Darryl Wilkinson

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Darryl Wilkinson  |  Dec 10, 2007
Personalize this.

I'm a bit reluctant to say this, but my experience with Boston Acoustics goes back a long way – to the days when the Boston Acoustics A40 and A70 speakers were the giants of the bookshelf speaker world. In fact, most of the Boston A-series speakers back then were highly regarded when it came to sound quality. Build quality was so-so but decent for late-1980s vinyl-wrap box cabinets. Just about any store that carried them sold tons of Boston Acoustics' bookshelf and floorstanding speakers, and they were proud to do it, too.

Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 29, 2007
Kickin' butt and takin' soundfield names

For as long as I can remember (although the time scale is questionable nowadays), Yamaha has been a strong player in the AV receiver game. While Yamaha is not really a "high-end" company mentioned in the same breath with the likes of, say, Krell, Classe, or Lexicon, it certainly pioneered the behemoth, all-in-one-piece- hernia-inducing monster AV receiver starting with the $4,499 RX-Z9 several years ago (Yamaha's latest, biggest, and baddest, the 11.2-channel RX-Z11, will appear in November for $5,499).

Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 19, 2007

<I>New Company Intros Front Projection Screens, Frames, and Masking Systems</I>

Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 13, 2007
As far as I'm concerned, this is the standard that all other receiver makers should aspire to.

Sony recently announced a trio of new AV receivers in the ES line. The ES stands for "Elevated Standard", a designation that is supposed to indicate performance and features that are a cut above the standard Sony line. Although the marketing and the reality haven't always jibed, Sony appears to be giving renewed attention and vigor to the gear that wears the ES badge.

Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 08, 2007  |  Published: Sep 09, 2007
Soundolier is finally shipping their wireless torchiere omnidirectional speaker and will soon be shipping a matching wireless subwoofer, too. Of course, wireless is a relative term. You still have to plug the torchiere into an AC outlet (ditto for the subwoofer). It's not meant as a replacement for a full-blown wired-speaker system, but it will bring sound to some rooms where sound wouldn't have gone before.
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 08, 2007  |  Published: Sep 09, 2007
SE2 Labs has what is most likely the ultimate HTiB. It looks like an expensive espresso machine, but there's so much audio/video goodness inside this beautiful box that the approximately $20,000 price tag seems dirt cheap. Seriously, these guys have put just about everything you'd ever want in terms of high-end home theater gear and capabilities into one extremely well-machined chassis. All you need to add are speakers and an HDTV.
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 08, 2007  |  Published: Sep 09, 2007
Omnimount isn't happy with just hanging things on the wall any more. This new pro-style equipment rack will retail for $999 with other versions to come soon. It's sturdy. The shelves are adjustable. It makes your system look neat and tidy. What more could you want?
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 08, 2007  |  Published: Sep 09, 2007
The Klipsch folk have decided they want to horn in on the earphone business with models starting at around $99, one of which is supposed to be the smallest in-ear model on the market. Oh, and to the dude who stole the iPhone that was part of this display, you are definitely not cool.
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 09, 2007
Every five years or so it always looks like 3D TV is ready to take the big leap from cheese to prime time. This time, though, it really does look like truly watchable, enjoyable 3D TV is just around the corner. Not more than 100 yards from one another, TI and Mitsubishi showed demonstrations of 3D TV technology using shutter-style glasses synched by infrared emitters. Both demos including original 3D material as well as 2D video that had been "upconverted" to 3D. The calibre of the 3D images varied depending on the subject material and the company doing the conversion. Mitsubishi and Samsung are going to be offering 3D-upgradeable DLP rear-pro sets now or in the very near future.
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 09, 2007
When there are one million and one speaker companies, everyone has to find a niche...

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