Ears On

Audio products bring us joy. They also get in the way. (That goes double for hard-copy software. And triple for LPs, much as we love them.) In fact, though the magazine's reviews discuss fidelity, features, and even ergonomics, they rarely discuss how a product might bulk large in your home. Reviewers simply assume that readers will consider the product category, look at the picture, maybe check the dimensions, and reach their own conclusions. But intrusion is a major way in which products relate, or fail to relate, to us.

Despite being dead set against ratings in general, I thought it might be interesting to rate technologies and product categories for intrusiveness in the same way that I rate individual products for performance and other parameters. Five stars is least intrusive, one star is most intrusive, and I've tried to use the full five-point rating scale, exaggerating for effect.

Channel Check

Dolby Atmos, DTS:X 7.1.4 with Ceiling Speakers: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
The ceiling mounts or in-walls necessary to make this work take dedication. As in, a dedicated room. In-wall and in-ceiling speakers have no footprint, which theoretically would rocket this category from one star to four or five, but they do require hiring pros and poking holes in walls, which is another form of intrusiveness (albeit temporary).

Dolby Atmos, DTS:X 5.1.4 with Atmos-Enabled Speakers: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
As surround installations go, 5.1.4 done this way is really no more intrusive than plain old 5.1. By bouncing height channels off the ceiling, Atmos-enabled speakers have the same footprint as any other kind of floor speakers. And the extra cabling for the height channels runs alongside basic 5.1 cabling.

Stereo: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Old-school audiophiles point out that two speakers in the front of the room eliminate the intrusiveness of surround speakers and subs. They have a point. ("Aha," Steve Guttenberg is probably saying.)

The Transducer Factor

Large Towers with Audiophile-Approved Positioning: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
These may suit a dedicated listening room where nothing changes much. For a multi-purpose room, big towers take up a lot of space and make cleaning a pain. As a reviewer, I avoid them altogether for several reasons, one of which is that my room is tightly packed and constantly changing (and also serves as home office).

Mini-Towers or Stand-Mount Monitors with Audiophile-Approved Positioning: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
These (can) have slightly smaller footprints and are easier to move when needed.

Mini-Towers and Stand-Mount Monitors Against the Wall: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Speakers don't sound their best when shoved against the wall. But they are easier to live with.

Sat/Sub Sets: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Like the Cambridge Minx system pictured above. These are suitable for smaller rooms, and yes, there are some that sound good (see our Top Picks under Compact Speakers).

In-Walls, On-Walls, Bookshelf Speakers on Bookshelves: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The lease intrusive speakers are those with no footprint at all. The installation of in-walls is extremely invasive (temporarily), and on-walls somewhat invasive, but shelf placement is not invasive at all. Speakers, even so-called bookshelf speakers, are at an acoustic disadvantage on shelves, but that disadvantage becomes an advantage for the room. A fair trade? Think of how much more your spouse will love the room when you've gotten all those darned speakers off the floor.

Amp It Up

Doghouse-Size Mono-Block Amps and Preamp: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
A big amp in the middle of the floor with wrist-thick cables snaking to a rack is the kind of thing that graces a man cave (or breaks up a marriage). With tube amps, drop to half a star. This is where the wily home theater audiophile picks up extra points by banishing his rack of amps to a closet.

A/V Receivers: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
AVRs pick up a star by doing a lot in a single chassis, but let's face it, they're still bears to install, and they require a 5.1 or better speaker array as well as a rack. You might pick up another star by opting for a stripped-down system with only, say, a universal disc player and a cable box. Things get messy when you start adding turntables and legacy components.

Stereo Integrated Amps and DAC-Amps: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Cut down to two speakers, don't go crazy with the legacy components, and this could be a nifty little music system.

Active Soundbars and Soundbases: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
For something other than a primary system, self-powered soundbars and consoles relieve stress on the room compared to component systems and have minimal footprints. Bump up to five stars if you wall-mount the bar.

Wireless Speakers: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
This product category liberates the listener from components, racks, and things on the floor. It's not an audiophile choice. But how many people are audiophiles? And how many audiophiles are audiophiles all the time, with no room in our lives for casual listening in the kitchen, powered by smartphone?

Rocket in Your Pocket

Audiophile Signal Source and Full-Size NC Headphones: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
That hi-fi player sculpted from a billet of aircraft-grade aluminum may look great and sound even better, but it weighs heavily in the pocket of your shirt or jacket. The same would apply to a music player bungeed to a high-end portable DAC-amp. Full-sized headphones (noise-cancelling or planar) offer the best sound but don't travel in a pocket. A carry-on or briefcase, maybe. Head-fi audiophiles gladly pay the price.

Smartphone and Foldable Headphones: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Getting your smartphone to handle music is the choice of millions. The flea amp in that flat form factor may not be clean or powerful enough to accommodate the best headphones, though even high-end headphone makers are improving sensitivity to be phone-friendly. There are plenty of good over-the-ear headphones that fold up. This system gains a star if you substitute high-quality balanced armature earbuds, or better yet, earbuds custom-molded to the shape of your meat flaps.

Sixth-Gen iPod Nano and NC Earbuds: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I'm getting all model-specific here because the old 6G nano is the only nano with a postage-stamp form factor, similar to all generations of shuffle. This is my flying rig, along with an old pair of Sony MDR-NC11 noise-canceling earbuds. The player fits in the leather-like pouch that came with the buds and the pouch is small enough to travel in any jacket, shirt, or even jeans pocket.

So what do you have to say about how electronic products intrude into your life? If they intrude a lot, is the intrusion worth it? Are you considering something that would intrude less?

Audio Editor Mark Fleischmann is the author of Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video and Audio Systems, now available in both print and Kindle editions.