Summer is ending. School is starting. Transitioning into a new season is an outstanding opportunity to consider new gear like the equipment that follows. This crop includes a TV with bragging rights, a pair of stylish earbuds that the company terms in-ear computers, a THX-certified home theater in a box, noise-cancelling headphones that let in the outside—or not, and a cool turntable that plugs into the company’s speaker system or your own receiver.
One way to take your mind off the dog days of August is to browse through the latest set of new product offerings in audio and video. As you read up on these projectors, earbuds, speakers, record players, headphones, and outdoor screens, just drop a fistful of ice cubes into a tall beverage of your choice.
The results of the Value Electronics 18th Annual TV Shootout held in New York City over the weekend are in and it’s Sony and LG by a hair in the 4K and 8K test categories, respectively. For each brand, the win is a repeat performance of last year’s Shootout when Sony was crowned king of 4K TV and LG king of 8K TV.
The countdown to Audio Advice Live has begun. In just over three weeks, the 44-year-old specialty consumer electronics retailer Audio Advice is hosting a three-day high performance audio and home theater event in its hometown of Raleigh, NC to showcase the latest and greatest gear from more than 60 brands, including many marquee names in A/V.
With today’s introduction of its 2023 models, Vizio continues to push value and advanced TV technology at the same time. Among its new 4K smart TV offerings are its premium M-Series Quantum X (MQX) models in three screen sizes and its M-Series Quantum 6 (MQ6) in five sizes. Each series tops out with a 75-inch screen and starts shipping this month (July).
Summer is perfect for sitting back, relaxing and enjoying music and videos. There’s plenty of gear available to enhance the experience, including products that enable letting go on the go or while lounging on the beach or by a pool. Then, there are devices meant for inside use where you might be prone to switch on a fan or power up the AC. Just grab a cool beverage and pick your product!
Cables are the least sexy parts of a home entertainment system, but without them your components may as well be talking to themselves. Enter the new line of SoundPath Ultra HDMI Cables from speaker manufacturer SVS.
Bowers & Wilkins, the equivalent of audio royalty in England and around the world, staged a press event yesterday at Soho House in New York City’s trendy Meatpacking District to flex its muscle in headphones, a category the brand has been slowly expanding over the past decade or so.
DTS Play-Fi technology, known primarily for home-wide wireless multiroom-audio distribution, is getting a variety of upgrades that could make it a bigger player in wireless home theater.
Ready for a subwoofer that can play very low and very loud in very large spaces? Or how about a versatile set of headphones that put excellent noise cancellation and sound expanding spatial processing at your fingertips as you look ahead to that awesome summer vacation you just locked down? Both made our Top Picks list in May along with an affordable smart projector that will take movie time to the next level and a trio of high-end speakers from a brand you never heard of that will leave you speechless.
Denon and Marantz showcased new CD players at the High End Munich audio show that wrapped up yesterday, with Denon also previewing a pair of integrated amplifiers, one with built-in wireless streaming capability.
Two iconic names in British and American hi-fi are drawing on many decades of experience in home audio to advance the art and science of speaker design. KEF is celebrating 60 years with a sexy new wireless tower speaker, while the company founded by Paul W. Klipsch in 1946 works to refine its flagship Reference Premiere series and step-down Reference series yet again.
In the age of streaming where you can summon any song, band, or music genre in the snap of a finger, the lingering presence of vinyl records seems quaint — a fad embraced by hipsters, nostalgia seekers, and aging hippies. But the latest statistics from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) show that the rebirth of vinyl that began more than a decade ago has real staying power.
Bluesound, the sister company of Canada’s NAD and PSB specializing in wireless streaming gear, has announced an accessory hub that turns any wired analog or digital audio source into an app-controllable multiroom streaming player.