Mark Fleischmann

With his partner Bernard Kardon, Harman introduced the first audio receiver in the 1950s, the Festival D1000, combining the hitherto separate functions of power amp, preamp, and radio tuner. Shortly afterward came the first stereo receiver, the Festival TA230.

At this week's National Association of Broadcasters meeting in Las Vegas, the technologies are surfacing at an exhibit called CALM Place. They include audio mixing, loudness monitoring, loudness control, loudness processing, program optimizing, and more. Eventually this stuff will find its way into program production and broadcast equipment.

Internet in a Boxx

As networked media features steadily infiltrate HDTVs, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, and other audio/video products, streaming may be upstaging 3D as the must-have technology. The question is how to get streaming into your system. Do you want your choice of HDTV to hinge on streaming features—as opposed to, say, picture quality? While that may be the ideal solution for some, others will seek ways of smuggling streaming into their racks via smaller purchases such as Blu-ray players, set-top boxes—or A/V receivers, like the Sherwood R-904N NetBoxx. At $650, it delivers a huge array of networked media features for a nice price.

Moreover, the skeptics are not likely to turn into purchasers within the next six months. They include 81 percent of Americans and Britons, and 95 percent of Canadians. This is despite high levels of awareness, with more than four out of five consumers in each nation familiar with the technology.