Space is at a premium today. Whether in the office, condo, or cottage, a tight squeeze means everything needs to get smaller, including home entertainment systems.

Advances in technology now offer us audio-visual equipment that are not only smaller but offer superior performance. Though TV screen are wider than ever, they are also thin enough to take up very little floor space. This decrease in size leaves less waste for landfill and recycling as well.

As games, movie, and television streaming increase, the Internet is rapidly becoming the dominant conduit for both our work and social lives. Devices that allow us to access the near endless library of humanity stored in the cloud are becoming increasingly connective and integrated.

This week the staff and proprietor of Brentview Electronics have recommended two elegant pieces of equipment, that when paired together, can create a formidable audio-visual experience in your small space while offering a high level of connectivity and durability.

The 80-Pound Gorilla?

Naturally, an LED TV of moderate size, between 40″ and 46″ is a good choice, but be careful if you are a Wii junkie, have a toddler, or lead anything but an utterly serene life. 

Due to a rash of Wii nunchuck induced accidents, the Internet is flooded with LCD and Plasma TV horror stories. After a brief perusal of a Google search entitled, “How I cracked my LCD TV” we’d like to present you with the ‘greatest hits’:

“Toddler threw a remote”–this one is 1 on the charts

“Hit with a Wii and cracked”–a classic indeed holding strong at 2

“My 2-year-old threw her Elmo at the TV” was quickly followed up by another smash hit, “My son hit my TV with a plastic bat” 

A startling number of gun related accidents were also reported, for which no manufacturer can be blamed (At this time the friendly staff at Brentview Electronics would like to encourage readers to clean their weapons responsibly).

Enter Sony Bravia with Gorilla Glass by Corning. Yes, glass made by a brand generally associated with dishes which, for those who care, “is chemically strengthened through an ion-exchange process that creates a deep compression layer on the surface of the glass substrate.” Basically, this ultra-light, ultra-thin, ultra-clear glass is designed to take everything but a bullet. 

Gorilla Glass, already standard on an estimated 20 percent of cellular phones globally, is available on select Sony Bravia sets over 46″, and is currently exclusive to Sony Bravia televisions. 

The intended purpose of Gorilla Glass on LCD TVs was a cosmetic one. It allows for one continuous, scratch resistant surface with a frame beneath the glass. “Gorilla glass provides an amazing ‘monolithic’ design aesthetic and has great durability and picture quality advantages for the consumer,” said Daniel Phillips, Director of TV Marketing, Consumer Products Group at Sony Canada. “It’s like Hi-tech ‘art’ so-to-speak.”

A television that according to Corning’s Jim Terry, “looks as good off as it does on, … and it will take some impact.” Exactly how much impact, Terry declined to say, as did anyone at Sony, because though Gorilla Glass is hard to break, the vibration of the impact could damage the LCD screen behind it. 

But we’re hoping Dave Loeber, Business Director of Corning’s Large Cover Glass Department, is right about improved durability. “Gorilla Glass is the first layer, it’s the front line of defence.” And it sure is strong. 

Loeber was also kind enough to explain that, because Gorilla Glass is extremely clear and thin, it has another purpose on high-end televisions. “The optical clarity must be not just clear, but not distort the polarization effect for 3D. Not only is it strong and tough, it has to be 3D capable.”

Wonder glass aside, Sony Canada’s warranty does not cover impact of any kind, but considering the relative fragility of the other sets on the market, we’d like to put forward Sony’s Gorilla Glass models as the best thing going right now.

Also in Sony’s favour is the amount of services it currently offers online. Connect to the Internet by cable or Wi-Fi and you can add Facebook, install a webcam and video chat using Skype, and keep up with Twitter by downloading an ever-increasing number of widgets. Sony’s 36 streaming channels allow you to buy or rent movies using Sony’s Video Unlimited, subscribe to Netflix or watch everything from archived NHL games to Berlin Philharmonic concerts–which brings us to the all-important audio component for our dapper den.

