Product Description
Only 3.5 high, the ZVOX Z-Base 555 home theater system can be placed beneath your flat-panel TV - so you can have surround sound without adding a lot of clutter to your room. It requires no external speakers, subwoofer or speaker wires. The 555 reproduces TV shows, music and movie soundtracks with lifelike accuracy - including crystal-clear vocals and thunderous bass. And the ZVOX Phase Cue virtual surround system delivers remarkable three-dimensional sound. The entire system-speakers, amplifier, virtual surround technology and powered subwoofer-fits into the super-slim cabinet. With only one connecting cord and a one-page owner's manual, it is truly "plug and play." The cabinet is robustly constructed using fully-braced MDF (medium density fiberboard) - not molded plastic. Beautiful hand-lacquered high-gloss ebony end panels create a stylish look.
| Price: |
$399.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
| as of Thu, 14 Feb 2013 05:31:10 GMT ***Remember, deals price on this item for sale just for limited time*** | |
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #2437 in Home Theater
- Brand: ZVOX
- Model: 555
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 3.38" h x 14.50" w x 28.00" l, 20.00 pounds
Features
- Dimensions; 28 "w x 14 1/2 "d x 3 3/8 "h
- Weight: 20 pounds. With box and packing: 23 pounds.
- Amplifier: The 555 uses a high-efficiency 70 watt Class D digital amplifier.
- Rear inputs: (2) analog stereo inputs, (1) optical (To slink) digital input, (1) coaxial digital input.
- Front input: (1) 3.5mm stereo front panel input.
From the Manufacturer
Only 3.5" high, the ZVOX Z-Base 555 home theater system can be placed beneath your flat-panel TV so you can have surround sound without adding a lot of clutter to your room. It requires no external speakers, subwoofer or speaker wires. The 555 reproduces TV shows, music and movie soundtracks with lifelike accuracy, including crystal-clear vocals and thunderous bass. And the ZVOX PhaseCue virtual surround system delivers remarkable three-dimensional sound. The entire sound bar system, including speakers, amplifier, virtual surround technology and powered subwoofer, fits into the super-slim cabinet. With only one connecting cord and a one-page owner's manual, it is truly "plug and play." The cabinet is robustly constructed using fully-braced MDF (medium density fiberboard), not molded plastic. Beautiful hand-lacquered high-gloss ebony end panels create a stylish look.
Great Sound
The most important feature for any home theater system is high quality sound. The 555 uses a new 70-watt Class D digital amplifier design with extremely accurate frequency response and a warm, natural sound and surprisingly powerful bass.
PhaseCue Virtual Surround Sound
The 555 uses ZVOX's proprietary PhaseCue virtual surround system to give you rich, three-dimensional sound with movies or music. With music, PhaseCue creates a very wide soundstage--it literally sounds like you are listening to speakers eight feet apart from each other. When listening to a good movie, the soundtrack will envelop you, putting you in the middle of the action.
PhaseCue, as its name implies, manipulates the phase of the separate channels to "fool the ear" into believing that sound is coming from a variety of sources throughout the room. The benefits of PhaseCue vary greatly based on program material. Live music and well-recorded modern movie soundtracks will deliver rich, three-dimensional sound, pulling the sound out from the speakers and into the room to literally surround the listener. While no virtual surround system will give you the exact surround effects of a good 5.1 system, the ZVOX 555 does a remarkable job. Sound & Vision Magazine says the PhaseCue system "creates an impressive spread of sound, far larger than the box itself...remarkably ingenious."
Green Design
The 555 uses a highly-efficient Class D digital amplifier. Even playing at quite loud volumes, it usually uses less than 10 watts of total power. And standby power usage tends to hover around 0.1 watts, making it one of the "greenest" audio systems ever made.
Setting A New Standard For Vocal Clarity
ZVOX systems are known for their remarkable vocal clarity. The 555 adds a stunning new feature: Dialog Emphasis (DE). When you push the "DE" button on the remote control you engage a circuit that mimics the functions of a hearing aid. The frequencies used by human voices are emphasized and compressed, while other frequencies are minimized. No other speaker system provides such an easy-to-use and effective method for improving the intelligibility of television dialog.
Uses Your Remote Control
The new Z-Base systems can be programmed to respond to your remote control. The illuminated display walks you through a less-than-a-minute programming cycle. Then your TV remote...or cable box remote...or satellite receiver remote...or ANY remote...can control volume, mute, power and input functions of the ZVOX system.
Taming Commercials That Are Too Loud
If you've ever been blasted out of your chair by a too-loud commercial, or by a cable channel that's twice as loud as another channel, you'll love the new Output Leveling (OL) feature on the ZVOX 555. Just push the "OL" button and a sophisticated compression system takes over, making soft sounds louder and loud sounds softer, so there are fewer jarring moments when switching channels or when commercials come on.
Disappearing Display
The 555 features a four-digit display located behind the speaker grille that shows the current setting for volume, bass, treble and PhaseCue (virtual surround)--and also shows when you have engaged the Mute, Output Leveling (OL) or Dialog Emphasis (DE) features. A few seconds after you stop using your remote (or front panel) controls, the display disappears completely.
