Need a slender speakersystem to complement thatsleek new plasma TV? We

present five of today’s finest.

home entertainment & design april 2004

BY BRENT BUTTERWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN PHILLIP

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On its own, Pinnacle’s Quantum Plasma

speaker system will turn no heads; this sys-

tem’s slim speaker cabinets let your plasma

TV be the star. Quantum Plasma-5 speakers

surround the plasma screen, while a Quan-

tum Plasma-3 (opposite page) serves as a sur-

round speaker.

april 2004 home entertainment & design

home entertainment & design april 2004

Giving plasma TVs a voice has challenged homeowner and custominstaller alike. Many have augmented plasma screens with cheaphome-theater-in-a-box audio systems, which may treat the eyes butusually torture the ears. Some have vitiated the plasma aesthetic withbulky floor-standing speakers. Others use in-wall speakers, which tous just look wrong with a plasma set.

The audio industry has come to the rescue, though, with svelte,silvery speakers that perfectly accentuate the aesthetics of plasma TV.But how good can a speaker sound when it has been reduced to thedepth of a half-dozen DVD cases—and screwed to a wall?

To find out, test assistant Alex Gonzalez and I sample five speakersystems designed to suit plasma TVs:Artison’s Portrait Home TheaterSystem, Bowers & Wilkins’ Flat Panel Monitor Series, MartinLogan’sFresco, Pinnacle’s Quantum Plasma and Thiel Audio’s ViewPoint.

Even if it sounds as seductive as Britney Spears’ sighs, an unattrac-tive speaker stands no chance of accompanying a plasma TV into a styl-ish home. Plasma TV has succeeded because of its appealing form;those who choose plasma do so less for its picture quality than for thesimple fact that a flat-panel TV looks cool hanging on a wall. Thus,wepay as much attention to the look and utility of these speakers as wedo to their sound quality—just as a typical plasma TV buyer would.

You can create a complete surround-sound system using any ofthese speakers.Yet because of their small size, none of them producedeep, satisfying bass. To produce full, robust sound, they require use ofa subwoofer—a speaker designed specifically to reproduce bass.Usinga large, tacky-looking subwoofer would defeat the purpose of a plas-ma TV, but fortunately, miniature subwoofers are now available fromcountless manufacturers, including most discussed in this article.

We decide to partner all of these plasma speakers with JamesLoudspeakers’EMB-1000, an acclaimed miniature sub measuring just12 by 12 by 14 inches.Aesthetically and sonically, it proves a suitablemate for nearly any style-oriented speaker system.

ome people discover the ugly secretsof plasma TV only when they unpackthe box. As soon as they lift their newtoy, they realize that mounting a 100-pound TV set on the wall is more

complicated than hanging a painting.They oftenfind they cannot get a picture without using a ca-ble box or satellite receiver, because few plasmashave TV tuners inside.Worst of all, after enjoyingseveral sumptuous minutes of bright, colorfulpictures, they may realize there are no soundscoming out of the actors’ mouths, because manyplasma TVs do not include speakers.

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Nothing compares to Artison’s Portrait Home

Theater System. Each speaker actually hous-

es two speakers: one for the left or right chan-

nel, the other for the center. Thus there is no

center speaker to spoil the sleek plasma TV

aesthetic. Artison makes a small surround

speaker, available in white or black, which

hangs on the wall (above right).

april 2004 home entertainment & design

THE MAVERICK Truth be told, there’s nothingrevolutionary about most plasma speakers. They’re just ordinaryspeakers that have been flattened, slimmed and made from nice,shiny aluminum instead of plain old fiberboard. One welcomeexception to this uniformity is Artison’s Portrait Home TheaterSystem. Cary Christie, Artison’s president and chief designer, hasshed most of the conventions of home theater speaker systems tocreate a completely fresh product that suits a plasma TV like aleather jacket complements a Harley-Davidson.

When designing the Portrait System, Christie conquered aproblem that no one else seems to have identified. Speakers placedto the sides of a plasma TV can easily blend in with the look, butto many design-conscious customers, a center speaker mountedabove or below the TV stands out like a Hawaiian shirt at a black-tie wedding.Christie wanted to create the effect of a center speak-er without having to spoil the flat-screen look, so he effectivelycreated two center speakers, placing them to either side of the TV,and integrated them with the left and right speakers. You see twospeakers, but you hear four: one left, two center, one right.

The result is the LCR speaker. Adding two of Artison’s wall-mounted LRS surround speakers gives you a complete, and quiteinconspicuous, home theater system.

