Home//Home Theater/Jun-12/In This Issue
Home Theater|Jun-12PrologueGear Lust EDITOR This month’s number is 77,800. Give or take a few bucks, that’s the total dollar value (list price) of the equipment reviewed in this issue. There are a few reasonably attainable items in that mix. I call your attention to the $2,500 Definitive Technology speaker system based on the company’s remarkable new $299 bookshelf speaker, and a great-sounding, $1,200 Marantz AVR that takes its position near the top of that very competitive $1,000-$1,200 price bracket. I’d mate these two anyday for a kick-ass system that you won’t have to mortgage the house for. Still, the bulk of what you’ll find in what we’ve dubbed our “High-End Dreams Issue” is stuff most of us can, admittedly, only aspire to owning. There’s a clever, surround-friendly analog preamp from Parasound…3 min
Home Theater|Jun-12This Just InPaul McCartney yanked streaming rights for his music from Rhapsody, having previously curbed Spotify as well. He joins Adele, Coldplay, and other artists looking for something better than the chump change streaming services offer artists... Apple’s 30-pin Connector may succumb to the company’s desire to make its products even thinner. This would be bad news to those who have invested in made-foriPod/iPhone/iPad docks and other accessories... SpeakerCraft has licensed H-PAS speaker smarts from Atlantic Technology. Developed by Phil Clements, and already marketed in Atlantic products, H-PAS uses a clever cabinet design to help small-speaker enclosures produce enough bass to blow your socks off... Network Connectivity will be a feature of 60 percent of all home-audio products shipped in 2014, up from 10 percent this year, says a forecast from Futuresource…3 min
Home Theater|Jun-12ITUNES ANYTIME, ANY SPEAKERIt’s great that you have a gazillion songs in your iTunes library. What’s not so great is that, apart from enjoying this amazing collection on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad, you’re stuck with the chintzy little noisemakers tethered to your PC when all you want to do is rock out to the live version of “Midnight Rambler” on a pair of real speakers. That’s where Griffin Technology’s new $150 digital audio amplifier—the Twenty—comes into play. The small, white box makes it possible to stream songs from iTunes (or a music service such as Pandora) to that classic pair of KLH Model Fives in the den down the hall. No need to snake wires under the carpet and through the walls and no need to spring for a new set of…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12GOOGLE TO KC: HERE I COMEIn an age where our appetite for streaming movies, music, games, and other entertainment content is growing exponentially, Kansas City—famous for its Wizard of Oz connection and its own style of jazz and barbecue—may soon be the high-tech envy of the nation. In early February, Google completed the planning phase of its ambitious Google Fiber project and began stringing thousands of miles of fiber-optic cables across the Twin Cities of Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. The cables contain numerous glass fibers, each about as thick as a strand of human hair, that are capable of delivering data at blistering speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second—more than 100 times faster than the Internet service most Americans have access to today. In practical terms, speeds that fast would…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12THE BACK PANELCongratulations to winner Jacob LaFountaine of Helena, Montana, who correctly identified the classic Luxman SQ-38u stereo integrated amplifier featured in our March Back Panel. Jacob will receive a $50 AMC Theatres gift card. For more info, go to amctheatres.com. Our May Back Panel was the Lexicon MC-12 surround processor, but in its original non-HDMI version. This discontinued model has since been replaced by the MC-12HD. Learn more at lexicon.com. All branding has been removed from this month’s Back Panel. Send your guess to editor@hometheater.com with the words June Back Panel in the subject line and your name and town in the body of the email. We’ll pick a winner at random from the correct entries to receive a high-performance, PVC-PC passive volume control from NHT, a $99 value suitable for…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12ALL TOGETHER NOWYou finally bought a big flat panel, but now what? This T-shaped table might be your answer. It offers simple installation—no drilling holes, hiding wires, or stuffing a bulky subwoofer somewhere—and easy operation with just one remote. But even better, this home theater system is said to deliver the kind of sound quality you’d get from higher-end components bought separately. Unity—with its tagline “Zero to 5.1 surround sound in 15 minutes”—is the first product from In2Technologies, a San Jose–based company whose founders include audio engineer and Apple alumni Todd Beauchamp, who worked in product development on the iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Setup is really more like 5 minutes from start to finish, claims Beauchamp. “I can do it in just 4 minutes, but we wanted to add the extra 10-minute…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12COMING ATTRACTIONSIOGEAR 3W3DHD WIRELESS 3D DIGITAL KIT A wireless HDMI kit can be helpful for getting the signal from a cable box or AVR situated in a cabinet, or just across the room, to your primary display or a second TV in another area. IOGear’s entry has two switchable HDMI inputs that pass up to 1080p and 3D video, along with 5.1 digital audio through walls or other solid