New Products—May 2004 Page 3

Winegard winegard - new products - 0504Designed to pick up digital TV (DTV) broadcasts in urban locales, Winegard's SquareShooter SS-1000 antenna can be mounted inside or outside your home. The 15-inch-square surface is both weather-resistant and paintable, and the antenna is just 4 inches thick. The design's high front-to-back ratio (20:1) allows it to capture reflected DTV signals but still reject multipath interference - handy if you don't have a line of sight to the transmission tower. A standard mount is supplied, and you can co-mount the SquareShooter to a satellite dish with the optional DS-1000 pole mount ($40). Price: $180. www.winegard.com, 800-288-8094

McIntosh mcintosh - new products - 0504With most of the electronics world gone digital, McIntosh's MA2275 integrated amplifier stands apart by relying on the venerable analog technology of the vacuum tube. Rated to deliver 75 watts to each channel in a stereo pair, the amp has output circuitry that adapts to the load, letting you hook up 2-, 4-, or 8-ohm speakers. There's one set of balanced XLR inputs and six unbalanced RCA pairs, including a tape-recorder loop as well as a phono input. The amp's retro feel is enhanced with control knobs and illuminated wattmeters for both channels. (When was the last time you saw any kind of meter on a solid-state power amp?) Maximum total harmonic distortion is rated as 0.08% for the preamp section and 0.5% for the power-amp section. Price: $6,100. www.mcintoshlabs.com, 607-723-3512

Lafayette Convergence central: Lafayette's MediaReady 4000 is a DVD player and PC rolled into one. You can store media on its 40-gigabyte internal hard drive, and the built-in software will synchronize with any external hard drives or PCs you connect to the four USB ports (two in front, two in back). The front panel even has SmartMedia and PC Card slots, a FireWire port, and a pair of microphone inputs. The player reads files in MPEG-1, -2, and -4 formats as well as MP3s and JPEGs. Ripping CDs to MP3 is easy, and a remote control and wireless keyboard are included to help manage all your content. The back panel includes FireWire, VGA, and 5.1-channel analog audio outputs, plus Ethernet and RS-232 ports. Future upgrades promise to add satellite-radio reception and TV time-shifting capabilities. Price: $399. www.lafayetteelectronics.com, 561-995-5996 lafayette - new products - 0504

Belkin belkin - new products - 0504They're not just for PCs anymore - wireless connections come in handy when you want to network some home theater gear, too. Your Ethernet-compatible equipment will take to the airwaves once you jack it into Belkin's Wi-Fi Bridge. Operating on the IEEE 802.11g standard, the Bridge (Model F5D7330) can transmit data at up to 54 megabits per second (Mbps), which is enough for multiple video streams. It's backward-compatible with 802.11b gear and is completely plug-and-play. Just plug it into your component, and it'll be "on air" without your having to install software - convenient for when you need to get your game console online right now. Price: $130. www.belkin.com, 310-898-110

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