LATEST ADDITIONS

Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 41: Theo Kalomirakis
Scott Wilkinson  |  Nov 10, 2010
World-renowned home-theater designer Theo Kalomirakis talks about how he got into the business, the allure of grand movie palaces, the details of some of his spectacular theaters, balancing design and performance, working with interior designers and architects, the importance of lighting in a home theater, perforated vs. non-perforated screens, and answers to chat-room questions.

Run Time: 1:02:04

Click below to see some photos of Kalomirakis-designed theaters.

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Other Tech
DISH Network's Google TV Solution Now Officially Available
 |  Nov 10, 2010

By now, you've certainly checked out our Sony Google TV and Logitech Revue reviews, but today is the first day DISH subscribers will be able to get their eyeballs on the full google TV experience.

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Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 Is a $1000 iPod Dock
 |  Nov 10, 2010

It was just yesterday that we were welcoming in the season for companies to start pushing the proverbial crap out of iPod docks and today we have been introduced to a doozie. For $999, the BeoSound 8 will take music from your iPad/iPod/iPhone or anything else with a headphone jack and project it into your room using a pair of connected speakers.

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AV Receiver Reviews
Test Report: Sony STR-DA4600ES A/V Receiver
Daniel Kumin  |  Nov 10, 2010

A generation ago, Sony ruled the consumer electronics world, establishing new market segments with every innovation and instantly owning whatever existing ones it chose to enter. Today, although it’s still a consumer electronics force to be reckoned with, Sony has to step into the cage and compete like everybody else.

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Ask S&V
Calibration, Sub Crossover, Separates vs. AVRs
Scott Wilkinson  |  Nov 10, 2010
Calibration Challenge
I've been listening to you on Leo Laporte's radio show for years. One of your pet subjects is the correct calibration of HDTVs. I would like to challenge you on this. I have previously accepted your advice, but now with multiple media sources running into my TV, I find that one setting doesn't suit all of them. I'm sure that accurate calibration is fine in a perfect world, but because media quality often changes, I have to change the picture settings to suit the media in order to fully appreciate the viewing experience.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
V: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Nov 10, 2010
Massive mother ships arrive over 29 major cities throughout the world carrying the Visitors, human-like beings who know our languages and promise to provide gifts of technology and healing. Some consider them saviors but others aren't so trusting and form a resistance movement determined to find the true meaning of their appearance.

I was a fan of the 1980s miniseries and eagerly anticipated the release of this show on Blu-ray. The first four episodes are quite intriguing introducing the various characters although the show loses steam over the last eight as the narrative becomes rushed to get to the full-scale invasion that's on the horizon. The second season has been picked up by ABC due to good ratings among Adults 18-49, but if the writers don't get their act together I can see a Heroes-like loss of its audience.

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Review: LG 47LE8500 LCD HDTV
Rob Sabin  |  Nov 09, 2010
Key Features
$1,850 ($2,700 list) Sonystyle.com
• Full-array LED backlight with local dimming
• TruMotion 240-Hz processing
• NetCast Entertainment Network access, including Netflix, Vudu, Picasa, YouTube, and Yahoo! Widgets
• Backlit remote
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Premiere Design
Antelope Zodiac Gold 24/384 DAC
Scott Wilkinson  |  Nov 09, 2010
Another interesting professional/consumer crossover product introduced at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention last week was a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) from Antelope Audio. The Zodiac Gold can handle digital audio at resolutions up to 24 bits and sample rates up to 384kHz, a far higher rate than any commercially available content currently uses.
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A/V Veteran
3D Fits and Starts
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 09, 2010
3D at home can be fun, but in my reviews of 3D displays from most major manufacturers (Sony, Samsung, LG, Toshiba, and Panasonic), I've come across a problem that has been little noted. This problem is not with the displays themselves, all of which do a good job with the 3D effect, apart from occasional ghosting or crosstalk (double images when one eye sees the image meant for the other eye).
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Review: Sony XBR-52LX900 3D LCD HDTV
Al Griffin  |  Nov 08, 2010
Key Features
$3,600 Sonystyle.com
• Edge-lit LED backlight
• 3D-capable (comes with two sets of active-shutter eyewear)t
• 3D conversion of 2D content
• Motionflow Pro 240 Hz display modes
• Streaming options include Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Pandora, Slacker, and Picasa
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