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Big Speakers with Attitude Theater Research TR-1620 Series-It was like a bear suddenly moved into a house occupied by squirrels....... Despite all the recent innovations in the video word, audio is still king when it comes to home entertainment. People who are into music and surround sound want speakers everywhere, hence the trend toward small satellite systems and in-wall speakers. Still,if you've got the space for it, nothing beats a set of full-sized, mean-looking tower speakers to tell the world that you like power. There's something genetic and bestial in the desire for a sinisterly impressive set of speakers. At least that's what I was thinking as I unpacked the TR Theater Research speakers in our audio demonstration room. I had just put a way a set of fine, but puny satellite speakers and was now replacing them with the three-and-a half-foot-tall piano black monoliths. It was like a bear suddenly moved into a house occupied by squirrels. The TR-1620 towers are an impressive sight. The glossy black top and base contrast with the unique grille-not really a grill, more like a row of fabric-covered elastic bands that stretch over the drivers and vibrate slightly when you strum your fingers over them. The right and left towers house two main 6.5-inch front drivers made of aluminized cones and a gold bullet dust cap in the center. Double-grade Y-35 magnets provide the action. Between the two drivers is a ferro-fluid cooled tweeter. On the side of each tower is a 10-inch passive woofer that provides extra bass. The center channel speaker employs the same configuration as the front of the towers, while the large bookshelf monitors each have one main driver and one tweeter. They came boxed with some matching speaker stands-I liked the look of the speakers, but the stands didn't appear to be very high quality. All of the speakers could be Bi-Wired and feature gold-plated binding posts-though I thought the binding posts were a bit small for really large gauge speaker wire. All of the speakers are rated at 8 ohms, so while they're large speakers, they're not particularly hard to amplify. I used them primarily with a Marantz receiver delivering 80 watts per channel all around and a B & K 507 sending 150 watts to each channel. The matching TR-12 subwoofer employs a 12-inch long-throw driver getting gas from a 500 watt built-in amplifier. You can hook it up with speaker wire or a Y cable. I used the latter from the sub output of the marantz. A phase switch is located on the back. On front you find a volume and adjustable crossover control. Unpacking and hooking up the system was easy, because despite the size, except for the subwoofer, the speakers are not quite as heavy as they look. They appear to be constructed of MDF board, which is pretty standard these days, with veneer over them. Be careful because the piano black finish can chip. All set up next to a large plasma TV, the system looked good. The sub's got a small green light on the front that comes on when it's plugged in, and there's no way to turn off the light if you're a stickler about that kind of thing. To me, they looked like castle towers, I thought I'd get them started with some equally powerful music-Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song from a live DVD-Audio disc. The big speakers gave the classic rockers a large venue treatment-guitars roared in the left and right speakers while Page's vocals sounded crisp and strong through the center channel. There was no apparent brightness on the highs and no mushiness in the low end. Moving on to something more subtle, I played a 1938 Django Reinhardt recording. Putting my ears past the noise inherent in such an old recording, Django's picking was sharp and precise without being shrill. Notes weren't clouded by the speaks, but I flet these speakers really wanted something heavier-so I moved back to rock, this time a live DVD-Audio release of a Frank Zappa Halloween concert. On my favorite track, Camarillo Brillo, I was very impressed with how tight the sub handled the kick drum. It was clear, but no too clear-essentially it sounded live, like it should. (In fact I'd say the sub is my favorite part of this system.) The xylophone, which is usually not all that noticeable in the background, took on a clear purpose and added multiple levels to the music. Frank's voice, like his lyrics, was always patent and roust-with just the right amount of radio DJ bass. Shifting into home theater gear, I wanted to see how aggressive the system could get so I played The Matrix Revolutions. The battle scene in which the computer controlled ships bore into the human stronghold made the whole room rumble. There's no feeling like experiencing big speakers during a major discharge onscreen firearms. Overall, I found the Theater Research 1620 series as daring in their performance as they are in their looks. The bullet-shaped dust caps of point threateningly through the unique grille design, while the subwoofer sits patiently to drop its bombs. If you're looking to make an impression with your audio gear, then look into these speakers. If you go by their list price, they're clearly a major investment, but they can be found for much less than that online.
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