ZVOX Z-BASE 555 SoundBase

Only 3.5" high, the ZVOX SoundBase 555 home theater system can be placed beneath your flat-panel TV* -- so you can have surround sound without adding a lot of clutter to your room. It requires no external speakers, subwoofer or speaker wires.

The 555 reproduces TV shows, music and movie soundtracks with lifelike accuracy – including crystal-clear vocals and thunderous bass. And ZVOX PhaseCue® II virtual surround processing delivers remarkable three-dimensional sound.

The entire system – speakers, amplifier, virtual surround technology and powered subwoofer – fits into the super-slim cabinet. With only one connecting cord and a one-page owner’s manual, it is truly "plug and play." The wood cabinet is robustly constructed using fully-braced MDF -- not molded plastic. Beautiful hand-lacquered high-gloss ebony end panels create a stylish look.

KEY BENEFITS:

• Improved Sound
• Green Design
• Super-Clear Vocals
• "Commercial Taming" Technology
• Multiple Inputs Including Front-Panel iPod®/Portable Plug
• Works With Your Remote!

More Detail for the Detail-Minded

Great Sound. The most important feature for any home theater system is high quality sound. The 555 uses a new amplifier design with extremely accurate frequency response and a warm, natural sound and surprisingly powerful bass.

PhaseCue® II Virtual Surround Sound. The 555 uses ZVOX's proprietary PhaseCue II virtual surround processing to give you rich, three-dimensional sound with movies or music. With music, PhaseCue II creates a very wide soundstage - it literally sounds like you are listening to speakers eight feet apart from each other. When listening to a good movie, the soundtrack will envelop you, putting you in the middle of the action. While no virtual surround system - including ours - will give you the surround effects of a good 5.1 system, the ZVOX 555 does a remarkable job. Sound & Vision magazine calls our PhaseCue processing "remarkably ingenious."

Green Design. The 555 uses a highly-efficient Class D digital amplifier. Even playing at quite loud volumes, it usually uses less than 10 watts of total power. And standby power usage tends to hover around 0.1 watts - making it one of the "greenest" audio systems ever made.

Setting A New Standard For Vocal Clarity. ZVOX systems are known for their remarkable vocal clarity. The 555 adds a stunning new feature: Dialog Emphasis (DE). When you push the "DE" button on the remote control you engage a circuit that mimics the functions of a hearing aid. The frequencies used by human voices are dynamically emphasized, while other frequencies are minimized. We don't know of any other speaker system that provides such an easy-to-use and effective method for improving the intelligibility of television dialog.

Uses Your Remote Control. The new SoundBase system can be programmed to respond to your remote control. The illuminated display walks you through a less-than-a-minute programming cycle. Then your TV remote...or cable box remote...or satellite receiver remote...or ANY remote...can control volume, mute, and power functions of the ZVOX system.The 555 uses a highly advanced processor to digitally tailor the sound for excellent frequency response. The result is a very smooth, very accurate sound. This SoundBase system doesn't sound like a "sound bar," it sounds like an audiophile quality speaker system.

Taming Commercials That Are Too Loud. If you've ever been blasted out of your chair by a too-loud commercial - or by a cable channel that's twice as loud as another channel - you'll love the new Output Leveling (OL) feature on the ZVOX 555. Just push the OL button and a sophisticated processor takes over, making soft sounds louder and loud sounds softer, so there are fewer jarring moments when switching channels or when commercials come on. This system also helps by boosting the audio levels from a DVD or Blu Ray player that is not loud enough.

Disappearing Display. The 555 features a four-digit display located behind the speaker grille that shows the current setting for volume, bass, treble and PhaseCue II® (virtual surround) - and also shows when you have engaged the Mute, Output Leveling (OL) or Dialog Emphasis (DE) features. A few seconds after you stop using your remote (or front panel) controls, the display disappears completely.

Multiple Inputs, front-panel connection for iPod® and other devices, Dolby Digital decoder. The 555 has two analog audio inputs, one optical (Toslink) digital input, one coaxial digital input - plus a front panel 3.5mm analog stereo input for convenient connection of your iPod or other portable audio device. Any specific input can be selected using either the remote control or the slim-line module below the speaker grille. The two digital inputs work with a built-in Dolby Digital decoder, which can improve virtual surround performance and allow for simplified connections to a wide variety of TVs, cable boxes and disc players.

Wood (MDF) Cabinet With Hand-Lacquered Side Panels. The 555 features a hand-built cabinet of heavy MDF with beautiful hand-lacquered high-gloss end panels. Its low-profile design blends perfectly with flat-panel TVs. Most people don’t even notice the ZVOX 555...until they hear it.

Technical Details

• Dimensions: 28"W x 14 1/2"D x 3 3/8"H
• Weight: 17 pounds. With box and packing: 21 pounds.
• Amplifier: The 555 uses a high-efficiency 70 watt Class D digital amplifier.
• Rear inputs: (2) analog stereo inputs, (1) optical (Toslink) digital input, (1) coaxial digital input.
• Front input: (1) 3.5mm stereo front panel input.
• Frequency range: 45 Hz - 20 kHz.
• Virtual surround sound: The 555 uses ZVOX's proprietary PhaseCue II virtual surround sound processing. PhaseCue II, as its name implies, manipulates the phase of the separate channels to "fool the ear" into believing that sound is coming from a variety of sources throughout the room. The benefits of PhaseCue II vary greatly based on program material. Live music and well-recorded modern movie soundtracks will deliver rich, three-dimensional sound – pulling the sound out from the speakers and into the room, literally surrounding the listener. Note: All virtual surround systems – including the PhaseCue II system – are limited in their effects when compared to a good 5.1 system. And sitcoms, news broadcasts and soundtracks from older movies often have very little in the way of three-dimensional sound. That being said, PhaseCue II is capable of generating a wonderful and engaging virtual surround experience.
• The 555 is bi-amplified, using a specially designed amplifier that includes electronic contouring for superb frequency response.
• The 555's 5.25" subwoofer uses a high-mass long-throw design in a ported enclosure.
• The 555's five 2" main speaker drivers use a long-throw design to create remarkably wide range, accurate sound.
• Unlike most systems in its category, the 555 uses an MDF (medium density fiberboard) wood cabinet - instead of molded plastic. MDF is the preferred construction material for high-performance speaker systems.
• A 2-meter RCA-RCA analog stereo connecting cord is included.
• Works only with 110-120 volt power systems.
• The ZVOX 555 is backed by a one year limited parts and labor warranty.

What's In The Box?

• One stereo RCA to stereo RCA connecting cable
• If purchased directly from us, we will include a digital optical cable
• One remote control with power on/off, volume up/down, mute, PhaseCue II (three level settings), bass up/down and treble up/down, input selection, Output Leveling (OL), Dialog Emphasis (DE).
• Power cord
• One-sheet safety instructions and operations manual, fast setup sheet and remote control programming instruction sheet.