At a big trade show like CEDIA Expo, any seat in the convention center represents a welcome oasis from long hours in painful Sunday-go-to-meetin' shoes. But when that seat is hardwired to a modern home theater rig, and is quite a comfy recliner to boot, consider us hooked. Our thanks to BodySound for giving us the chance to learn more about their specially designed custom home theater seating (and take a well-deserved break), first through an interactive demo reel followed by a variety of movie scenes.
For the feature presentation, the main stereo speakers emerge from the ends of the armrests, the subwoofer and surrounds remain hidden, and the BodySound surround system relies upon a phantom center channel to reproduce the dialogue, since there is simply no logical place to put a discrete center on a chair. Even so, the furniture can be designed to isolate each viewer, so that for example two people can be listening to two different programs at the same time without disturbing one another.
All processing and amplification is performed within the BodySound chair/loveseat/etc., which connects to a source component such as a Blu-ray player via digital optical audio. Additional electronics reside inside the left arm (at least on the unit I test-flew), including a USB port to link to a PC for software updates and customization. Pricing starts at $5,995 for a single recliner, with as big as a four-seater on the menu as well, and various configuration options available.
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