New Products

With technology changing so fast these days, dropping more than a grand on an A/V receiver like Denon's AVR-2807 ($1,099) seems a risky proposition. But the HDTV powers appear to have pretty much settled on HDMI as the connector of the future, and this guy definitely has that covered.

Speaker engineers have turned to a lot of different materials over the years to make their creations sound better, but JVC's come up with a new one: sake. By soaking sheets of birch wood in Japanese rice wine, the labcoats at JVC were able to press them together to make wooden drivers, said to improve sound quality because of their natural acoustic properties.

With a big 65-inch HD screen, the Brillian 6580iFB HDTV ($7,999) already has a lot going on, but there's more in the box to justify its hefty price tag. First of all, it's one of the new high-rez 1080p TVs. LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) technology keeps the pixels small and the space between them smaller, so images always look sharp and clear.

From a $200 bookshelf model to a 3.5-foot-tall tower ($1,800 a pair), NHT's new Classic speakers have gloss-black finishes that stand out and curves in all the right places. But in redesigning its Super Audio speaker line, the company went for more than just good looks by tailoring the speakers' sound for home theaters.

Everybody wants a flat LCD or plasma TV to hang on the wall, but punching holes for cabling can be a pain. Mizzico has its "Superb Wiring Solution" for this quandary: the WS-18, an 18-inch-long wiring channel ($89) that attaches to the wall between your TV and component rack (assuming it's right underneath), hiding any unsightly cables.

If you think Netflix is a convenient way to watch the movies you want, take a look at MovieBeam. After buying one of its shiny silver boxes ($228 after rebate), you can stream flicks right into your home for $2 to $5 a pop, and there are even high-def titles available.

The 8-inch, rear deck, subwoofer - taken at the New York Auto Show