We've seen home cinema systems with small speakers, but Sony has come up with what are probably the tiniest yet – five of them are used with the company's Bravia Theatre DAV-IS10 system, due in the shops in September at around £700.
The new system combines the golf-ball-sized speakers with a glossy black media centre with hidden controls: they're under a glass top-plate and light up to the touch. The 21cm-wide unit will play DVDs and CDs, has a built-in FM/AM tuner, and features upscaling to 1080i to give enhanced picture quality with HD-ready TVs.
Also crammed in are the Digital Cinema Auto-Calibration system, as found on the company's ES-range receivers, and Bravia Theatre Sync, which works through the HDMI connection with the company's latest Bravia TVs to give 'one-button' operation.
As if all that wasn't enough, the system also has Sony's Digital Media Port, able to accept modular connectors to allow it to interface with iPods, Bluetooth music phones, wi-fi networks and Sony's Network Walkman players. The company's Portable Music Enhancer system is use to improve the sound with compressed music formats.
Each of the speakers has a 3.5cm drive unit, and they're each powered by 50W of S-Master digital amplification, and there's a dual-drive subwoofer with 12cm and 16cm drivers, powered by a 2x120W digital amp.
The Sony Bravia Theatre DAV-IS10 is expected to sell for around £600.
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