New Products

The next time you sit down to watch a movie, take a minute and look around the room before you turn down the lights and hit the play button. Is the space everything it could be? Could it use a little drama? 3-D Squared, a Florida-based home theater design company, specializes in creating decorative acoustic panels and themes for home theaters. You can choose from more than 50 original designs, or the company will work with you to create appropriately sized panels featuring reproductions of existing art or your own art.

Thanks to their portability, personal navigation devices (PNDs) are finding their way into the hands of more and more drivers of multiple vehicles. PNDs not only assist in getting you from point A to point B - as well as locate every ATM and Starbucks in between - they also offer features such as MP3 compatibility and real-time traffic info.

Amphion Loudspeakers has been around for 25 years yet you’ve probably never heard of them. The Finnish company, known best for making professional studio monitors, ventured into home audio several years ago and is now promoting its Helium speaker series on these shores. And it’s doing so with a twist.

Massachusetts-based Andover Audio has announced a companion subwoofer for its innovative SpinBase turntable system, winner of a Sound & Vision Top Pick in 2020.

Canadian A/V electronics maker Anthem has announced a comprehensive refresh of its AVM processor, MRX receiver, and MCA amplifier lines. Estimated to ship in December, the new arrivals consist of a pair of preamp-processors, a trio of receivers, and power amps in 2-, 3-, and 5-channel configurations.

Today I took a trip to Manhattan to hear the new HomePod Generation 2 from Apple. First impressions of how it handled music playback made me emotional because I realized Apple has achieved that blend of performance plus stylish minimalism it is so well known for. This second-generation HomePod is a game changer because at $300 each, it only costs $600 to put a full-fledged, spatial audio-capable sound system anywhere you want and enjoy jaw-dropping fidelity.

Integra DLB-5 Soundbar System
Object-based surround sound has advanced the art of home theater sound but at the cost of yet another set of speakers. Enter Integra’s DLB-5, which provides a simpler path. The 3.1.2-channel system comprises a passive soundbar, wireless subwoofer, and svelte 5 x 50-watt receiver that supports Internet Radio, several streaming services (including Tidal, Spotify, and Pandora), and more connectivity options than you’ll need: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay, Blackfire’s FireConnect, and DTS Play-Fi (due via a future firmware update).