New Products

Panasonic TC-65AX800U 4K/Ultra HD TV
Besides a generous 65-inch screen with locally dimmed, edge-lit LED backlighting, the TC-65AX800U is loaded with features, including Web connectivity via a home screen menu that can be personalized, voice search, Panasonic’s Life+Screen platform that learns viewer preferences and recommends programming, and remote sharing for displaying smartphone videos and messages when you’re away from home. Even cooler, the TV uses a proximity sensor and facial recognition to sense when you walk into the room so it can automatically display an Info Bar with weather and other information.
THX on Board: The TV meets stringent THX 4K tests for brightness, sharpness, gamma, and color reproduction and provides Cinema and Bright Room THX picture modes; two advanced (ISFccc) modes are also on tap. Price: $4,500
Panasonic • (800) 211-7262 • panasonic.com

Accell AVGrip Pro HDMI Cable
HDMI is the way of today’s A/V world and takes a huge step toward ensuring quality performance and simplifying the once-daunting task of wiring up a full-blown theater system. But even in the best of worlds, stuff happens and cables can jiggle loose, causing problems—like no picture and sound.
Locked and Loaded: AVGrip Pro cables have a built-in spring-loaded “T-Bar” that locks the cable in place once it’s inserted into an HDMI port. And we do mean lock, as in with “16 pounds of retention force.” To remove the cable, simply pull back on the connector’s cover, which depresses the locking bar. Prices range from $13 for a 0.3-meter cable to $90 for a 7.5-meter cable, all featuring 24k-gold-plated contacts.
Accell • (877) 353-0772 • accellcables.com

Bose SoundLink III Bluetooth Speaker
Bose has come a long way since the late Amar Bose hand-delivered his early prototype speakers to Sound & Vision’s predecessor, Stereo Review, back in the ’60s. Today the $2.5 billion-dollar company makes a full range of audio products, including the “grab-and-go” SoundLink III Bluetooth speaker, which features a protective silicone button panel, four drivers, and a pair of bass-boosting passive radiators.
Play It Loud, Play It Long: Improved electronics, including a new digital signal processing algorithm, are said to enable the speaker to play louder than its predecessor, while the rechargeable lithium-ion battery keeps the tunes crankin’ for up to 14 hours. Want to personalize the speaker? Bose offers a $35 accessory cover in gray, blue, orange, green, and…yes…hot pink. Price: $300
Bose • (800) 999-2673 • bose.com

Elite Starling Tension Screens
There’s nothing quite like watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster on a gargantuan 100-plus-inch screen at home—and it gets even better when you can make that screen disappear. Elite’s retractable Starling tension screens ship fully assembled with a range of control options, including integrated up/down buttons, IR (infrared) and RF (radio frequency) remotes, a 12-volt trigger, and an RS-232 port. The screen is raised and lowered by a “quiet” 110-volt/38-watt synchronous motor with built-in overheat protection.
Feel the Tension: All screens are 16:9 and use Elite’s Spectra White FG material, featuring a 1.1-gain matte-white surface with black backing to eliminate light penetration; the material is also fiberglass-backed and has tension tabs to keep the screen flat. Price: 100-inch ($569), 120-inch ($669), 135-inch ($809), 150-inch ($949)
Elite Screens • (877) 511-1211 • elitescreens.com

NEAR IG Series Outdoor Speakers
We’re not sure if industrial designer Allen Boothroyd (of Meridian fame) was inspired by the Coneheads, but we do know that NEAR’s IG Series speakers are meant to be installed in- ground (top exposed) yet are attractive enough to be placed in landscaped areas. Models IG5 ($619 ea), IG6 ($779 ea), and IG8 ($859 ea) combine an inverted-dome tweeter with a 5.25-, 6.5-, or 8-inch UDIO (upside down/inside out) woofer with dual voice coils. Ready to rock your backyard casbah? Add the IGS12 subwoofer ($1,599), featuring a 12-inch UDIO driver.
Not Fade Away: All models are designed to rigorous standards for durability and exposure to humidity, salt air, heat, cold, and water (as in immersion). Speaker enclosures are made of “color-through” polyethylene, which is said to resist fading.
NEAR • (855) 350-6327 • nearspeakers.com