Introduction There was a time in many of our youths that the concept of a television hanging on the wall like a picture was about as distant as civilian space travel. Although space tourism is still a few years away (though now in sight, thanks to recent advances by Richard Branson’s enterprises), flat televisions are here today and are living up to their long-awaited expectations. Initially, these flat televisions were immensely expensive and were surrounded by concerns about reliability and longevity. Today, they’re in every AV retail store and are becoming affordable to the average consumer. There is still much debate over which technology is best (LCD vs. plasma), but both come with the ability to hang on your wall, thus freeing up ultra-valuable floor space and adding endless options for integrating AV into your living spaces. The Panasonic TC-32LX20 is a HD-compatible, 32-inch LCD-based flatscreen display that boasts skinny five-and one-half-inch thickness and retails for $3,499, ...

AV Education on RHT Part II: All About The Making of a DVD-Audio Disc Written by Mark Waldrep, Ph.D. Beyond The Music As I mentioned in the previous installment, the DVD-Audio format is the only high-resolution, multi-channel consumer audio format that can contain media other than audio. That distinction is one of the primary reasons why AIX Records will never release an SACD. I’m a strong advocate of providing consumers with the richest multimedia experience available and have thought so from the outset of the DVD-Video format seven years ago. (Remember when DVD-Videos discs didn’t have any bonus features?) It’s true that the Internet can outperform optical disc media for sheer volume of media, but the quality of both the audio and video do not yet approach that of disc-based media. Just wait until large numbers of consumers get hooked on high-definition video – the gulf between the Internet and disc-based delivery may get even ...

Introduction Years ago, as home theaters were sprouting up around in homes across the globe, options for dramatic video were few. Of course there were enormous big-screen rear-projected TVs and tube sets up to 40 inches, but anything better and larger was for the mega-rich. Nowadays, there are dozens of options for those of us without a license plate frame proclaiming, “My Other Car is a Ferrari.” Many are going towards the plasma and LCD flat screens for their size and utter coolness, yet for many who want the real theater experience, anything short of 100 inches is too small and as boring as a Kenny G concert. With projectors ranging from $1,000 to a staggering $70,000 and more, the big question is how much do you need to spend on high-quality projection to get a satisfying picture? The Panasonic PT-L500U LCD Projector is an HD-capable display and retails for $2,499, making it competitive with ...

AV Education on RHT Part I: All About The Making of a DVD-Audio Disc Written by Mark Waldrep, Ph.D. Background Readers of online publications like Audio Video Revolution often read reviews and comments regarding new releases on both SACD and DVD-Audio, the new multi-channel, high-resolution audio formats. There’s always the obligatory listing of tracks and a discussion of the sonic quality of each title and a breakdown of the features included on each disc, but rarely do consumers get details on the production procedures and challenges that go into producing a title in these new formats. It might be nice to know the recording process involved (analog vs. digital stages), the number of mixing choices made during a production and the depth of bonus materials that will be included on a disc. Well, as the producer of many DVD-Audio titles for my own audiophile label, AIX Records, and owner of a production facility that services ...

Introduction There’s often a division between what men and their wives feel is important. The book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” clearly pointed out these idiosyncrasies. This separation of priority is never more magnified than with that of audio/video gear, which has proven to be a focal point of tension in many homes. Men typically want big, bad and powerful. Women are typically less interested in performance but rather opt for modern elegance, void of large annoying speakers and unsightly cables. There is a popular belief that you cannot achieve high performance from anything other than large floor-standing speakers. In many cases, these large speakers are at their best when set several feet off from the wall. Another option, originally made popular by Bose, is small cube speakers placed in the corner of the room’s ceiling. This made for a much more concealed look, but at a huge expense in performance, although ...