Other Tech

It's always nice when the good ones cut through the dross. Case in point: the admirable ascension of London's Coldplay, which has built an appreciative following with its Gold-selling debut album, Parachutes (Nettwerk/Capitol). This disc has all the makings of a future classic as its songs swing from light balladry to intense jamming in the turn of a friendly chord.

Do I get letters? You bet I do! Everyone has a question for the Gear Guy. I get letters from people who want to buy high-definition TVs, minisystems, exotic speakers - you name it. I also get lots of eviction notices, subpoenas, and an occasional letter bomb. But that's another story.

Cool began with jazz - be-bop in particular, which still is cool. In the '60s, it meant stuff like bell-bottoms - which aren't cool anymore, unless a girl's wearing them. A guy wearing them as a joke could be cool, I guess, but the lines are kind of fuzzy there. Afros definitely aren't cool anymore, at least not on white guys - or at least not at the moment.

There's absolutely nothing worse than putting together an awesome home theater system that's starved for power or buzzing with ground loops. We often take electricity for granted, assuming it will be there when we need it. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. You don't necessarily need an electrician just to connect your audio and video system, but you may need to check out your electrical system before you spend hours, if not days, connecting all your components. The two things you should consider are whether your system is getting enough power and if your components are connected to that power system correctly.

Conventional wisdom dictates that there are good reasons why A/V design is so homogeneous.

You probably already know that good speakers are essential to putting together a high-quality stereo or multichannel music system or home theater. You can invest several months' mortgage payments in first-rate audio/video components, but without good speakers you're simply not going to hear your system's full potential.

If you're thinking of buying a DVD player, the number of features most players offer might overwhelm you. Sure, you know the basics: DVD is the hottest thing since the first time man invented something round. It consists of a disc the size of an audio CD but with 10 to 15 times more storage capacity. The disc has enough room to store a full-length motion picture with a digital picture that's better than that of laserdisc or satellite broadcasts. A progressive-scan DVD player connected to a widescreen TV can even approach the quality of high-definition television. The digital audio can include up to five full-range, discrete (meaning separate) channels with one LFE, or low-frequency-effects (aka the .1), channel for impact. The best part is that DVD players and movies should be compatible with your current system, no matter how archaic it is. You can buy a DVD player now and almost certainly enjoy the benefits right away, and you can upgrade various parts of your system and glean even more performance from the DVD software that you'll undoubtedly start collecting. What you really want to know, though, is what features to look for in your first/next DVD-player purchase. As usual, we're here to explain them to you. We've also included a couple of tips on how you can take your DVD/home theater experience to the next level.