Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews

GefenTV Wireless for HDMI 60 GHz ($999, gefen.com)

GefenTV’s design includes only a single HDMI input to the sender, so using it to link a full system would require connection to an AV receiver, processor, or other HDMI-switching component. With the sender and receiver in the same room, 20 feet distant, video via the GefenTV was perfect: clean, sharp, and untroubled by glitching, blocking, or any other discernible artifacts, even when I stood directly in front of the receiver. Moving the source player/sender cart up to about 30 feet further down the hall — but still in line-of-sight — did not affect picture or sound, and I could still move around freely in the room as long as I did not come to rest directly in the signal-path.

However, with the sender placed at a longer distance from the receiver, standing directly in the line-of-sight path would occasionally cause the signal to glitch or drop, and shutting the studio door interrupted it altogether, as is consistent with the GefenTV’s intended use as an in-room wireless link. What’s not is the high-pitch fan whine and audible power-supply buzz (I think — buzz, in any case) emitted from both units. This was loud enough to be annoying over silent scenes, and even during very-low-volume viewing, but I would expect it to be utterly masked by even the quietest projector fan.

GefenTV’s remote is a silver, card-type unit with only two buttons. One, “Sleep,” sends the system to, uh, sleep — a power-saving (and quiet) mode. The second remote key is marked “Source,” and does nothing (the sender has only the one input); I presume the remote is borrowed from another product or model, probably a switcher.)