Connect Your iPod and Other Devices
The 555 has two analog audio inputs, one optical digital input, and one coaxial digital input, plus a front-panel 3.5mm analog stereo input for convenient connection of your iPod or other portable audio device. Any specific input can be selected using either the remote control or the slim-line module below the speaker grille.
Wood (MDF) Cabinet With Hand-Lacquered Side Panels
The 555 features a hand-built cabinet of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) with beautiful hand-lacquered high-gloss end panels. Its low-profile design blends perfectly with flat-panel TVs. Most people don't even notice the ZVOX 555 until they hear it.
What's In The Box
ZVOX Z-base 555, 1 stereo RCA to stereo RCA connecting cable, multifunction remote control with programming instruction sheet, power cord, one-sheet safety instructions, operations manual, Quick Start guide, warranty card.
What Critics Are Saying About ZVOX Sound
"An audiophile quality system."
--Stereophile
"An awesome system...remarkably ingenious."
--Sound + Vision
"Creates a sonic dance."
--The New York Times
"Bigger audio dynamite."
--The Wall Street Journal
"Best Buy."
--Consumers Digest
"Best audio product of the year."
--CNET
"Knockout sound."
--MSNBC
"A single box powerhouse."
--Men's Journal
"Home theater product of the year."
--About.com
"Impressive sound without the clutter."
--TV Guide
Technical Specifications
- Amplifier: 70 watt Class D digital amplifier
- Rear Inputs: (2) analog stereo inputs, (1) optical (Toslink) digital input, (1) coaxial digital input
- Front Input: (1) 3.5mm stereo front panel input
- Frequency Range: 45 Hz--20 kHz
- Surround Sound: PhaseCue virtual surround
- Subwoofer: 5.25" long-throw
- Speaker Drivers: 5 x 2" full-range
- Magnetically Shielded: No
- Cabinet Material: Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF)
- Dimensions (WxDxH): 28" x 14 1/2" x 3 3/8"
- Weight: 20 lbs
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
82 of 83 people found the following review helpful.
By Christopher J. Gsell
First, a little background. I had a Bose 5.1 System with a powered sub woofer that everything went through. From there, it went to my Sony receiver. For me, a parent of three young kids (one under 2), I wanted to get something more streamlined, something more straight forward. I was looking to remove the clutter of the satellite speakers, the large center speaker and the miles of wires that connected everything.
After reading an article last month on cnet.com about the Zvox systems, I went with the 555. It came in the mail four days after I ordered it. It took about 3 minutes to connect it to my Samsung 46" LED. One optical audio cable to the back of the TV, the other end to my 555. That was it! My FIOS and Panasonic Blue Ray HDMI cables stayed where they were. It works perfect and sounds amazing. When my wife and I watch TV and movies at night, we only turn it up to 14-16 or so and it is more than sufficient. The volume gets up to over 25 (I think). I haven't gone past that as it gets loud. The music sounds great, the vocals sound crystal clear. It is amazing that all this comes from one speaker. It sounds like something that should cost 3x as much.
As they state on their site, if you are looking for true 5.1 sound, this is not for you. For me, the whole 5.1 is not a huge factor anymore. The sound that comes out of this speaker more than makes up for any bullets or cars whizzing by me from behind.
It perfectly fits under my TV and blends right it. At night, it becomes invisible. My goal was to have a kicking home theater system without any clutter. One where no sacrifices are made. With the 555, I reached that goal.
55 of 55 people found the following review helpful.
By trep
Here's my take on the ZVOX ZBase 555
I have owned many sound systems over the years for different rooms to serve different purposes, let me start out by saying I have this ZVOX 555 in a medium sized great room that is basically wide open on all ends. A 5.1 satellite system is not an option with the architecture of this room, so for years I had a Bose 321 system set up in this room. That system was adequate, but always seemed to lack the clarity of vocals from the perceived center channel, when we would crank it up a bit for movies or music.
For about 1/3 the price of that Bose 321 system, this ZVOX 555 completely obliterates it. The ZVOX is incredibly easy to setup (took approx 15 minutes). You hook all your components to your TV, then run one single optical audio cable to the ZVOX. There are other inputs available on the ZVOX as well for older audio products that only connect via the red/white RCA cables, but if you hook everything up to any modern TV with an optical out, that's all you need. Simply amazingly easy
The ZVOX has 3 levels of surround for when you are watching movies, as you progress from levels 1-3, the simulated surround sound increases, as the center channel dialogue gets softer, but when setting it to level 3 and watching any good blu ray action movie, you can still clearly hear all vocals while the cars and fighting scenes race from side to side. Now, ZVOX doesn't claim to simulate speakers behind you, and of course any soundbar system cannot do that, but it does do a pretty darn good job of making you feel like stuff starts on one side of the room and works its way across to the other, especially bullets flying, glass breaking, cars zooming, etc.... It's much better than I expected in the surround area
For watching TV and sports games, you can scale back the surround to level 2 or level 1 if you prefer, and you get amazing clarity from the dialogue, just a bit less from the surround aspect. The clarity of the voices from this system is far better than my old Bose 321 system, not even close! The ZVOX does a fantastic job in this area. I never struggle to make out what actors are saying, even when I have the system at low, low volumes
When listening to music, the best option is to set the surround at level 1 and the system takes care of the rest. If you have an IPOD, IPHONE, it connects easily to either the front or back of the ZVOX and the ZVOX 555 does a great job belting out your music. Voices and tones are crystal clear and you can hear all instruments very noticeably.
