LATEST ADDITIONS

Grace Notes
Listen up: John Carter
Leslie Shapiro  |  Mar 12, 2012

A Princess of Mars was the first serial novel published by adventure writer Edgar Rice Burroughs (the Tarzan guy) almost exactly 100 years ago. It’s a classic tale: Civil War veteran is mysteriously transported into the midst of two warring cultures, of course, with a beautiful woman to be saved. Hmm, countless sci-fi films and more than a few Western flicks have borrowed that theme. Most recently and notably, James Cameron has said that A Princess of Mars (which he read as a child) was his inspiration for Avatar. Here’s the problem: Once so many others have copied it, the original feels — oddly enough — derivative. Despite all that, Disney gambled that Princess had enough life left to kickstart a new franchise.

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Desktop Speaker Reviews
Power to the Speakers: Three New Active Desktop Systems
Daniel Kumin  |  Mar 12, 2012

Were we to travel to, say, Jupiter, and abduct its leading audio engineer (turnabout is fair play, after all), we might want to ask him (or it) this question: what’s the very best way to design a loudspeaker for the reproduction of high-fidelity music?

There’s no doubt in my mind as to how our Jovian guest would answer: “Active/powered!”

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Tech2
Building a Better Wi-Fi Audio System
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 12, 2012

A few weeks ago I reviewed the Altec Lansing inAir 5000. It wasn't bad, but for $500 I would have hoped for more. That seems to be the case with many Wi-Fi audio systems these days, and that got me thinking:

For the same amount of money, could I build an audio system with similar functionality, similar footprint - and that actually sounds good?

Challenge accepted.

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Vote
Do You Have Carte Blanche in Your Home Theater?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 10, 2012
In the latest Ask Home Theater blog post, Darren Benjamin says he has carte blanche from his wife to do whatever he wants in designing the media room. We should all be so lucky!

How about you? Do you have carte blanche to do whatever you want in your home theater, subject only to budgetary considerations? If you have no spouse, the answer is obvious. But if you do—be it a legal marriage or domestic partnership—have they placed limits on what you can do in that room?

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

Do You Have Carte Blanche in Your Home Theater?
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Ask S&V
Searching for an AVR
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 09, 2012
I'm upgrading my home-theater system with a Panasonic TC-P65VT30 plasma TV and Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player. I also want to replace my Yamaha RX-V793 A/V receiver, but I'm not sure what make and model would be best. I plan to keep my Paradigm Cinema Phantom tower speakers (front left and right), CC-170 center speaker, Atoms (left and right surrounds), and PDR-12 subwoofer.

I'm willing to pay for an AVR that will provide video performance to take full advantage of the TV and Blu-ray player. Likewise with sound performance; I see no point in paying for a higher performing AVR than my existing speakers can handle.

BTW, my room is 18x12 feet, and the TV will be located on one long wall with the sofa along the opposite wall. Also, I have carte blanche from my wife to get what I want in designing the media room.

Darren Benjamin

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Wide Angle
Up Close and Personal with the Samsung Smart TV Lineup
Al Griffin  |  Mar 09, 2012

Though we got a good peek at them at the recent CES, Samsung’s 3/6 event in NYC gave Sound+Vision a chance to get even more up close and personal with the company’s new LCD and plasma Smart TVs.

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Headphone Reviews
Review: AKG K 490 NC and K 495 NC Noise-Canceling Headphones
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 09, 2012

I love the form factor of on-ear, or "supra-aural" headphones — the kind where the ear pads press against your ears’ pinnae instead of surrounding them —  because they usually fit easily into my laptop computer case. But I’ve had a problem finding a model comfortable enough to wear for more than an hour. What’s more, I’ve found no on-ears whose performance compares to that of a good over-ear (or circumaural) headphone — until now.

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Soundbar Reviews
Vizio VHT215 Soundbar
Lawrence E. Ullman  |  Mar 08, 2012
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $320 At A Glance: 2.1 channels with effective virtual surround • Wireless subwoofer • HDMI 1.4a connectors • Easy to set up and install

If Star Trek's Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott was handed one of today's ultra-thin flat-panel HDTVs and warned, "You have eight minutes to get decent sound quality out this thing or the Enterprise is going to burn up in the atmosphere!," he might take one look at it and once again utter those immortal words: "I canna change the laws of physics!"

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New Products
New Gear: Harman's Dock+Go Personalized Dashboard
Leslie Shapiro  |  Mar 08, 2012

Who says Switzerland is known only for chocolates, cheese, and watches? There's plenty of exciting news coming from the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Town: Ultimate Collector's Edition
David Vaughn  |  Mar 07, 2012

When The Town came out on Blu-ray in December 2010, I was blown away by the presentation. It was one of my favorite films of the year due to the non-stop action, believable characters, and some of the most realistic bank heists ever to hit the silver screen. In this Ultimate Collector's Edition, the reference-quality audio and video from the original release are still present with fabulous detail, surround envelopment, and dynamics, plus the alternate ending gives better closure to the story.
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