LATEST ADDITIONS

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Q I recently built a pool house next to my backyard pool.  I used to listen to music poolside by spooling Ethernet cable to a wireless access point located in the bushes outside, streaming tracks from my iPad to a portable Bluetooth speaker. With the new construction, however, I plan to connect outdoor speakers to an AV receiver located inside the pool house. For the receiver, I’m looking at Onkyo’s TX-NR545, which has built-in Airplay and Wi-Fi along with Bluetooth. Here’s my problem: I don’t think the Bluetooth range from my iPad will be sufficient to reach the AV receiver inside the pool house. Can I tap the Onkyo AVR’s other wireless capabilities to stream music using the iPad? —John Reebel

As we get ready to usher in April, it’s fun and informative to look back at our Top Pick posts in March, which as it turns out was a very good month for great gear. Over the past five weeks we’ve had the pleasure of recommending three video projectors, an outstanding projection screen, a high-value AV receiver, a collapsible on-ear headphone, a suite of compact home theater speakers that can be had for $1,500, one of the sexiest self-contained wireless speakers on the planet, and a true 21st Century turntable.

Depending on how long you keep your cars, it's entirely possible that your next car will drive itself. Even if you're two years into a three-year lease, given the furious development of autonomous technology, self-driving cars are a fait accompli. But more to the point, given the interests of this site's readers, self-driving cars open the door to entirely new kinds of vehicle entertainment systems. Case in point: this patent recently issued to Ford.

PRICE $599

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Good-quality manual belt-drive turntable
Built-in hi-res analog-to-digital converter
Built-in phono preamp
Simple user setup
Minus
Additional software needed to play recorded files
Manual metadata collection for recorded files

THE VERDICT
With analog and hi-res digital outputs, and a built-in phono preamp, the Sony PS-HX500 has what you need to bring your vinyl collection into the 21st century digital world.

Detractors love to say that the current resurgence of vinyl is nothing but a bunch of bearded hipsters with Crosley Cruisers, trying to look cool in their mid-century bachelor pads. There is, however, one surefire way to tell the difference between a fad and a real movement, and that’s when the big boys stop snickering from the sidelines and decide to start playing along.