LATEST ADDITIONS

Watching three-chip 1080p front projection become something of a commodity is just weird. The inexorable march of progress has made this inevitable, of course. While I've been at the home theater game long enough to go into cautionary tale about how many tens of thousands of dollars even decent front projection used to cost back in the day, I'm only going back three years to put this thing in perspective.

Omnidirectional speakers have an uneven history in the audio marketplace. They've always been few in number, but persist because a few designers believe in their unique capabilities. Whether or not you accept the validity of their theory of operation, they do offer a perspective on reproduced sound different than that provided by conventional, forward-radiating designs. Among other things, they almost invariably sound bigger and more spacious than their physical size suggests. For more on the background of omni speakers, go <A HREF=" http://www.ultimateavmag.com/images/newsletter/206uav.html ">here</A>.

I'm a huge boxing fan since way back, and seldom miss a big fight any time for any reason. Last night I threw down $50 to watch the Migel-Cotto-Zab Judah showdown on HBO Pay-Per-View over Comcast digital cable. The fight card itself met or exceeded expectations with two of the four matches, including the headliner, being terrific scraps.

On February 17, 2009, all analog TVs in America will go kaput. Turn on your trusty Zenith, and you'll get - static. Whack it as much as you want (and feel free to take out your frustrations), but it won't do any good. The TV set itself is still perfectly fine. It's the analog broadcast signal that's the problem. In particular, it won't be there anymore.