US manufacturers Klipsch release affordable 5.1 sets for direct connection with an HDTV. The new packages are called HD Theatre 1000, HD Theatre 500 and HD Theatre 300 packages.

According to Mike Klipsch, Klipsch brand president, consumers need to understand the important role high-performance audio plays in the entertainment experience before spending their entire home theatre budget on just a TV. They claim, a good rule of thumb is to spend the same amount of money on a surround-sound system as the TV itself.
For the HD500, each main and surround speaker is a sealed enclosure finished in high-gloss piano black with a 2.5-inch IMG woofer and a MicroTractrix Horn-loaded 0.75-inch aluminum dome tweeter inside. The magnetically shielded centre channel shares the same attributes, except it employs dual woofers. The speakers come with adjustable wall brackets that provide a 40-degree range of motion and inserts for stand mounting. The centre channel includes a cradle base, giving it a 45-degree range of motion. Available in a black pica vinyl finish, the subwoofer is a bass-reflex design with a rear-firing flared port. It employs a down-firing 8-inch driver.
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Siddharth Zarabi is Editor (Economic Policy) and Delhi Bureau Chief at CNBC-TV18.
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