LATEST ADDITIONS

Test Report: Samsung PN58C7000 3D Plasma HDTV
Rob Sabin  |  Dec 23, 2010

Despite the rising popularity of LED-backlit LCD TVs, plasma has remained a favored display technology for many critical viewers who think it delivers the more natural, film-like picture. What it hasn't delivered, at least in the past, is the svelte profile and sleek styling that you get with LED-backlit LCD sets.

Continue Reading »
Premiere Design
Constellation Altair 2-Channel Preamp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 23, 2010
With a dream team of audio engineers and designers, the newly formed Constellation Audio is bound to make some serious waves. Along with the Hercules monoblock power amp, which I profiled a few weeks ago here, the company's first offerings include the Altair 2-channel preamp, which sports one of the coolest-looking industrial designs I've ever seen.
Continue Reading »
AV Receiver Reviews
Test Report: Onkyo TX-NR1008 A/V Receiver
Daniel Kumin  |  Dec 23, 2010

A check of Onkyo's Web site shows no fewer than 17 different A/V receivers on offer, an almost General Motors-like profusion of models. (I'm pretty certain, however, the U.S. government won't be stepping in on Onkyo's behalf should the consumer elec- tronics industry go south.) To be fair, a half-dozen or so are last year?s models, but still. C'mon, guys, 17???

Continue Reading »
Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 47: Dan D'Agostino
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 23, 2010
Legendary amplifier designer Dan D'Agostino talks about how he got started in the business, co-founding Krell, the evolution of amp design, leaving Krell and starting a new company under his own name, his new Momentum amp, the demise of audio quality in the MP3 generation, his about-face on the sonic effect of cables, the poor timing of CES, and answers to chat-room questions.

Run Time: 57:09

Continue Reading »
A/V Veteran
Christmas Blu
Tom Norton  |  Dec 22, 2010
Come December 25, Santa will be slipping new Blu-ray players and discs under many a Christmas tree. But will those Blu-ray discs actually look better to you?

The Blu-ray format may be four years old, but I still see comments on various websites—not to mention in the mainstream (non-enthusiast) press—to the effect that those Blu-rays don't look any better than upconverted DVDs. When you read these comments, you need to ask a few questions about the commenter, questions to clarify the circumstances surrounding the observation. These questions may even relate to your own experiences…

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Check Out HomeTheater.com’s New Do
Shane Buettner  |  Dec 22, 2010
HomeTheater.com has been wearing the same haircut for a good many years now. Introducing you to HomeTheater.com 2.0 really takes me back, as I was intimately involved in the last design updates we did a few years ago, when we added the Buyer’s Guides and built out a lot of the content you see today.

This new design is up to the bleeding edge modern, with chunky images, large fonts and a very clean aesthetic that we think you’re really going to like. But a lot more function will follow the form too.

Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Battlestar Galactica: Razor (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Dec 22, 2010
Battlestar Galactica is one of my favorite shows from the last decade. Razor tells the untold story of the battlestar Pegasus and provides chilling clues to the fate of humanity as the two-hour episode reaches its conclusion.

In present day, Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber) assumes command of the Pegasus and through a series of flashbacks we see what happened to the ship during and after the initial Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies.

Continue Reading »
3D Tech
3D For You And Me: Your Complete 3D Setup Guide
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 21, 2010
The first thing you’ll need to bring 3D home is a 3DTV. While they’re outwardly similar to any HDTV and fully capable of 2D playback, 3DTVs can decode and display 3D from one of several standard 3D formats. In general, 3D sets also offer separate setup menus for 2D and 3D material, plus additional 3D controls that can help you get the best out of 3D sources.

Some of these sets, like LCD models from Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba, and some new Panasonic plasmas, include special processing that converts 2D sources into a semblance of 3D. Our limited experience with this feature so far suggests that it can be effective with some material, but it’s no substitute for the real thing.

Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
HDMI Switcher, No HDMI Audio, 3.1 Sound
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 21, 2010
Never Enough Inputs
I recently purchased a Toshiba 46-inch LCD TV, which has four HDMI inputs. Unfortunately, I need more than that. I own an Apple TV, Mac Mini, PS3, XBox 360, and Boxee Box, and I will soon get a Roku XDS player. I want to get an HDMI receiver that has at least six HDMI inputs and one or two outputs to accommodate all these devices. I have decent home theater speakers connected to an audio receiver, which I don't intend to upgrade at the moment.

So here's my question: What HDMI receiver would you recommend? I don't want to spend a lot on it, but I want something that gets the job done. My budget is around $150-$200.

Clive Rodrigues

Continue Reading »
Shane Buettner Blog
Extended Surround Part Deux: Boldly Sticking with 5.1
Shane Buettner  |  Dec 21, 2010
My recent post on extended surround surprised me with the response it drew, both quantitatively and qualitatively. I think what surprised me the most was how many of you have already moved beyond 5.1. Myself and most of the writers for the magazine are still using 5.1 as a base system, and occasionally jury-rigging extended surround on an as-needed basis for testing. I can’t answer for all of them, but I did want to pass along more of my own thoughts and experiences on the subject and why I’m still using 5.1 and not at all likely to change that anytime soon.

Years ago, I experimented extensively with both 6.1- and 7.1-channel surround sound, both with a single surround back channel and with two surround back channels. I was then in a dual-purpose living room space, and the 6.1 with the single surround back channel was most effective, but not enough to totally sell me on the concept. My last two rooms have been dedicated media spaces, and each has been in the neighborhood of 25x16, with a first a 10’ ceiling and now just under 9’. The first house was new construction with a ground-up media room build. It was a big room, and I pre-wired the back wall for 7.1 as a precaution. It turned out I never felt I needed it and when I moved to my current house, a retrofit job, I didn’t give any consideration to 7.1, let alone height and width expansion. Let me speculate on why.

Continue Reading »

Pages

X