Las Vegas— Surround speakers? We don't need no stinkin' surround speakers.

Philips is launching its first home theater in a box (HTiB) system with two-speaker surround sound, and Sharp is unveiling a system that packs all speakers but the subwoofer into one set-top chassis.

They'll follow a handful of other two-speaker systems from Bose, Denon, JVC and Sherwood. They use a variety of technologies to deliver a virtual surround field.

Denon, Sherwood and Sharp are using Dolby Virtual Speaker; Bose and JVC use their own proprietary technologies; and Philips is putting in its two speakers with a technology called SonoWave. It uses a combination of DSP and independent drivers aimed at precise angles in each enclosure.

Find out more about the trends in home theater speakers at http://www.twice.com/article/CA6302914.html.