I am a film and television buff through and through. I majored in Film in college, have produced a number of films over the years, and obsessively watch as much great film and TV as I can. As a film buff with a geek sensibility, you better believe that I take my viewing seriously. I buy into the school of thought that movies, and some television series, should only be viewed in the most optimal settings. One of the cardinal rules of filmmaking warns that audio is king. Bad audio can ruin an entire movie. The same rule applies to home viewing. With that in mind, I set out to review Enclave’s new CineHome Wire Free HD Audio Home Theater In A Box to see if it passed the rigorous testing of a cinephile.
For years I’ve had various surround sound systems that I eventually retired due to annoyances resulting from one common element: wiring! My living room was a mess of spool after spool of tangled speaker wire running this way and that and collecting in a nest of connections behind my TV. Unattractive? Yes. But also very annoying when the time came to move, reorganize, or introduce some new piece of electronic equipment into the fold. For the past couple of year’s I’d given up, using only the built-in speakers of my television and lacking the immersion of surround sound.
Off the bat, I can tell you that the CineHome system has returned me to the world of surround sound and unburdened me of even an inch of speaker wire. I’d considered purchasing a soundbar for the sheer convenience of it, but after seeing various soundbars in action, they just didn’t seem to cut it. Soundbars are great, but they lack that true, immersive surround sound experience that so elevates the viewing and gaming experiences. What makes soundbars such an easy choice for so many, and made me look into them myself, is the absence of complicated wiring in contrast to traditional surround sound systems. The CineHome system, however, is wireless, running audio directly from the central Enclave Smart Center and avoiding the interference of Wi-Fi.
Out of the box, it took me a mere 10 minutes to setup the entire CineHome system. The system comes with the Enclave Smart Center, left and right front speakers, left and right rear speakers, and a subwoofer.
Performance wise, the system sounded incredible. Our first viewing was Star Wars: The Force Awakens and every explosion, battle, and note of John Williams’ score sounded crystal clear and cinematic in scale. As it should. Unlike Bluetooth wireless systems, there is zero latency in the sound from the CineHome system. This is because Enclave utilizes Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) channels between 5.2 and 5.8 GHz which automatically and seamlessly jump to a new channel should any interference occur.
My one criticism of the system is the wiring. While yes, the system is itself wireless and avoids the nuisance of running long speaker wires and drilling into your walls to hide the mess, each speaker has it’s own AC power supply. Depending on the size and layout of your room, you may find yourself having to run extension cords or power strips to compensate for a lack of outlets. I had to. But still, the one extension cord and power strip I needed aren’t nearly as obtrusive or annoying as the alternative.
Overall, the Enclave CineHome system has proved the popular choice in my home. It’s nice to finally have surround sound once again, and even nicer to avoid dealing with the issues that have so often nudged me off the surround sound wagon.
The Enclave CineHome System is priced at $1,199.00. For more information, check out the Enclave website.
Disclosure: Enclave provided me with a review unit.