objects. Range is said to be up to 100 feet in ideal conditions. Remote Friendly: IOGear optimized the 3W3DHD for multiroom use by thoughtfully including an HDMI passthrough in the transmitter for the primary TV, and wireless transmission of IR signals from the second room back to the source components. Price: $280 IOGear • (866) 946-4327 • iogear.com NAD T 187 SURROUND…5 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: PARASOUND HALO P 7 MULTICHANNEL PREAMPLIFIERAnalog frequency response in Tone Off mode: –0.05 dB at 10 Hz –0.01 dB at 20 Hz –0.15 dB at 20 kHz –0.99 dB at 50 kHz Analog frequency response with Tone On, controls zeroed: –0.15 dB at 10 Hz –0.24 dB at 20 Hz –0.49 dB at 20 kHz –1.43 dB at 50 kHz The chart below shows the frequency response of the left channel from balanced input to balanced output in Tone Off mode. Response from the multichannel input to the main output measures–0.05 decibels at 10 hertz–0.01 dB at 20 Hz, –0.08 dB at 20 kilohertz, and –0.56 dB at 50 kHz. The analog THD+N was less than 0.025 percent at 1 kHz with a 100-millivolt input and the volume control set to 86. Crosstalk with a…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Dreaming the Not-Impossible DreamDo you dream in surround sound? Since you’re reading this magazine, the answer is probably yes. Psychiatrists say dreaming is good for you. Thumb through any issue of Home Theater and you’re more likely than not to encounter components, systems, and lavish, dedicated rooms equipped with the latest 4K projectors and high-powered, surround-sound systems that most of us can only dream about. It’s little different in the automobile-enthusiast magazines filled with pages of Ferraris, Maseratis, and Lamborghinis, except that somehow the un-affordables seem to generate greater reader resentment among A/V enthusiasts than among gearheads. I don’t know why, but the letters sections of both generally make that case. Whether you can afford this $34,000 dream system, or even one of its individual components, isn’t the point. These all-new, entry-level models…20 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: MCINTOSH XR100 LOUD SPEAKER SYSTEML/R Sensitivity: 88 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz Center Sensitivity: 86 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz Surround Sensitivity: 83 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close miking of all woofers) frequency response of the XR100 L/R (purple trace), LCR80 center channel (green trace), and XR50 surround (red trace). All passive loudspeakers were measured with grills at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes. The XR100’s listening-window response (a five-point average of axial and +/–15-degree horizontal and vertical responses) measures +1.71/–2.82 decibels from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz. The –3dB point is at 39 Hz, and the –6dB point is at 26 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 3.73 ohms at 8.6 kHz…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: ROTEL RSX-1562 A/V RECEIVERTwo channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 85.6 watts 1% distortion at 124.3 watts Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 85.5 watts 1% distortion at 124.0 watts Seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 84.8 watts 1% distortion at 123.4 watts Analog frequency response in Bypass mode: –1.95 dB at 10 Hz –0.57 dB at 20 Hz –0.58 dB at 20 kHz –4.44 dB at 50 kHz Analog frequency response with signal processing: –2.24 dB at 10 Hz –0.67 dB at 20 Hz –0.59 dB at 20 kHz –44.82 dB at 50 kHz This graph shows that the RSX-1562’s left channel, from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 85.6 watts…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY 55 SPEAKER SYSTEML/R Sensitivity: 88.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz Center Sensitivity: 92 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz Surround Sensitivity: 87 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of the SM55 L/R (purple trace), SC6000 subwoofer (blue trace), CS-8040HD center channel (green trace), and SM45 surround (red trace). All passive loudspeakers were measured with grills at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes. The SM55’s listening-window response (a five-point average of axial and +/–15-degree horizontal and vertical responses) measures +1.66/–3.07 decibels from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz. The –3dB point is at 44 Hz, and the –6dB point is at 40 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 4.67 ohms…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Cut the CablePRICE: $400 AT A GLANCE: Effective, free alternative to cable or satellite • Vudu streaming • Runs hot! In this day of dozens of HDTV channels delivered via hardwired cable or satellite transmission, it’s hard to remember that watching TV wasn’t always quite so easy. Way back when, every television had an antenna connected to it. If you were distant from the transmission tower, you might have had a big mast antenna on your roof, as did your next-door neighbor, and his next-door neighbor, and so on, until the suburban skyline came to be defined by these skeletal sculptures reaching into the bright dawn of a soaring postwar America. If you lived a little closer to the tower, you probably just used the telescopic rabbit ears poking up from the…15 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HUGO: MECHANICAL MAN IN THE MOONHard as it may be to believe, the man behind some of America’s most notoriously violent, profanity-laced movies has now crafted an absolutely superb