Most of us don’t have luxury of having a dedicated theater room in our home that can be optimized for immersive sound and ideal speaker placement. Likewise, most people that love music cannot afford a listening room in their house. One solution for great sound without an extra room is the Acoustic Immersion Pod.
Although it resembles the egg-shaped spacecraft from the old TV show Mork & Mindy, the acoustic immersion pod is no joke. It is simply designed for optimal acoustics to provide a thoroughly immersive listening experience. It supports 5.1 surround sound with five 40 watt speakers specially placed in the ceiling and a thumping 10″ 250 watt subwoofer located under the seat. The open-cell acoustic foam interior lining helps reduce echoes and resonance to improve sound and keep others from being disturbed while you zen out inside your egg.
This is the pod that immerses a listener in an acoustically optimized chamber, providing an enveloping audio experience with its robust six-speaker surround sound system. Its interior is lined with open-cell acoustic foam–the same used in recording studios–that deflects, disperses, and absorbs sound waves, creating a personal sound environment that will not disturb those nearby. Providing a frequency response of 20 Hz-20 kHz for a full range of sound ideal for movies, sporting events, music, or games, the system is comprised of five 5 1/4″ 40-watt mid- to high-range speakers built into the pod’s ceiling (providing 80 watts peak output) and one 10″ 250-watt subwoofer speaker under the seat.
The system meets the 5.1 standard (the same used in commercial and home theater systems), and the subwoofer’s 500-watt peak output makes the padded 17″ wide seat resonate, placing a listener in the immediate vicinity of on-screen explosions, orchestral chords, or World Cup matches. Both a 5.1 and 2.1 sub-amplifier component are included to drive the speakers.
Purchase the Acoustic Immersion Pod for $3,000 from Hammacher Schlemmer. Choose between a red shell with red foam or a black shell with gray foam. It sure isn’t cheap, but it is a lot less expensive that adding a listening room or home theater onto your home.
This thing is pretty cool. $3k is a bit steep though for home theater owners. But I think it’s a great idea… especially for those who are particularly picky about their sound quality.
It’s definitely expensive, at least in relation to regular home theater electronics. But if you don’t have the space and really want proper acoustics, it’s a bargain compared to adding a room on to your house.