you don't need too much power). And a few companies have even come out with systems featuring wireless rear sattelites, though I haven't yet tried them out myself.

Niro's style, ease of use, and innovation are undeniable, and the 600 puts out good sound. Ultimately, the decision comes down to your priorities. If you listen to a lot of music and don't mind multiple speaker boxes and wiring, you'd probably be happier spending your $600 on a traditional receiver/speaker setup. If you've got a small space, hate wires, or simply don't mind paying a little extra for a great-looking, unique system that your friends will surely ask you about, the Niro 600 won't steer you wrong. Just be prepared to spend some time rearranging your room to get the optimal performance out of it.

Niro's full line of home theater systems, including the 600, are available direct from the Niro Web Store.

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Noah Kravitz runs the Technology and Culture blog Threebase.com. He is an educator, musician, and writer who now lives in Oakland, CA and is the author of Teaching and Learning with Technology.