LATEST ADDITIONS

Best Picture, Sound, and Extras on DVD

1. The Searchers (Ultimate Collector's Edition; Warner, 2 discs). The John Ford/John Wayne classic never looked better, in crisp Technicolor and Ford's preferred VistaVision aspect ratio. With tons of interviews and other extras, including the 1956 comic book! - Mel Neuhaus

Billy Altman's Top 10 of 2006 Best Sound on CD

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium (Warner Bros.). Producer Rick Rubin's frenetic, skittering sound helps these four eternally Lost Boy punk/funkers stay hungry - and relevant.

In a world of earbuds, plastic pods, and itty-bitty phones, there's something reassuring about an A/V receiver. In appearance, at least, receivers are throwbacks to the olden days of stout components and heavy lifting. But receivers are dinosaurs in weight only. Case in point: The new Onkyo TX-SR804 A/V receiver, which, looks aside, is thoroughly modern.

NAD has long been a leading player in the audio, and now audio-video, electronics business. Although NAD once took a leap and marketed speakers in some parts of the planet, it's made its name by offering amps, preamps, receivers, CD and DVD players, and surround processors that delivered more performance than the prices and often-plain cosmetics might suggest. Unlike most of its peers, NAD has avoided the temptation to move sharply up market and produce products that only the well healed can afford.