The Dreadnaught (reviewed in our Oct-ober 2000 issue) was the first power amplifier from Theta Digital, a company previously known for its D/A converters, CD and DVD transports, and surround processors. But it wasn't to be the last. The Dreadnaught II is now a member of a growing family of Theta amplifiers—the premier multichannel design in a line that also includes high-end monoblocks.
Photo by Tony Cordoza The trouble with storing a massive music library on your computer is obvious: it's on your computer! To hear those MP3 or WMA (Windows Media Audio) files on the killer sound system in your living room, you need to jump through hoops.
Photos by Tony Cordoza The model numbers for Harman Kardon's latest line of A/V receivers recall those the company used for receivers it introduced some 20 years ago, and I'm betting that's no accident. Back then, HK scored a solid hit with a compact, simple, affordable stereo receiver called the 330C that was modestly powered but provided consistently good sound.
Pioneer's latest isn't just a plasma, it's an HDTV.
For a display to be called an HDTV, it has to have a built-in ATSC tuner. Many of the RPTVs in last month's Face Off were so equipped, but Pioneer's Elite PRO-1110HD is the first plasma we've reviewed that has one. It seems so simple, especially when you consider that this plasma (like others) has an external box for all of its inputs. How hard could it be to stick a tuner in there? Shoehorns are cheap. In fact, Pioneer has included ATSC tuners in all four of their new plasma sets.
If you're like me, you're sick and tired of format wars. When will these companies learn that having to choose between formats only leads to consumer frustration and, sometimes, outright rebellion? Perhaps this is why DVD-Audio and SACD have not taken off like their proponents might have wished. And perhaps this is why several companies have introduced universal players that will play both formats in addition to DVD-Video and good ol' CD.
It must be something of a conundrum for speaker designers: Today's buyers are demanding more and more from smaller and smaller speakers. The designers' incredible shrinking speakers work their mojo with ever-more-innovative cabinet designs, and their high-tech drivers push the performance envelope. At least that's what they tell me. No doubt some of their more-extreme claims are jive techno babble, but that's OK—the sonic truth will inevitably be laid bare when the pedal hits the metal on the Fast and the Furious DVD. The pint-size speakers better deliver the goods. . .or else.
Another contender emerges among entry-level separates.
In case you hadn't noticed, the bell has rung, and the blows are flying in the $3,000-to-$5,000 range for electronics systems (i.e., preamplification, processing, and amplification). It's easy to characterize this as a melee between receivers and separates, which is a key component of what we're seeing at this price level. Receivers are sounding better and getting more expensive; separates are getting more user-friendly, offering more features, and dropping in price.
Sony is angling for a big slice of the home theater market with its new product lineup. At a late February retailers' showcase held in New York, the manufacturing giant trotted out no fewer than 12 new integrated HDTV sets and two new high-definition digital video recorders.
Format wars got you down? Steven Stone settles in with the <A HREF="/dvdplayers/104lexicon">Lexicon RT-10 universal disc player</A> to see if you can have it all in one box. As SS notes, the RT-10 performs well with "All discs great and small."
HD-DVD is ahead by a nose in its race against Blu-ray. On Wednesday, February 25, the 20-member steering committee of the DVD Forum voted to approve technology developed by Toshiba and NEC for use in the coming generation of high density/high definition DVD recorders.