Introduction It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly technology marches forward. Take the 40-inch television, for example. Five years ago, in 2001, Sony introduced the first 40-inch Direct View HDTV CRT Television featuring flat-screen WEGA (pronounced “Vega”) tube technology. At the time, this model, the 40XBR700, was the largest and most expensive consumer direct-view CRT ever created, retailing for a cool $4,000. Aside from its enormous size and weight at 385 pounds, the picture tube was designed to offer the best color fidelity and resolution for an NTSC consumer television up to that point, save for the Sony 32XBR100 squared (available from 1994 through about 1997), which remains the only consumer direct-view CRT monitor to have achieved the full NTSC color gamut in a commercially produced television, not counting, of course, the new Qualia 005, which is a Tri-Luminous LCD television capable of 105 percent of the 1953 NTSC color gamut and a ...

Introduction The iPod has heralded a new era in music, allowing us to store our music digitally on computers. But what are we to do when we want to listen to that music on our stereo systems? You can connect your iPod directly to your preamp or home theater controller with a patch cable, but it is difficult to see the screen from further than a few feet away. Many receivers have the ability to control the iPod, but the text on their display is small and/or your receiver may be tucked out of view. Some companies have systems that allow you to use your TV as the screen to interface with your iPod, but then you have to have your display on to listen to music and are still limited by the storage space of the device. Dedicated music servers can access your music and distribute it to various systems throughout your ...

Introduction During my time as a reviewer for Audio Video Revolution, I’ve been fortunate enough to write about and enjoy many of today’s top home theater products from some of the most reputable manufacturers around. It’s a lot like being a kid in a candy store, really. So, when the call came in for my latest assignment, the VR-670 from Sherwood, I was more than happy to oblige. I’ve known about Sherwood for some time and, while I’ve never personally demoed any of their products, their reputation is such that I couldn’t wait for whatever was coming my way. You see, along with designing and manufacturing cutting-edge electronics under their own brand, Sherwood also manufactures several top of the line receivers for other companies as a part of their OEM (original equipment manufacturing) program. Naturally, my imagination began to run wild as I speculated about what balls-out receiver Sherwood had cooked up for little ol’ ...

Introduction The consumer headphone market has evolved considerably over the last 30 years. Headphones have been used for better than a half-century as an integral tool in the studio for recording and mastering due to their accuracy and immediacy. As a teen, I owned a pair of higher-end headphones that I used to defy my music curfew. They allowed me to listen to my raucous music at concert volumes without disturbing or, better yet, even alerting the rest of the household. Although the sonic pureness of headphones has rarely been in question, the fact remains that headphones, regardless of size, have always been plagued with the reputation of being fatiguing to both wear and listen to for extended periods of time. Additionally, there has been resistance from many audiophiles, who place huge stock in soundstage accuracy and instrument placement. Sennheiser is no newcomer to the world of headphones. In fact, most recognize Sennheiser as the world ...

Introduction Format wars. Everyone hates them, but they are a fact of life and HDTV owners who long for more performance than DVD has to offer are smack dab in the middle of a dilemma. Blu-ray or HD DVD – that is the question. Sony has never fared well in past AV format wars (remember Betamax, Mini-Disc and SACD?), but they are betting on their new Blu-ray technology big time. HD DVD rolled out several weeks prior to the Blu-ray launch; the players have so far received cheers for their picture and jeers for their glitchy performance and sloppy interfaces. The mixed reviews have left the door open for Sony’s format to swoop in and impress. The first player to hit the streets is the $999 Samsung BD-P1000. Being the only Blu-ray player commercially available at the time of this review (other than the players available in Sony VAIO computers), the obvious comparison ...