Without question, setting up a surround-sound system in a large, dedicated media room is a home systems technologist’s dream. You can load up the room with speakers to create a unbeatable listening experience for your clients — Dolby Atmos, DTS:X — take your pick.
It’s all game for a room with wide-open real estate. But let’s get real; if you’re working in an existing home, surplice space to add killer surround-sound system may be in very short supply.
Real Audio Technology for Small Media Rooms! No Center Channel Necessary — That’s Right!
Speakers that can be built flush into the walls and ceilings are ideal in living rooms, and it’s even better if these speakers boast a super-thin profile, as do the Ultra-Thin Series speakers, the TFS1.0 and TCE1.5, from Phase Technology.
Their thin size makes them ideally suited for flat-panel TVs and for areas where space and aesthetics are factors. The TFS1.0 and TCE1.5 speakers both measure 6.75 inches high and 1.5 inches deep; the TCE1.5’s are slightly wider — 26.5 inches compared to 18.5 inches.

The Phase Technology TCE1.5 Ultra-Thin speaker system is particularly helpful to dealers working in small media rooms. The two brushed-black aluminum units (wall or table mounted) boast Phase Technology’s Center Channel Eliminator technology that precludes the need for a center-channel speaker — that’s right, no center-channel speaker!
The center-channel placement is often one of the most challenging elements of a surround-sound arrangement to work into a room design. Developed by Phase Technology and employed in its TCE1.5 speakers, it provides discreet, three-channel performance out of only two speaker cabinets. The upper portions of both speakers handle the dedicated right and left audio content; the lower portions act as mono center channels, which are fed the same mix from the chosen audio source.
“This effectively creates the illusion that there is a center-channel speaker in the middle of the left and right speakers,” says Phase Technology VP Ken Hecht.
Pretty Thin, Pretty Powerful
Phase Technology provides external amplification for its Ultra-Thin line-up. The low-profile P3-35 amplifier design can be easily mounted behind a TV to power both the left and right speakers.
Combined with Phase Tech’s proprietary crossover and woofer design that elevates the output far beyond what other thin speakers are able to achieve sonically, on-board Dolby Digital decoding, and an output for a subwoofer, dealers can offer their clients of a high-performing surround-sound solution in the modest media room category.
Go Sleek, Go Slim, Go Sexy, Go Phase Tech!
There’s no reason great sound should only be enjoyed by owners of big dedicated theaters. With the right equipment, small media rooms can deliver an amazing listening experience without eating up precious real estate with big, beefy speaker systems — and budgets.
It’s a good time to offer audio systems designed to overcome the installation challenges of small spaces and with thin, low-profile surround-sound speakers that produce large, expansive, audiophile-quality sound.
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