Zvox Z-Base 220

The soundbar has become a popular way to enhanced HDTV sound without getting a full surround speaker system. It's small, inexpensive, and usually just one or two pieces. ZVox has a different, yet equally affordable and simple take on the idea. The company's ZBase systems are one-piece sound systems that are more slabs than bars, yet offer a full range of sound response and much more power than an HDTV can produce. The $199.99 (direct) ZVox Z-Base 220 is the company's smallest sound system, built for smaller HDTVs but featuring lots of power. The Z-Base 220 features three 2-inch speaker drives, a 5.25-inch subwoofer, and 35 watts of power in its simple frame. It's not for audiophiles or home theater enthusiasts, but anyone looking to put some more power in their HDTV's sound will be pleased.

Design
The boxy Z-Base 220 is a shining example of "stealth boring" industrial design. It's so plain and flat that it might as well be invisible in a home theater system. This isn't a bad thing; some audiophiles like displaying their speakers, but many listeners prefer sound to fill the room without much thought about what's making it. The flat black grille, plain orange LED display, and 3.5 by 17 by 12.5-inch (HWD) matte black body blend into most furniture as an easily ignored chunk. Because it's so deep and weighs 12 pounds, it can't be easily placed in front of an HDTV or mounted on a wall. You need to have the surface space to support it. The Z-Base 220 fits easily under smaller HDTVs 17 to 27 inches ideally, according to ZVox, but bass vibrations mean it's best used with nothing on it. The company markets it as a device you can place your small HDTV directly on it, but that's not a good idea if you want to listen to anything with bass.

Under the black grill are small mute/power, volume, and input buttons and a 3.5mm input jack. They're tucked below the body of the Z-Base 220, so they don't interrupt the flat design. The back of the device holds two RCA stereo inputs, an optical input, and a coaxial input.

The fat membrane remote controls all of the Z-Base 220's settings. Besides power, input, mute, and volume buttons, the remote has buttons for surround sound modes, dialog emphasis, output leveling, and adjusting bass and treble. Besides multiple surround modes and adjusting high end and low end, there aren't many adjustments like EQ settings on the speaker.

Sound
I watched Predator on Blu-ray to test the Z-Base 220's sound and surround abilities. The gunshots were suitably loud and dialog was clear even without the dialog emphasis mode turned on. With it enabled, the midrange was boosted slightly and treble and bass seemed to be flattened, so while it indeed brought out dialog slightly, it hurt the other sounds and music. When the volume was pumped up to maximum, high-frequency sounds like the predator's actions became slightly crunchy.

Surround sound was less impressive. While the Z-Base 220 can accept 5.1-channel surround sound and produces simulated surround with its single box, it doesn't offer the imaging a real surround system or a set of well-spaced stereo speakers can produce. If you want a real surround experience, or a wide sound field, the Vizio VHT510 ($249.99, 4 stars) offers a wide sound bar with a wireless subwoofer and surround satellites for full surround sound, and the Samsung HW-D450 ($299.99, 3.5 stars) has a wide stereo field and much more bass response with its own subwoofer.

Even so, the room thumped impressively (if not as impressive as it would with a large, dedicated subwoofer), and the flat bass notes in The Knife's Silent Shout stayed clear until the highest volume levels, when the drivers began to distort. For a one-piece sound system, the Z-Base 220 has some pretty hefty bass response. But if you want to take advantage of that bass, you'll have to ignore the benefit of it being such a flat device; while the base didn't distort at all at most volume levels, anything placed on top of the Z-Base 220 vibrated horribly to the beat. While there are no grilles on the top of the device, you still shouldn't block it or put any pressure on it to ensure clarity and that nothing on it will vibrate. Without the top obstructed, though, the bass is surprisingly powerful.

If you want to enhance your home theater's sound, the ZVox Z-Base 220 is an inexpensive way to add plenty of power without any hassle. It's louder and sounds better than a cheap sound bar, and while it doesn't have the bass output or surround imaging of discrete speakers and a subwoofer, it's extremely easy to set up and unobtrusive to keep on a shelf under your HDTV. Just make sure you have the room for it.

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