Al Griffin

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Al Griffin | Feb 14, 2011 | 0 comments

Plug and Play

Q: How do you attach an iPod or similar MP3 player to a stereo receiver or AVR to maximize playback quality? I’m a longtime subscriber, but I only remember seeing you give examples of the “minimalist” approach using small speakers and docks designed specifically for iPods.

--Ronald V. Tancredi | Farmingdale, NY

Other Tech

Media Servers

Al Griffin | Jun 18, 2004 | 0 comments

Organizing a CD or DVD collection used to mean alphabetizing a huge pile of discs and painstakingly filing them away on shelves. But a new breed of component called a media server - a cross between a traditional A/V component and a full-featured PC - gives you easy, expanded access to your collection by letting you store it as digital data on a hard-disk drive.

Other Source Component Reviews

Microsoft Xbox One Game Console

Al Griffin | May 27, 2014 | 8 comments

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

PRICE $499

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Involving gameplay and graphics
Powerful Smart TV features
Wide range of remote control options
Minus
Features may be overkill for some
No DVR control

THE VERDICT
Microsoft’s next-gen console is a home entertainment powerhouse. Games, movies, music—it’s got it all.

Microsoft wants to take over the living room. OK, maybe that premise isn’t exactly new. About 10 years ago, tech pundits used the same words when discussing the Windows Media Center PC, an all-in-one solution that combined computing and home entertainment in a big, ungainly box. You don’t hear much about Microsoft’s Media Center PC ambitions anymore. What you do hear about is the Xbox One, the latest version of the company’s successful game console. And yes, Microsoft still wants to take over the living room, except now they plan to do so through the Xbox One.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Midsommar

Al Griffin | Nov 29, 2019 | 1 comments

Picture
Sound
Extras

Ari Aster's second feature—the first was 2018's thoroughly unnerving Hereditary—continues the director's preoccupation with family as a wellspring of horror. This time around, horrific familial events occur in the film's first fifteen minutes, and the main protagonist, college student Dani, ends up trailing her ambivalent, unsupportive boyfriend to a rural community in Sweden that's in the midst of celebrating Midsommar, a festival occurring only once every ninety years.

Munich 2019

Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue' Stunningly Good in Atmos

Al Griffin | May 12, 2019 | 1 comments

Now here was a Munich High End show demo that could have gone either way: Miles Davis’ classic jazz albums Kind of Blue (1959) and Sketches of Spain (1960) re-mixed for Dolby Atmos. Would the producers of this bold effort maintain the sonic integrity of the original recordings, or would they succumb to the worst impulses of 5.1-remix era, surrounding listeners in a swirl of brass, with Bill Evans’ piano raining down from overhead?

Mitsubishi HC4900 1080p LCD Front Projector

Al Griffin | Oct 02, 2007 | 0 comments

Mitsubishi HC4900 1080p LCD front projector 82400025722 Mitsubishi HC4900 Over the past few years, traditional TV companies such as Sony, Panasonic, and Sharp have done a brisk business in the home theater front-pr

Mitsubishi HC6000 LCD front projector

Al Griffin | May 31, 2008 | 0 comments

Mitsubishi HC6000 LCD front projector HC6000(BL) Mitsubishi Mitsubishi has long been known as the Big-Screen Company, mostly due to the strength of its extensive lineup of rear-projection TVs.

Mitsubishi Unisen LT-46153

Al Griffin | Dec 03, 2009 | 0 comments

Key Features

$2,200 Mitsubishi-tv.com

• 47-inch, 1080p-resolution screen •

Mitsubishi WS-73909

Al Griffin | Feb 18, 2002 | 0 comments

Anyone who's set up a home theater system knows how much work is involved. Once you find the right TV and speaker system, you need to round up a stack of components, including a DVD player, a video recorder, and, perhaps, a satellite receiver. Then you have to spin a frightening web of wires to route all of those signals through your A/V receiver or preamp/surround processor.

CEDIA 2020

Monitor Audio Showcases Gen-6 Bronze Speakers

Al Griffin | Sep 16, 2020 | 0 comments

The centerpiece of Monitor Audio’s packed CEDIA Expo Virtual 2020 booth is its new Bronze speaker lineup, which we had previously reported on in early July. These handsome speakers, now in their sixth generation, have been designed to deliver dynamic, attention-grabbing performance, and feature an 8-ohm nominal impedance to allow pairing with a wide range of A/V receivers and electronics.

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