family film, recommended for audiences from 9 to 99. The titular character (Asa Butterfield) is an orphan lad who lives and clandestinely works in a Paris train station, applying the lessons his late watchmaker dad taught him to keep all the big clocks running smoothly. In his spare time, he’s nearing completion on what would be their last father-son project: the restoration of a mysterious windup robot, which he is convinced will have an important message for him. Hugo succeeds, and the automaton reveals its surprise, but it is not the missive from beyond the grave that he was hoping for. Instead, it leads him to…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN: MR. BEAN MEETS MR. BOND…AGAINBrit comedian extraordinaire Rowan Atkinson returns as the superspy buffoon Johnny English in Johnny English Reborn. After a botched mission in Mozambique, the disgraced MI7 agent has been living off the grid in a self-imposed exile at a Tibetan monastery for the last five years. Years of discipline and training have conditioned him for peak mental awareness and the ability to take a full-throttle kick to the testicl*s without flinching. And you can just bet that little talent will come in handy later on in the movie. English is summoned out of exile for a special mission to foil an assassination plot by a secret terrorist group called Vortex that contains high-level members of the CIA, KGB, and MI7. Atkinson is still at the top of his game—his comic timing…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12THE THING: DON’T LET EVERY LITTLE THING GET YOU DOWNThe 1950s saw an onslaught of cheesy, B-grade, sci-fihorror films that would become a cult genre unto themselves, films like Forbidden Planet, Invaders From Mars, The Blob, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. In 1982, director John Carpenter took another adventure classic from that era, The Thing From Another World, and dramatically improved upon it, crafting one of the greatest remakes of all time. The Thing starred Kurt Russell and told the story of a group of scientists at a remote research facility in the Antarctic who discover a derelict spacecraft buried in the ice. The alien invader of the film’s title has the intensely creepy ability to assimilate and perfectly copy its host—human or animal—and dispatch its victims in very terrifying and gruesome ways. Fear and suspicions run…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12LADY AND THE TRAMP: BELLE NOTTEThe first CinemaScope widescreen animated film from Walt Disney Studios, 1955’s Lady and the Tramp was a departure from Disney tradition in other ways as well. It’s the story of a pampered spaniel who meets and falls for a stray mutt, and there are no magical elements—no fairy godmothers, dwarves, evil queens, or Prince Charmings. Just dogs, humans, an evil rat, and a pair of mischievous Siamese cats. Nor are there easily recognizable celebrities voicing most of the parts, apart from Verna Felton and the late, great jazz singer Peggy Lee. The story is simple: Dog meets dog, encounters obstacles, and triumphs in the end (what, you think that’s a spoiler in a Disney movie?). It’s aggressively old-fashioned by current standards, harkening back to an earlier style without the topical…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12The Calibratio-InnMichael J. Nelson is the former host and head writer of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the proprietor of rifftrax.com, which offers his commentaries on A-list films, including Star Wars: Episode I, The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Matrix. Ah, hotel life! The fresh sheets, the cottony-soft pillows that not only cushion and support, but also nourish you by magically generating bits of energy-dense chocolate. And if you’re a fan of glossy magazines packed with information on local eateries, the theater scene, and loving cover profiles of blonde newscasters, well, hotels have you covered. (And at no charge! That’s in stark contrast to those $78 cans of smoked almonds. Never touch those. In fact, keep your wits about you so that you don’t find yourself stumbling into your room…5 min
Home Theater|Jun-12LettersWE WELCOME QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS. E-mail them to editor@hometheater.com. Please note: Be sure to check the FAQ page on our Website (HomeTheater.com) to see if we’ve already answered any questions you might have. Questions about the features and functions of a particular product are best directed to the manufacturer. Questions about what product you should buy are best directed to a dealer who knows all the details of your system, your preferences, and your personal habits. All submissions are considered the exclusive property of Home Theater magazine and Source Interlink Media. Due to the volume of mail that we receive, we regret that we cannot respond to every letter. More Highs and Lows First, let me thank you for such a great magazine. Though you apparently get letters from some…8 min
