Latest Additions


  • New Top Picks section reveals the best gear HT's reviewed.
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  • The Emotiva X-Ref XRC-5.2 speaker system is a tremendous value.
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  • Do you buy HT gear online or in-store? Readers weigh in & sound off.
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  • HT's Top Picks of 2011 are the best of the best we reviewed last year.
    • Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 55 Speaker System
    Compact Speaker Reviews
    Darryl Wilkinson • May 16, 2012 • 1 comments

    StudioMonitor 55 Speakers
    Performance
    Build Quality
    Value
     
    SuperCube 6000 subwoofer
    Performance
    Features
    Build Quality
    Value
    Price: $2,494 At A Glance: Top-mounted, passive radiator • Dual binding posts • Enhanced phase plug

    Whether you think a decade is a long or a short period of time depends on your perspective. If you’re discussing cosmology with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the word “decade” probably won’t even make it into the conversation. If you’re Apple, you crank out more than 300 million iPods in that period of time. If you’re a momma elephant with a particularly frisky elephant husband who likes to party, you might be able to birth five elephant progeny. (Although the stretch marks will simply be impossible to get rid of after that third one, no matter what exercise club you sign up with.) At the Glenmorangie distillery in the Scottish Highlands, you’re trying to decide whether or not to bottle the batch of single-malt scotch that’s been aging in the barrels for the last decade or to wait another eight years and ship out cases of Glenmorangie 18 Years Old instead. But if you’re Definitive Technology, you take your sweet time and eventually come out with…wait for it…three (as in one more than two) totally redesigned monitor speakers.

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    Matching Front and Surround Speakers
    Ask Home Theater
    Scott Wilkinson • May 16, 2012 • 1 comments
    I've heard you say, "Make sure your surround speakers are the same brand as the fronts." I have Hsu Research speakers for the front left, right, and center, Axiom dipole surrounds, and a JBL 12-inch subwoofer. I've been told by lots of audio geeks that I don't need to match the surrounds to the fronts. But after I heard what you said, I got confused. Help!

    Mark Hudson

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    Podcast 111: Juergen Herre
    Home Theater Geeks Podcast
    Scott Wilkinson • May 15, 2012 • 0 comments
    Juergen Herre, chief scientist at Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits and professor at Erlangen University in Germany, discusses the development of the MP3 audio format (technically called MPEG-1 Layer 3), how lossy audio codecs work using psychoacoustics, how higher bitrates yield higher audio quality, constant versus variable bitrates, more recent audio codecs such as MPEG-2 AAC and surround MP3, 3D audio, object-oriented audio, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

    Run Time: 1:02:14

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    Mile-High DIY
    AV Interiors DIY
    Robert Roberts • May 14, 2012 • 4 comments
    Photos: Sarah Fischer

    Like most readers, I always dreamed of having my own dedicated space for a home theater. Unfortunately, while living in Southern California, we never had enough space. Then came a job opportunity in the beautiful state of Colorado, and our new home had a basement that was the perfect size and location for a home theater. I have a demanding job in the aerospace industry, so my available time to work on the theater was extremely limited. The process of design, prep, construction, and finishing took about two and a half years to complete. Outside of blowing insulation into the walls and ceiling and installing the carpet, I did all the work myself.

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    Large TV for Well-Lit Room
    Ask Home Theater
    Scott Wilkinson • May 14, 2012 • 12 comments
    I would like to buy a TV with a 65-inch or larger screen. My budget is $3000 to $4000. Unfortunately, the room it will be in is very bright with a 15-foot floor-to-ceiling glass window behind the set facing east. I watch a few DVDs, but mostly just cable TV in HD when available; 3D is not important to me. Obviously, I am concerned about light reflection off the screen. What do you suggest?

    Orrin

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    What Is Your Downstream Bandwidth?
    Vote
    Scott Wilkinson • May 11, 2012 • 26 comments
    In this week's Home Theater Geeks podcast, Boxee co-founder and CEO Avner Ronen talks about the new paradigm of streaming TV. Of course, the image and sound quality depend greatly on how much downstream bandwidth you have—for 720p, many people recommend at least 3 to 4 megabits per second (Mbps), while 1080p normally requires 6 Mbps or more. (Vudu specifies 2.25 Mbps for 720p and 4.5 Mbps for its HDX 1080p stream.)

    Which leads me to ask, what is the downstream bandwidth in your home? If you don't know, there are several websites that let you measure it, both downstream and upstream; I use speedtest.net, which yielded the results shown above at my home, where Charter Cable provides my Internet access. If you know how much bandwidth you're paying for, you might want to verify it. Also, I'd love to know if your broadband Internet access is provided by DSL, cable, or another service—my impression is that cable is generally faster than DSL—so please leave a comment about that if you would be so kind.

    Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

    What Is Your Downstream Bandwidth?
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    Runco QuantumColor Q-650i LED-DLP Projector
    Projector Reviews
    Thomas J. Norton • May 10, 2012 • Published: May 10, 2012 • 2 comments

    Performance
    Features
    Ergonomics
    Value
    Price: $10,000 At A Glance: Superb resolution • Excellent color • Top-class video processing

    Projection lamps: Can’t live without ’em, can’t shoot ’em. Until recently, that is.

    Projection lamps are slow to turn on and off, hot, often unstable, and have a nasty habit of getting dimmer with age, while their color balance deteriorates. If you’re fussy about your video—and if you’re reading this review you should be—the 2,000-hour useful lifetime that’s usually specified (to half brightness) for projection lamps will likely be closer to 1,000 hours or less. With a replacement averaging around $400, that’s about $0.40 per hour of use, not including the bottom line on your electric bill.

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    Display Setup for Newbies
    Ask Home Theater
    Scott Wilkinson • May 10, 2012 • 6 comments
    I just bought a Mitsubishi WD-Y657 65-inch DLP rear-projection TV in perfect condition for $300. I've tried to find the best picture settings online, but I can't find anything for this model. Can you provide any help or suggest a good setup disc? Hopefully something easy to use, as I'm fairly new at this.

    Cody Lacroix

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    Netgear NeoTV NTV200 Streaming Player
    Media Server Reviews
    Kim Wilson • May 09, 2012 • 3 comments

    Performance
    Features
    Ergonomics
    Value
    Price: $50 At a Glance: Streams a wide variety of content from various paid and free services • Easy setup • Built-in Wi-Fi • Small, compact form factor • Control device with free iPhone or Android app

    With so many TVs and BD players offering streaming services these days, I didn’t think there would be a lot of demand for standalone units; yet, they keep coming, presumably for those still watching older equipment without this feature. When evaluating these units, the most important aspects are the services and channels provided, along with the user interface. The actual streaming quality is dependent on your Internet connection (which Netgear suggests should be no less than 3-4 Mbps for 720p, though I’d say 6 Mbps is safe for 1080p).

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    Home Theater Loft
    AV Interiors
    Kim Wilson • May 08, 2012 • 13 comments
    Photos Chris Woolman

    What do you do with an underused loft space? Why, turn it into a dedicated home theater, of course! That was the challenge entrusted to Wilshire Home Entertainment of Thousands Oaks, California. The open, 400-square-foot loft required an enclosure and special acoustical materials to prevent sound leakage. The project included a new, custom staircase and the preservation of a large bay window that extends from the bottom floor to the ceiling of the second floor. It wasn’t possible to just remove it in the loft area, so it is still located behind the drop-down screen. When the theater is in use, Lutron motorized blackout shades block the light.

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