Audio Video News

Atlanta-based <A HREF="http://www.cox.com">Cox Communications, Inc</A>. is expanding its nationwide rollout of its new high definition television service with HDTV for the Las Vegas market, according to a July 22 announcement. Viewers in Cox's market of more than 600,000 homes in the desert city will be able to avail themselves of new set-top boxes using what the company describes as "completely integrated technology."

In his review of the <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/showarchives.cgi?23">Wharfedale Pacific Surround Speaker System</A>, John J. Gannon writes that, although Wharfedale is not a well-known company in the US, "By introducing cutting-edge designs at affordable prices, they're now obviously aiming to change that." Gannon listens carefully to determine how well they've succeeded.

If you're among the handful of home theater fans who have purchased JVC&rsquo;s D-Theater videocassette machine, rejoice. On July 25, DreamWorks, Fox Home Entertainment, and Universal Studios announced the impending release of several new titles in the copy-protected ultra-high-resolution D-VHS format.

<I>Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic, Georges Siatidis, Simon Callow, Katrin Cartlidge. Directed by Danis Tanovic. Aspect ratios: 2.35:1 (anamorphic) and 1.33:1. Dolby Digital 5.1 (Bosnian, Serbo-Croatian, French, English). 127 minutes. 2001. United Artists 1003329. R. $26.98.</I>

Fred Manteghian journeys to the BAT cave for his review of the <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/showarchives.cgi?21">Balanced Audio Technology VK-6200 multichannel power amplifier</A>. Manteghian notes that "this museum-quality piece of modern art was forced to sit on the floor during its stay here&mdash;but if you end up buying one, it deserves a seat of honor somewhere in your room."

Caving to competition from direct broadcast satellite operators, Time Warner Cable plans to offer its customers a digital set-top box (STB) that will let them record, pause, and play back live television programs, much like the devices made by TiVo, Inc. and SonicBlue's ReplayTV division.