LATEST ADDITIONS

Gary Merson  |  May 25, 2006
What's the difference?

The next generation of prerecorded video content is here. The new machines use a blue-violet laser to read discs with far more storage capacity than current standard-definition DVD, and they can play high-definition content in full 1,920-by-1,080 resolution. The big attraction is the promise of the best picture quality you have ever seen on a display. The prerecorded, high-definition content offers pristine, near-perfect images with fewer artifacts (noise and blocking) than is possible today with broadcast or D-VHS content.

Geoffrey Morrison  |  May 25, 2006
We love it, but it's time to go.

Don't get me wrong—I love CRT displays. They still offer the best picture quality across the board, and I can't imagine having anything else for my computer monitor. That said, the technology isn't long for this world. Fewer and fewer companies are coming out with new models as consumers spend their money on big screens and flat panels. So, when contributor John Higgins mentioned that his TV had died, I knew what had to be done. I needed to give it a fiery send-off. I needed to destroy it.

Mark Fleischmann  |  May 25, 2006
Interesting piece by Wired columnist Leander Kahney on the iPod's steady rise to acceptance as a hi-fi audio device. But I think he oversells his point when he says the iPod has audiophiles "spinning in their soundproof graves." He also oversimplifies, asserting that "to purists, only old-fashioned vinyl platters cut it." This stereotype (pun intended) ignores a whole universe of digital audio developments such as SACD and DVD-Audio, great concert videos in lossy surround formats, and the use of Dolby Pro Logic II to coax surround out of stereo source material (whether from CD, WAV, MP3, AAC, or none of the above). Speaking as an audiophile, I find these things just as interesting as my LP collection or, for that matter, my iPod. The biggest problem with high-performance audio, according to 56 percent of consumers in one survey, is that not enough of them have heard it.
Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 25, 2006

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Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 25, 2006

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Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 24, 2006  |  First Published: May 25, 2006

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Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 24, 2006  |  First Published: May 25, 2006

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Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 24, 2006

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Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 24, 2006

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Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 24, 2006

Price: $1,000
Channels/Power: 7x105W
Decoding: DD, DD EX, ProLogic IIx, DTS, DTS-ES Discrete/Matrix/Neo:6/DTS 24/96
Ins and Outs: Two coax and five toslink digital audio, one 7.1-channel analog, two HDMI (spec 1.1), three component video, RS-232, three 12V triggers
Highlights: THX Select2, XM Satellite Radio ready, iPod dock ready, EZSet automated setup and EQ, transcoding of composite and S-Video to component video, multi-source/multi-zone, learning backlit remote

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