Home Theater|Jun-12CONSOLE YOURSELFPut a flat panel on the wall, and you gain back valuable real estate in your living room or den. The challenge then becomes what to do with your A/V components, media, and accessories. An enclosed or even semi-enclosed cabinet offers a clutter-free look, eliminates eyesores, and lets your TV serve as the focal point of your room. As larger flat panels become the norm, the latest cabinets can now anchor sets in screen sizes beyond 70 inches. In choosing a console, be sure to account for gear you’ve already got and for future purchases, and look for adjustable shelving—that way you can reconfigure your system as needed. Cord management and, especially, ventilation are other important considerations for easy access and to keep everything operating efficiently. Some consoles are dual-purpose…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12MONSTER KILLS VAMPIRESIn between texting and visiting Facebook, you can now use Monster’s Power Control App to check up on your home theater gear no matter where you are. The free smartphone app lets you monitor and control the power consumption of any A/V component or appliance that’s plugged into one of Monster’s PRT PowerCenters, which in turn plugs into a standard AC outlet. A colorful, easy-to-read interface shows energy usage in watts and dollars in real time or over a specific period (day, week, month, etc.) and makes it easy to schedule power outlets to turn on and off at certain times or control them at will (imagine Junior’s reaction when the TV goes dark while he’s watching Simpsons reruns instead of doing his homework). Besides the cool factor of on-the-go…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12THE PHILCO PREDICTA TVTube televisions are starting to look like relics of a bygone era, but they had a long run, from the very beginning of the TV age until just a few years ago. CRTs evolved from round, to rounded squares, to squarish, almost flat tubes—but cathode ray tube TVs (and projectors) remained the unchallenged display technology right through to the dawn of hi-def TV. I’m old enough to remember early TVs as big, boxy things, so when the Philco Predicta sets arrived in the 1958 model year, they were the first “modern” TVs. The big box was banished; instead, the Predicta’s picture-tube pod was exposed, swivel-mounted on a separate pedestal base. In those days, the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was just starting to heat up, and…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12CAT’S MEOWIn this 4.5-minute interview piece, Anna Behlmer, who handled soundtrack mixing on all the Shrek movies at Dream-Works, discusses how she effectively used a discrete 7.1-channel platform to build out the ambience and surround effects in last year’s Puss in Boots, starring Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayak. Behlmer talks about the wide-open canvas animated films present to a mixer, and reveals which one scene in the movie allowed her to really open up and demonstrate what 7.1 can do. (Her work on this project is now available for all to hear on the recently released Blu-ray, which carries a 7.1-channel Dolby TrueHD lossless soundtrack.) PUSS IN BOOTS GIVEAWAY OFFER If you’d like to win a Blu-ray copy of Puss in Boots, send an email to editor@hometheater.com with the title Puss…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12POPPING MADYou’ve been there, so you know. Going to the movies is expensive. Tally up the tickets ($12 each), add in popcorn ($7), throw in a soda ($4), pile on a package of Junior Mints ($4.50), and your wallet is a lot lighter. One Michigan man is fed up, and he’s taking it to the courts. Joshua Thompson filed a class-action lawsuit last winter to end what he says is price gouging. He had been bringing his own snacks to the theater to bypass the offensive prices, but when he arrived at his local theater outside Detroit recently, there was a sign posted that said no outside junk food was allowed. Thompson retained an attorney who said that after research and review of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, there was cause…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Mile-High DIYLike 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 basem*nt 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. In determining the design and layout, I decided to keep the movie theater itself very simple; no…3 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: PARASOUND HALO A 51 MULTICHANNEL AMPLIFIERTwo channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 301.1 watts 1% distortion at 330.6 watts Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 198.7 watts 1% distortion at 238.4 watts Frequency response RCA input: –0.04 dB at 10 Hz –0.01 dB at 20 Hz –0.09 dB at 20 kHz –2.94 dB at 50 kHz Frequency response XLR input: –0.04 dB at 10 Hz –0.01 dB at 20 Hz –0.08 dB at 20 kHz –2.99 dB at 50 kHz This graph shows that the A 51’s left amplifier channel, with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 301.1 watts and 1 percent distortion at 330.6 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 357.2 watts and 1 percent distortion at 422.8…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: MCINTOSH MX121 A/V CONTROL CENTERAnalog frequency response in Pure Direct mode: –0.25 dB at 10 Hz –0.08 dB at 20 Hz –0.06 dB at 20 kHz –0.41 dB at 50 kHz Analog frequency response with signal processing: –0.64 dB at 10 Hz –0.20 dB at 20 Hz –0.19 dB at 20 kHz –15.44 dB at 50 kHz The above chart shows the frequency response of the left (cyan), center (green), LFE (red), and left surround (blue) channels at the preamp outputs of the Dolby Digital decoder. The left channel measures –0.10 decibels at 20 hertz and –0.24 dB at 20 kilohertz. The center channel measures –0.11 dB at 20 Hz and –0.14 dB at 20 kHz, and the left surround channel measures –0.10 dB at 20 Hz and –0.25 dB at 20 kHz. The…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Radio DaysNew York City’s Radio Row, the birthplace of America’s post-World War II audio industry, is gone. The area, intersected by Manhattan’s Cortlandt and Greenwich Streets and the surrounding blocks, that for decades hosted a thriving electronics trade, made way for (and not without a fight) the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. Now they’re gone, too. All of the Radio Row retailers like Heins and Bolet, Leonard’s, Harvey’s, Rabson’s, and Cantor the Cabinet King are also gone, although they live in the memory banks of many native-born baby boomers. And many of the mythical audio brands founded by audio pioneers like Avery Fisher, Hermon Hosmer Scott, Sidney Harman, and others who began by buying army-surplus electronics parts on Radio Row, are either gone or exist in name only, associated with products…4 min
