Audio Video News

San Francisco, CA—May 2003—The editors of Home Theater magazine are proud to announce the winners of their first annual Recognizing Audio Video Excellence (RAVE) Awards. The RAVE awards are open to all manufacturers whose components are reviewed in Home Theater magazine in the 12-month period ending the preceding April.

Winners will receive their awards each year, during a celebration to be held at the Home Entertainment Show. This year, at HE2003, the RAVE awards will be presented on Friday night, June 6, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Windsor Suite at the Westin–St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, California.

Each winner is chosen based solely on feedback from the writer who reviewed the product in Home Theater. The reviewer will have spent, on average, at least one month with the product, and will have based his decision on performance, value, ergonomics, and features.

Commented Editor Maureen Jenson, "The Home Theater team feels it is important to recognize excellence in the design and manufacture of superior audio and video components. I asked the reviewers to nominate gear that, after having spent weeks testing, they had a tough time shipping back to the manufacturer—equipment the reviewers loved so much they wanted to keep it for themselves." The following is the full list of the 2003 RAVE Award winners:

Product of the Year
Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai Universal Disc Player

Best Plasma HD Monitor
Fujitsu PDS-5002

Best Direct-View Display
Sony KV-34XBR800 HD Monitor

Best Rear-Projection Display
Mitsubishi WS-73711 73-inch HDTV

Best DLP Projector
PLUS Piano Avanti HE-3200

Best HD-Capable Projection System
NEC HT1000 DLP Projector

Best High-End Speaker System
MartinLogan Odyssey

Best Mid-Level Speaker System
NHT Evolution

Best Entry-Level Speaker System
Infinity Entra

Hot Ticket Value Speaker System
Athena Point 5

Best High-End Preamplifier-Processor
Meridian 568.2

Best Mid-Level Preamplifier-Processor
Krell Showcase

Best Entry-Level Preamplifier-Processor
Anthem AVM 20

Best High-End Power Amplifier
Lexicon LX-7

Best Mid-Level Power Amplifier
ATI AT2007

Best Entry-Level Power Amplifier
Anthem PVA 7

Best High-End A/V Receiver
Denon AVR-5803

Best Mid-Level A/V Receiver
Rotel RSX-1065

Best Entry-Level A/V Receiver
Sony STR-DA3ES

Best High-End DVD Player
Meridian 598

Best Budget DVD Player
Samsung DVD-P421

Most Worthy of Its Controversy
SONICblue ReplayTV RTV4000 PVR

Best HTIB
Kenwood/Boston Acoustics Unity

Best Custom Product
Xantech MRC44 Control System

Best Convergence Product
Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Personal Computer Audio System

Hot Gear
Epson PowerLite TW100 LCD Projector

Hot Gear
B&W CDM 9NT Speaker System

Hot Gear
Polk DS7200 A/V System

Hot Gear
Bryston 9B SST THX Amplifier

DVD of the Year
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Platinum Series Extended Edition (New Line)