Enox Cinema Box VI

Relatively inexpensive, but not without its disadvantages: The Cinema Box VI sound bar from Enox.

• Wireless active subwoofer.
• Well-balanced center playback.
• Built-in AM/FM tuner and card reader.
• The low price.

• Audible sound discoloration.
• Little deep bass, droning in upper-bass frequencies.
• No manual equalizer.
• Surround effect only works for listeners directly opposite the sound bar.
• Requires wall mounting.

The Enox Cinema Box VI is a cheap sound bar for around 450 GBP, on the market since autumn 2008. We haven't yet seen cheaper online.

The Enox sound bar belongs on the wall, which is logical if that's where your flat-panel TV is too. Pictured: the wall-mount fixture on the rear of the unit.

This system from German manufacturer Enox comprises a large, 108-centimeter-long sound bar and a separate subwoofer, measuring around half a meter in height. The subwoofer is wireless, meaning you won't need to run a cable between it and the sound bar. The sound bar itself has a rounded shape, so the TV unfortunately cannot stand on top.

Clearly, Enox spent too much time thinking about chic design, and too little time on the practicalities. Despite its solid rubber feet, you also cannot stand the unit in front of the TV, since, at 22 centimeters high, it would obscure the picture.

That only leaves wall-mounting, and Enox includes appropriate fixtures for both the sound bar and the subwoofer. However, this type of positioning is only sensible if your plasma or LCD display is also wall-mounted. There's not a lot of choice in terms of colors. In fact, both the sound bar and subwoofer only come in black.

The well-built remote control offers direct access to all functions. The corresponding indicators appear on a blue display on the front of the sound bar.

Well thought out: You can angle the Enox sound bar's connections panel downwards, allowing easy access to the sockets when the unit is wall-mounted.

Manufacturer Enox fitted this sound bar with 20 speakers in total, while the subwoofer connects via a 2.4 GHz digital radio connection. The sound bar's digital amplifiers deliver around 220 watts. The SRS (Sound Retrieval System) listening mode aims to provide surround sound, driving the outermost speakers with an offset phase for the effects channels.

There are a total of four digital inputs for Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel sound, which the device can also mix down to 2.1 channels. For stereo music, there are three listening modes: "2.1", "Movie", and "Music".

Some nice extras: Thanks to the USB input and card reader, the Enox sound bar can also handle MP3s, JPEG photos, and MPEG1 videos.

In terms of extra features, the Cinema Box VI comes across as very versatile. It has a built-in AM/FM tuner and can play back MP3 music, photos, and videos using the front-mounted USB input or card reader - very practical.

The subwoofer is loud enough, but the sound bar itself is not accurately adjusted. The Enox system does not produce high-end audio.

Setting up the levels is fast and accurate thanks to the integrated test tone generator. The Enox system's powerful bass will definitely stoke up some atmosphere at your next party, but it's not quite as convincing in the home-theater.

The subwoofer, for example, is only loud if you increase the level of the higher bass region using the "Gain Frequency" control. Then, however, the bass frequencies drone unpleasantly and sound hollow, since Enox neglected to fit the unit with insulating material - this is quite a grave omission.

Using a low-pass filter to accent the lower frequencies also won't help, as this will cause the all-too-compact subwoofer's efficiency to plummet. With the gain control set to 12 o'clock, the Enox set produces slightly increased levels, but still sounds rather forward and slightly discolored. Here, the sound bar's bass drivers are also at fault: they are calibrated to too narrow a band.

Measurements for the Enox Cinema Box VI from the AVTOP test laboratory.