LATEST ADDITIONS

Premiere Design
Audeze LCD-2 Headphones
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 14, 2010
When Steve Guttenberg, occasional Stereophile contributor and author of the excellent Audiophiliac blog on cnet.com, told me about the LCD-2 headphones from Las Vegas-based Audeze, I was intrigued. Could these cans rival the incredible Stax SR-007 MKII I reviewed last August?
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Audio Video News
Digitally Stored Music Vanishes
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 14, 2010
The music industry is quietly grappling with a digital audio storage crisis that threatens to sweep away many of the musical achievements of the past few decades. The lack of usable masters or other elements is also throwing a spanner into the works of lucrative remasterings and reissues.
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Premiere Design
Kaleidescape Modular Disc Vault
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 13, 2010
Last May, I profiled the new M-Class Blu-ray movie server from Kaleidescape, which lets you rip Blu-rays to a server's hard disk and stream their high-def content to any M-Class player connected to your home's Ethernet network. There was only one problem—the physical disc had to be inserted in an M500 player in order to satisfy Blu-ray's copy-protection requirements, which defeats the purpose of a movie server. Today, the company announces a solution to that problem—the Modular Disc Vault.
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Home Theater Systems Reviews
Onkyo HT-S9300THX Integrated System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 13, 2010
Price: $1,099 At A Glance: World’s first 3D THX I/S Plus–certified integrated system • Audyssey 2EQ, Dynamic EQ, Dynamic Volume

Certified to the Max

Once a year, I pack several Gucci suitcases with cash and FedEx them to the folks who develop licensed technologies for surround systems. Without these fine people, products would be festooned with fewer logos, toy critics like myself would have less to write about, and that in turn would hasten my journey down the slippery slope toward obsolescence, incontinence, and death. Each new licensed technology is a further stay of execution. It is in this spirit, much like a dog whose owner has been out all day, that I greet the Onkyo HT-S9300THX compact home theater system with THX I/S Plus, as well as auto setup, room correction, and low-volume listening modes licensed from Audyssey. This isn’t the first THX I/S Plus system, but it is the first one to combine I/S Plus and 3D capability.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Rush Hour (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Dec 13, 2010
LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) likes to work alone and vows to never have a partner but he must join forces with Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) of the Hong Kong police department when the daughter of a visiting Hong Kong official is kidnapped in the United States.

Chan became a household name in America when this film debuted in 1998, although he was already a star in China. His amazing stunts wowed audiences and showed impressive comedic timing when paired with Tucker. The action-comedy spawned two additional sequels but this is the best of the three.

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Audio Video News
CEA Says Bring a Buddy
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 13, 2010
Were you thinking of joining the Consumer Electronics Association's Consumer Tech Enthusiast program? Act now, pay the $49 fee, bring a friend, and the friend gets in free.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Despicable Me (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Dec 12, 2010  |  First Published: Dec 13, 2010
Looking to gain the title of "World's Greatest Villain," Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) adopts three orphans in order to steal a shrinking machine from his nemesis, Vector (Jason Segel). What he didn't count on was the three girls changing his outlook on the world and he'll stop at nothing to protect them.

The marketing campaign for this film stunk and I had no desire to see it in the theaters (and neither did my kids) but was willing to give it a try on Blu-ray. Surprisingly there's a touching story behind the fantastic animation as the villain becomes the hero and discovers he does have a heart buried beneath his evil exterior.

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The Big Picture
Home Theater Geeks Among iTunes Best Podcasts of 2010
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 10, 2010
I'm pleased and proud to announce that Home Theater Geeks is among iTunes' "Best of 2010" podcasts. It shares this honor with 12 other shows produced by our friends at TWiT, which garnered more entries on the list than any other network—NPR has the next highest number with eight.

The TWiT podcasts in the list are:

Audio: Tech News Today, This Week in Computer Hardware, Home Theater Geeks, NSFW

Video: This Week in Tech, MacBreak Weekly, TWiT Live Specials, iPad Today, Tech News Today, The Tech Guy, This Week in Google, Windows Weekly

Classic Audio: This Week in Tech

Congratulations to all my TWiT cohorts!

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Vote
Do You Prefer Tube-Based or Solid-State Audio Gear?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 10, 2010

This debate has been raging since the invention of the transistor over 60 years ago. Tubes are big, hot, and delicate, while transistors and their solid-state progeny, integrated circuits, are small, relatively cool, and robust. Also, tubes are finicky, and they must be replaced periodically, which is becoming more difficult and expensive as the number of sources for these glass throwbacks continues to dwindle. Finally, tube-based power amps typically generate a fraction of the power offered by most solid-state amps, though this isn't really a problem with high-efficiency speakers.

Despite all their apparent drawbacks, tubes have retained a loyal following among audiophiles because of their characteristically warm sound. By contrast, solid-state audio gear is often described as sounding much more "analytical," which many consider to be a more accurate representation of the source content.

Which leads me to this week's question: Which do you prefer, the warmth of tubes or the accuracy of solid-state audio electronics? Keep in mind that I'm talking about analog electronics here—mainly preamps and power amps—not digital or class-D amps, which are a different story altogether.

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

Do You Prefer Tube-Based or Solid-State Audio Gear?
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Review: Panasonic SC-BT730 Blu-ray Home Theater System
Michael Trei  |  Dec 10, 2010
Ask any audiophile to recommend a decent home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB), and you'll probably get the same kind of vacant stare as from a wine snob who's been asked to name his favorite brand of boxed wine. Although a ready-to-roll system like Panasonic's SC-BT730 may not get an enthusiast's heart racing, it can be a great solution for an average person who wants good performance with a minimum of fuss. Simply add an HDTV to the mix and you'll be ready to go.

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