LATEST ADDITIONS

Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Speakers AlFresco
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 17, 2012
Audio is not supposed to be fun. That’s why outdoor speakers are a terrible idea. Music is meant to be enjoyed in an acoustically perfect room by a single person sitting in the sweet spot. While you listen, it might be permissible to reverently handle a gatefold album jacket or dutifully edit metadata to make it absolutely perfect. But it is not permissible to swim, soak up the sun, watch the kids play with the dog, pour daiquiris from a pitcher, or hobnob with neighbors. Above all, it is never socially acceptable to barbecue while listening to music. If you are a morally upright audiophile, you may safely assume the rest of this story will be in the same vein. Go now. Retreat to your music library while I discipline the riffraff.
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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Jul 17, 2012
ACCELL ULTRAAV 5x1 HDMI SWITCH

Got four or five HDMI components but only a couple of HDMI inputs on your TV or projector? No problem. Accell’s UltraAV lets you manually switch between up to five HDMI sources using buttons on its front panel or the supplied remote control. If you prefer autopilot, the switcher will detect the active input and switch to it automatically. Resolutions up to 1080p are supported, and maximum throughput is 6.75 Gbps.

Bonus Booster: A built-in signal repeater regenerates the audio/video signal, allowing it to be shuttled over a cable up to 49 feet long—perfect for when your component stack is on the other side of a huge room or tucked away in a basement closet. Price: $90

Accell • (877) 353-0772 • accellcables.com

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Signals
Bye Bye, Best Buy?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jul 17, 2012

Gee, who could have predicted this? The Internet is creating entirely new industries, and decimating others. Big-box electronics retailer Best Buy is among the latest bricks and mortar companies to be decimated by the web.

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Other TechSmartStream
How Much Bandwidth Do You Need for Streaming Video?
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jul 16, 2012
For those who stream video from online sources, the speed at which data can be sent into their home is critical. If your connection isn't fast enough, streaming video can sometimes stall as it fills the buffer in the receiving device, or the content provider might send a lower-quality stream because it senses that your available speed can't handle anything more. So how much speed do you need?
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New Products
New Gear: The Ultimate Insider's Guide to High Performance Home Theater
Michael Berk  |  Jul 16, 2012

Home theater equipment choice and setup. It's confusing, we know (and we do our best to help). But sometimes it's helpful to have a field guide at your fingertips, and luckily for all of us Rotel's just brought out the third edition of its Ultimate Insider's Guide to High Performance Home Theater, available directly from the company as a downloadable PDF for $19.95.

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Tech2
Go Further with Ford
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jul 16, 2012

Ford hosted a bunch of non-car journalist and blogger types in Dearborn for a conference where the talk was about pretty much everything but the cars themselves.

Instead, the focus was on technology. It was a pretty cool event, the most fascinating part for us Sound+Vision folks being the push for more user-friendly in-car communications and entertainment.

Talk to your car, and have it talk back, after the jump.

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Vote
Do You Prefer Subscription or Pay-As-You-Go Streaming?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 13, 2012
Based on previous poll questions, I know that most readers of HomeTheater.com strongly prefer the quality of Blu-ray over the convenience of online streaming. I share this preference, but I still find streaming to be useful for non-critical watching or things that aren't available on disc.

Streaming services provide content using one of two business models—a flat subscription fee for unlimited access to their entire library (e.g., Netflix and Hulu Plus) or paying for each title you watch (e.g., Vudu and iTunes). Which approach do you prefer, and why?

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

Do You Prefer Subscription or Pay-As-You-Go Streaming?
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Out Of The Blu
Being Flynn, Down By Law, Metropolitan
Chris Chiarella  |  Jul 13, 2012
Robert De Niro returns in of his more serious dramatic leads in years, while two new Criterion Blu-rays serve up a pair of late-'80s independent gems.
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Tech2
Comic-Con 2012: A Blending of Worlds
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jul 13, 2012

Never in the history of humankind has there been such a gathering of nerds, dweebs, freaks, geeks, dinks, dorks, techies, trekkies, wookiees, weirdos, waldos, and wonks like the event that is Comic-Con.

Clearly, these were my people.

Shockingly, this was my first time attending. Shockinglier, it will be my last.

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Surround Sound System ReviewsBookshelf Speaker Reviews
Orb Audio People’s Choice Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 12, 2012

Performance
Build Quality
Value
Price: $1,297 (with updated X Series models)
At A Glance: Dual orbs in front, single orbs behind • Full-range drivers in steel enclosures • Rod or pedestal stand

Spherical loudspeakers are perhaps too easily dismissed: “Oh look, it’s round. Cute gimmick. Next…” That box speakers are easy to build certainly doesn’t guarantee sound quality. In fact, designers of quality speakers are constantly rebelling against the limitations of rectangular enclosures. To curb cabinet resonance, designers build bracing into the box and stuff the interior with damping material. They curve the sides to stop standing waves from developing between parallel walls. But rather than tweak boxes, some do away with them altogether. So if you think the spherical steel shells of Orb Audio’s People’s Choice satellite speakers are mere gimmicks, think again.

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