OTHER TECH

Among the Kenwood's goodies are the much lauded Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo:6 processing modes and a profusion of digital inputs (seven optical and seven coaxial, to be exact). Ranada was also impressed by the receiver's flexible and easy to use touchscreen remote, which operates on radio frequencies so you don't have to be in line of sight to use it.

While the Kenwood receiver has "excellent" bass management for Dolby Digital and DTS playback, it can't do the same for DVD-Audio and SACD playback (but neither can any other receiver we know of). For that you'll need Outlaw Audio's Integrated Controlled Bass Manager ($249, reviewed in November 2001). David Ranada not only praised its "superb audio performance," but he pointed out that it can let you (or that wealthier-by-the-minute installer) do super-tweaky stuff like independently set the high-pass crossover frequency for each channel in your system.

The kind of epic-scale system you're after demands big speakers - both big sounding and physically big. The Klipsch Reference Series system ($6,600, reviewed in May) more than fits both halves of that bill. Made up of the RF-7 left/right front tower speakers, the RC-7 center speaker, the RS-7 surround speakers, and the RSW-15 subwoofer, it promises to produce full-sounding audio in even the largest home theaters. And since you've made it clear you've got both money and room to burn, why not set your system up for 6.1-channel playback with not one but two powerful RS-7 speakers for the back surround position?

Daniel Kumin said that this "terrific" system delivered "fine detail and fully integrated surround sound . . . at any volume I could stand." But the Klipsch system isn't just about pumping out big sound. Its trademark horn drivers for the upper frequencies also allow it to excel at making the "inner" elements of recordings "somehow more immediate, more clear-edged." Kumin concluded that "you'll need a pretty large room to fully appreciate - and even to comfortably situate -the Klipsch Reference Series array. We're talking big-time performance here - in a big way."

But you don't want your speakers to dwarf your TV, of course, and any home theater nut is going to want the biggest possible picture anyway. Enter Mitsubishi's 73-inch WS-73909 rear-projection HDTV ($10,499, reviewed in February/March). Al Griffin was "startled by how good the picture was straight out of the box." Watching a high-def episode of JAG he'd taped on the Mitsubishi digital VCR, Griffin said that the "actors looked nearly life-size on the 73-inch widescreen set, and the textures of the plants, flowers, and trees lining the JAG base came through with incredible clarity."

But the WS-73909 is way more than just another big-screen TV. Its NetCommand system allows you to use the TV as a control center. "Having the ability both to control my camcorder and to effortlessly program the VCR through the TV's menu system was cool," said Griffin, "but what really blew me away about NetCommand was how seamlessly it integrated the non-FireWire components in my system." He concluded by calling the Mitsubishi set "the most sophisticated HDTV available."

A state-of-the-art system that's big, bold, and beautiful. It doesn't get any better than that.