As much fun as a monster truck and almost as imposing (but with better bass), the Klipsch RF-83 home theater speaker system is big, heavy, and powerful. It's also unusual in a couple of ways.
Q. I recently bought a 42-inch LCD that I'd like to mount over my gas fireplace. The bottom of the monitor will be 27 inches from the top of the fireplace. The fireplace has a small heat deflector built into it, and there will also be a mantel 8 inches wide mounted about 6 inches below the monitor.
Powerful portable speakers can transform a digital music player into a stereo system or change a personal video player into an on-the-go mini-cinema. The speakers shown here look good, sound better than you'd think by looking at them, and are surprisingly inexpensive. I sampled JBL's latest gear while at CEDIA.
For my money, the first-generation shuffle was the most boring iPod ever. Somehow, though, the absence of a screen seems more forgivable when the player shrinks to the size of a slightly obese postage stamp. That's the second-generation iPod shuffle and it shipped today after having been announced in September. It runs its one gigabyte of flash memory for 12 hours per charge. The one available color is silver and the price is $79. Even those of us who already have an iPod (I'm trying to hold the line at one) may be sorely tempted to add another one. You might want to keep one in your other suit. Or your second-favorite handbag. Or in all dozen pairs of faded, ripped, stained Levis. Or something.
Custom installers might disagree on things like the best speakers and the slickest control interface, but they all agree that the place to see the latest and greatest gear is the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association's annual Expo.
John Chance was a typical Sound & Vision reader - at least, until a year ago. That's when he turned his love of A/V gear and do-it-yourself projects into a custom-installation business. Back in 2002, this New York City fireman designed and built an addition for his house that included a home theater.