At least as important as the integrated center speaker is the factthat the LCR attaches to the sides of a plasma TV. Artison provides

grilles that exactly match the height and finish of your screen;once mounted, the LCR looks as if it is part of the TV set.

(“That’s a problem we have,”Christie says.“People sometimes don’trealize our product is there.”) This direct attachment makes theLCR the best choice for plasma TVs attached to swing-out arms orpivoting mounts, because the speakers go where the TV goes.

Once connected to an amplifier, though, the Portrait Systemtakes on an entirely different personality. We do not hear petiteplasma speakers struggling to fill a room with sound.We hear air-planes roaring around us, gunfire erupting at our backs, and thepowerful swell of orchestral crescendos—a sound so grand andimposing that it calls to mind a huge THX Ultra2 speaker system.

Although part of Artison’s achievement comes from the use ofhigh-quality woofers and tweeters, most of it results from the useof a “stage” tweeter in the rear of each LCR.The stage tweeterbroadens the sound, breaking it free of its elegant confines.

The benefit of a center speaker is that movie dialogue seems tocome from the screen, an effect Artison tries to duplicate by tai-loring the sound of the center-speaker sections of the LCR andangling the sections inward slightly. The effort is largely successful.When I sit directly in front of the TV, the sound seems to come

home entertainment & design april 2004

The dignified yet stylish look of B&W’s Flat Panel Monitor series speakers

adds a high-end touch to generic-looking plasma TVs. Three sizes are

available, including the FPM6 flanking the TV, and the smaller FPM5

that is mounted on the left wall. The speakers are available in black, sil-

ver or the anthracite (charcoal gray) color shown.

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from the screen—an effect I would expect of any stereo speaker.However, as I move further to the side, the sound remains consis-tent and full; it does not collapse as it would with a pair of ordi-nary stereo speakers. I do notice that the dialogue starts to shift into the speaker nearest me as I move my head off-center, but theeffect is certainly better than it would be with no center speaker.

The Portrait System represents a revolutionary rethink of hometheater speakers.While some may choose it purely for its form andothers will be drawn more to its expansive sound, there is no doubtthat this unique system will find many fans.

THE GENTLEMAN Ask a man wearing a PatekPhilippe watch to name a fine loudspeaker, and he will almostcertainly respond “B&W.” B&W speakers have been a mainstayin classical music recording studios for decades, and have wonthe affection and respect of audio enthusiasts the world over. Ifimitation is the sincerest form of flattery, consider B&W lav-ished; every consumer electronics trade show features at least acouple of speakers whose looks have been shamelessly swipedfrom B&W’s flagship Nautilus line.

It comes, then, as no surprise to see that the Flat Panel MonitorSeries, B&W’s second effort at a plasma TV speaker, exudes a dig-nity its competitors do not equal. The bodies of the FPM speak-ers are formed from aluminum, but rather than adopting the soft,rounded curves that have become a cliché in this product catego-ry, B&W opted for an angular, geometric look. Tiny magnetsembedded in the face of the speaker grasp rectangular metalframes, which surround the fabric speaker grilles. The product

looks and feels as if it came from the Jaguar factory.The FPM line offers an aesthetic option to suit practically

any plasma TV. The speakers are available in black, silver or theanthracite (charcoal gray) color we request. Three sizes areavailable to accommodate TVs of different sizes: the 31-inch-high FPM6, the 26-inch FPM5 and the 22-inch FPM4 (the lat-ter we do not evaluate in this article).

We describe the FPMs’ sound exactly as we describe their look:stately and reserved. My listening notes cite a “clear, competent,uncolored sound” reminiscent of the professional monitor speak-ers used in recording studios.The midrange is particularly lucid;Alex and I both note that movie dialogue sounds better than aver-age through the FPM6 we use as a center speaker. The system doesnot strive for the dramatic, enveloping surround-sound effectmany home theater enthusiasts crave, but it’s possible that the

FPMs’ intended audience does not strive for that effect either.Plasma TVs mostly look the same, so the speakers that home-

owners select say more about their individual tastes than do theTVs they choose. If your home demands a speaker with a venera-ble brand name and decorous look and sound, the FPM is for you.

THE REBEL It seems in every group, there must be arebel: one who refuses to fit in with the crowd, who cannot dothings in an ordinary, expected fashion. In this group, the rebel isthe MartinLogan Fresco. The Fresco wants to stand out, to makean impression on its own rather than meekly blend in.

