The leading maker of movie home networking systems continues to fight for its survival. Kaleidescape won another battle last month, convincing the DVD Copy Control Association to postpone a vote that would have banned storage of movies on a home server and thus put the company out of business. But the story is far from over.
Want to download movies onto the world’s coolest media server with the potential for Blu-ray-quality” video and lossless surround? Welcome to the Kaleidescape download store.
Naming a series of iThing docking systems for the sainted songwriter of early Pink Floyd may seem an excellent idea but the Kanto people insisted this was the furthest thing from their minds. The Syd 5 ($349) is nice and chunky with an AC jack that would make it convenient to connect a wireless bridge. The smaller Syd 4 ($159) has dual slot ports in front to increase bass response from the sub driver deep in the back of the enclosure. See Syd Play. Astronomy Kantonome. Gigolo Kanto. You can never have too many Syd Barrett references.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Phono, line, optical, Bluetooth inputs
Subwoofer output
Wide choice of colors
Minus
USB not PC-friendly
THE VERDICT
If you’re looking to plug your turntable directly into a good-looking and functional pair of speakers, the Kanto YU6 will make it work—and sound great.
Why shouldn’t life be simpler? If there’s one thing your studio apartment, dorm room, bedroom, or guest bedroom doesn’t need, it’s an audio rack with a tangle of cables. But going without music would be barbaric. So how simple do you need to get? If a bare-bones Bluetooth speaker isn’t enough, a pair of powered speakers might make more sense. You’d have a stereo soundstage without the fuss of an outboard amp and rack.
A funny thing happened when the founders of the file sharing service Kazaa confronted music industry executives in court: They became allies. Now the guys who once facilitated illicit downloading are launching a legitimate music service called Rdio.
Cool your rack with one of these dedicated fans from Active Thermal Management and, the company promises, you'll never need to use a fire extinguisher on your system.
KEF's famous coaxial Uni-Q driver array is what distinguishes its R60 Dolby Atmos enabled speaker ($1200/pair) from the competition. With a one-inch aluminum tweeter nestling amid a 5.25-inch aluminum woofer, it's the same version of Uni-Q used on the R100. KEF also showed three new tower speakers and a monitor: Blade Two ($24,000/pair), Reference 5 ($18,000/pair), Reference 3 ($13,000/pair), and Reference One ($7500/pair).
The last model to commemorate KEF's much-celebrated 50th anniversary is an echo of its historic BBC-approved LS35A monitor. The new LS50's curved baffle includes the famous coaxial Uni-Q array, with the tweeter centered in the woofer, and the specific drivers having trickled down from the bleed-edge Blade über-tower. The ported design plays deeper than the LS35A's sealed design. Even amid the hubbub of the show floor, this was one of the best monitors we've ever heard casually demoed, and it hurts to say that it's priced per pair, at $1500, which will make odd-numbered surround configurations impractical unless you don't mind sticking an extra speaker in the closet. Shipping now.