LATEST ADDITIONS

Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 17, 2011
The 3D TV landscape got a whole lot more complicated at this year's CES—and it was already plenty complicated before the show! In addition to displays that use active-shutter glasses, we now have some that use passive-polarized glasses and a few flat panels that use no glasses at all. In particular, I've been seeing quite a few blogs about glasses-free 3D, such as this one by Grant Clauser for CEPro and this one by Stewart Wolpin for TWICE. Both commentators reject the current viability of glasses-free 3D, which is more formally known as auto-stereoscopic, and with good reason—it looks lousy, and it confuses the 3D market considerably.
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 17, 2011
Price: $2,500 At A Glance: Deep, powerful bass • Sweet, extended treble and uncolored midrange • Can be unforgiving at high levels

H-PAS the Bass

For the past two years, Atlantic Technology has been working on a new speaker designed around what the company claims is a revolutionary bass-loading technique. Invented by Philip Clements of Solus/Clements Loudspeakers, H-PAS (for Hybrid Pressure Acceleration System) has intrigued trade-show goers since Atlantic started sneak-peeking it in late 2009. The speaker, the Atlantic Technology AT-1, is now in full production.

For a company known for its dedication to producing outstanding home theater speaker systems (its 8200e system won a 2008 Home Theater Award), launching what is, at present, essentially a standalone two-channel model might seem a bit odd. But Atlantic is so pumped about the potential of this design approach that the effort to get the AT-1 to market has been highly focused.

Mike Mettler  |  Feb 17, 2011

Some things you know right away in your rock & roll bones. When I first met Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins in 1991, we bonded over the contents of a suitcase he carried with him wherever he went: an ever-growing mountain of live Jimi Hendrix cassettes (some authorized, some not). As the Pumpkins’ trippily punishing debut album, Gish, had just begun melting the ears of the alt-rock cognoscenti, Corgan was already cocksure of where he was going in the world.

Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 17, 2011
Another packaged media store is heading for bankruptcy court and it's a big one. Borders Group is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Last month Borders got a $550 million line of credit from GE Capital, noting at the time "the possibility of an in-court restructuring." Now that the deal is done, the initial effect will be closure of 30 percent of the chain's 650 stores. Borders will also delay payments to vendors, landlords, and other creditors.

Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 16, 2011
Note: This is NOT an UltimateAVmag.com contest; the name of the company profiled here is Win Analog.

One of the coolest-looking single-ended triode (SET) monoblock power amps I've seen in a long time comes from California-based Win Analog. Two versions are available—the S and V Series.

Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 16, 2011

If you're a Comcast subscriber and an iPad user, make sure you download the XFINITY TV app. While not the streaming app widely hoped for, it's at least partially there. The killer feature is that it lets Comcast subscribers stream TV to their iPad from anywhere there's a WiFi signal. No 3G streaming yet. Before you get too excited, there's some limitations.

Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 16, 2011
How do I watch content on my DVR when I'm away from home? How often should I clean my projector's air filter? Why are optical-cable prices so wide ranging?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 16, 2011
Crestron's Fred Bargetzi, VP of Technology (pictured), and Josh Stene, Director of Product Management, discuss the early days of analog audio and video distribution throughout a home, the complexities and advantages of digital A/V distribution, shielded vs. unshielded twisted-pair cabling, fiber-optic cabling, the problems with wireless distribution, bandwidth requirements, HDMI issues, user interfaces, mesh networks, high-end and entry-level Crestron products, and answers to chat-room questions.

Run Time: 51:57

Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 16, 2011
Component audio is coming on strong, says the Consumer Electronics Association. The trade group's 2010 figures show component audio contributing to a 6.2 percent increase in overall home audio sales. A further 11.9 percent increase is forecast for 2011.

While CEA's definition of home audio includes components, compact systems, HTiBs, multiroom, MP3 speakers, and radios, only component audio and MP3 player related speakers showed increases, buoying the entire audio category.

Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 15, 2011
Theta Digital is one of the most venerable companies in high-end audio, offering many well-regarded products over 25 years. Even more impressive, many of those products are still available after years of upgrades and refinements. Take, for example, the Casablanca preamp/processor, which was first introduced 15 years ago. Its latest incarnation, the Casablanca III HD, adds HDMI 1.4 I/O and the ability to decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

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