Home Theater|Jun-12SPECS: MARANTZ SR6006 A/V RECEIVERAUDIO DECODING: DOLBY: TrueHD, Digital 5.1, EX, Pro Logic II/IIx/IIz, Virtual Speaker, Headphone DTS: HD (Master Audio, High Resolution Audio) 5.1, ES, 96/24, Neo:6 AUDYSSEY: Dynamic EQ, Dynamic Volume, DSX OTHER: Multichannel stereo, Direct, Pure Direct 3D: Yes THX CERTIFIED: No NUMBER OF AMP CHANNELS: 7 RATED POWER (WATTS PER CHANNEL): 110 watts into 8 ohms, two channels driven SPECIFIED FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 10 Hz – 100 kHz — +1, –3 dB (DIRECT mode) VIDEO PROCESSING: Proprietary Auto Setup/Room EQ: Audyssey MultEQ XT DIMENSIONS (W X H X D, INCHES): 17.38 x 6.94 x 15.31 WEIGHT (POUNDS): 26 PRICE: $1,200…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12The Smarter Power PlantPrice: $2,599 At a Glance: ICEpower Class-D amplification • Bluetooth-and iOS-compatible USB • No room correction or low-volume mode How would you like your audio/video receiver if it had a coal chute and chimney atop the chassis? Would you enjoy shoveling coal into the chute as the chimney belched black smoke and particulates into your home? Or would you find this entire arrangement so unhealthy, so 19th century, as to be unbearable? Most people probably would prefer to avoid burning coal when sitting down for movie night or putting on some music. And of course, there are no A/V receivers that run directly on coal. But don’t fool yourself. Coal is the single-largest feedstock for electricity generation—not only in developing economies like China, but in the United States as well—far…10 min
Home Theater|Jun-12on the web: Rotel RSX-1562 A/V ReceiverVIDEO TEST BENCH From an HDMI input to an HDMI output (the conditions under which our Video Test Bench tests on A/V receivers and surround preamp-processors are conducted), the Rotel performs no video deinterlacing or upconversion; its output resolution will always be the same as the input resolution. In the remaining tests that are valid here, all of which were performed with a 1080p input, the receiver’s passthrough performance was visibly flawless.…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Moving UpPolk Audio has a proud history stretching back to the early 1970s. Its products have leaned more to the familiar and affordable rather than to the expensive and esoteric, but there have been exceptions. The SRT series, introduced in 1995, was a surround system with seven separate speakers encompassing 35 active drivers, including two subwoofers said to be capable of 120 decibels at 30 hertz. It corralled its fair share of buyers willing to pony up the $10,000 asking price. That was then, of course, and 17 years later, that price seems almost quaint for a full 5.1-channel, high-end speaker system. But if the SRT was Polk’s brute-force throw down to the high end, its new LSiM range takes a very different approach. The price of the LSiM package reviewed…15 min
Home Theater|Jun-12SPECS: CHANNEL MASTER TV CM-7400 HD DVRFIRMWARE VERSION: 1.0.81.1 TUNERS: Dual ATSC/Clear QAM HARD DRIVE: 320 GB CAPACITY: 35 hours HD; 150 hours SD WIFI: 802.11b/g/n 3D: Vudu 3D Compatible AUDIO OUTPUT FORMATS: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, PCM VIDEO OUTPUT RESOLUTIONS: 1080p/30, 1080p/24, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i COMPATIBLE FILE FORMATS (PHOTOS): BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF COMPATIBLE FILE FORMATS (VIDEO): MPEG 1,2,4, H.264, WM9, DivX, AVS, MP4/MOV, MKV, VC1 COMPATIBLE FILE FORMATS (AUDIO): AAC, MP3, PCM, WAV, WMA, WMA Pro DIMENSIONS (W X H X D, INCHES): 10 x 1.75 x 7 WEIGHT (POUNDS): 6 PRICE: $400…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12PUSS IN BOOTS: I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOUSince he was a young orphan, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) has dreamed of possessing the legendary magic beans that will grow into a giant beanstalk. At the top is a goose that lays golden eggs, and whoever possesses the magical bird will enjoy immense wealth. When Puss learns that Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris) possess the magic beans, the cat burglar sets his eye on the prize. But just when he’s about to snatch them, another thief spoils his mission, and our hero discovers he’s in cahoots with his former best friend, Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis). Can the pair bury their past in order to secure financial freedom, or does the river of betrayal run too deep? When he burst onto the scene in Shrek 2…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12TAKE SHELTER: GIFTED PROPHET OR PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIC?Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) is a hardworking husband and father living in a small Ohio town. When he starts having vivid recurring nightmares of an apocalyptic storm, he’s unsure whether his premonitions are a legitimate prophecy of impending doom or the onset of mental illness. He has good reason to doubt himself because paranoid schizophrenia happens to run in his family. As the nightmares persist and become more intensely real, his behavior becomes more irrational and confusing to those around him. His mounting paranoia drives him to build an expensive holocaust shelter in his backyard, alienating himself from his wife, coworkers, and community, perhaps irreparably. Writer-director Jeff Nichols does a great job of balancing both sides of Curtis’ psychosis and keeping the dramatic scenario rooted in total plausibility. He deftly…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12FOOTLOOSE: EXTRA CORN, HOLD THE BACONFollowing a wild night of 3D (drinking, driving, and dancing), five teenagers lose their lives in a tragic accident. Consequently, the small Georgia town of Bomont imposes a curfew and bans music and dancing due to their adverse effects on impressionable youngsters. Years later, Ren (Kenny Wormald), an angry hepcat with a heart of gold, blows into town, just off the bus from The Big City. He recently lost his mother and has come to live with his only remaining family—but soon finds himself in all sorts of trouble with the locals. Eventually, he finds a kindred spirit in pretty classmate Ariel (Julianne Hough), the preacher’s rebellious daughter, which basically means that she and Ren both enjoy bucking authority, dancing, and bucking authority by dancing. But with her help, he…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HOME THEATER TOP PICKSFLAT PANELS ENTRY LEVEL Panasonic Viera TC-P50S30 Plasma HDTV, $900 Reviewed at HomeTheater.com Panasonic Viera TC-P50ST30 3D Plasma HDTV, $1,300 Reviewed September 2011 Samsung UN46D6000 LED LCD HDTV, $1,300 Reviewed at HomeTheater.com MIDRANGE Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 3D Plasma HDTV, $2,150 Reviewed September 2011 Samsung PN59D8000 3D Plasma HDTV, $3,000 Reviewed December 2011 Sony Bravia XBR-55HX929 3D LED LCD HDTV, $2,900 Reviewed November 2011 HIGH END Elite PRO-60X5FD 3D LED LCD HDTV, $6,000 Reviewed January 2012 PROJECTORS MIDRANGE JVC DLA-X30 3D LCOS Projector, $3,500 Reviewed May 2012 Sony VPL-HW30ES 3D SXRD Projector, $3,700 Reviewed December 2011 HIGH END Sony VPL-VW95ES 3D Projector, $7,999 Reviewed March 2012 JVC Procision DLA-X70R D-ILA 3D Projector, $8,000 Reviewed April 2012 Runco QuantumColor Q-650i LED-DLP Projector, $10,000 Reviewed May 2012 Digital Projection M-Vision Cine LED DLP…4 min
Home Theater|Jun-12FORM FOLLOWING FUNCTIONStunning or strange? One of these words is likely to come to mind when you first lay eyes on the 101 X-treme speaker system, the flagship of MBL’s Reference Line. And what a system it is, handmade to order in Germany and comprising a pair of approximately 6-foot-tall towers, each of which supports two utterly unconventional driver arrays in an open frame, and two subwoofer towers, each comprised of six 12-inch woofers, a crossover, and an amplifier broken into three ported birch and aluminum boxes that can be stacked or laid side by side as needed. (No lows left behind.) What’s described as a positively huge, enveloping soundstage is created by mirror-image complements of MBL’s signature spheroid Radialstahler (omnidirectional) drivers. Each array uses one large midbass driver made of silicone,…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12BISCOTTI HIGH-DEF TV PHONEPrice: $149 At a Glance: Turns any HDTV into a videophone • Easy-to-use onscreen interface • Simple set-up—usually Don’t be fooled by the name and calligraphic logo. You won’t find this Biscotti at Starbucks or the local pastry shop, but it does pop up on Amazon.com when you search “Biscotti TV Phone” (“Biscotti” alone leads you to an excellent selection of the scrumptious Italian biscuits). Although video chatting on computers has been around for years, business-style video conferencing on a big screen is still rare among everyday consumers—something Biscotti Inc. hopes to change with its tiny Biscotti-shaped TV phone. Measuring ¾ x 6 x 1 inches and weighing 1½ ounces, the unit is actually smaller than its edible namesake and designed to match the svelte, black bezel found on many…5 min
Home Theater|Jun-12AEREO TO CABLE: DROP DEADPotential cord cutters in New York City have a new way to circumvent the need for a cable TV subscription. Aereo is the name of a startup that plans to stream local, over-the-air channels to broadband-equipped New York City residents for $12/month, including DVR service. “If you have this and you have Netflix, you absolutely have the ability not to have a standard cable subscription,” boasts founder Chet Kanojia. The potentially disruptive scheme is being bankrolled by media baron Barry Diller, among others. What’s beautiful and strange about Aereo is its method of grabbing the broadcast signals it routes to subscribers. The company has a room containing thousands of thumb-size antennas—one for each subscriber—thus dodging copyright laws governing video exhibition (photo at left). “Technically, we’re actually providing a use license…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12A CINEMA WITH SENSE APPEALFor an upscale night out at the movies without sacrificing your audio or video standards, Living Room Theaters in Portland, Oregon, is the ticket. The sophisticated cinema—housed in a historic building—blends ambiance, seating, service, and décor with cutting-edge technology. It definitely breaks the mold of typical art house movie theaters and surpasses the ho-hum hangar-style cineplexes cluttering every neighborhood. Living Room Theaters favors indie and foreign films. A sampling at press time included A Dangerous Method, Albert Nobbs, and Pina in 3D. Coming attractions included The Kid With a Bike, Sound of