Home theater

I've always been a big fan of Denon receivers' sound quality, but now the company's really getting serious about headphones. Yes, it's made headphones for years, including some really nice ones, so I was unprepared for the radical rethinking of Denon's headphone line. I was treated to an advance preview of upcoming Denon, Marantz, and Boston Acoustics products on Tuesday in Mahwah, N.J.… Read more

Many sound bars offer a shockingly small number of inputs, with often just a single digital and analog audio input on the back to handle your gear. That's hardly enough for a modern home theater packed with a DVR, game console, Blu-ray player, and streaming-media box.

Luckily, you can get around your sound bar's limited selection of inputs by using your TV as a switcher. You'll be able to connect as many devices as your TV supports, and it will even simplify the input selection process.

Here's how to do it:… Read more

At the end of May, Onkyo will start selling Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel music downloads, first in Japan, and by the fall of this year worldwide. That's either a brave or foolhardy move.

Multichannel music formats -- starting with quadraphonic LPs and tapes in the early 1970s, DTS encoded surround CDs in the 1990s, and DVD Audio and SACD in the early 2000s -- have all suffered from a lack of consumer demand. Very, very few surround releases were initially recorded in surround; most rock and jazz titles are remixed from older stereo recordings. The Blu-ray format has now … Read more

Audiophiliac readers have strong opinions about the gear I cover in this blog, so last month I asked for Readers' Choice nominations in a variety of categories, including headphones, speakers, receivers, etc.. I've sorted through all the comments, and here's what I found: there's a wide range of gear you love, but it was in the headphone category where the clearest winners stood out.

The Klipsch Image S4 in-ear headphones were the single most popular product in the survey, you people really love 'em! Grado SR60, SR80, and SR225 full-size headphones also drew raves, and Koss' PortaPro … Read more

Long before Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to found Facebook, Last.fm allowed music fans to keep an online record of the music they had been listening to in all sorts of music players, including iTunes, Winamp, and more. Last.fm's feature for this is called "scrobbling," based on the fact that it had acquired a company called AudioScrobbler in order to add it.

Now, Facebook does pretty much the same thing (except for with iTunes). All you have to do to send your playback history to your Facebook Timeline is use your Facebook identity to … Read more

Salamander Designs offers a vast range of quality audio-video entertainment furniture, and has recently expanded its Chameleon Collection of corner-style and extrawide cabinets.

Salamander's four-door Quad cabinets are designed to accommodate today's large flat-panel TVs, both visually and structurally. New product offerings include contemporary and traditional styles.

The corner cabinets are available in nine different styles, including 20-inch- and 30-inch-high versions and a 30-inch-high version with grillework designed to conceal a center-channel speaker. Salamander AV cabinets are available in a vast array of woods and configurations. The cabinets are built with premium-grade materials and construction techniques. Salamander's … Read more

Let's say you've had your HDTV for a few years now. Let's say you can't stop reading new TV reviews. Let's say you find excuses to stop at Best Buy to stare at the wall.

OK, you want a new TV. No problem. But do you need a new TV? Are the current models really that much better than what you have?

Let's take a look.… Read more

Audiophiliac readers have strong opinions about the gear I write about every day; now it's your turn to spread the word about your favorite audio products. Nominate your picks for best speakers, in as many categories as you want: iPod speakers, sound bars, desktop, bookshelf, tower, high-end, subwoofers, home theater, etc.

I'm also seeking nominations for headphones of all types: universal-fit in-ears, custom-molded in-ears, DJ, Bluetooth, full-size on- and over-the-ear headphones, studio headphones, noise-canceling headphones. How about receivers? Stereo and home theater receivers, or integrated amplifiers, as well as turntables, CD players, iPods, and other types of music … Read more

Bluetooth speakers are finally becoming more abundant, allowing you to wirelessly stream music from your phone or tablet. No docking stations, no auxilary cables. Ahh, freedom.

Ready-to-go Bluetooth speakers are convenient, but what if you already own speakers that you know and love? With Logitech's adapter, you can add Bluetooth streaming to just about any speaker for just $40.

A plug-and-play solution, the Logitech Wireless Speaker Adapter acts as a bridge between your existing speakers and your Bluetooth-capable phone, tablet, or computer. Here's how it works:

As with any wireless streaming solution, there will be audio compression. Meaning, … Read more