Sunfire Theater Grand II Processor. (Equipment).

Manufacturer: Sunfire Corporation, P.O. Box 1589, Snohomish, WA98290; 425/335-4748; www.sunfire.com Price: $3,495 Source: Manufacturer loan

I started writing this review some six months ago. I can't remember whether my keyboard shorted out from my tears or whether sending the Sunfire Theater Grand II back was so painful that I put the review aside until I felt more objective and in control of my conflicting emotions. I know I saved my initial impressions, but shortly afterwards, my computer's motherboard and hard drive failed totally. Out of sight was not out of mind but life has a way of glossing over that which we put off until we are confronted by it.

I didn't forget the Theater Grand Processor II, but I didn't have my notes and had mislaid the User's Manual. As the holiday season approached, I could not forget the joy that I felt exploring the power and impact that the Theater Grand II had on my home theater experience and the void it left behind.

In my memory, this unit took on monumental proportions and weighed slightly less than my youngest child. Every aspect of this unit seemed larger than life, not excluding the price. Having found the User's Manual, I realize that the unit is listed at slightly less than $3,500. To some of us, that price seems closer to $350,000. Since the Grand includes a high quality signal processor, an FM/AM tuner with 40 station presets, Holographic imaging and automatic 5.1 DSP mode selection offering no less than nine system configurations, I think it can be reasonably argued that really great quality makes a substantial price far more reasonable.

I was able to unbox the unit that weighed 25 pounds and being reminded of the dimensions, 19" wide x 6.5" high x 15.5" deep, suggested that I had to scale back my memories. Besides, there is no reason to exaggerate the Grand's quality and operational simplicity. I counted a total of 70-some inputs and outputs on the back of the box and wished that Sunfire had included an electrical engineer to help me install it and make the necessary connections. Yet, I remember that I had it up and running in less than half a day.

Mind you, it took longer to sort out the complexities of the unit and more especially to master the remote control. I suspect that my fingers caused me to have problems as they tend to be cool and I didn't always give them time to trigger the device. If I took timer to warm my hands and pay attention to what I wanted to do, the remote control worked just fine.

I coupled the Grand to a Carver six-channel THX amplifier and found that the dogs took weeks to adjust to the sonic recreation in our living space. I didn't see the cats for almost two weeks. Tweaking the Grand was a real pleasure and there were many revelations as I listened to all manner of sound processors and sources. The Carver amplifier had numbered outputs that required a certain amount of connecting and disconnecting until I got the sound all coming from the right locations, and when testing I could hear the sound sweeping around the room.