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Soundbar Reviews
Review: PSB Imagine W3 soundbar and W1 on-wall speaker
Brent Butterworth  |  Jun 10, 2013

Calling the PSB Imagine W3 a soundbar is like calling the Red Bull RB6 F1 racer a car. Technically, the description is correct. But the item in question differs so much from most in its category that the comparison seems silly.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Meridian Explorer USB DAC
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 10, 2013
Audio Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $299 At a Glance: Computer-friendly USB DAC • Headphone amp • Clean and precise sound

Do you have a pack of cigarettes on your desk? If so, try this. Connect a USB cable between the pack and your computer. Then connect a line-level cable between the pack and your desktop-powered speakers or amplifier. Finally, replace the cigarette pack with a Meridian Explorer USB DAC. There: Your life just got a whole lot happier and healthier. And your music is smokin’.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hotel Transylvania
David Vaughn  |  Jun 10, 2013
Picture
3D-ness
Sound
Extras
When Toy Story launched the digital animation genre in 1995, you just knew that every Hollywood studio would eventually set up its own department to cash in on the latest movie trend. Throw in vampires with the Twilight phenomenon and 3D with Avatar, and it was just a matter of time before all three concepts would be mixed together into one picture, hence we get this entertaining animated tale from Sony Pictures.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Arbitrage
David Vaughn  |  Jun 10, 2013
Picture
Sound
Extras
From the outside looking in, Robert Miller is living the American dream. He’s a Wall Street billionaire who lives a life of luxury, has a loving wife and family, and is financially set for life. Unfortunately for Miller, he’s living a lie, and the house of cards he’s built is about to come crashing down.
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Audio Video News
Pioneer Adds Entry-Level Home Theater Receivers to Elite Line
HT Staff  |  Jun 10, 2013
Pioneer has added two models to its Elite series of A/V receivers: the SC-71 ($1,100) and SC-72 ($1,400). The 7.2-channel receivers will be available this month and offer multi-zone and multi-source capability, 4K Ultra HD upscaling, high-resolution audio playback, wireless control via Pioneer’s free iControlAV2013 app (for Apple and Android device), and Pioneer’s Class D3 amplification...
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Tech2
The kit I carried
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jun 07, 2013

I've been travelling a bunch this year, with two big trips to Europe and China. Like my 10 Tips to the Travelling Techy last year, I brought along a bunch of gear, some good, some bad, some invaluable. I guess you could call this 10 Tips to the Travelling Techy 2, except it's eight.

So if you're planning any trips this summer, check out this list of some tech gear to bring.

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TV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Sony KDL-55W900A 3D LCD HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 07, 2013

2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $3,300 At A Glance: Rich black level and good shadow detail • New color technology • Bright, punchy 3D

The new KDL-55W900A is Sony’s newest, top-of-the-line, non-XBR set. All of the XBRs, going forward, will be Ultra HD (4K) sets, but the KDL-55W900A, as all of the KDL designs, is firmly in the standard HD, 1920 x 1080 camp. It’s an edge-lit design with local dimming, but its marquee feature has nothing to do with contrast and black levels. Color is the plot here, and Triluminos, a term Sony has used in the past (see sidebar), promises a wider color gamut.

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Gadget Gary
For What It's Worth
Gary Dell'Abate  |  Jun 07, 2013

Yes, I readily admit it: I I am a TV junkie. I watch a ton of shows, and I go through  different phases of what I'll binge on.

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Ears On
In Defense of the AVR
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 07, 2013
Perhaps no product category is more misunderstood or maligned than the audio/video receiver. Within the home theater community, some deem it a deal breaker or bottleneck, despite its true status as the heart of a home theater system. Outside the home theater community, two-channel puritans regard the AVR as a morally flawed cluster of features that is inherently hostile to good sound. Won't anyone (aside from AVR manufacturers) speak up for a product that tries so hard to give the consumer so much?

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Premiere Design
Bowers & Wilkins and Maserati Quattroporte “Seven Notes”
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jun 06, 2013

To celebrate their teaming up, B&W and Maserati enlisted the help of musician and producer Howie B to create the Seven Notes project. To celebrate that, they’re putting on a multi-city road show featuring live music, and a chance to check out the B&W system in the new Quattroporte.

Fellow Tech2er Brent and I trekked down to Hollywood to have a listen.

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