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Soundbar Reviews
Sonos Playbar Soundbar
Rob Sabin  |  Apr 12, 2013

Sonos Playbar Soundbar
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

Sonos SUB Subwoofer
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $699 At A Glance: Excellent sound quality for music and movies • Powerful optional subwoofer • Mixed surround-sound performance

Since its launch in 2005, the Sonos wireless music system has won accolades and an extensive fan base thanks to an early focus on tapping into the digital music libraries that consumers built after the iPod’s launch in 2001, and an evolving graphic interface that, in today’s version, brings the benefits of room, source, and track selection to intuitive touchscreen apps that run on smartphones and tablets.

For those unfamiliar, you start by plugging one Sonos component into your network router to create a bridge to the Internet and to your home PC or hard drive where your personal music is stored. It can be any component the company sells. Sonos offers several powered speaker systems (Play:5, Play:3, the SUB subwoofer) and two player modules that feed music into either an existing hi-fi system (the Connect) or into a pair of speakers (Connect: Amp). If none of these devices can be placed near a live Ethernet jack, you can plop the aptly named Bridge wireless adapter next to your router.

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Editor's Eye
TVs and Soundbars Need to Make Music Together
Rob Sabin  |  Apr 12, 2013
You may have heard that sales of soundbars are skyrocketing today. I’m excited about that. The best of the new premium soundbars sound pretty great, and with their unassuming presence, lack of speaker wires, and relatively simple installation, they stand to introduce legions of new ears to the joys of a high-quality home theater experience.
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Tech2
Review: Bill Janovitz's Walt Whitman Mall
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Apr 12, 2013

"The book is not a direct influence. That is to say that it did not spur me on to write any sort of song cycle or (gasp!) concept album. Rather, I found myself writing a lot of songs with a sense of a specific space, my hometown of Huntington, Long Island, New York."

So explains Bill Janovitz and about his new album, Walt Whitman Mall, and it seems as apt a description as I can think of.

Oh, and it's also really good. He didn't say that part (obviously).

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Audio Separates Buying Tips
Separates: Bring On the Heavy Artillery
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 11, 2013
Bigger is better. That’s probably the dominant argument in favor of buying a separate multichannel amplifier and surround processor instead of an A/V receiver. It’s also the wrong argument. There are three good reasons for you to choose separates: to scale up your system to a larger room, to power more-demanding speakers, or to achieve higher performance than you can get with an average AVR.
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Portable Player Reviews
Review: JBL Charge portable speaker and OnBeat Rumble dock
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 11, 2013

The JBL name is among the most revered in the audio marketplace. Since its founding in 1946 by James Bullough (love that middle name) Lansing, the brand consistently stood for excellence in the pro market. The company has been part of the Harman constellation for 40 years, and expanded into the consumer market, but its reputation has held fast. Now, JBL is pressing hard in the portable speaker and dock markets. Does the red square still stand for quality?

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Vintage Gear
TV for the Ages: The Philco Predicta
Steve Guttenberg  |  Apr 11, 2013
Tube televisions are starting to look like relics of a bygone era, but they had a long run, from the very beginning of the TV age until just a few years ago. CRTs evolved from round, to rounded squares, to squarish, almost flat tubes—but cathode ray tube TVs (and projectors) remained the unchallenged display technology right through to the dawn of hi-def TV.
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Road Gear
The Connected Car: 2013 Edition
Doug Newcomb  |  Apr 11, 2013

At CES 2013, car audio companies and automakers showed that they’re ready to deliver data in almost any form to drivers — from on-demand news and restaurant reviews to location-sharing and even info to create the perfect date — by bringing connectivity and apps into the dashboard.

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New Products
Pioneer Adds Two Elite Receivers to 2013 Lineup
HT Staff  |  Apr 10, 2013
As a service to our readers, HomeTheater.com publishes selected manufacturer-supplied announcements and press releases for products that we think might interest you. Content is posted here exactly as issued by the manufacturer and does not imply endorsement of any kind by Home Theater or any hands-on experience by its reviewers or editors. Visit our Reviews area to browse test reports for products that have been formally evaluated by our expert staff.

Pioneer Elite Receivers Offer Studio Quality Content Playback and Multi-Zone/Multi-Source Capabilities

VSX-43 and VSX-70 Increase Entertainment Options Throughout the Home

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 10, 2013) – Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today introduced two new Elite® home theater AV receivers, the Elite VSX-43 7.1-channel receiver and VSX-70 7.2-channel receiver, designed for expanded entertainment and control throughout the home.

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Surround Processor Reviews
Emotiva UMC-200 Preamp/Processor
David Vaughn  |  Apr 10, 2013

Emotiva UMC-200 Preamp/Processor
Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
 
Price: $599 At A Glance: Audiophile audio quality at a bargain price • Customizable EQ solution • Outstanding value

I’m not an engineer, and no, I don’t play one on TV either, although I’ve been around the A/V business long enough to know the technological challenges manufacturers face when creating a new pre/pro or AVR from the ground up. This is especially hard for smaller companies with limited budgets in an HDMI-enabled world.

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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
MartinLogan Motion 15 Bookshelf Speaker
Brent Butterworth  |  Apr 09, 2013

The Motion 15 is in my listening room partly because I've wanted to hear it ever since I first saw it about a year ago, and partly because I mistakenly ordered it for our massive "Clash of the Minispeakers" test.

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