Mark Henninger

One of the best demos I heard at CES 2023 was Dirac Live demonstrating its Active Room Treatment (ART) technology. Now, StormAudio has flipped the switch and activated the feature in its ISP platform, meaning it works with all StormAudio processors and AVRs with firmware 4.5 on up and is included at no additional fee on any products purchased January 1 2023 onward.

Rob Hahn is an American film director of photography and a name you should be familiar with if you love movies. He worked as cinematographer for acclaimed director Frank Oz on The Stepford Wives, The Score, and In & Out.

Working as a camera operator for Academy Award-winning cinematographers Conrad Hall (American Beauty) and Owen Roizman (The Exorcist) influenced Rob's style. With a keen eye and love for exceptional sound and projection—and with help from Keith Yates Design—he built The Hahn Theater which I named Home Theater of the Decade back in 2019.

PRICE $850

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Inexpensive
Fanless
RCA and balanced XLR inputs
Auto standby
12 volt and Signal power trigger
Minus
Needs six-inch clearance when rack mounted

THE VERDICT

A rock-solid, affordable and attractive amp for powering seven channels in a surround-sound AV or home theater system. It delivers audiophile-quality sound for about a buck a watt.

Audio amplifiers have but one task: take an electrical signal and make it more powerful without changing its character. A good amplifier is as transparent as possible, neither adding nor subtracting anything from what you hear. The OSD Nero XA7180 promises all that plus high efficiency at a very attractive price.

Bluesound, a leading name in hi-res multiroom streaming, today introduced the NODE X streamer, a limited Anniversary Edition product marking the company's 10-year milestone.