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Audio Video News
Onkyo announces new high-end A/V components
SV Staff  |  Aug 31, 2010
Onkyo has unveiled a trio of home theater components ready to take their places at the top of Onkyo's product line-up. The company describes the PR-SC5508, PA-MC5500, and BD-SP808 as its new "flagship" A/V component separates. The PR-SC5508 is...
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Premiere Design
Emillé Rapture Monoblock Amplifier
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 31, 2010
In 771 C.E., a huge bronze bell was cast by King Hyegong of the Silla Empire in what is now South Korea to honor his grandfather, King Seongdeok. Called the Emillé Bell, its remarkable sound can be heard evenly in all directions, and its reverberations last for three minutes, longer than any other bell in the world. Some 1220 years later, Korean high-end audio maker Emillé Labs took its name and inspiration from the famous bell, handcrafting all of its tube-based electronics, including the new Rapture monoblock power amp featured here, to sound as incredible as the company's namesake.
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Test Report: Definitive Technology Mythos XTR-50 Speakers
Brent Butterworth  |  Aug 31, 2010

I don't know who said, "You can never be too rich or too thin," but it wasn't a speaker engineer. Thinness is the enemy of good sound because in order to produce sound, a diaphragm of some sort has to move back and forth. The lower the frequency of sound, the farther back and forth that diaphragm has to move.

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Audio Video News
Dish Content Goes Online
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 31, 2010
The Dish Network is joining other video providers in offering its content online to paying subscribers.
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Audio Video News
LG unveiling new high-tech HDTVs at IFA
SV Staff  |  Aug 30, 2010
The IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin is giving electronics companies ample opportunity to show off their newest toys, and LG is taking that opportunity and run with it. The company will show off a slew of new displays, chock-full of...
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Premiere Design
JBL Synthesis Project Array Speaker System
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 30, 2010
In the pro-audio world—especially live performance and commercial cinema—no speaker company is better known than JBL. So it makes perfect sense that the California-based company would apply its considerable expertise to high-end consumer speakers, as it has in the JBL Synthesis line, which includes several models designated Project Array that seem ideally suited for upscale home theaters.
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Audio Video News
Blockbuster preparing for September bankruptcy
SV Staff  |  Aug 30, 2010
The next few months might prove to be the swansong of Blockbuster Video. According to the Los Angeles Times, the company has been discussing with movie studios its intentions to file for bankruptcy in September. Over the last week, Blockbuster...
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Bookshelf Speaker ReviewsSoundbar Reviews
ZVOX Z-Base 575 Speaker System
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 30, 2010
toppick.jpgPrice: $600 At A Glance: Dual powered subs go low • Single-box analog domain “virtual surround” • Ultra-clear vocal presentation

A Base With Good Bass

Despite the predictable claims that manufacturers make—and the breathless, indefensible hyperbolic shrieks made by computer geeks posing as audio reviewers—no one-box-solution soundbar can really replace a discrete 5.1-channel surround sound system. ZVOX founder and former Cambridge SoundWorks marketing executive Tom Hannaher knows that, and the ZVOX Website says it. Bravo.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Aug 30, 2010
Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is San Diego's top-rated news anchorman and isn't the biggest fan of a diversified workplace. When Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) arrives on the scene, Ron feels the heat after the hot young reporter aims for his prestigious job and a battle of the sexes ensues.

In many ways the production feels like an overly long skit on Saturday Night Live, which isn't surprising given director Adam McKay's pedigree. Ferrell's portrayal is mostly over the top but there are plenty of laughs to be had as long as you don't take things too seriously.

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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Polk RTi A1 Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 30, 2010
Price: $1,410 At A Glance: Middle of Polk’s three main speaker lines • Cherry or black veneers at modest price • Remote-controlled subwoofer

From Baltimore with Love

Did you know that Baltimore was the second U.S. city to achieve a population of more than 100,000, after New York? It has given us great Americans as diverse as Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court, and John Waters, who will probably never serve on the Supreme Court, although I’d love to see him try. Barry Levinson based four movies in Baltimore: Diner, Tin Men, Avalon, and Liberty Heights. Six Fortune 500 companies reside in greater Baltimore. The city’s best known university is Johns Hopkins, which educated Polk Audio’s three cofounders: Matthew Polk, Sandy Gross, and George Klopfer. All of them have since moved on, although Matthew Polk maintained an active design presence until recently. Polk Audio is currently owned by DEI Holdings, which also owns Definitive Technology and the Directed Electronics car technology empire. It remains a Baltimore stalwart as well as one of the few truly distinguished speaker brands available to megachain shoppers.

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