Tag archive: Home Theater

Press day at CES 2012 kicked off early this morning at 8:00 with LG’s press conference announcing its new product plans for 2012. As expected, the A/V category isn’t enjoying any revolutionary advances — LG’s home appliances seem to have gotten all the love this year — but LG does have some impressive looking TV’s and a few clever tricks to refresh it’s A/V line this year.  Perhaps the most impressive practical new development in… Read More

We're looking forward to paying Harman Kardon a visit at CES this year. The company, well respected for its excellent sounding audio gear, has been busy breathing new life into its brand with some outstanding sounding iPod speaker docks, artsy computer speakers and, up until now, one  sound bar model. H/K's SB16 sound bar with wireless subwoofer must be doing well, because the company has just announced a bigger, badder model dubbed… Read More

In what may initially seem like an unlikely pairing, American guitar maker Gibson has outlined a strategic partnership that , if approved, will have it making serious investments in consumer electronics giant Onkyo. According to a recent statement, Gibson intends to  purchase majority stake in Onkyo USA and become the second largest shareholder of Onkyo Japan. Gibson says the relationship will be mutually beneficial as it lends its marketing… Read More

We enjoy reviewing iPhone docks and headphones just fine, but what really gets our blood pumping is home theater and home audio gear. This year saw some major improvements in LED TVs and some new audio components which completely obliterated preconceived notions about price versus performance. Putting together this best-of 2011 list of A/V gear was a piece of cake because each component, in its own way, stood way out front of the competition as… Read More

It’s never a bad year to soak up new technology, but we’ll still go out on a limb and say 2011 has been a particularly good one for gadget fiends. Sure, on the surface, 2011 lacked the many landmark product introductions that have changed the landscape of technology. A year like 2007 brought the first iPhone, first e-reader, and first netbooks. Even the tablet revolution we’re experiencing now started back in 2010. No, the last 12 months can’t… Read More

Your TV may be the centerpiece of your living room, but a 50-inch plasma sitting on an upside-down milk crate doesn’t make a home theater. Face it: You’re going to need a few accessories before popping the popcorn. The nuances of selecting the perfect speakers and receiver could fill volumes (we’ve done it) but for all the goodies that don’t have anything to do with home audio, you’ll find them here. Buying a new TV this weekend? Make sure… Read More

Several days ago, in anticipation of the CEDIA 2011 expo, Runco hinted at a new addition to its line of home theater projectors that would carry a price point uncharacteristically low enough to make Runco accessible to a much wider audience. Today, Runco pulled back the drapes to reveal the LS-1, a projector intended for smaller home theaters that promises to deliver high-end Runco quality for about $3,995. The LS-1 is a 16:9 native, single-chip… Read More

Sony closed out press day at CEDIA 2011 with several new product announcements, including news that two receivers have been added to its ES line. From the outside, the STR-DA3700ES and STR-DA5700ES look almost exactly like last year's STR-DA4600ES, which we recently reviewed. However, it seems that Sony has made some considerable changes under the hood, where it matters most.  Sony announced that both receivers now support streaming video… Read More

There are a number of reasons it may be time to purchase a new audio receiver. Did you buy the receiver you currently own when Bill Clinton was still in the oval office? Did you recently pick up a Blu-ray disc player capable of supporting some cool sounding high-resolution audio formats? Did you just get the green light to build that man cave you've been dreaming about? If you answered yes to any of those questions, picking up a new… Read More

In an innovative feat of sound engineering and Scandinavian design, Libratone has created an all-in-one speaker that is meant to replace your entire living room sound system, no matter how many speakers you might have. The Libratone Lounge ($1,300) has a sleek modern design and the tech specs to justify having it as your sole piece of sound equipment for everything from TV to music streaming. The long Libratone Lounge functions as much as a… Read More