Still not ready for Plasma or LCD? Joel Brinkley plugs in the <A HREF="/directviewandptvtelevisions/104sony">Sony Wega KV-3XBR910 direct-view HDTV</A> to determine if one of most expensive 34" CRT HDTVs is worth the investment.
Thomas J. Norton listens to the <A HREF="/amplifiers/104theta">Theta Dreadnaught II multichannel amplifier</A>, the latest in a growing family from a company known for its digital converters, transports and surround processors. TJN determines if the amp, which is configurable from two to five channels, lives up to Theta's admirable audiophile reputation.
<I>Passion</I> piracy? Hollywood duplication facility Lightning Media is on the receiving end of a lawsuit by Mel Gibson's Icon Distribution Inc., alleging copyright violations over illegal copies made of <I>The Passion of the Christ</I>, Gibson's controversial new film now in theatrical release. <I>Passion</I> pulled in over $125 million in ticket sales in its first week.
Format wars got you down? Steven Stone settles in with the <A HREF="/dvdplayers/104lexicon">Lexicon RT-10 universal disc player</A> to see if you can have it all in one box. As SS notes, the RT-10 performs well with "All discs great and small."
Sony is angling for a big slice of the home theater market with its new product lineup. At a late February retailers' showcase held in New York, the manufacturing giant trotted out no fewer than 12 new integrated HDTV sets and two new high-definition digital video recorders.
In a home theater world filled with knobs, buttons and flashing lights, Michael Fremer finds the <A HREF="/surroundsoundpreampprocessors/1203arcam">Arcam FMJ AV8 7-channel preamp-processor & FMJ P7 7-channel amplifier</A> "sleek, refreshingly simple, and clean looking." As to its performance, MF provides the complete rundown.
You've got great components, but how to make them easy for everyone to use? Scott Wilkinson examines the <A HREF="/accessories/1203remote">Universal Remote Control Home Theater Master MX-800</A> and finds that it has one feature that may make it better than anything else in its price range.
<A HREF="http://www.jvc.com">JVC</A> should soon release its CU-VH1, a portable high-definition player/recorder intended to complement the company's GR-HD1 and JY-HD10 HDTV camcorders.
The Home Recording Rights Coalition (<A HREF="http://www.hrrc.org">HRRC</A>) supports the interests of all home theater fans—especially those early adopters who bought high-def displays prior to proposals to insert "broadcast flags" in data streams to prevent unauthorized recording of copyrighted material. Such flags are part of last year's so-called "plug'n'play" agreement between equipment makers and cable providers.
Something that legions of science fiction fans have long hoped for will become a reality this September: the release of a four-disc set of George Lucas's <I>Star Wars</I> trilogy.