Sony has created home-theater speakers that not only are tiny — about the size of golf balls — but also “deliver the big, robust sound of a top-notch home-theater sound system,” according to a breathless AP news report out of Tokyo.

Obviously, I haven’t heard Sony’s Home Theater System HT-IS100, but call me skeptical about how robust that sound truly is. At only 1.7 inches square, the system’s five satellite speakers are essentially just tweeters, the component of full-range speakers that produces high frequencies. The fact that they’re housed in a tiny cabinet is the only thing that makes them different than the similar-sized tweeters you’d buy as part of an after-market component-speaker setup for your car, as Crutchfield sells. Basically, the system’s 17-inch subwoofer is providing all the bass and even most of the midrange sound. This is how many satellite systems work, of course, but the minuscule size of the new Sony speakers shifts that burden even more and makes me wonder how pleasing dialogue and music will sound.

I guess we’ll find out eventually. The speaker system goes on sale in Japan next month for about $870, but it has no U.S. release date or price yet.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 at 11:13 am and is filed under Home theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.