LATEST ADDITIONS

Jon Iverson  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  0 comments

Our esteemed editor Thomas Norton has the right plate for the job.

Fred Manteghian  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  0 comments

Another ask-the-editors session, this one about improving your home theater, was full of sage advice and even a few pretty good one-liners. We made it through almost 40 minutes of give and take until someone asked us which high definition disc format was better, Blu-ray or HD-DVD. Bottom line, we're not sure. The only thing about which we all agree, however, is that this format war stinks for everybody.

Fred Manteghian  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  2 comments

Fans of "The Office" would recognize Melora Hardin in a heartbeat as Jan, Michael's boss. "Monk" fans think of her as Trudy #2. And if you're addicted to "Gilmore Girls," the just completed season had Melora playing what we all hope will be a regular role on the series. Bet you didn't know she was an amazing singer though, did you?

Shane Buettner  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  0 comments

Thiel's eagerly anticipated CS3.7 was on display and playing music, with the help of Audio Research tube gear and power by Richard Gray's Power Company.

Fred Manteghian  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  0 comments

INDIANAPOLIS June 2, 2006 – For $499, the new RCA HDV5000 HD DVD player is shipping to retailers. The player outputs HD-DVD in either 720p or 1080i output via HDMI and upconverts standard DVDs to either 720p or 1080i via its HDMI interface as well. Audio features include built-in multichannel decoders for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD (2 channel), DTS and DTS-HD (5.1 channel) through either the HDMI interact or a S/PDIF output.

Shane Buettner  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  5 comments

Although everything was blue at the Blu-ray introduction, including the martinis,no one was feeling blue when we were invited into a large theater and shown comparisons of standard definition video vs. high-definition on one of Sony's 4K SXRD digital cinema projectors.

Shane Buettner  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  0 comments

Not only does the sign say so, I'm holding a full production copy of <I>Hitch</I> on Blu-ray Disc right now! OK, it's actually sitting next to my laptop since I can't type and hold it at the same time.

Tom Norton  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  1 comments

With a rack of their familiar gear driving top-of-the-line Atlantic Technologies speakers plus <I>four</I> Outlaw subwoofers, those scoundrels were stealing another show with the best home theater demo at HE 2006. And even if there had been more than three serious home theater demos at the show, they probably still be laughing all the way away from the bank.

Fred Manteghian  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  0 comments

Barely a few years old, Lipinski Sound makes great speakers. Now with a 600 watt bridged amp built into the stand, you'll only need to run interconnects out to them if you choose. If the stands seem highish, it's because that puts the tweeters at ear level. The five L707 speakers setup and playing SACDs to incredible effect are priced at $4,590/pr. The powered stand (yeah, it sounds funny saying that) are $2595 each. Not inexpensive, but the sound – a Mozart concerto – was ethereal, deep as the ocean, yet still solid as a rock. Lovely.

Tom Norton  |  Jun 03, 2006  |  0 comments

Vandersteen does build center channel speakers, subwoofers, and hang-on-the-wall speakers suitable for surrounds, and began as a company that specialized in high performance but surprisingly affordable speakers. They still do build less expensive models that compete strongly in that market segment,, but their flagship Model 5As, at around $15,000 and driven by Audio Research's $40,000/pair Reference 610T, 610W (!!) tube amp (sporting 36 viswible tubes in its two channels and warming up the room quite nicely) weren't designed for the beer-budget crowd. And surrounds, subs, and center channels weren't on the wine-list at the show, either.

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