Christmas Wish List

    A short while ago I was joking how I wanted to add Pioneer’s $40,000 speaker panel to my Christmas wish list, since this single unit could produce home-theater surround sound. Today, Slashdot has a story about the Niro 1.1, a “Niroson Cinema Formulated Home Theatre System” where “One Speaker + One Subwoofer = 5.1 Live Surround Sound”. (Two 6.1 systems, the Niro TWO6.1 and Niro TWO6.1C, are also available.) Unlike Pioneer’s prototype, this uses two speakers and also includes a DVD player as part of the package. Also unlike the Pioneer, the Niro system is much more affordable. At either $599 for the Standard and $799 for the Pro, it’s almost too affordable and could be quite the temptation for me.