LATEST ADDITIONS

Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 6: Anthony Grimani
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2010  |  First Published: Jan 20, 2010
Anthony Grimani, one of the world's leading home-theater designers and consultants, imparts his considerable wisdom about room acoustics, 3D, constant-area screen masking, and more.

Run Time: 1:03:29

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Other Tech
Marantz IS301 Wireless iPod Dock
John Sciacca  |  Jan 19, 2010
Key Features
$249 US.MARANTZ.COM
• Compatible with all A/V receivers and current
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Audio Video News
Xbox 360 might be getting ESPN streaming
SV Staff  |  Jan 19, 2010
Good news for Xbox 360 owners: you might be able to watch live sporting events through your Xbox and ESPN in the future. According to the New York Times, Microsoft and Disney are in talks to potentially bring ESPN content to the Xbox. The...
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Premiere Design
Creative Evolution
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2010

At CES, many companies set up shop in off-site hotel suites, making it more difficult to find and experience them first-hand. So it was this year with <A href="http://www.krellonline.com">Krell</A>, which shared a suite at the Mirage with SIM2. Among the items introduced there was the Evolution 555 Blu-ray player, the company's first foray into this product category.

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Audio Video News
Your 3-D TV Checklist
SV Staff  |  Jan 19, 2010
Congratulations! Your new flat-screen TV is kick-ass! I sincerely admire its tremendous resolution, its vividly natural colors, its bright-as-daylight brightness, and its sheer size. There’s only one problem: It’s flat. No, I’m not...
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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Paradigm Special Edition SE 1 Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 19, 2010

Performance
Value
Build Quality
Price: $2,344 At A Glance: Between Studio and Monitor Series • PBK-1 Perfect Bass Kit fine-tunes sub’s low-frequency response • Five stand-mounts plus subwoofer

Seeing Red in a New Way

I first became interested in Paradigm speakers on the recommendation of a working musician. He was a trumpeter, and he owned a pair of Paradigm Titans. This was 20 years ago, but even today, the Titan is one of the best budget speakers in captivity. Like all Paradigm speakers, it’s gone through one generation after another, acquiring better drivers and improved parts along the way. I completed the circle by donating my pair of vintage Titans to another musician, who loved them.

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LCD TV Reviews
Vizio VF551XVT LCD HDTV
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2010
Price: $2,200 At A Glance: Superb video processing • Improved menu operation and calibration controls • So-so black level and shadow detail on real-world material

LED for the Masses

At the 2009 CES, Vizio took the wraps off of its first LCD HDTV with LED backlighting and local dimming, which consumers have been eagerly waiting for ever since. At $2,200, the VF551XVT is the least expensive 55-inch local-dimming LCD available, which makes it mighty attractive to cash-strapped TV shoppers. How well does it fulfill the promise of LED backlighting? Read on to find out...

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Audio Video News
Panasonic Plasma Sets New Record
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 19, 2010
One of the visible highlights of this year's Consumer Electronics Show was this massive plasma shown by Panasonic. It measures an incredible 152 inches.
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Audio Video News
Lexicon sells $500 Oppo Blu-ray player for $3,500
SV Staff  |  Jan 18, 2010
Lexicon did a bad thing. According to Audioholics, the company's $3,500 BD-30 is little more than a rebadged $500 Oppo BD-83. The site says that Lexicon's Blu-ray player is literally just an Oppo BD-83 in an aluminum Lexicon wrapper. This isn't...
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The S&V InterviewCustom Installation How-ToHome Movie Theaters
Palisades Paradise-Design over Technology
Kim Wilson Photography: Mark Schafer and Marc Stewart  |  Jan 18, 2010

Homeowners love what technology provides but many prefer to keep its presence at a minimum. Such was the case in this beautiful Southern California home in the upscale Pacific Palisades area. "This project had a good sized budget of $100k to provide whole-house distribution of audio, video, phone and data," said Mark Schafer, President of Custom L.A. "Still we all encountered a few challenges such as the family room, where the client wanted a completely invisible Home Theater in a wide open space".

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