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AV Receiver Reviews
Pioneer Elite VSX-42 A/V Receiver
Chris Chiarella  |  Aug 02, 2012
Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $450 At A Glance: Good streaming features • Ample power for a budget receiver • Free iOS/Android control app

Pioneer Electronics has long offered consumers an evolving array of attractive audio/video receivers, from simple, high-value choices to high-end alternatives that serve up the most desirable new features. In the company's step-up Elite line, the extremely affordable VSX-42 is the entry-level model and still relatively new, having debuted just this spring. Pioneer offers non-Elite models that are significantly less expensive, and some much pricier, but the VSX-42 offers a surprising complement of features at a price under $500.

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Vintage Gear
Maxell Audio & Video Tape
Steve Guttenberg  |  Aug 02, 2012
I don’t think there’s ever been a more iconic audio ad than Maxell’s “Blown Away Guy” campaign that started in 1979. It’s the one with the hipster on the right side of the picture slouching in a massive recliner, with a table lamp and martini glass being blown away by the sound of a JBL L100 speaker on the left side of the frame. That ad sold a lot of tape over the years!
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Casablanca: 70th Anniversary Edition
David Vaughn  |  Aug 02, 2012
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
During World War II, Casablanca served as an exit point for many Europeans seeking to escape the gripping hand of the Nazis. American expatriate Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), owner of Rick’s Café Américain, isn’t what you would call a people person. When Rick’s ex-lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), arrives in town with European resistance fighter Victor Laszlo, they seek out Rick’s help in obtaining papers to escape Casablanca. Can the man who refuses to “stick his neck out for nobody” set his cynicism aside and do the right thing?
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Ask S&V
HDMI CEC or Universal Remote
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 01, 2012
I am searching for an appropriate AVR and speakers to build a modest system around a Samsung ES8000 flat panel. Simplicity of use for the basic functions is an important criteria to get final approval! I have a PS3 and Sky satellite box to connect. Do I really need to limit myself to products displaying an Anynet+ label in order to minimize the number of button presses required? Just how standard are the implementations of HDMI CEC today? Or would a universal remote control make such concerns irrelevant?

Simon Leach

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Tech2
Pro Audio Technology: P.A. Power, Audiophile Sound
Brent Butterworth  |  Aug 01, 2012

When pro audio technology invades home theaters, it’s usually in the form of a recording monitor repurposed for consumer use. Pro Audio Technology comes at it from another direction: It’s bringing P.A. system technology into the home.

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 122: Gordon Wetzstein & Matt Hirsch
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 31, 2012
MIT postdoc researcher Gordon Wetzstein and Ph.D. student Matt Hirsch explain a new glasses-free 3D flat-panel technology they are working on at the MIT Media Lab. Conventional stereoscopic displays show two views (left and right eye) in a narrow viewing area, and all viewers see the same perspective. The new display shows many perspectives across a wider area, providing each viewer with a different perspective, much like a hologram. The new display combines several LCD layers, directional backlighting, and sophisticated processing to achieve its remarkable result. This isn't going to be a commercial product any time soon, but it does point the way toward a more realistic 3D display without needing those annoying glasses.

Run Time: 55:22

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Headphone Reviews
Review: Altec Lansing/ACS Custom In-Ear Monitors
Michael Berk  |  Jul 31, 2012

When we last looked at Altec Lansing's headphone offerings, we checked out their affordable universal-fit balanced-armature IEM, the Muzx Ultra. But that's not all there is to the longstanding brand's headphone offerings. Late last year, the company went all-in with a premium headphone line, and we've had a chance to spend some time with them over the last few months.

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Streaming Device Reviews
Xbox 360 as Media Streamer
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jul 30, 2012

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $300-$400 At a Glance: Streams from online providers and networked home computers • Kinect voice and gesture command work well • Excellent video and audio quality

Unless you've been living in an isolated compound in Abadabad, Pakistan—and perhaps even if you have—you know that the Microsoft Xbox 360 is a top-ranked video-game console. However, you might not know that it's also a media streamer with access to oodles of online content. In fact, with all the streaming devices, TVs, and connected Blu-ray players I have in my house at any given time, my first go-to player is the Xbox 360. Not only does it have all my favorite streaming services, its Kinect voice and gesture control appeals to my tendency to be lazy.

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Headphone Reviews
Review: AKG K550 Headphones
Brent Butterworth  |  Jul 29, 2012

Even if you’re not an audiophile, you’ve seen the huge headphones many audiophiles wear. Most are open-back models, which allow the sound from the back of the speaker driver inside to escape, and which thus avoid the “boxy” sound that driver enclosures can create.

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Vote
Is Your Home Theater's AC Power Protected?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 27, 2012
In this week's episode of the Home Theater Geeks podcast, SurgeX engineer Martin Dornfeld talks about AC power protection in home theaters, thankfully without the voodoo and hype I've heard from others in that field. Our conversation lead me to wonder how many of our readers have taken steps beyond cheap surge-suppressor power strips to protect their precious home-theater gear from power spikes, lightning strikes, voltage sags, and power failures.

How about you? Have you installed a voltage regulator, surge suppressor (other than a cheap power strip), lightning rod, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), or other power protection? What have you done in this regard and why—or why not?

Note: This poll question is not about power optimization—I'll ask about that next week.

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

Is Your Home Theater's AC Power Protected?
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