MUSIC PERFORMANCE

Given the configuration of a soundbar, small surrounds, and a small subwoofer, I had my doubts as I put in the first CD and started to listen. But those doubts immediately vanished into the ether of the system's rich sound quality. With any speaker system, good sound ultimately comes down to driver quality, cabinet size and construction, and subwoofer amplifier power. With top-shelf drivers and tons of sub power, this Leon rig performed quite well. I listened to many of my audition favorites, and it passed my tests.

Some music stresses a system because it's loud and complex. Other music - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's Raising Sand being a good example - poses a challenge because of its purity . (Yes, it's odd to use the words "Robert Plant" and "purity" in the same sentence.) "Rich Woman" sets the tone for the rest of the album (and redefines the word "cool") with its spooky bass line, trashy snare, and simmering vocal solos and harmonies. The soundbar's impressive handling of vocals put the singers right there in front of me. Nuances were clearly audible but not exaggerated, and the mellow reverb around them sounded just right. Also, the subwoofer was sure-footed in its reproduction of both the double bass and the taut thuds and punches of the kick drum and toms.

"Polly Come Home" features slow-motion drum hits and a rock-bottom bass line. Many lesser subs would stumble in this low-end swamp, but the Leon sounded nice and tight on every hit and pluck. The reverberation on the bass, picking up mainly on the upper harmonics, floated confidently in the notoriously problematic nether region between subwoofer and satellites. The whispered grit in Plant's vocals was clearly enunciated, but I was most impressed by Krauss's harmonies and the duo's overall blend. The skeletal accompaniment weaved in and out, sounding as airy as when it was recorded.

Turning to 5.1-channel music, I used a DTS CD of Sting's Brand New Day to focus my attention on the surrounds. The complex mix for "Desert Rose" has low-frequency synthesizer lines panning through the satellites. With the surround speakers' drivers matching the ones in the soundbar, the system's overall tonal balance was spot-on, and there was a good sense of acoustic space around my central seat. While the small surrounds were able to keep up with the soundbar throughout the midrange and treble regions, they didn't provide enough low end to meet demand on "Desert Rose," whose mix places some serious bass percussion in the back channels. But the subwoofer helped to make up the difference, and the result was a good percussion sound, though with different spatial placement (not enough impact in the surrounds but more from the sub) than I'm used to hearing on this track.

MOVIE PERFORMANCE

Switching gears to movies on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, I was listening to hear if the Leon soundbar's soundstage was wide enough for my screen, if the surrounds could deliver sufficient ambience, and if the sub kicked enough ass. On epics like Batman Begins, the soundstage was appropriately wide - not as wide as with my usual tower speakers, but plenty good enough to reinforce the scope of the images. With Transformers, I would have liked to have heard a little more upper-bass punch in the surrounds, but they still provided more than adequate immersion. (It would be interesting to see Leon experiment with a dipole surround speaker.) Finally, the low-frequency undersea machine noises in U-571, while not room-shaking, were quite convincing. The amp had power to spare, and the little subwoofer performed valiantly. At loud levels, the depth charges (a classic subwoofer torture test) caused some port chuffing, but the explosions had a solid impact.

BOTTOM LINE

The Horizon Hz414-X-A soundbar-based Leon system isn't your usual speaker package, so if you want a traditional 5.1 configuration, look elsewhere. But if you need speakers that provide a stylish, exact match to your screen, with custom finishes and a subwoofer that takes up little room (or none at all, if you opt for in-wall installation), consider Leon. These little heavyweights are the real deal, and they deserve a good listen.