Noise, and Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The six intimate auditoriums, which range in size from 38 to 62 seats, offer plush seating, ottomans, tables for your drinks (alcoholic ones), and food that can be ordered and brought right…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12KNOW YOUR QAM RIGHTSIf we told you QAM stands for quadrature amplitude modulation, you probably wouldn’t care. But if we told you cable operators are lobbying the government to disable millions of QAM tuners—forcing low-end subscribers to shell out every month to rent a cable box—would that raise your temperature a few degrees? That’s what will happen if the Federal Communications Commission caves in to a demand by cable operators. Current law requires most cable systems to leave the basic-tier channels that mirror over-the-air, broadcast TV unencrypted. But the cable operators want to encrypt all channels, forcing all subscribers to pay the monthly charge for a convertor-box rental. If you subscribe to anything but the very lowest form of cable service, you wouldn’t be affected. Your standard-basic and premium channels are already encrypted…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12LABOR SAVING DEVICESYou have to wonder what the folks at Labor Saving Devices were thinking when they dreamed up the Wet Noodle Magnetic In-Wall Retrieval System—but thankfully they did. Until you’re struggling to fish a wire out of a closed-wall cavity, especially one with insulation, it’s hard to fully appreciate the simplicity and elegance of this popular tool. The kit consists of three parts. First, there’s a slippery, 10-foot, nickel-plated ball chain that allows attachment of an included stop ring or wire loop on either end. Next, there’s the noodle—a 24-inch, flexible, wand retriever with a powerful neodymium magnet on its end. Finally, there’s a thin, 18-inch, telescoping wand with a small hook on the end of that. To really understand how it all works, visit the company’s Website (info below) and…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Amped UpPRICE: P 7: $2,000, A 51: $4,500, JC 1: $4,500 AT A GLANCE: Analog-audio-only preamp supports up to seven channels • Flexible hookup options • Halo amps deliver staggering performance One of the few lessons that was ingrained into me during my time in the Navy was, “Keep it simple.” I admit it wasn’t phrased quite so politically correctly, but the point is still the same. It’s a motto I apply to just about everything I do in my daily life, and when I received the Parasound Halo P 7 multichannel preamplifier ($2,000) for review, it appeared that Parasound sticks to the same philosophy. Te strictly analog preamp shrugs off digital-decoding duties to your source components, shunning any dirty digital processing while providing a high-end, multichannel, analog preamp stage to…15 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: PARASOUND HALO JC 1 SINGLE-CHANNEL AMPLIFIEROne channel driven continuously into an 8-ohm load: 0.1% distortion at 499.1 watts 1% distortion at 582.4 watts Frequency response RCA input: –0.03 dB at 10 Hz +0.00 dB at 20 Hz –0.11 dB at 20 kHz –3.44 dB at 50 kHz Frequency response XLR input: –0.04 dB at 10 Hz +0.00 dB at 20 Hz –0.22 dB at 20 kHz –3.60 dB at 50 kHz This graph shows that the JC 1 in High Bias mode, driving an 8-ohm load, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 499.1 watts and 1 percent distortion at 582.4 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 608.7 watts and 1 percent distortion at 835.9 watts. An input level of 100.5 millivolts was required to produce an output of 2.83 volts into…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: MCINTOSH MC8207 MULTICHANNEL POWER AMPLIFIERTwo channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 236.2 watts 1% distortion at 271.7 watts Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 210.1 watts 1% distortion at 224.1 watts Seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 201.4 watts 1% distortion at 209.0 watts Frequency response: –0.34 dB at 10 Hz –0.10 dB at 20 Hz –0.11 dB at 20 kHz –3.19 dB at 50 kHz This graph shows that the MC8207’s left amplifier channel, with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 236.2 watts and 1 percent distortion at 271.7 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 415.0 watts and 1 percent distortion at 445.1 watts. An input level of 197.5 millivolts was required to…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Virtual Reality for RealPRICE: $12,000 as reviewed AT A GLANCE: Industrial-grade actuators • Remarkably easy installation • Can be used for simple bass enhancement of music There are, and have been, lots of movements in the world: political (the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street), social (abolition, women’s suffrage, and prohibition), artistic (Impressionism, Dadaism, and WTFism), and of course, bowel (but I digest…er, digress). When it comes to subwoofers and speakers, air movement is of particular import. If you want loud, low bass, your woofers are going to have to compress a lot of air. For movies, it’s especially enjoyable when your subwoofer has enough spunk to cause the floor under your feet and the seat under your butt—and even your body’s chest cavity—to vibrate during those massive, over-the-top Hollywood explosions or through…14 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs Measures: MARANTZ SR6006 A/V RECEIVERTwo channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 127.9 watts 1% distortion at 153.2 watts Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 75.9 watts 1% distortion