The system is pretty big, although the 580 is even bigger, and will fit and can be used as a platform for most flat screen TV's. We have ours on a shelf just below the TV, but most people use it as a 2nd stand for your TV, and it blends right into your decor, that's one of the best things about it, you won't even notice it if you use it that way. It has a digital display that disappears after 2 seconds when changing setting or options, so no blinking lights or displays remain on when using it, a very nice feature.
All in all, I have been extremely happy with this ZVOX 555. It does everything it claims to do very well. If you are looking for a way to give your room an outstanding sound bar system that produces amazing voice clarity, does a good job of creating a surround sound effect for movies, and plays music the way its intended, this system is for you, I would recommend it for sure. If you are looking to blow away the roof on your house, get sound coming from behind you, and create a complete concert hall in your living room, then this system is not for you.
For us, this does exactly what we wanted, blends right into our entertainment center, provides great sound, and when you ask it to give you a little umphh, it will provide it with no problem. For around $399, you will be hard pressed to find a system that will beat this one. We are extremely happy with it, much more than our previous (more costly) system, and if you decide on this system, you should be pleased as well.
52 of 53 people found the following review helpful.
By Jackytar
The Zvox 555 is an excellent compromise solution for the middle-aged man who wants to stay married. My previous set up of about 8 yrs was a 6 speaker Polk Audio system that included towers up front and a 12 inch sub that could muss up your hair. Now after a major renovation of our home, dear wife, who never dug the whole surround thing anyway, banished this so-called "dorm room" aesthetic from the new decor. Women! Phffft...
Enter the Zvox 555 which I set up last night and put through it's paces. Overall I am very pleased with this purchase. As others have cautioned, it's important that you don't expect this to compare to an actual surround system. Better to think of this as a very nice upgrade for your TV speakers. Having said that, there's a lot here to be happy about beyond price, form factor and ease of set-up. The Zvox seamlessly integrates with your TV remote which means even dear wife will use it each time she watches TV. The clarity of dialogue with the Zyvox 555 is truly remarkable, even without the "dialogue emphasis" effect turned on. And the system has an amazing ability to project detailed audio to all corners of the room.
Okay, so being a single box the sound is, of course, limited in ways you might expect. There is no real feeling of involvement with music. No ground shaking bass. No bullets zinging by your ear. Sure, I suppose there is a depth and spaciousness that does belie the small single cabinet design. This even without the enhanced surround effects cranked up (blechhh!). But, again, this isn't home theater. The best news is that there is virtually none of the "shrill" or tinniness associated with cheap or poorly engineered systems. The Zvox 555 actually has a fair measure of warmth - and right out of the box. Something that should only improve as the speakers break-in. So basically we're talking about crystal clear audio that does not fatigue or offend the ear and that will, at times, pleasantly surprise you. Austin City Limits, for example, sounded pretty darn good.
Edit 09/29/2012 - As I mentioned above, there is no ground shaking bass like I had with my previous set-up. This could be considered a good thing by some (like my wife) and after living with the Zvox 555 for some time now I am surprised to find myself in agreement, more-or-less. We have the Zvox on a solid wood cabinet, the Zvox itself is constructed of solid MDF material (unlike the plastic Bose Solo, for example) and this combined with the weight of the TV on the top of the Zvox virtually eliminates any "rattle" or "boom" when the subwoofer is pushed hard like during an explosion in a movie. As others may have experienced, a powerful 5.1 system can actually detract from the emersive experience of movie watching during loud action scenes unless you have a carefully designed and tweaked system in a dedicated home theater space which most of us do not. I find myself actually preferring this less dynamic but well rounded and simplified reproduction of the sound track, even without the "3-D" surround effects that can only be achieved with separate speakers. Overall I am liking the Zvox more and more and don't think I would go back to my previous system even if I were permitted by my wife :). Also, I forgot to mention in my review that you can add a subwoofer to the Zvox which I tested during the initial set-up (with two different high quality subs I have lying around, one large and one small) and found this to be essentially redundant. The bass on the Zvox is effective, well metered and never intrusive - difficult to achieve for the average consumer using separate components and even for educated hard-core enthusiasts with big budgets. (End edit)
If you're the type that obsesses over such things as stuck pixels and optimal speaker placement, as I once did, then the Zvox 555 is probably not for you. I had an epiphany, of sorts, while visiting family in rural Newfoundland last year. I watched a John Wayne movie on one of the few surviving 21 inch CRT TVs in existence and guess what? - I was entertained. I now remind myself that better is the enemy of good and there is a law of rapidly diminishing returns when spending money on AV equipment. For me the Zvox 555 is a thoughtfully executed product that hits a sweet spot at the intersection of form, function and value.
No comments:
Post a Comment