While this publication caters primarily to those who have "seen the light" of home theater, with some re-financing their homes or tapping into retirement funds to satisfy the quest for ever-more-accurate and more exciting audio/video systems, most people just aren't like that. "Most people" buy iPods because they want to simplify their lives and never be without their music collection. "Most people" are buying flat panel TVs because they look sexy on their wall and they offer the promise of high-definition images that will enrich their enjoyment of movies and television.

But what do "most people" use to listen to their iPods and fancy flat panel HDTVs? Cheap headphones and the cheap underpowered TV speakers built into the fancy flat panels themselves. Neither of which is ideal for enjoying your music and movies.


With the introduction of their new model 325 one-piece virtual surround sound system ($349), ZVox Audio is doing their level best to remedy this situation. The model 325 is a self-contained, self-powered one-box speaker system which features an amplifier, speakers, a built-in subwoofer and virtual surround sound processing. Simply plug in an iPod, DVD player, and/or TV output and you'll start getting full rich sound out of a single box that may cost less than your MP3 player and certainly costs less than your flat panel television.


I've heard the ZVox boxes at trade shows before and always been impressed with their performance given the small size and low price. The model 325 is their most advanced yet with several improvements over their popular model 315: a more advanced amplifier, more power to the center channel, larger subwoofer cabinet volume (for deeper bass), a convenient front panel input (for easy MP3 player hookup), simple front panel controls for volume and PhaseCue™ surround effect, plus a thin credit card-sized remote control.

CEDIA Expo marks the official release of the model 325, and ZVox founder Tom Hannaher had one neatly tucked in a corner of the main show floor, belting out sound like nobody's business. We're planning to get one of these in-house shortly for a full review so stay tuned...