Top Picks for the holiday month of December include an advanced wireless speaker system, 12-terabyte movie server, and spectacular 8K video projector at prices ranging from $2,000 to $25,000. But don’t despair, we’re also highlighting a trio of audio products that can be had for considerably less, including an outstanding Bluetooth speaker system that sells for $250 and a versatile hi-res streamer you can pick up for $600.
Polk Audio has been in the soundbar game for quite some time but has just now gotten around to offering a Dolby Atmos system — and it’s priced to sell.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Excellent, full-bodied sound
Cosmetically appealing design
Sturdy build
Remote control with tone controls (!)
Minus
No multiroom Wi-Fi streaming
THE VERDICT
Fluance’s Ai41 is one of the best looking and sounding Bluetooth speakers in its price class.
You can tell immediately whether a speaker is good the moment it starts playing, so I knew right away the Ai41 was good but didn’t fully appreciate how good until I had lived with it for a couple of weeks.
With Christmas a little more than two weeks away, A/V companies continue to bring new gear to market despite lingering shipping delays and materials shortages. The latest round of introductions includes the follow-up to a $60 set of wireless earbuds that earned a Sound & Vision Top Pick back in June, a beautiful take on the classic stereo console, a 65-inch 4K TV priced to sell, and a limited-edition version of an iconic speaker that has been in continuous production for 75 years. Can you guess which speaker it is?
Stewart Filmscreen, has announced a promotion offering $1,000 off the purchase of a Kaleidescape server-based movie system to anyone who purchases one of its screen masking systems.
So, how’s the holiday shopping going? Have you nailed it (bravo, if so!), or are you still searching for the perfect gift for that special someone? If, like me, you fall into the latter category, I have a few mostly audio-oriented gift suggestions worth considering.
Okay, it’s time to take a break from shopping those Black Friday deals popping up everywhere and check out Sound & Vision’s Top Picks for November. You won’t be disappointed.
Black Friday, the once-official kick-off to holiday shopping, is a week away yet the deals are already in full swing and have been for quite some time (“Black Friday in July” anyone?) as retailers get a jump on holiday selling and wary shoppers scramble to grab must-have gifts. Only a handful of companies reached out to us with early BF deals so we scoured the web to see what kind of deals we could find. Here’s a sampling of what we found…