Recently Filed in Reviews

The Aperion Audio Bravus 10D is an attractive, potent little subwoofer at a reasonable price. It certainly doesn’t have the output and extension of its larger peers, but that’s a tradeoff one must live with if they want a small box to better blend into their room décor. Given the diminutive size of the 10D, it would be easy to place two of these in most family rooms without drawing much attention to them. There should be no excuses for NOT setting up dual subs… View this story
Speakers • Subwoofers • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

Budget Blu-ray Disc players often seem to offer capable BD playback and a multitude of ancillary features, yet skimp on playback of the bulk of most enthusiasts’ media library: the standard-definition DVD. JVC’s first foray into the Blu-ray Disc player market, on the other hand, takes the road less traveled. Instead of playing the buzz-word feature set game, JVC’s XV-BP1 player is all about performance of core features like disc load speed, audio decoding, and scaling DVD playback.  The XV-BP1 does maintain a functional set… View this story
Blu-ray • Reviews • Product News

Thanks to a recent Best Buy-Panasonic partnership, the first 3D bundles are starting to trickle out. Our friends at HDGuru.com were lucky enough to spend some time with Best Buy and Magnolia’s flagship 3D package. (Read entire review) The package consists of the Panasonic TCP-50VT20 50-inch plasma, DMP-BT300 Blu-ray player, and one pair of active shutter 3D glasses (with additional pairs available for $149 each). These are derivative models exclusive to Best Buy and Magnolia, but nearly identical to the 50VT25 display and BT350 disc… View this story
Displays • Flat Panel • Plasma • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

Optoma has upped the bar with its release of the HD20 DLP Projector. This $999 projector is full 1080p, has more than enough inputs for most applications, and gets you into a front projection system for an unbeatable price. Value shop for a power retractable screen and a mount and you’re only out around $1700. I know lots of people who have paid that (and more) for a 50-inch flat-panel TV. Build The Optoma HD20 is white, has a lens cover, security bar (for locking… View this story
Displays • Front Projection • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

DVD, surround sound, HDTV, Blu-ray and streaming media have kept the home theater category growing for years. The final element has been added with anamorphic lens systems and companion 2.40:1 screens. CinemaScope was an expensive upgrade option that few could afford a few years ago when it was introduced. Since that time, however, Panamorph has promoted its retrofittable, more affordable fixed lens and automated lens solutions, helping folks make the transition from 1.78:1 to CinemaScope. It’s also something that intrepid DIYers like those on the… View this story
Front Projection • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

The electronics and computer industries are merging and products like Sunfire’s Theater Grand Media Server (TGM) line are becoming increasingly important. The servers join Sunfire’s existing lines of amplifiers, preamplifier/processors, subwoofers and A/V receivers to round out the product platform. Sunfire sent me its TGM-100 server ($5,920) and a TGM-HD1 ($580) external hard drive. The TGM is pretty much a standard size A/V component. Its front panel is simple with just a slot-loaded DVD/CD player opening and an on/off button. The server’s rear panel features… View this story
Digital Media Servers • Multiroom Video • Reviews • Product News

Stewart Filmscreen has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to projection screens - like its CineCurve that’s made super-wide CinemaScope theater setups more common. The new Cabaret Screen focuses more on style than ‘Scope, while not compromising performance for aesthetics. The Cabaret was designed especially for those with a brightly lit media environment rather than a dark dedicated theater. Stewart offers the motorized screen in an array of sizes, shapes, materials, mounting scenarios and bezel colors. The Cabaret even features complementary LED… View this story
Video Screen • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

Every time we’ve review a product from Aperion Audio, we’ve found it to be an exceptional value with incredible build quality. The Intimus 6T-DB Hybrid XD is the best 5.1 system Aperion Audio has to offer and drives it hard to see if it can stand up under fire. Build Quality, Features One of the first things anyone will notice about Aperion Audio speakers is the weight. They are heavy. Made from 1-inch-thick HDF (high-density fiberboard), these speakers pass the “knock test” with flying colors… View this story
Speakers • Speaker Systems • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

There’s been a lot of focus lately on “green” technologies. Topping the list is LED lighting, which, over the past couple of years, has been applied to display devices, including a new generation of projectors. The SIM2 Grand Cinema MICO 50, which is already shipping, was one of the first projectors in the residential market to include LED technology. Over the past few weeks, I tried out the MICO 50 with a 1.78 unity-gain screen from Screen Research, as well as a 2.40 Stewart Filmscreen… View this story
Displays • Video Projectors • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

With home theater subwoofers it is said that any particular design can maintain a small footprint, be acoustically efficient, and inexpensive … but you can usually only pick two. Subwoofer design is obviously much more complex than this, with tradeoffs between enclosure types, driver designs, amplification requirements, and overall design goals all being thrown into the proverbial blender hundreds of times before a final product is derived. But final products usually do end up following that two-of-three rule. When Elemental Design was drafting the A5-350,… View this story
Subwoofers • Reviews • Audio • Product News

Velodyne has once again demonstrated it could provide the most amount of bass per square inch that the laws of physics would allow. I love seeing the reaction when people sit down to hear my computer system, not realizing there is a MicroVee Subwoofer hidden behind my trash can providing all the low end boom. It blended well with my desktop system, transforming its sheer depth and soundstage by providing the much needed low end extension my small speakers were incapable of producing. If your… View this story
Speakers • Subwoofers • Reviews • Product News

It seems the last thing people want is the components of their home theater system to be in plain sight. Rotel isn’t so sure of that. The company’s RSX-1560 surround-sound receiver makes a bold statement—and not just in performance. The brushed silver finish, along with understated and symmetrical hard buttons, blue backlighting and slim on-screen display make for a striking package. Unlike traditional black-box electronics, this is a receiver to show off. Just leave enough room—at 7 inches high it’s bolder than most receivers in… View this story
Receivers • Reviews • Audio • Product News