Price: $1,999 At A Glance: Rotel enters the HDMI 1.3 age with two new receivers • Rated power at 75 watts times five • Snazzy aesthetics, minimalist user interface
Family Matters
Longtime readers will recognize the Rotel RSX-1065 as my reference A/V receiver. It’s been around so long that it’s no longer listed on Rotel’s Website. Mine has been in service since 2001, when I reviewed it, setting a record for longevity and giving every loudspeaker review I’ve written since then a firm foundation. When I tell speaker makers what I use for amplification, they breathe a sigh of relief and change the subject. Even the arrival of the seven-channel version, the RSX-1067, left me unfazed. The five-channel version has served me for nearly eight years.
Price: $2,599 At A Glance: High-end implementation of Class D amplification • Among first Rotels with HDMI 1.3, lossless surround decoding • Faroudja video processing but no auto setup
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Energy will likely be the defining challenge of our lifetimes. We use a lot of it but need to use less, so the ways in which we use it must become more responsible, creative, and resourceful. Will home theater continue to add to the quality of life in an energy-scarce future by bringing us closer to music and movies? Or will we write it off as just another accessory of sprawl, soon to be ruthlessly un-supersized? Is it possible to enjoy big pictures that are accompanied by big sound, while using less energy? This is the stage onto which the Rotel RSX-1560 A/V receiver walks, before an audience that is holding its breath.
Audio Performance Video Performance Features Ergonomics Value
Price: $2,599 At A Glance: ICEpower Class-D amplification • Bluetooth- and iOS-compatible USB • No room correction or low-volume mode
How would you like your audio/video receiver if it had a coal chute and chimney atop the chassis? Would you enjoy shoveling coal into the chute as the chimney belched black smoke and particulates into your home?
Or would you find this entire arrangement so unhealthy, so 19th century, as to be unbearable? Most people probably would prefer to avoid burning coal when sitting down for movie night or putting on some music. And of course, there are no A/V receivers that run directly on coal. But don’t fool yourself. Coal is the single-largest feedstock for electricity generation—not only in developing economies like China, but in the United States as well—far outpacing natural gas, nuclear energy, and other sources.
Given a choice between an iPod dock and a component that accepts a front-panel USB connection, we prefer the latter. And that's what's available in the Rotel RCX-1500 ($1499) CD receiver and RDG-1520 ($999). Both have FM and internet radio tuners but the 1500 also has a slot-load CD drive and 100 Class D watts times two.
When Dolby Digital Plus made its debut a few years ago, it didn't seem to get many takers aside from a few Blu-ray releases. But the improved lossy codec is now hitting its stride and the latest taker is video streaming service RoxioNow.
Sonic Solutions' RoxioNow, which supplies the technology underlying Best Buy's CinemaNow and Blockbuster's online service, will add DTS to its platform.
Price: $2,075 At A Glance: Compression Guide Technology enclosure • Top-to-bottom ease and authority • Sub controls in separate remote-controlled box
Longtime readers know I often revisit the same manufacturers in loudspeaker reviews. I like to see how speaker lines from the same crucible evolve and grow. The downside is that returning to the same brands cheats me (and you) of new experiences. So for this review, I found myself placing a call to Howard Rodgers of RSL Speaker Systems. I dialed his West Coast number at 10 in the morning East Coast time with the intention of leaving a voicemail—only to roust him out of bed, to my surprise and embarrassment. He told me a little about the company and the 5.1-channel speaker package I was about to review.
A federal court ruling may permit internet service providers to starve certain online video operations of bandwidth, effectively threatening the growth of net-delivered video.
Runco, arguably the high-end projection television brand, has been acquired by Beaverton, Oregon-based Planar Systems in a cash deal worth $36.7 million.
New additions to the Acclaim 7 speaker series (a name that pretty much makes critics obsolete) include speakers especially tuned for the new Dolby Pro Logic IIz listening mode. In case you've been living in a cave over the past several months, DPLIIz is one of two new height-enhanced post-processing modes, along with Audyssey's DSX. Guaranteed to make rain sound rainy. The models in question are the single-point stereo 7W51SFT and left-right stereo 7W52FT and both fit a 5.25-inch driver into a 7.25-inch square cutout area. Pricing TBA. Acclaim 7 speakers in general include LCR, in-wall, and in-ceiling models, the latter with Twist and Tilt.