Hands on with the Pinnacle Theater One 2.1 sound base

The Pinnacle Theater One 2.1 flips conventional designs the bird with a go-big-or-go-home attitude. We're talking about a sound base big enough to be mistaken for a coffee table, and on paper, it looks like it should pack a mean wallop, too. Armed with 6.5-inch down-firing subwoofer, a whole lot of cabinet volume and two bass ports, the Theater One 2.1 looks like it should have no problem delivering a bounty of bass. But does it? We aimed to find out, and learned a whole lot more in the process.
For the reasonable price of $300 (at Amazon), we feel the Theater One 2.1 does offer some value. It avoids sounding nasal, tinny, and generally small, and offers decent dynamics. It's not going to become the hub of your entertainment center — it lacks HDMI switching — but it will sure beat the pants off most built-in TV speakers. Can you do better for $300? Yes. But we aren't aware of a competing speaker at this price that can hold a 65-inch TV, and that makes the Theater One 2.1 a somewhat unique proposition.