john,

Don't be so quick to discredit the Wow Thing. I admit it is a hideous name, but I'm familiar with the technology that Wow Thing uses. It uses an analog DSP chip and HRTF technology. (Head related transfer functions). SRS Labs is well known for their sound-shaping technologies and a lot of reputed companies incorporate their chips such as Apple, Sony, Hitachi, and others. I've even seen CDs out on the market that uses their enhancements at the studio level so that the sound is enhanced before it is mastered! You'll see these under the brand name Circle Surround.

Let me just state the negatives / drawbacks of SRS Labs' technology.

1) Because they're using an analog chip, the signal to noise ratio is degraded very very significantly. The noise floor is elevated to an audible level even at low volumes.

2) The Wow Thing is optimized for small desktop computers speakers and headphones.

On the plus side, they have a chip called "Focus" that uses similar technologies but is optimized for car interiors. SRS Labs is incredibly good at shaping sound, to the extent that you can fool the brain into believing sound is coming from a different point than the speakers (!). They have an input level that alters how much the sound is diffused and focused, and a positional control that alters where the brain believes the sound comes from. The fascinating thing about the Focus technology is that it alters the vertical psychological location of the speakers. So if you have speakers in the car that are closer to the floor, the Focus chip reorganizes the sound to make it sound like it's coming from a more ideal position. (it sounds like it's coming from a band around your head!).

http://www.srslabs.com

By the way, I think the technology kicks ass, and if empeg can obtain the algorithms, go for it. However, remember that it does introduce a great deal of noise into the signal, which is unfortunate!

Calvin