To many audiophiles around the globe the Nakamichi name represents the pinnacle in audio performance. So you can imagine the anticipation while the industry awaited the release of Niro Nakamichi's latest creation-- the NIRO 1.1 Pro.

Additional Resources
• Read more about Niro's founding company Nakamichi. 
• Read bookshelf and 5.1 speaker system reviews from the like of Polk, Klipsch, Def Tech and many others. 

Meanwhile, many consumers are feeling overwhelmed and somewhat abandoned by manufacturers as more and more formats are introduced requiring more speakers, more connections and more surround options. Indeed, abandoned is the feeling of many, with setup being one headache and operation another.

The NIRO product line takes simplicity to the extreme. I must admit I was still quite surprised to learn that the new offering was actually a "quasi-surround" component. Though not so surprising, NIRO has inspired half a decade of engineering by thinking outside of the proverbial box.

I was impressed with the sound during my first experience with the NIRO 1.1, however, I was still skeptical. (Sure there's no additional speakers hidden in here?)

NIRO was quick to put their product where their claims were and offered us the first review samples available.

Unique Features - Early counterparts to the NIRO 1.1 Pro included a version with one speaker placed in the front center and one placed in the rear center with a single subwoofer. 6.1 "surround" was born of two speakers and the challenge then became to achieve the same success with just one speaker front and center, plus the subwoofer.

When it comes to unique features, I can say that the NIRO 1.1 Pro certainly qualifies as the only "virtual" surround system that actually employs six independent speakers--five in the "center" speaker, plus the sub itself. (Whereas, the 1.1 only employs three speakers in the "center," plus the sub.)

What's more, the NIRO 1.1 Pro features a progressive scan DVD player, Dolby Digital and DTS decoders/processing and amplification in one high quality chassis. The DVD player and pre/pro is surprisingly slim at 2.1-inches tall, but hefty at over nine pounds.

The back panel of the pre/pro features one composite, one S-Video and one component video (Y/Cb/Cr) output, along with two line-level (RCA) analog inputs (L/R) and one RCA output (L/R). There is also a coaxial antenna connection for the AM/FM tuner.

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