Al Griffin

I own a vintage 1974 Fisher solid-state stereo receiver. The left channel is fading in-and-out—at first weak, now almost totally dead.  Do you think the receiver is worth fixing, or should I just replace it? —Michael McCully

Q I am considering replacing an old, dumb 42-inch LCD TV located in a small room. The screen size will be limited to 50 inches and viewing distance will be around 8 feet. Will I see any benefit from the higher resolution given the screen size limitation? —Alan Washington, via email

Q I recently purchased a 5.1 Klipsch Reference Premiere speaker system and a Pioneer Elite VSX-90 receiver. The Klipsch front towers are capable of being bi-amped, and the Pioneer receiver has a bi-amp output setting. Is there a sonic benefit to bi-amping speakers? —Michael Holly

If forced to list common traits of the many new flat TV-friendly speaker systems that have crossed my path of late, I'd document them as follows: slim form factor, two-grand price point (approximately), generous application of shiny metallic and gloss-black surfaces in the cabinet design. The components of the new JBL Cinema Sound speaker system fit into that mold perfectly.