LATEST ADDITIONS

Trick or treat? No tricks here…only treats—especially for home theater enthusiasts weighing various pathways to object-based surround sound (a.k.a. Dolby Atmos or DTS:X). Here we present three Top Pick-rated options in AV receivers—from low to high to very high, as in drop-dead state of the art for those whose priority is sonic purity at all costs. Speaking of object-based surround, how about a simple soundbar-based system that provides a remarkably convincing Dolby Atmos presentation? You read that right—a soundbar. Rounding out this month’s Top Pick honorees are two headphones that couldn’t be more different: one with elegant, solid-wood earcups, the other a pair of “in-ear monitors” that distinguish themselves as the world’s first ’buds designed for listening to and “mixing” live music in real-time. Mind-blowing? You bet.

Halloween is seriously the best. It’s socially acceptable to play dress up like when we were kids, eat candy, and face our fears together. Of course, a big part of October tradition is scary movies. Everyone will be dusting off or downloading their copies of The Shining and Friday the 13th, but if you’re looking for a little variety in your spooky screening this all hallows eve, I’ve put together a little list of forgotten or underrated gems worth peering at from under a blanket. Get your popcorn and pumpkin juice ready!

It’s easy in this brave new world of Ultra-Uber-HDR-4K HDTV to forget that the sound is still half—yes, half—of the home theater experience. Even if you’re actually smart enough to know that, and you wander into your local big-box electronics store in an effort to improve upon the tiny rear-facing drivers that pass for flat-panel TV speakers, you’re probably in for a knee-deep wade through soundbars and Bluetooth speakers before you stumble onto the audio/video receivers. You remember receivers: Those boxy things? Bunch of buttons and knobs and lights on the front? At one time, people used to called them stereos? “Oh yeah...those,” says the young skeptic festooned with the store logo on his shirt. “I think we still carry a couple of them in that back room over there.”

Startup Detroit Audio Lab has embarked on a unique AV mission: Bring audio manufacturing back to the U.S. by handcrafting audiophile-quality speakers using wood reclaimed from blighted homes and businesses that once thrived during Motor City’s golden age, which dates back to the first mass-produced automobile—Henry Ford’s Model T.