Home theater systems

Hands-on with Unity home theater

During CES, I got a chance to hook up with Engage, the company behind Unity, a well-built home theater system.

Unity is the brainchild of Todd Beauchamp, an ex-Apple audio engineer (he worked closely on iPhone acoustics, for example) and Mike Fidler, an individual with a strong marketing and engineering background in Sony.

The sound system looks familiar because it has a design similar to the many sound bar and subwoofer combos out there, but stacked on top of each other. Unlike most sound bars, Unity's modular design has a depth to it that can support a 60-inch TV.

I quickly learned that the idea is a "system that can be set up in little as 15 minutes," Beauchamp said enthusiastically. You can tell that a lot of time and dedication went into the first version of the home theater and future versions could be compelling as the design evolves. … Read more

LG's Blu-ray home theater systems bet big on wireless rear speakers

LAS VEGAS--LG's latest batch of home theater systems will make it tough for other manufacturers to treat wireless rear speakers as a premium feature.

LG announced four new home Blu-ray theater systems this morning at CES 2012, with all but the entry-level BH6720S featuring wireless rear speakers. That's a big shift from years past, when wireless rear speakers were typically only available on the flagship model.

The major features break down like this:

LG BH6720S: Smart TV + Wi-Fi + 3D LG BH6820SW: Smart TV + Wi-Fi + 3D + wireless rear speakers LG BH9220BW: Smart TV + Wi-Fi + 3D + wireless rear speakers + Bluetooth + &… Read more

Samsung's Blu-ray home theater systems get tubes, cloud DVD storage

Samsung's audio announcements yesterday included an innovative sound bar and tube-based iPod speakers, the company also rolled out its new line-up of all-in-one Blu-ray home theater systems.

Two new systems were announced, the HT-E6730W and HT-E5500W, both with a similar set of core features, including built-in 3D Blu-ray, hybrid vacuum tube amplifiers, built-in Wi-Fi, and Samsung Apps.

The higher end HT-E6730W is a 5.1 home theater system features two tall-boy front speaker, while the HT-E5500W has smaller, bookshelf front speakers. The press release mentions that the HT-E5500W has two HDMI inputs and an iPod dock; it's … Read more

How to amplify the dialogue from your HDTV (Morrison's Mailbag)

CNET reader John asks:

I am a senior. My hearing abilities are deteriorating and I expect there are a lot of others with the same problem. Background music in a lot of programming drowns out the voice. Higher frequency and soft voices are more difficult to understand.

I would like to know if there is any way to control the audio portion of a HD cable TV signal? Would a home theater sound system give you any control?

I know I may require hearing aids eventually but was wondering about an interim solution. If control is not an option, would headphones work?

Thanks for your help, John

I can't speak to the question of hearing aids, but as far as TV audio is concerned, it's not entirely your ears.

The problem is: all TV speakers are crap. Many people can't hear dialogue from their TV speakers. Fortunately, there are several solutions.… Read more