at 92.0 watts Seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads: 0.1% distortion at 71.3 watts 1% distortion at 83.4 watts Analog frequency response in Pure Direct mode: –0.14 dB at 10 Hz –0.04 dB at 20 Hz –0.08 dB at 20 kHz –2.80 dB at 50 kHz Analog frequency response with signal processing: –0.44 dB at 10 Hz –0.15 dB at 20 Hz –0.43 dB at 20 kHz –59.42 dB at 50 kHz This graph shows that the SR6006’s left channel, from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 127.9…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12SPECS: ROTEL RSX-1562 A/V RECEIVERAUDIO DECODING: DOLBY: TrueHD, Digital 5.1, EX, Pro Logic II/IIx/IIz DTS: HD MA, HD HRA, DTS 5.1, ES, 96/24, Neo: 6 OTHER: 4 DSP modes, 5/7-channel stereo, Rotel XS 6.1-7.1 Surround 3D: Yes THX CERTIFIED: No NUMBER OF AMP CHANNELS: 7 RATED POWER (WATTS PER CHANNEL): 100 watts into 8 ohms, 7 channels driven SPECIFIED FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 10 Hz to 120 kHz, +/–3dB VIDEO PROCESSING: Faroudja Torino AUTO SETUP/ROOM EQ: None DIMENSIONS (W X H X D, INCHES): 17 x 7.5 x 16.63 WEIGHT (POUNDS): 34.17 PRICE: $2,599…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Ten Years AfterPRICE: $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…14 min
Home Theater|Jun-12HT Labs MeasuresPOLK LSIM707 SURROUND SPEAKER SYSTEM L/R Sensitivity: 88.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz Center Sensitivity: 90 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz Surround Sensitivity: 88.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of the LSiM707 L/R (purple trace), DSW3000 subwoofer (blue trace), LSiM706c center channel (green trace), and LSiM702 F/X surround (red trace). All passive loudspeakers were measured with grilles at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes. The LSiM707’s listening-window response (a five-point average of axial and +/–15-degree horizontal and vertical responses) measures +1.05/–1.73 decibels from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz. The –3dB point is at 34 Hz, and the –6dB point is at 30 Hz. Impedance…1 min
Home Theater|Jun-12Tower Heist: The 99-percenters fight backJosh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) manages an elite New York City apartment complex owned by Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), who has been placed under house arrest for defrauding his investors out of their life savings. Kovacs finds himself in hot water with the staff when he informs them that he transferred all of their retirement funds to Shaw so he could increase their return on investment. Oops! But Kovacs learns that Shaw has stashed the cash somewhere in his penthouse apartment. With the help of an ex-con (Eddie Murphy), Kovacs and some of his disgruntled employees take it upon themselves to recover the money. Hollywood loves a good caper film, and in the past it’s given us the Ocean’s Eleven series, The Italian Job, and even the cult classic Office Space.…3 min
Home Theater|Jun-12LOVE STORY: AS SAPPY AS A MAPLE TREE IN THE SPRINGHarvard law student Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) comes from the one percent—as if the name didn’t tell you that already—but he leaves the family money behind when he decides to run off and marry a 99-percenter (Ali MacGraw) over the objections of his parents. The soulmates frolic in the snow and walk through parks hand in hand, planning to spend their entire lives together—until a terminal illness intervenes and ruins the love fest. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, Love Story was one of the most popular films of 1970, but it hasn’t aged too gracefully. The story is hardly original to anyone who has read Romeo and Juliet, the dialogue is stiff, the main characters are unbelievably perfect and annoying, and director Arthur Hiller does everything within his power…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12UNFORGIVEN: 20TH ANNIVERSARY ANOTHER MISSED OPPORTUNITY2012 marks the 20th anniversary of Clint Eastwood’s visceral masterpiece Unforgiven. The liner notes tout it as a landmark achievement and Eastwood’s finest film. I’m inclined to agree. That’s why it’s all the more heartbreaking to report that Warner Brothers has dropped the ball again. The 20th anniversary reissue is nothing more than a fancier repackaging of the Blu-ray from a few years ago. This new digibook release contains a commemorative, 54-page booklet with color photos, actor bios, and production notes. It’s a handsome package and arguably the finest way to present a Blu-ray, but I have to reiterate: This is exactly the same disc, the same transfer, the same audio, and the same extras from before. The studio did the same thing with its 20th anniversary release of Goodfellas…2 min
Home Theater|Jun-12J. EDGAR: INFORMATION IS POWERAt over 80 years of age and still plugging away, Clint Eastwood may be past his artistic prime. The director’s last couple of movies, Invictus and Hereafter, were generally dismissed by both critics and audiences. His latest, J. Edgar, received just about Eastwood’s worst reception yet. Perhaps I’m an apologist, but I continue to find value even in these admittedly flawed films. Even so, I think his late-period works are probably best suited for home viewing, not movie theaters. The older he gets, the smaller his films seem to become. Even when dealing with a larger-than-life subject like controversial FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Eastwood scales down and draws inward. In another filmmaker’s hands, this could’ve been a rousing epic about the rise and fall of an American icon. Eastwood,…2 min
