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Gizmo Guy: A good start on a home theater

Would you believe they pay me here to listen to music and watch movies? Of late, Gizmo Guy has been taking in flicks with a novel home-theater rig from Enclave Audio that uses new WiSA wireless signal technology. Makes installation super easy and raises the pleasure quotient to just plain super.

These good rocking (and jazzing) Gibson Les Paul Reference Monitors (GSLP 6 inch) would likely please the late master guitarist - and multitrack recording pioneer - Les Paul himself.
These good rocking (and jazzing) Gibson Les Paul Reference Monitors (GSLP 6 inch) would likely please the late master guitarist - and multitrack recording pioneer - Les Paul himself.Read moreJonathan Takiff

Would you believe they pay me here to listen to music and watch movies?

Of late, Gizmo Guy has been taking in flicks with a novel home-theater rig from Enclave Audio that uses new WiSA wireless signal technology. Makes installation super easy and raises the pleasure quotient to just plain super.

These ears have also been hanging out at the work station, getting to know the middle child in a young family of Les Paul Reference Monitors from Gibson Brands.

Intended for critical listening, these desktop bi-amped speakers seem targeted to home-studio recording enthusiasts. But the cabinet cosmetics also court the rockin' musician in all of us with glossy "flame maple" tops and trim evoking classic Les Paul model Gibson guitars.

Plug and play home theater. Stereo speakers are mediocre at best in flat-panel TVs. And that's an insult to the hardworking sound technicians and composers of movie and TV land, whose big projects are often as much about the immersive surround sound experience as the visuals.

Yes, TV sound bars - wall mounted or sitting below the TV screen - are an easy and legitimate upgrade. Still, users are mostly hearing glorified monaural sound.

By contrast, Enclave's new, user-friendly CineHome HD Home Theater System packs a true theater-style, six-channel array, starting with compact left, right, and center front speakers. That squat, five-inch-high smart center has inputs for three HDMI A/V sources, plus optical digital and analog audio ins, one HDMI out for a TV, and wireless Bluetooth connectivity.

Listing for $1,199 (with a 10 percent discount available at enclaveaudio.com), the package also boasts a medium-large subwoofer with decent "kick" and two easily shelf-perched or hung rear speakers with angled in/out drivers for better sound "fill."

All that is standard "home theater in a box" stuff. So what's different? Enclave's CineHome doesn't have wires snaking from the control center to other speakers. The only lines are for power, one per speaker, connecting each self-amplified unit to a nearby AC outlet. System set-up thus becomes a snap, using the wireless remote and on-screen guide, and potentially much improved for neat freaks.

WiSA (wireless speaker and audio) tech also is available in a $5,095 home theater system from Klipsch, and wacky expensive B&O speakers ($10G a pair). In all cases, WiSA transmits each channel signal - up to 30 feet - in a whistle-clean, uncompressed 24-bit digital format "sitting" on a relatively unused radio frequency band - 5.2-5.8 GHz.

"Until recently, those frequencies were reserved mostly for airplane radar," explained Enclave cofounder Rob Jones. "But now they're available for unlicensed technology in very specific, safety-minded circumstances."

Onboard sensors automatically change the Enclave system's selected frequency at the first hint of interference. The handoff takes 5 milliseconds or less. Gizmo Guy lives under the flight path for Philadelphia International Airport, but in two weeks of system testing hasn't had a whiff of dropout.

With both Dolby Digital Plus and DTS surround sound decoding built in, an Enclave CineHome system presents dramatically with hyperactive, room-rocking sound tracks for such sci-fi spectacles as Mad Max: Fury Road and Ex Machina (both 2016 Academy Awards craft winners), season five of HBO's glossy Game of Thrones, and EA's Dolby Atmos surround-encoded PC game "Star Wars Battlefront."

Even standard stereo TV signals are enhanced with the Enclave's default Dolby Digital Pro Logic II processing, adding lots of rear channel hollering to the March Madness.

Les is more. What would Les Paul think, hearing his classic "How High the Moon" on the new speakers that bear his name and iconic styling?

I'm thinking the pioneer of multitrack recording and electric solid-body guitar would be "Sitting on Top of the World," tickled Sunburst Red at the speakers' honest, accurate performance. He might not even blush at their primo pricing: $599 per speaker for a GSLP 4 inch (with four inch woofer), $799 a pop for the GSLP 6-inch model I've been checking out, or $999 each for GSLP 8-inch variants.

Meant for a mixing-board connection with a balanced TRS/XLR input and having an unbalanced RCA line-in (that's how I connected to my laptop's headphone jack), the GSLP 6-inch speakers have worked well for me on everything from Jack Garratt's stunning blues/electronica Phase to the lilting new 2016 Broadway cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof (yeah, my tastes are broad).

High-end, carbon-coated titanium tweeters and non-woven carbon-fiber woofers - each separately amplified - also contribute to the effortless playback with lots of subtle detailing. Even Killswitch Engage's Incarnate, cranked to 11, didn't distort.

Were Mr. Paul still around, I'd also be turning him on to fresh speaker showcases such as Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, Esperanza Spalding's Emily's D+Evolution, Renato Braz's Brazilian Saudade, and, for dessert, the self-titled, totally hypnotic Steve Reich Third Coast Percussion troupe.

Would share more, Les, but the shift's over.

takiffj@phillynews.com

215-854-5960@JTakiff