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Audio Video News
Sony Launches Qualia
HT Staff  |  Apr 25, 2004  |  First Published: Apr 26, 2004  | 
Sony has made good on its promise to deliver a new line of home entertainment products intended for the upscale market.
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Audio Video News
Onkyo TX-SR502
HT Staff  |  Apr 20, 2004  | 
It's safe to say home theater fans have never gotten more for their money than what Onkyo offers with the upgraded TX-SR502. Priced at only $300, the TX-SR502 features 6.1-channel surround performance, respectable 75 watts per channel output power, surround processing that includes Dolby ProLogic IIx and DTS-96/24, and a choice of two finishes - black or silver.
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Audio Video News
Industry Roundup
Barry Willis  |  Apr 19, 2004  | 

Netflix ups rates: DVD rental firm Netflix Inc. will boost its monthly fees by 10.2%, effective mid-June. The news caused a 16.9% drop in the value of Netflix stock, which closed Friday April 16 at $30.75/share. The Los Gatos, CA–based operation reported a loss for the first fiscal quarter ended March 31 due to expensive TV advertising.

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Audio Video News
NAB vs. FCC
Barry Willis  |  Apr 19, 2004  | 

Certain to be a hot topic at this week's convention of the <A HREF="http://www.nab.org">National Association of Broadcasters</A> (NAB) is a plan by federal regulators to shut off analog television transmission by 2009. The plan would return the analog spectrum to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) for auction to wireless companies.

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Audio Video News
Added to the Archives This Week
 |  Apr 19, 2004  | 

Fred Manteghian gets his paws on the <A HREF="/speakersystems/204dynaudio">Dynaudio Contour S5.4, SC, S1.4 suround speaker system</A> and carefully places each of them within his room. FM notes "At first I thought the Contours were at somewhat of a price disadvantage being manufactured across the Atlantic." But then he listened.

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Audio Video News
Latest Software Reviews
HT Staff  |  Apr 19, 2004  | 
DVD: Love Actually—Universal
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
A review quote on the Love Actually DVD box touts this as "the most delightful film of the year," and that is precisely the world that comes to mind as you watch it: delightful. Yes, it's a very British word to describe a very British film, but it also perfectly encapsulates the film's pacing and performances. Rather than focusing on the trials and tribulations of one couple, Love Actually tells many stories about many couples. It's the anti–Love Story and the screenplay instructor's nightmare, but it's wonderfully engaging (albeit unnecessarily hard on overweight people).
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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Apr 19, 2004  | 
Focal-JMlab
Hang on to your socks; Focal-JMlab's new Sub Utopia Be subwoofer could quite possibly blow them right off your feet. This sub delivers a true 20 hertz with 120 decibels of sound pressure, the company reports. The 16-inch sandwich composite cone offers more than 10 times the rigidity of other materials, while the alloy basket supports a multi-ferrite magnet assembly that includes 18 magnets, measures 3 inches thick, and weighs more than 17.6 pounds. The Kapton voice coil is ventilated to limit the dynamic compression from the heat that the 1,000-watt BASH amplifier generates. For $6,000, this sub will rattle your bones.
Focal-JMlab
(800) 663-9352
www.audioplusservices.com
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Audio Video News
Study: Rosy Future for DTVs
HT Staff  |  Apr 14, 2004  |  First Published: Apr 15, 2004  | 
Manufacturers of digital televisions have clear sailing ahead, according to a new study by In-Stat/MDR
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Audio Video News
Industry Roundup
 |  Apr 12, 2004  | 

TDK and Blu-ray: Blank-media giant TDK has officially endorsed Blu-ray technology, according to an April 5 report out of the CeBIT technology show in Hanover, Germany. TDK is the latest to join the Blu-ray contingent, following Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computer. The 50-gigabyte capacity of Blu-ray discs will accommodate feature-length high-definition video programming and recording. TDK's contribution will make the 5" discs more user-friendly by eliminating a proposed "disc caddy."

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Audio Video News
Added to the Archives This Week
 |  Apr 12, 2004  | 

Steven Stone gets his hands on the <A HREF="/videoprojectors/204infocus">InFocus ScreenPlay 5700 DLP projector</A> and stacks it up against the competition. "Perhaps," SS explains, "the new ScreenPlay 5700 will help tilt the scales of consumer interest more towards DLPs."

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Audio Video News
Simple Solution for Russian Piracy
Leonid Korostyshevski  |  Apr 12, 2004  | 

<I>Editor's note: On April 7, the <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/movies/07PIRA.html"></I>New York Times<I></A> reported that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was planning to battle widespread DVD piracy in Russia on the only front that counts with consumers: pricing. In the report, Erin E. Arvedlund notes, Sony's "Columbia TriStar would price DVDs at no more than 299 rubles, or just over $10 . . . Warner Home Video has cut its DVD prices in Russia to the equivalent of $15."

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Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Apr 12, 2004  | 
JBL
Getting 7.1-channel sound in your home theater is easy with JBL's new SCS300 7.1-channel loudspeaker package. The satellite and center-channel models offer dual 3.5-inch PolyPlas woofers and 0.75-inch titanium-laminate tweeters. The system's sub utilizes a high-excursion 10-inch woofer and 200-watt amp in a tuned-port enclosure. The sub's back panel features volume control, LFE and line-level inputs, and speaker-level ins and outs. An auto power-on/-off function automatically turns the sub on when an audio signal is present and switches the sub to standby when there's no signal. For $650, you'll get the sub, the center, six satellites (with mounting brackets), and the necessary cables.
JBL
(516) 496-3400
www.jbl.com
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Audio Video News
Latest Software Reviews
HT Staff  |  Apr 12, 2004  | 
DVD: The Cat in the Hat—Universal
Video: 5
Audio: 5
Extras: 2
It's always dangerous to remake a classic, yet director Bo Welch and company evidently had little fear of (or much respect for) the original Dr. Seuss tale in which a mischievous cat with a mysterious-but-colorful hat magically enters the lives of a brother and sister who need a lesson about balance in their lives. Although the DVD case claims that "the Classic Book Comes to Life," sadly, the childlike wonder and simple beauty of Suess' well-hewn prose and intriguingly alluring drawings are regularly shortchanged in favor of Mike Myers' antics and strangely out-of-place, off-color humor.
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Audio Video News
Industry Roundup
Barry Willis  |  Apr 05, 2004  | 

Retailers on the rise: Best Buy and Circuit City, North America's largest and second-largest electronics chains, both reported surges in profits for the fourth fiscal quarter ended February 28. Best Buy's profits rose 51% to $469 million on strong sales of flat-panel TVs, digital cameras, and computers, while Circuit City posted a net income of $89.6 million, a 26% increase in profits over last year's fourth-quarter $70.9 million, after making cost-cutting efforts.

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Audio Video News
New Products. Price Drops
 |  Apr 05, 2004  | 

This month, <A HREF="http://www.integraresearch.com">Integra Research</A> should begin delivering the RDV-1.1, a high-performance universal disc player announced in January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The THX Ultra-certified RDV-1.1 not only plays every current optical disc format, including DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, CD, and SACD, but includes a video scaler that upconverts ordinary DVDs to 720p or 1080i. The internal "O-Plus FlexScale" video scaler also works with external video sources connected to the RDV-1.1's unit's rear-panel component, composite, and S-video inputs.

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