Audio Video News

<A href="http://www.audyssey.com/">Audyssey Laboratories</A>, the developer of MultEQ auto-equalization and other technologies now available in a wide range of A/V receivers and pre/pros, has long been a proponent of increasing the number of channels in an audio system. With its newly announced DSX technology, it has now brought that capability to home theaters.

Yesterday, Audyssey Labs announced DSX, a new technology designed to add extra channels to a 5.1 or 7.1 surround-sound system. DSX, or Dynamic Surround Expansion, adds two front height-channel speakers, just as Dolby’s new Pro Logic IIz technology...

The bass rampaging out your subwoofer may be thrilling to you but not to your neighbor. Short of making major structural changes to your home, how can you remedy this awkward problem?

Meet Audyssey LFC. It pulls off a miracle, cutting the excessive low frequencies that plague your neighbor, but without removing bass perception in the room where the home theater system is operating.

My, surround sound, how you've grown. I remember when you were a wee bairn of 5.1 channels. Then Surround EX added up to two back surround speakers, Dolby Pro Logic IIz added two front height channels, and now those wild men at Audyssey are talking about two front width channels, for a potential maximum of 11.1.

The end of summer beckons and so do the 10 products we singled out for Top Pick status in August. From an unexpected speaker from Quad and a soundbar-based 5.1 system from Atlantic Technology to SVS’s crazy cheap subwoofer isolation system and Sony’s killer HDR-ready 4K TV, the mix is eclectic as usual but with an emphasis on speakers this time around. Appropriate, we think, considering speakers define the sonic character of any system. Let us know if you plan to make (or have already made) room for any of these gems in your home entertainment space.

Aural Acoustics is a speaker company with roots and attitude from the old days of hi-fi before anyone ever thought of pairing speakers with a TV - but the new company has a decidely modern, music-and-home-theater sensibility. They debuted their first speaker (the Model B) at the 2005 Home Electronic Show in New York City to great reviews. This year, the company used a hotel room in the Alexis Park during the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to unveil the new Model P50. Although the low-key venue was less well attended than either of the two main convention centers, almost everyone who braved the long shuttle bus lines and made the trek to the Aural Acoustics room were extremely impressed with what they heard.