Enclave CineHome HD Wireless HTIB Review

Enclave CineHome HD Introduction

I’ve never once had someone over to my theater and heard them say, “Oh, I don’t like the way that sounds.” Folks experiencing a quality 5.1 system universally love it. So why doesn’t every home have a good home theater system? It’s usually some combination of size, cost, and setup complexity that holds people back. Because of these roadblocks, they settle for underwhelming soundbars or pathetic speakers that came built into their TVs. Enclave Audio is here to change that. 

Enclave Audio’s CineHome HD is a wireless 5.1 system that is compact and the most affordable WiSA wireless speaker system available on the market today at less than $1,200. Rather than connecting a large AV Receiver to speakers by stringing lengths of wire around furniture and under carpets, each of the Enclave speakers are powered by a nearby AC outlet and communicate wirelessly: no long wires or complicated setup needed. 

 Enclave Audio CineHome HD Wireless 5.1 Surround Review

Initial Impressions and Features 

The 5.1 system shipped with each speaker in small, well-labeled boxes contained in a single larger box. If you want a real home theater experience and don’t want to think too hard about it, you just load the single box in your cart and hit the checkout. It’s a simple process that yields good sound. 

The center channel is a horizontal MTM configuration with dual 80mm drivers and a single 20mm fabric dome tweeter. On the top of the speaker, a control layout nearly identical to that of the remote control makes it easy to operate your system even if the remote isn’t handy. On both the remote and the speaker, the controls felt a little rattly and some were mushy when pressed, marring an otherwise refined presentation for the price point. When the unit is off, a blue LED glows brightly. When it’s on, it still glows blue, but less brightly. I’d probably have sprung for a different colored LED for each power state to limit confusion. 

Enclave  CineHome HD Center "Brain" Inputs and Outputs

The center channel also serves as the “brain” of the system, conducting duties usually carried out by an AVR. Available inputs consist of 3 HDMI, 1 analog 3.5mm, optical, and bluetooth wireless. A single HDMI output routes video to your display, and a built-in rear LED tries to shine a little light on the rear connectors to make plugging everything in a little easier. 

The front speakers are a vertical MTM configuration with drivers identical to the center channel. The cabinets are front-ported and made of a fairly well damped composite material finished in matte black. They have enough heft and style with rounded corners and a dimpled pattern on the back to not be confused with cheap HTIB speakers and won’t detract from more upscale decor. 

Cinehome HD Rear Bipole Wireless Speakers

The rear speakers are designed with dual drivers in a bipole configuration (all drivers in phase) for a broader rear soundfield. Mounting options on both front and rear include keyhole and threaded fasteners. The front speakers feature rubber feet but the rears don’t which is a bummer because the rears spun on my coffee tables due to the tension from the power cords. Get a few stick-on feet if you’re not going to hang the rear speakers on the wall.

 

CineHome HD Wireless Subwoofer

The subwoofer is a large enclosure measuring 18 x 12 x 13” (HxWxD w/ grill) which is on the large side for an all-in-one system. This is a good thing as larger enclosures typically signal greater output and the largest dimension is the vertical dimension preserving precious floor space. However, the subwoofer enclosure is not terribly heavy or inert when rapped with a knuckle which might contribute to some low-frequency coloration. It’s finished in black vinyl and is front-ported with the driver listed as 217mm in diameter (includes the mounting frame). Compared to the typical HTIB sub, the construction wasn’t flashy, but met my expectations. 

Setup and Operation 

Well, this section’s going to be short. If you can plug in a toaster, you can setup the Enclave CineHome HD. 

My wife Megan, who has never set up a home theater system because, thanks to living with me, she “doesn’t have to”, obliged me by giving the setup a shot with the Enclave. In just a touch over 30 minutes, she had gone from opening the box to listening to music and watching movies. Each speaker and power supply was clearly labeled, an HDMI cable was included, and from the first press of the power button, everything just worked. 