Meridian M80–The ‘M’ Is for Mighty

Impressive for a small British company that still manufactures each of its products in a single factory outside of London, Meridian was recently interviewed by Bloomberg as an example of England’s growing manufacturing sector. Their strategy has been to manufacture small batches of product of the highest quality featuring innovations not available in mass-produced competitors’ products.

Meridian co-founder Bob Stewart tells Bloomberg, “We’re not a mass manufacture. We’re not trying to make…thousands in an afternoon at the lowest possible price; we’re trying to build to a standard. What we build here is much more like making a musical instrument than making an iPod.” 

They recently designed the sound system inside the McLaren MP4-12C, touted by First Drive as, “the best handling supersports road and weekend track car in history,” and at a cool C$247,500 we’re glad to hear a world-class stereo comes with it. In more recent (and affordable) news, Meridian speakers are standard on the much-lauded Land Rover Evoque, with the premium model featuring 17 speakers worth of surround sound.

The core technologies Meridian is famous for include a number of signal improvement processes like Meridian High Resolution that improves the quality of audio signals during transfer, Apodising Filtre that cleans up signal from inferior sources, as well as an advanced Digital Signal Processing crossover system that decides with greater accuracy which frequencies end up in which speakers. And we’ll stop here. The Meridian website has a good number of fascinating whitepapers you can geek out on.

Relevant to you and your small space is Meridian’s M80, into which they have packed all the luxury audio-awesomeness you can handle into a unit the size of a tabletop radio. 

This 80Watt, 2.1 Stereo Mighty Mouse is not just for you–it’s for your neighbours too. One of the greatest difficulties of living big in a small space is controlling the volume of your system. The fact is that lower quality audio equipment require greater volume to be heard. With a Meridian system, you hear everything clearly and beautifully balanced at a much lower volume.

“Anybody can build a system with bass. It’s the top end and upper information that everybody misses. That’s why even at low volume they provide you with so much more detail. With most amplifications, the volume needs to be turned up substantially to get the same performance you’d get from a Meridian system,” explains Brentview Electronics resident Meridian specialist, Guy Corapi. 

A stereo widening feature helps you focus the direction of the sound. Room correction allows you to set the M80 to function optimally on an open desktop or tucked into a corner. The tilt functions acts as though you put a book under the unit when it is on the top shelf. All these functions help direct the sound toward you and away from your walls.

Connectivity

Regardless of the source of the sound, the M80 up-converts audio to 192/196 KHZ using Meridian’s High Resolution technology. This means everything on your iPod from MP3s on, is played back at the highest possible fidelity. 

Without the TV, connect it to your computer using USB to listen in digital sound while you stream your favourite content. With a TV, you can use the internal DVD player and plug it in using the composite MS video outlet. 

The CD/DVD drive accepts CD-DA, CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA, DualDisc, DVD-V, and DVD±R/RW–it’s simply gluttonous. 

When connecting to your iPod, all the playlists on the iPod are displayed on the M80 screen and accessible with the M80 remote. 

The radio features Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) that displays the artist and song. You can use the radio feature with the built in alarm clock, or select a standard tone. 

Software upgrades are provided free to customers by Brentview Electronics. You may be wondering why this is important. “I keep a list of all Meridian clients. When there’s a firmware upgrade I contact them and come over,” says Corapi. “You’ll be constantly updated with the latest software. The result is better sound. You’d be surprised what an advance in technology can do with digital sound.” Updates may support other components of your system as well, like Apple products. 

Brentview is Ontario’s only fully authorized Meridian dealer, offering the province’s largest selection of Meridian products. “We carry high-end product, the latest and greatest. We have products you can’t find in the big box stores–we only carry the best,” proprietor Steve Deweerd explains. 

And naturally you get the level of personalized service you need with high-quality equipment, including expert installation and guidance so you are able to effectively use all the features highly connective and advanced equipment sometimes require. 

Professional installation would have been a help to these online messageboard users: “woke up and it’s as if an earthquake happened or something–Flat Screen was on the floor face first.” This occurrence is so commonplace that you cannot expect warranty sympathy from any manufacturer, so make sure you have a professional do it right the first time.