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Audio Video News
At Major Label, Downloads Beat CDs
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 09, 2008
Legit download music sales have passed a notable milestone at Warner's historic Atlantic Records. The label now sells more downloads than CDs. This is believed to be a major-label first.
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Home Theater Systems Reviews
JVC TH-F3 DVD Digital Theater System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 08, 2008
Price: $500 At A Glance: Each speaker handles front and surround channels • Integrated DVD (not Blu-ray) player • Strong aesthetics and build quality

4.1 Channels from 2.1 Speakers

Manufacturers of home theater gear work within a rigid framework. That makes it easy for consumers to recognize product categories—speaker systems, receivers, separates—and investigate the trade-offs between performance and price. But these product categories can also be staid and boring because they rarely investigate alternative system architectures. To shake things up a little, you have to look into compact systems, including entry-level ones like the JVC TH-F3 DVD Digital Theater System (to use the official nomenclature).

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Audio Video News
Denon Player Truly Universal
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 08, 2008
Among universal disc players, the Denon DVD-A1UCDI is the most universal of all. It handles Blu-ray, DVD, SACD, and DVD-Audio. But the pricetag is high, at $3800.
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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
KEF KHT1005.2 Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 01, 2008
Price: $850 At A Glance: Very compact sat/sub set • Fabric-wrapped subwoofer • Sats have eggs-cellent focus

Sunny Side Up

Folks buying compact satellite/subwoofer sets to complement their flat-panel HDTVs? That’s old news. Now some manufacturers are offering even more compact speakers to complement the new breed of flat panels. The focus is now on flat panels that reduce the frame surrounding the screen to an absolute minimum, so that the picture seems to float against the wall.

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Audio Video News
Sirius XM Channel Swapping Irks Listeners
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 21, 2008
Now that Sirius and XM have combined, the joint service is encountering some turbulence. Listeners are irked that familiar channel lineups are changing.
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Audio Video News
Order Pizza by TiVo
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 20, 2008
TiVo and Domino's Pizza have struck a deal that will let viewers order pie via DVR.
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Audio Video News
Blu-ray Hacked
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 19, 2008
If you recognize the name Doom9, the lusty hacker forum, you probably know what's coming in the next sentence. Blu-ray has been thoroughly hacked.
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Audio Video News
Sony Offers Green Glove Service
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 18, 2008
The arrival of a new TV is always a moment of joy in any household. But it also raises a problem: What to do with the old one? Thanks to Sony's new Green Glove service, you'll no longer have to worry about this.
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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Energy RC-Micro Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 17, 2008
Price: $999 At A Glance: Tweeter isolated in separate chamber • Aluminum drivers in satellites • Hand-applied piano black lacquer finish

Building a Better Satellite

Energy has always taken satellite/subwoofer sets seriously. The Canadian speaker brand, recently acquired by American-owned Klipsch, got into the sat/sub game early with the now legendary Take Five package. As successive Take products became steady bestsellers and proceeded through multiple generations, Energy established itself as a major name in sats and subs. It also helped turn the sat/sub set into a respectable product category. This especially applies to décor-conscious households that like to have surround sound but balk at the prospect of five to seven bulky speakers hogging a room.

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Audio Video News
FCC Green-Lights DTV Range Fix
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 17, 2008
As the DTV transition looms in February 2009, some TV stations are worrying that their signal dispersion pattern may shrink or change shape. To deal with that potential problem, the Federal Communications Commission has green-lighted distributed transmission systems (DTS). This is essentially a fix that would allow the usual single broadcast tower to be supplemented with additional transmitters.
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