Once powered up, the center channel connects via the WiSA standard in high definition (24 bit/96khz) to each of the left, right, and surround speakers, as well as up to two subwoofers for maximum bass output (one is shipped with the system, the second is optional). Each of the speakers has its own Class D amplifier built in and powered by a standard wall outlet. There were no wireless sync errors and no complicated menus. As long as you have power outlets for each of the speakers, you’re all set. Battery packs for truly wireless rear speakers just appeared on the Enclave website with availability listed as later in 2016. 

Now, if that’s too easy for you, you can dive into the menu for advanced setup features like individual speaker level, rear channel balance and delay, and two-channel processing mode. Some of the settings, speaker level specifically, require a close reading of the instruction manual. However, I found the initial settings to be an excellent starting point, and many people will be wholly satisfied with out-of-the-box performance.

Enclave CineHome HD Sound Quality Tests

The main source of 5.1 content is movies, so my wife and I started the listening there via a 2nd gen Chromecast running Plex. She likes upgraded audio because it allows her to better understand dialog, and I don’t think anyone writes more dialog than Quentin Tarantino, so we started with one of our favorite movies, Pulp Fiction. We found the Enclave CineHome HD especially tuned for the forward presentation that really puts spoken words front and center. In the opening diner scene, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny can clearly be heard above the clang of dishes and passing cars. 

At the same time, all that background noise demonstrated the ability of the 5.1 Enclave to create the type of enveloping environment that just isn’t possible with a soundbar. I’ve tested some very pricey soundbars, the kind with fancy processing and multiple sound-bouncing drivers. No matter how impressive it is to hear that type of pseudo-surround from a single speaker enclosure, the Enclave’s true home theater setup wipes the floor with expensive soundbars. Thanks to front speakers that can be spread out as wide as you want, the front soundstage filled the width of the room, creating a sense of realism in the cars passing just outside the diner window. The rear speakers replicated the ambiance of being in the diner as the story unfolded with silverware clatter around us. The Enclave’s true 5.1 sound reproduction transported us into the scene in a way that no soundbar can. 

 Pulp Fiction Trailer

Of course, everyone wants a little boom with their sizzle, so we popped in SPECTRE next to test out the dynamic range and low-end reproduction of the Enclave. The opening scene winds through a crowd that is another great test for reproducing ambience, but the culminating bullets, explosions, and assorted chaos are what we really came for. When a building explodes and subsequently collapses, the subwoofer kicked in with plenty of oomph, even if didn’t dig deep enough to really move furniture. For folks looking for more output and better seat-to-seat response, the Enclave will connect with a 2nd subwoofer that can be purchased separately. Audioholics always like dual subs, but the single included sub was certainly enough to bring the movie experience home. 

 SPECTRE Trailer

For music, we pulled up FLAC files via Plex over both the HDMI Chromecast and Bluetooth from an Android phone. Megan’s a child of the 90s, and went with the familiar in Veruca Salt’s Eight Arms to Hold You. The same tonal character of the Enclave that brought dialog to the forefront in movies was a touch more than what was needed for the aggressively distorted guitars on “Volcano Girls,” but certainly with more balance than what is common in most soundbars and home theaters in a box (besides, true rockers would never complain about an in-your-face sonic signature.) 

 Veruca Salt - Volcano Girls

I switched to something a bit more punchy and poppy with Tegan and Sara’s latest Love You to Death. Strong bass synths and thumping drums were plenty satisfying from the Enclave’s sub, and subtle reverberations and doubled vocals came through loud and clear on tracks like “100x.” It was more than enough to show that the Enclave can also replace a stand alone bluetooth speaker.

 Tegan and Sara - 100x

Enclave CineHome HD Conclusion

There are a lot of folks who are going to be very interested in the Enclave CineHome HD, especially those looking for a surround home theater experience that soundbars, even costly ones with high-tech sound processing, can’t provide. Nothing beats true surround, and thanks to the dead simple setup and operation of the Enclave, as well as the lowest price of any wireless WiSA 5.1 system on the market, anyone can bring that theater experience into their home. If you have the ability to bring a traditional wired 5.1 system into your home, do it. But, if you’re worried about complexity, or can’t run a lot of wires around your room, the Enclave CineHome HD will provide a better home theater surround experience than any soundbar we’ve heard.

 Enclave Audio CineHome HD Wireless 5.1 Surround Review

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value