LATEST ADDITIONS

Audio Video News
First Look: Amazon Kindle
SV Staff  |  Nov 25, 2007
I've always been intrigued by the electronic book, but none of the models that has hit the market to date--from Sony, RCA and others--has jazzed me enough to want to invest in the medium. After all, I like books. I like to store them on a shelf...
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Fred Manteghian Blog
I Take Back Most Things I've Said about Cable
Fred Manteghian  |  Nov 24, 2007

Saturday morning and the cable modem craps out. I hook up the Blackberry to my laptop and pull over into the truck lane of the Information Highway.

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Custom Installation How-ToHome Movie Theaters
Poolside Theater
Krissy Rushing  |  Nov 21, 2007

<I>The breeze off the Pacific brings unparalleled ambiance to this Maui outdoor theater.</I>

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Audio Video News
What Means Innovation?
SV Staff  |  Nov 19, 2007
Each year at the Consumer Electronics Show, the Consumer Electronics Association highlights top new products in select categories and honors them with Innovations awards. The tech press got a peak at winners last week at a pre-CES event in New...
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Sharp BDP-H20U Sneak Peek, Thanksgiving Break
Shane Buettner  |  Nov 15, 2007

First, we're going to be moving servers and doing a number of other things behind the scenes here, so don't look for a Blog update from me until at least Black Friday, November 23rd (provided all goes well of course!).

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LCD TV Reviews
JVC LT-47X788 LCD HDTV
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Nov 15, 2007
Like a Volvo; boxy, but good.

I have to say this TV surprised me, although, to be honest, it really shouldn't have. At first glance, there is nothing to set it apart from the innumerable other LCDs on the market. It has a narrow black bezel, it's thin, it's bright, has a remote, turns on; you know, all that stuff that LCDs usually do. Then I started throwing test material at it, and it started doing things that LCDs typically don't but JVC TVs typically do. And I mean that in a good way.

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On-Wall Speaker Reviews
Totem Acoustic Tribe III On-Wall Speaker System
Gary Altunian  |  Nov 15, 2007
Sophisticated sound, elegant solution.

To fully appreciate and enjoy a flat-panel television, you must team it with a speaker system of matching elegance and quality. Floorstanding speakers seem like old technology. In-wall speakers are an option to consider, but they involve more work to install and have fewer placement options. A better solution in many cases is on-wall speakers, such as the new Tribe III speakers from Totem Acoustic. They're easy to install and are designed to match the finish of many flat-panel displays. Indeed, the Tribe IIIs' black or gray finish gives them the appearance that they came with the television.

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Home Theater Systems Reviews
Harman Kardon HS 300 Integrated Home Theater System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 15, 2007
Dr. Harman meets Dr. Bronner—all one!

Every day, I wash with Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. A soap-

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On-Wall Speaker Reviews
Piega AP-3 Speaker System and Arcam Solo Movie 5.1 System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 15, 2007
Flat meets flat.

The big trend is smallness. Flat is the new phat. Manufacturers who want space in your home compete most effectively by taking up less of it. And, in case you hadn't heard, less is more.

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Tower Speaker Reviews
Yamaha Soavo Speaker System
Steve Guttenberg  |  Nov 15, 2007
Sound design.

A few weeks before I started on this review, I went to a press event in New York City for the premiere of a "re-performance" of Glenn Gould's legendary 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. No, they didn't play a new CD or even the original master tape; we heard Mr. Gould, who passed away in 1982, virtually playing a Yamaha Disklavier Pro concert grand piano. And it was no scam. Zemph Studios (a music technology company based in Raleigh, North Carolina) converted the original recording to high-resolution MIDI files and played them back over this very special Yamaha piano. The concert thrilled everyone, especially those in attendance who were lucky enough to have heard the flesh-and-blood Gould perform back in the day. The event organizers gave each of us a copy of the new Sony/ BMG Masterworks SACD of the re-performance.

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