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Is he or isn't

I've known <A href="http://www.sennheiserusa.com">Sennheiser</A> headphones for a long time. My first pair of studio 'phones was the HD 414 SL, a featherweight, open-back design that I still have 30 years later, albeit with new foam earpads. So it was with great interest that I read about the company's new flagship model, the HD 800.

5.1 Channels in One

Why shouldn’t respectability and innovation be on speaking terms? In loudspeakers, that’s not as easy as it sounds. Much of the recent audio innovation in home theater has come in products that are designed to complement flat-panel TVs. These products are morphing before our eyes—into soundbars, on-walls, and ever-smaller satellites. They are also moving beyond the standard five-speakers-and-sub configuration in their deployment of surround’s 5.1-channel array. This makes for a striking contrast when you look at the high-end speakers that grace audiophile short lists. These include a staid group of medium-density fiber-board boxes whose fundamentals, in many cases, haven’t changed in decades. Traditional speakers can sound great, but that’s not often enough to make people buy them.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/coraline.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>From the director of <i>The Nightmare Before Christmas</i> comes another visually stunning, stop-motion animated feature&#151;the first to be shot using stereoscopic 3D. Although the 3D experience doesn't translate well to Blu-ray, the 2D feature is amazingly clear with inky blacks and phenomenal contrast. The detail on the miniature sets looks surprisingly lifelike, from the fabric used for curtains to the textures of the characters' clothing and even their expressions. The audio track doesn't take a back seat to the video, either, featuring demo-worthy surround imaging.