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 Minx Air 100 Speaker vs. Sonos
SmartStream
At Long Last Love, Adventure Time and House of Cards
Out of the Blu
The VoicePod: You Speak. It Obeys.
Remotely Possible
In Defense of the AVR
Ears On
Michelle McCarthy
 Concessions in Session
CinemaStyle
Latest Additions

Samsung UN75ES9000 3D LCD HDTV
3D Flat Panel Reviews
Tom Norton • Feb 22, 2013 • 4 comments

2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $9,000 At A Glance: Superb resolution and color • Impressive blacks • State-of-the-art 3D

If last year was the year of thin in flat-screen HDTVs, 2013 promises to be the year of big. Seventy may well be the new fifty, and we’re not talking birthdays. While this year’s models are still remarkably thin, now your friends can ooh and ahh while viewing them from the front and not just the sides.

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Aragon Iridium Monoblock: The Signature V Rides Again
Ultimate Tech
Bob Ankosko • Feb 22, 2013 • 0 comments
Gibson has its famous Flying V guitar, the high-end audio community has Aragon’s signature V-notch power amp, introduced 25 years ago in Mondial’s Aragon 4004 amplifier and resurrected in the Iridium Monoblock, flagship of the recently revived Aragon brand.
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Truly Useful Apps: Watching TV on the Second Screen
How To Use
Michael Antonoff • Feb 21, 2013 • 0 comments
So desperate are the networks to keep you cuffed to their shows that they’ve been launching apps for the second screen. Made for the tablets and smartphones to which viewers’ eyes keep darting—often at the expense of the TV screen—these apps are intended to boost fan loyalty.
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Marantz AV8801 Surround Processor & MM8077 Amplifier
Power Amplifier Reviews, Preamp/Processor Reviews
David Vaughn • Feb 20, 2013 • 10 comments

AV8801 Surround Processor
Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
 
MM8077 Amplifier
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: AV8801, $3,599; MM8077, $2,399 At a Glance: Up to 11.2-channel playback with Audyssey DSX and DTS Neo:X Audyssey MultEQ XT32 and Sub EQ HT Apple AirPlay support

As A/V enthusiasts, we are constantly on the lookout for the best audio and video we can find, and when we reach that state of nirvana, we enjoy our equipment until the next CES or CEDIA when we then hear about something new and begin to worry that our system will soon be second best. Writing for Home Theater makes me an unwilling accomplice in this never-ending cycle of upgrade-itis, but truth be told, I’m just as affected by this as the rest of you. Thankfully, I’m able to get my fix by having lots of equipment moving through my rack, but every now and then, I fall in love with a piece and don’t want it to leave my possession.

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Circuit boards Out, Meta–boards In?
News
Mark Fleischmann • Feb 19, 2013 • 0 comments
Conventional circuit boards and their metallic tentacles may be on their way out—someday. Scientists at Oxford University have developed a new kind of sealed “metaboard” by embedding copper coils into a conductive layer. This meta- board can transfer data and power using magneto-inductive waves instead of wires.
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School of Rock
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
David Vaughn • Feb 19, 2013 • 0 comments
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
Kicked out of his band and desperate for work, Dewey Finn intercepts a call meant for his roommate and lands an extended gig as a substitute teacher at Horace Green Elementary, a $15,000-per-year private school in the Northeast. The school’s uptight principal suspects something is amiss when the new teacher is less concerned about the students and is more interested in when the school day ends, but he gets the gig anyway. Dewey’s attitude changes when he hears the kids in their music class and realizes they have some serious potential if he can take them under his wing. He forms his own “classroom band” and involves the entire class with a costume designer, backup singers, security, and even a band manager with two goals in mind—to not get caught by the principal and to win the local Battle of the Bands contest.
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Chico & Rita
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fred Kaplan • Feb 19, 2013 • 1 comments
Picture
Sound
Extras
Chico & Rita is a wonderful movie, a valentine—poignant, sweet, but never sentimental—to Cuban jazz, bebop, and the street scenes of 1940s and ’50s Havana and New York. It’s a sophisticated animation, drawn in an evocative sketch-edged style similar to that of Waltz With Bashir. (It’s based on a graphic novel, a few pages of which are reproduced in the Blu-ray box’s booklet.)
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The Cabin in the Woods
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Shane Buettner • Feb 19, 2013 • 1 comments
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
What a swift kick in the ass! Co-written and produced by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly on TV, The Avengers), The Cabin in the Woods is the most self-aware and gleefully gory comedy-horror flick since the Scream series devolved into a parody of a parody. As I write this, there are probably forums of fanboys aflame, identifying and exchanging the horror movie references throughout. Its plot practically defies description, but the elevator pitch would be Evil Dead meets The Truman Show.
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HT Poll: What Is Your Favorite Music Streaming Service?
Vote
HT Staff • Feb 19, 2013 • 5 comments

We all know that traditional radio and CDs are in decline. Even digital downloads are waning in popularity, giving way to music streaming options from an ever-growing roster of online services. All of which makes us wonder if on-demand music streaming is the Next Big Thing in music listening.

Cast your vote in this week’s HT Poll, and if you don’t see your favorite music service in the list below (we were shocked by how many we found) tell us about the one you like most in the Comments section.

HT Poll: What Is Your Favorite Music Streaming Service?
AOL Radio
0% (3 votes)
Grooveshark
1% (13 votes)
Jango Radio
0% (3 votes)
Last.fm
1% (12 votes)
MOG
7% (71 votes)
Music Unlimited
1% (9 votes)
Napster
0% (1 vote)
Pandora
37% (392 votes)
Pure Connect
0% (1 vote)
Rdio
1% (16 votes)
Rhapsody
4% (40 votes)
Slacker Radio
3% (37 votes)
Songza
2% (19 votes)
Spotify
14% (151 votes)
Stereomood
0% (1 vote)
TuneIn Radio Pro
3% (27 votes)
Turntable.fm
0% (1 vote)
Other
4% (41 votes)
None – I don't stream music
21% (229 votes)
Total votes: 1067
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Are Online Streaming Services the New TV Networks?
SmartStream
Barb Gonzalez • Feb 19, 2013 • Published: Feb 18, 2013 • 0 comments
New original series are being produced by Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and more streaming video companies. Are we making the from broadcast and cable TV to streaming entertainment. Find out more and where to sample non-Netflix subscribers can view "House of Cards."
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