In recent years small space dwellers with a love of surround sound have been able to enjoy a limited version of true cinematic immersion via single soundbar audio speaker solutions. We use an older Yamaha model ourselves and in the right conditions, the effects are noticeably better than almost any built-in system and even some low end surround sound systems (though not many). The other benefit of these soundbar speakers is they're perfect for small space living. But what if you could integrate a soundbar directly into your HDTV set? That's what Bose did with their VideoWave HDTV, with 16 discreet speakers (plus 6 subwoofers)...

Bose has always been one of those brands that split groups into two very strongly opinionated camps: people who own them, love them (we personally endorse their sound canceling headphones as a traveler's necessity and their Wave radio line reproduce a very warm, pleasant sound). But the brand's highly marketed home audio systems often brings the ire of the audiophile set where terms like "overpriced" and "hyped" are thrown around. Just search for "Bose+reviews" and get ready for discussions that often read like a debate over national healthcare.

For now, we're more apt to add some sound dimension with a much more affordable soundbar like the Samsung HT-WS1G Soundbar.

At 100lbs and at a cost of $5,349, we're not sold on the Bose VideoWave as our next set. But we do like the ideas of integrated the soundbar solution into the set directly (one might worry about vibration), especially since Bose's solution can direct sounds to specific speakers which in turn deliver the sound to a specific area of the room.