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This Month's Featured Equipment Reviews |
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Loudspeaker Forum Topics: |
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Classic Speaker System Reviews |
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Speaker Systems
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009
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Written by
Todd Whitesel
It wasn’t too long ago that the only way to watch a movie was to journey to the local movie theater or drive-in. For many, “going out” meant “going to the movies.” Then VCRs were introduced, and soon folks were buying and renting their favorite flicks to enjoy in the convenience and comfort of home. Something was missing, though, and I’m not talking about $8 buckets of popcorn and chairs still sticky from soda spilled two matinees ago. The VCR tapes had a tendency to jam or suddenly self-destruct mid-movie, unfurling celluloid into a linguine-like tangle. You grabbed a #2 pencil, stuck the eraser in the tape roller and hoped it wind back for one more showing. TVs were big and boxy with limited audio and visual playback capabilities that often turned even the most stirring soundtracks and special effects ...
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Thursday, 08 October 2009
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Written by
Dick Ward
The Polk SurroundBar50 is the largest of the sound bars in Polk Audio’s SurroundBar series. The 51” long shell holds a total of nine 3.5” drivers with composite cones and a trio of ¾” silk tweeters. The SurroundBar50 takes advantage of Polk’s Front and Rear Stereo Dimensional Array (SDA) Surround Sound technology. Using SDA, Polk Audio’s surround sound bar line is able to create the illusion of sound coming from all angles, enabling a virtual surround sound experience. Front SDA Stage Array uses a pair of drivers, in addition to the standard left and right sound channels, to expand the sound stage. Rear SDA projects sound around the listener, and completes the 360 degree wrap around.While other sound bars do promise a similar experience, they tend to use the reflective surfaces of a room to bounce sound to the listener. ...
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Thursday, 03 September 2009
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Written by
Todd Whitesel
I was skimming through a recent audio catalog that I receive regularly and was struck by the dichotomy of some of the listed products. There were complete turntables for less than $400, and even at the price touted to re-create music in a way that digital never can. On the digital side, there were CD players also under $400 that drew admiration from certain reviewers as absolute steals, with performance that belied the price tag. For contrast, I noticed some cables that cost upward of $9,000 and wondered who was buying them. I'm guessing that most folks – even those with income to drop nearly 10 large on a set of cables – are bargain hunters. We want value, and aren't afraid to pay for it, as long as the performance backs up the cost. One of the best ways ...
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Friday, 31 July 2009
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Written by
Todd Whitesel
The home theater craze has ushered in the development of associated products nearly unimaginable 30 years ago. For those of us who grew up on two-channel stereo and terrible TV sound, the advent of video formats such as Betamax and VHS were our introduction to home theater. Those days now seem like ancient history, and even the most devout advocate of vintage gear would admit that the DVD format is superior in every way to the old tape cartridges. And without the DVD, our home “movie theater experiences” would be pretty dull. My first home theater set-up was pretty typical of the time. It was 2005, and I opted for a surround system, with a 5.1 receiver and four (two front, two rear) floor-standing speakers and a subwoofer. I remember running wires under living room carpet and trying to keep ...
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Monday, 27 July 2009
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Written by
Todd Whitesel
Compromise. That's one of the dirty words in the world of high-fi. Nobody talks much about it, but nearly all audio products, regardless of cost, have some compromise built in. The best bookshelf speaker can never reproduce bass to the nth degree of a full-range floor-stander, and a great turntable will be only as good as its tonearm and cartridge. Thus, it seems almost folly to design a stereo system – an all-one-system to boot – and expect good results. But that hasn't stopped the folks at Geneva Sound Systems (www.genevalab.com ) from taking on such challenges. The company has embraced a simplicity-over-gadgets philosophy, giving consumers high-powered all-one-one audio systems designed for CD, iPod and FM radio playback, at an attractive price. The GenevaSound Systems comes in three sizes/models: M (medium), L (large) and XL (extra large). The M and ...
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