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Chris LeGrange  |  Feb 15, 2006  |  First Published: Feb 07, 2006  | 
I love home theater, but can I find room in my heart for stereo?

I recently visited Berkeley, California, to take a tour of Sumiko, the U.S. distributor for many high-end European audio manufacturers, such as Sonus faber, REL, Primare, Pro-ject, SME, CineVERSUM, SEQUENCE, and Vienna Acoustics. They gave us several demonstrations, including a rather moving and educational listening session with their Cremona speaker line in a two-channel setup. They played several types of music for us, and, with every track, I felt myself getting more involved, more entranced, almost emotional. It wasn't unlike the first time I'd attended Carnegie Hall and listened to a symphony. I was enjoying music explicitly, not listening passively while I cooked, cleaned, exercised, and otherwise lived my life.

Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Feb 05, 2006  | 

From the vantage point of Sony BMG'S corporate headquarters, it probably seemed like a good idea at the time. With music piracy up and profits down, it made complete sense to add some get-tough digital-rights management (DRM) to certain CDs. But what seemed smart in the corporate world led to a royal debacle in the real world.

David Ranada  |  Feb 03, 2006  | 

Getting the best picture resolution remains one of the chief goals of HDTV shoppers. But as I explained in last month's "Tech Talk," human visual acuity limits how much detail you can see in any image, live or onscreen.

John Sciacca  |  Feb 03, 2006  | 
The Short Form
$330 plus Sirius subscription / 2 x 3.875 x 0.625 IN / 6 OZ / sirius.com / 888-539-7474
John Sciacca  |  Feb 03, 2006  | 

To quote Janet Jackson (Ms. Jackson if you're nasty), "This is a story about control." And whether your lifestyle is Joe Schmo, Average Joe, or Joe Millionaire, control is something we can all use a little more of in our lives. Fortunately, achieving some level of control over our A/V systems is easily done.

Michael Antonoff  |  Feb 03, 2006  | 
The Short Form
$349 / 17 x 10 x 2 IN / www.araccessories.com / 800-276-0509
Pl
Michael Antonoff  |  Feb 03, 2006  | 

Computer companies have been trying to get off your desktop and into your entertainment rack for a decade. Ever since the invention of tuner cards for PCs and giant computer monitors that doubled as TVs, they've been pushing the "convergence" of entertainment and computing on a wary public. The reception from A/V enthusiasts has been, to put it politely, less than enthusiastic.

Peter Pachal  |  Feb 03, 2006  | 
The Short Form
$600 / kodak.com / 800-235-6325 / 4.125 x 2.5 x 1 IN / 8 OZ
Plus
 |  Feb 03, 2006  | 

R30 (Anthem/Zoe) celebrates Rush's 30th anniversary as a touring and recording unit. But your first gig was actually in Toronto in 1968, as you recounted in one of the archival interviews on the second disc. Do you remember what was on your setlist from that show? Wow. Let's see.

 |  Feb 03, 2006  | 

In a recent interview about The Aristocrats, you said, "It's the singer and not the song." I see the Aristocrats joke as having a Grateful Dead/Phish kind of vibe where people start within the same framework, but then go off in their own directions. It's very much improvisational, though it's more bebop jazz than Phish.

 |  Feb 03, 2006  | 

It's easy, in this age of technological plentitude, to feel overwhelmed.

Adrienne Maxwell  |  Jan 31, 2006  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2006  | 
Save money, or save the planet?

Believe it or not, you can do both.

 |  Jan 31, 2006  | 
[May] Innovative use of digital signal processing and speaker arrays lets one cabinet substitute for five.

The YSP-1 Digital Sound Projector ($1,500) - being replaced this winter by the $1,700 YSP-1000 - has innovation written all over it.

 |  Jan 31, 2006  | 
[December] There are two really good reasons why the pros are turning to Sony's consumer high-def camcorders - by professional standards they're cheap, and by any standard they produce superb video.

Attend any meeting of video professionals, and you'll hear talk of Sony's HDV-format high-definition cam

 |  Jan 31, 2006  | 
[April] LCD front projectors remain the home theater nut's secret weapon for getting the biggest high-def picture at the best price, and Sony's $3,500 VPL-HS51 delivers the best picture I've seen from an LCD light cannon.

This sleek machine's three LCD chips deliver crisp pictures with surprisingly powe

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