Three curves trace the Fresco’s front, a playful design in a fieldof straight faces. The Fresco makes no effort to scale its dimen-sions to accommodate the widely varying sizes of plasma TVs. Itcomes in one length, 24 inches. MartinLogan does make twoconcessions to acclimatize its speakers to your TV set: You canorder the Fresco with a black, bronze or silver finish, and withblack or silver grilles.

MartinLogan’s mounting system permits the speaker to swingout from a wall toward the speaker’s long, straight side. This featuremakes it easy to aim the speaker precisely. It also helps the speakerserve in any role in a home theater system: front left or right speak-er, center speaker or surround. We think the Fresco looks a littlestrange mounted solo and high on a wall, as a surround speakershould be, but that’s just our opinion.

MartinLogan enjoys a storied reputation among audio enthu-siasts because of its thin-film driver technology. Most of the com-pany’s speakers take the form of a large, transparent diaphragm

sandwiched between two perforated metal screens. The thin-filmtechnology tends to produce a delicate sound best suited to lighterfare, such as classical, folk and jazz music.

Knowing this, we expect the Fresco to choke on the car/cranechase from the Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines DVD. But literal-ly from the first sound,Alex and I fall in love with the Fresco. Itsmidrange is so clear that the actors seem to address us directlyinstead of through a set of speakers. The treble is crisp and precise.Every detail in movie soundtracks—little clicks, scrapes and dingsthat many other speakers obscure—rings out. The sound seems towrest itself from the walls and leap right out into the room.

You can find a more robust plasma speaker, but you will have adifficult time finding one with better overall sound quality. If theFresco’s look works for you, you’re going to have an amazing—and attention-getting—home theater system.

home entertainment & design april 2004

FLAT LOOK, FULL SOUND: With revered high-end brandslike B&W, MartinLogan and Thiel Audio getting into the game,

plasma TV speakers have improved dramatically.

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THE TRADITIONALIST Can a product cat-egory so young have a tradition? If so, the Pinnacle QuantumPlasma speakers embrace it. Aluminum body? Check.Slim design?Check. Silver finish? Check.

Such conformity has its benefits. As you can see from our photo on pages 68-69 of this story, the Quantum Plasma speakersnearly disappear next to a plasma TV. Their outline is so simplethat they attract no attention. You might consider their unpreten-tious design elegant.Or you might think,as Alex put it,“They looklike the speakers that come with some plasma TVs.”

Pinnacle offers two models: the Quantum Plasma-5 and theQuantum Plasma-3.The Plasma-5, at 26 inches long, works wellaesthetically with most plasma TVs. By contrast, the Plasma-3 is10 inches shorter and seems vertically challenged alongside a plas-ma set. It is best suited for use as a surround speaker or with LCDTVs, which tend to run smaller than plasmas.

The speakers resemble each other technically. The Plasma-3 hastwo tiny woofers and a tweeter,while the Plasma-5 sports the sametweeter and four of the same woofers. However, the Plasma-5’sadditional woofers are wired to handle bass only.

We begin our Quantum leap using Plasma-5s as left, center andright speakers,and Plasma-3s as surround speakers. The system pro-duces a nice sense of ambience; the sound does not seem confined

to tiny boxes. However, the Plasma-5’s slender cabinet produces solittle bass that it does not blend particularly well with our JamesLoudspeakers subwoofer, no matter how we adjust the bass-management settings in our surround-sound processor. Alex and Inote a sonic “hole”between the Plasma-5s and the James sub—thatis, a range of bass frequencies goes missing. An even smaller sub-woofer might do more justice to the Plasma-5.

However, our ears perk up when we use one of the Plasma-3sas our center speaker. Despite the similarities in the two speakers’designs, the dialogue sounds clearer and more natural with thePlasma-3. Once we hear what the Plasma-3 can do, it immediate-ly replaces the Plasma-5s at the sides of our TV. We put on “Goingto California,” a stereo recording from the Led Zeppelin DVD, andour system springs to life.The Plasma-3 reminds us of the NHTSuperZero—a tiny speaker from the 1990s, beloved for its stel-lar treble and midrange despite its near-total lack of bass. The

Thiel Audio adjusts the length and finish of its ViewPoint speakers to

suit any plasma TV. A perforated aluminum grille partly conceals the

speakers’ coaxial driver, which places the tweeter inside the woofer.

With two mounting holes right in the face of the speaker, installation

is a snap.

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home entertainment & design april 2004

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Plasma-3 proves even more difficult to match with our subwoofer than does the Plasma-5, but it sounds good enough that we don’t much care.

