New Products

Yamaha Taking over the flagship position in Yamaha's receiver fleet is the RX-Z1. It decodes Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES (Matrix and Discrete) and performs Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo:6 processing to deliver surround sound from stereo sources.

Sony

Rated to deliver 110 watts of power to each of six channels, Sony's STR-DA5ES digital surround receiver is ready for 6.1-channel DVD soundtracks. If you're torn between DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD, the receiver's two sets of multichannel analog audio inputs let you hook up both at once, and one set can even handle 6.1-channel sources.

Marantz

Just add speakers and a DVD player for 6.1-channel surround sound: Marantz's SR7200 receiver can decode Dolby Digital Surround EX and DTS-ES (both Matrix and Discrete) soundtracks, as well as 5.1-channel Dolby Digital and DTS, and deliver a rated 105 watts (into 8 ohms) to six speakers.

SONY

Pushing the upper size limits of a cathode-ray tube (CRT), Sony's 40-inch KV-40XBR700 Wega is the largest direct-view CRT set on the market. It's also an HDTV monitor and has two wideband component-video inputs, 2:3 (also called 3:2) pulldown capability to improve the look of film-based material, and aspect ratio control.

Onkyo If you want to hear the back surround channel in 6.1-channel movie soundtracks, but don't want to shell out a lot of coin, Onkyo's TX-SR502 receiver will get the job done for a song.

Marantz