Sure, it's easy to get a great sounding system when money ain't a thang, but what if you're on the hunt for a 5.1-channel surround sound system from a company you've heard of in the last decade... and you've only got $50? Enter JVC's SXXSW6000, which is being sold now at Wal-Mart for a staggeringly low $49.88. The critics over at Sound & Vision actually took the plunge and decided to put the incredibly inexpensive system through the paces. Miraculously, reviewers found that the system wasn't nearly as bad as one might expect, even proclaiming that it was "definitely worth $50." Still, the kit had its flaws, particularly when trying to handle loud explosions, throaty voices and any manner of bangs / crashes. All in all, S&V couldn't really knock these guys considering just how cheap they were, but they still recommended that you hold off and save up until you could throw a few Benjamins on a real system.

With all this focus on HDTV of late, we've been wondering if high-def junkies care nearly as much about their audio as they do their video. Sure, we know video trumps audio in the general public's eye, but we're talking home theater freaks here. Folks who make a point to hang up sheets to eliminate light from a room. Folks who take a vacation day just to calibrate their TV -- you know, people like yourself. Toss your vote in below and feel free to elaborate on your audio setup (or lack thereof) in comments below.

[Image courtesy of Infendo]

LTB Audio Systems has been conjuring up wireless cans for some time now, but unfortunately, its latest offering is barely more exciting than ones past. The Q-Home-FX headphones reportedly crank out "true 5.1 surround sound" by utilizing the firm's "patented technologies for true 5.1 separation and chambering of spatial audio channels." Granted, that sounds more like marketing fluff than anything else, but at least they're wireless, right? More specifically, the 2.4GHz technology allows a range of 99 feet, and there's even a built-in microphone in case you get the urge to Skype in multichannel. Those somehow interested can grab these now (but only from RadioShack's website, go figure) for $269.99.

We gave this a go some time ago, but compared to the job Hi-Def Digest did, ours is pathetic. Not only do they go into detail about what every audio format available for both HD disc formats is all about, but they go on to give examples of discs that include them, and to top it all off, how to enjoy them. It's more complicated than you think because not every player or connection method supports every audio format. To be honest it's far more complicated than it should be and we wonder how anyone could make heads or tails of this mess without being very dedicated. Lucky for us, Joshua Zyber is up to the challenge and his article should help clear things up for just about everyone.

While we've seen quite a few luxurious upscaling DVD players come through for those still quietly sitting the fence as the Blu-ray / HD DVD war wages on, Keian's KDVD850HDMI offers up another reasonable substitute to full-fledged high definition discs, and throws in DivX support to boot. Aside from kicking plain ole DVDs up to 1080i via HDMI, playing back DivX files, and touting the admittedly strange dual microphone inputs for that karaoke flair, this unit also touts the ability to render picture-based slideshows and play back MP3 / WMA from USB thumb drives or flash memory cards (SD, MMC, MS, xD). Of course, you'll find the typical coaxial / optical digital audio outputs as well, and while this unit isn't apt to win any awards in the quality department, it should help your (presumably depleted) post-Christmas bank account out by demanding just ¥10,800 ($91).

[Via Akihabara News]

Erik mentioned this during the podcast earlier, and I thought some of you might find it interesting. TWICE has an article up listing the various audio options that will be available on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs and players. All HD-DVD players must include support for two-channel Dolby True HD, 5.1 DTS HD, and 5.1/6.1 Dolby Digital Plus. Blu-ray players are required to support Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 and 5.1 PCM.

More information on the HD-DVD audio codecs is available from the DVD Forum, and info on Blu-ray codecs at Blu-ray.com. They also mention what sort of feature upgrades we can expect, at least in respect to audio second-generation HD-DVD players will add features like 7.1 analog connectors and HDMI 1.3 outputs. As much as we talk about MPEG-2 and h.264, are you taking audio options into account with your next purchase?

Folks all over the country got their daily fix of ESPN's SportsCenter in Digital Dolby 5.1 sound tonight via ESPN-HD; well, almost all over the country. It appears that the DIRECTV folks were caught napping because Dish Network as well as Comcast cable subscribers got the 5.1, while DIRECTV customers still have the oh-so-1980 dual channel stereo feed. Was this Dish's way of flipping the HD bird to DIRECTV for the MPEG-4 rollout that DIRECTV is leading in? Anywho, there's an NCAA basketball game between Indiana and Iowa on ESPN HD at 9 p.m., so if you tune in and hear stupendous surround sound from five channels, drop us note will ya?

Thanks for the tip, Ben!

File this away in the "do we really need this in our homes" category.

Around here, we love surround sound just as much as the next guy. Current standards provide up to 8 separate channels for audio but Dolby Labs have used a little help from Intel's new VIIV and Pro Logic IIx to up-sample those channels to 14.1. Sure, while it is not encoded in those channels natively, testers did claim to hear a difference.

Dolby does not have any intentions on producing this anytime soon. Simply because none of the optical formats support this kind of signal.

Does anyone really see a need for this? Or a better question is, does anyone have the space for 13 speakers plus a subwoofer?