Seagate's FreeAgent Go drives have been around for some time now, but the company spent a lot of time trying to make their drives more than just another place to cram your data. The latest addition to the series is a 500 GB drive that comes...
Cinema 11a Surround Processor Performance Features Ergonomics Value Model 7.125 Amplifier Performance Features Ergonomics Value
Price: $8,000 At A Glance: Minimal video-switching capabilities • Maximum sound quality • Amplifier made in America
Core Audiophile Values
During the last decade or so, specialty audio manufacturers have seen the marriage of home theater and high-performance audio become contentious at best and life threatening at worst. These days, companies have fewer financial resources and longer R&D lead times. Relatively small audiophile-oriented companies that sought the A/V path have been overwhelmed. Sometimes, fast-moving, shelf-life-shortening developments—such as the adaptation of new audio and video formats—have burned these companies outright.
So-called "tiled" video displays—huge screens made up of multiple smaller screens—have been employed commercially for some time, but up to now, they've been relatively impractical for home use. <A href="http://www.runco.com">Runco</A> hopes to change that with its new WindowWall, which is designed for decidedly upscale homes.
Price: $2,134 At A Glance: Extensive experience with aluminum driver diaphragms • Sub notch filter surgically removes bass bloat • Unusual bullet-shaped speaker terminals
Take Aim at Bass Bloat
Mordaunt-Short’s Aviano is a new speaker line from a British company that’s been making high-performance speakers since 1967. Since then, we’ve seen the rise of Japanese-made mass-market A/V receivers, the advent of surround sound for home theater, and lots of new speaker categories from sat/sub sets to soundbars to in-walls. On these tumultuous seas, Mordaunt-Short remains seaworthy by concentrating on the fundamentals of performance and, more recently, value.
Having just locked up a 28-day rental exclusive with Warner Bros., Blockbuster has repeated the feat with both Twentieth Century Fox and Sony Pictures.