The Plasma-3 is a find—an excellent choice for LCD TVs,offices and bed-rooms. If I were a real custom installer instead of a journalist playing at thecraft, I would want this arrow in my quiver.

THE PURIST Most high-end audio designers come grudginglyinto the world of custom-installed audiovisual systems.You can tell they wouldrather be making 5-foot-tall, 100-pound tower speakers instead of 4-inch-deep plasma speakers that hang on a wall. Not Jim Thiel. He embraced thecustom-installation trend years ago,creating unique speakers that deliver unbe-lievable performance even though they mount in a wall or on a ceiling.

For his plasma speaker, the ViewPoint,Thiel used the same technology thatmade his in-wall and ceiling speakers such a success: a tweeter centered insidea woofer. The benefit of this design is that the sound of both drivers comesfrom the same place. When the tweeter and woofer are separate, a speaker willusually sound quite different as you move around the room.With the View-Point, the sound is consistent no matter where you sit.

Thiel Audio will match the length and finish of your ViewPoints to anyflat-panel display you specify; the company says its engineers will adjust theinternal volume of the aluminum speaker cabinet so the speaker sounds thesame no matter what its length. (The ViewPoint cannot, however, be madeshort enough to suit some of the smaller LCD TVs.) Our ViewPoints integrateperfectly with the 50-inch Fujitsu plasma TV shown in this article’s photos.The speaker drivers barely show through the perforated aluminum grille, cre-ating a sophisticated, techy look we love.

When I ask Thiel what I should use for a center speaker, he replies “phan-tom center.” What he’s talking about is the capability of two speakers to cre-ate the sonic illusion of an extra speaker sitting between them, if your head isat the same distance from each of the two speakers. He is correct. Any speak-ers positioned so closely together will create a strong phantom center image.However, we find ourselves missing the center speaker on occasion. Also,while Thiel’s in-wall and ceiling speakers would make suitable surround speak-ers, we would like to see the company make an aluminum-bodied on-wallsurround speaker that would visually harmonize with the ViewPoint.

Otherwise, the ViewPoint ranks easily among our favorite plasma speakers.Its clarity and detail recall the excellence of those 5-foot-tall,100-pound towerspeakers for which Thiel is best known. Movie soundtracks and music videosalike reveal new subtlety and emotion.When we play “Going to California,”I am inspired to abandon my career, buy some ViewPoints and a plasma TV,retire to the sticks and watch DVDs all day.

I forgo that course of action, but I’m sure I’m making a big mistake.

ARTISON PORTRAIT HOME THEATER SYSTEM PRICE: LCR speakers with PG LCRGrille Kit, $1,650.00; LRS surrounds, $499/pair CONTACT: 775.833.4344, www.artisonusa.com

B&W FLAT PANEL MONITOR SERIES PRICE: FPM6, $900 each; FPM5, $750 eachCONTACT: 800.370.3740, www.bwspeakers.com

MARTINLOGAN FRESCO PRICE: $995 each CONTACT: 785.749.0133,www.martinlogan.com

PINNACLE QUANTUM PLASMA PRICE: Quantum Plasma-5, $649 each; QuantumPlasma-3, $449 each CONTACT: 516.576.9052, www.pinnaclespeakers.com

THIEL AUDIO VIEWPOINT PRICE: $1,990 each CONTACT: 859.254.9427,www.thielaudio.com

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MartinLogan’s Fresco speakers

employ a hinged mounting sys-

tem that lets the speakers pivot

outward, toward their flat edges.

This complicates installation,

but the visual and sonic benefits

are well worth the extra effort.

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Reprinted from Robb Report Home Entertainment & Design©2004, a CurtCo Robb HE&D, LLC publication.This reprint does not constitute an endorsement, implied or otherwise, by CurtCo Robb HE&D, LLC. It may notbe reprinted by anyone other than CurtCo Robb HE&D, LLC or used in any way for any advertising or promotional purposes without prior written consent of CurtCo Robb HE&D, LLC.This reprint may not be sold by any-one other than CurtCo Robb HE&D, LLC or its authorized agents and no message, with the sole exception of the donor’s name, may be imprinted on it. Reproduction in whole or in part or storage in any data retrieval systemor any transmission by any means therefrom without prior written permission is prohibited. CurtCo Robb’s HE&D® is the registered trademark of CurtCo Robb HE&D, LLC. Subscriptions and back issues (800) 947-7472.Reprinted by CurtCo Robb HE&D, LLC. reprints@curtco.com