Introduction There are a variety of corporate philosophies among audio component manufacturers, from the budget end with gobs of features and extras, usually at the expense of sonics, through those with bare bones features and somewhat utilitarian cosmetics, focusing on quality, sound and value. At the extreme opposite end of the spectrum are the manufacturers who design and offer components without cost as a primary concern. Anthem, which is part of Sonic Frontiers International under the Paradigm Corporation, has historically placed itself in an interesting position between these two philosophies. They have earned a reputation for excellent sonics at relatively affordable price points positioned well below the absolute high end. Typically, they have not reduced their feature set in the process and have gone one step further in their new Statement series of electronics. The Statement component line is designed to compete toe-to-toe with anything else on the market, regardless of price. In fact, Anthem welcomes ...

Introduction By now, as a tech-savvy Audio Video Revolution reader, you have likely heard of Dell Computers and their business model of selling customized PCs directly to customers. Aperion Audio takes a similar approach to selling customized, entry-level high-performance speaker systems directly to the consumer. Aperion Audio was formed in1998, a result of founder/CEO Win Jeanfreau’s personal quest to find an inexpensive yet excellent-sounding speaker system. Disappointed with the prices of the quality speakers that he wanted, Jeanfreau started his own speaker company to meet a market niche that at the time was not being addressed. Aperion Audio offers Internet direct speaker systems to consumers at affordable prices, but what sets them apart from the household brands is their desire to please the customer. In the same ways that dealers are willing to work with you, Aperion’s sales staff will help you craft the perfect affordable speaker solution for your system. They also sell a few ...

Introduction Value-oriented high end - this is how Adcom has long branded their products and their latest series of home theater separates is no exception. Built to be a perfect match for the recently reviewed Adcom GDV-850 progressive scan DVD-Audio/Video player, Adcom’s new GTP-880 7.1 preamp/tuner is chock full of goodies and very competitively priced at $2,400. Features including multiple 5.1 analog inputs, six assignable digital inputs, “Pure Path” component video switching featuring three inputs and one output via BNC connectors with 100MHz of bandwidth for high-definition sources and Adcom’s proprietary 7.1m2 algorithm, to name just a few. This is a serious piece of AV gear, yet simple enough for almost any user to set up and operate. The GTP-880 has a fit and finish that is as beautiful as the Adcom GDV-850 DVD player. The two are so similar that they might be mistaken for one large component when stacked on top of each ...

Introduction In a world where you can pick up the Sunday newspaper and see full-feature, entry-level DVD players advertised for less than the price of a video game and DVD-Audio-capable players for about the same price as top of the line video game consoles, you may be asking yourself, do I really need a high-end DVD player? If you are one of the many millions of consumers with a TV, big screen, plasma or LCD that can take a progressive (480p) video input (which most if not all can do), then it might be time to consider the visual benefits that come from a more upmarket source component. At $1,000, the Adcom GDV-850 could be just the player you want. With its beautiful matte silver finish and a clean, simple layout, the front of the Adcom GDV-850 is not your run-of-the-mill DVD player. Featuring progressive scan video output with “field adaptive” deinterlacing, high-quality DACs for ...

Introduction In a world where you can pick up the Sunday newspaper and see full-feature, entry-level DVD players advertised for less than the price of a video game and DVD-Audio-capable players for about the same price as top of the line video game consoles, you may be asking yourself, do I really need a high-end DVD player? If you are one of the many millions of consumers with a TV, big screen, plasma or LCD that can take a progressive (480p) video input (which most if not all can do), then it might be time to consider the visual benefits that come from a more upmarket source component. At $1,000, the Adcom GDV-850 could be just the player you want. With its beautiful matte silver finish and a clean, simple layout, the front of the Adcom GDV-850 is not your run-of-the-mill DVD player. Featuring progressive scan video output with “field adaptive” deinterlacing, high-quality DACs for ...