LATEST ADDITIONS

Ears On
Networks Fight FCC Indecency Fines
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 19, 2006
ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC are challenging the Federal Communications Commission's "indecency" enforcement in federal court. They state: “We are seeking to overturn the FCC decisions that the broadcast of fleeting, isolated—and in some cases unintentional—words rendered these programs indecent. The FCC overstepped its authority in an attempt to regulate content protected by the First Amendment, acted arbitrarily and failed to provide broadcasters with a clear and consistent standard for determining what content is indecent. Furthermore, the FCC rulings underscore the inherent problem in growing government control over what viewers should and shouldn’t see on television. Parents currently have the ability to control and block programming they deem inappropriate...." The Parents Television Council fired back, calling the suit "utterly shameless." Programs involved include ABC's N.Y.P.D. Blue, CBS's The Early Show, and Fox's telecast of the Billboard Music Awards. Under new-ish chairman Kevin Martin the FCC has recently levied $4 million in new fines and revamped its website to encourage more, uh, public participation.
Continue Reading »
Media Server Reviews
Video Without Boundaries MediaREADY 5000
Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 18, 2006  |  First Published: Apr 19, 2006
READY or not, here comes another PC for the HT.

PCs and home theaters have long posed the old square-peg/round-hole quandary to consumers, as the fundamental incongruities have slowed the adoption of potentially sophisticated, versatile computer gear into the living room. Expanded functionality brings with it an increased level of complexity that more proactive, simplified operating systems like Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition have only begun to address. Of course, the hardware itself needs to be powerful enough to provide a glitch-free user experience, as well.

Continue Reading »
Home Theater Systems Reviews
GPX HTD2204 HTIB
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Apr 18, 2006  |  First Published: Apr 19, 2006
Excelling at being cheap.

One of the several local electronics stores within throwing distance from our studio is a chain called Fry's Electronics. It is a nerd's heaven, a kind of Best Buy, CompUSA, and a local computer repair shop all thrown in a Cuisinart. Every week, the much-heralded Fry's ad announces what loss leaders they will have on sale that week. This could be a $99 computer, a $20 hard drive, a $1,000 plasma, or really anything that they have only two of that they can sell quick and use to sucker people into coming to the store. Their regular sales can be pretty good, too. For example, this home-theater-in-a-box, complete with a subwoofer and a progressive-scan DVD player, was only $60. They also had an interlace-only model for $47, but I mean come on, this is a home-theater-in-a-box we're talking about here. Lets not be cheap.

Continue Reading »
AV Receiver Reviews
Sherwood Newcastle R-965 A/V Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 18, 2006  |  First Published: Apr 19, 2006
The great gray lady.

Consumer expectations are a pointed stick. You can almost hear manufacturers of surround receivers going, "Ow, ow, ow! Do you really expect us to provide seven amp channels and a silicon forest of surround modes—and make it all easy to set up?" Yes, yes, and yes.

Continue Reading »
Tower Speaker Reviews
Crystal Acoustics TX-D12 Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 18, 2006  |  First Published: Apr 19, 2006
All the THX in China.

First-generation THX blossomed in the high-end sphere. The first companies to make THX-certified speakers were already making great ones, with or without certification. Even now, the list of THX speaker makers reads like an industry honor roll. That list is now one name longer.

Continue Reading »
Ears On
Don't Dump CDs—Dump Jewelboxes
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 18, 2006
Yesterday's item about the dumping of CDs reminded me of a bit of future-proofing I masterminded awhile ago. I'd just set up some new CD shelves but was already dreading the day when my 2400-disc storage capacity would finally run out. So I bought four jumbo CaseLogic CD wallets. Each one holds 264 discs—or half that many if I decide to keep the booklets alongside the discs—so eventually my least significant thousand discs will find new homes there. The mere thought of dumping several shopping bags full of jewelboxes in the plastics-recycling bin brings a smile to my face. Since then CaseLogic has introduced an even bigger model holding 320 discs.
Continue Reading »
HDTV Tech
There's HDTV In Them Thar Hills
Peter Putman  |  Apr 17, 2006  |  First Published: Apr 17, 2005
UAV editor Tom Norton Gets Hooked Up for Broadcast HDTV
Continue Reading »
Geoffrey Morrison Blog
New Feature: Galleries!
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Apr 17, 2006
We are proud to announce the second new feature this month: Reader Galleries. Here you can post pictures of your theater, comment on other peoples, and more. Thanks to the people who posted over the weekend so we had a few theaters up there already. Go check it out!.
Continue Reading »
A/V Veteran
Vote Now!
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 17, 2006

After an extended absence, our popular opinion poll is back!
<I>
To check it out, either click on the "Vote" section in the link line just below the <I>Ultimate AV</I> logo on the top of our home page, or go directly there from <A HREF=" http://cgi.ultimateavmag.com/cgi-bin/displayvote.cgi">here</A>.

Continue Reading »
Ears On
CDs Are Being Dumped
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 17, 2006
Hard-copy music libraries are becoming passé, at least across the pond. eBay surveyed 1000 households in the U.K. and found that £17.2 billion, with a b, worth of CDs will have been ripped to MP3 by year-end. What's happening to them? The Guardian reports that charity shops are being "inundated with donated CDs, as more and more people trim their collections—or even get rid of them altogether to free up space." Of course, for those of us who like our music uncompressed, or just want to stay up to date with the latest codec, this avalanche of cheap CDs is a buying opportunity reminiscent of the days when faddish listeners dumped perfectly good LPs. Do you really want to eviscerate your music library? Go ahead, make my day!
Continue Reading »

Pages

X