Speaker Royalty
Video rules! I say that not as a declaration but merely as an observation. For most people, the TV dictates where the speakers go and how they look. Audio kowtows to video like a dutiful husband following his wife through the ladies’ sportswear department while his buddies are out golfing. And if the TV calls the shots, that means more and more audio systems are taking their orders from a plasma screen.
 | Recognizing the need for slimmer speaker designs that suit flat-panel televisions, Paradigm created its On-Wall Series. The on-wall speakers, which derive from the company’s Monitor Series, are designed to sound good hanging on a wall. |
Because plasma screens have become so popular, speaker makers are following the trend, reshaping their products to complement the look of a plasma TV. That’s not necessarily for the best, though. From the look of some of these new "plasma speakers," it appears the design parameters were simply to create the slimmest, most silvery speaker cabinet possible. Oh yeah, and make sure sound comes out when you hook up an amplifier to it.
