| AVRev.com's Top 100 of 2004 |
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| Home Theater Feature Articles Best Of & Top 100 Lists | ||||||||||||
| Written by AVRev.com | ||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 01 December 2004 | ||||||||||||
Page 9 of 10  10. Sony 34 inch XBR CRT HDTVCRT is very close to going away forever, thanks to the rise in the popularity of flat TVs. However, for $2,500, you simply cannot beat the picture of this set at any price.  9. Xhifi XDC-1 desktop speakersYou spend more time at your desk than in your theater and xHiFi’s nifty $995 system, including digital amps and a subwoofer, is a worthy investment for any AV enthusiast. Enjoy your music from Internet radio, MP3s, CDs, video games and elsewhere with audiophile performance. It won’t take you 10 seconds listening to the XDC1s before you toss your cheap computer speakers in the trash.  8. AMX MVP8400 Modero remote control systemModern systems have become too complicated for the average person to control. An eight-inch color AMX control system with professional programming is the high-end answer to making your system jump through all of its hoops for each and every member of your family.  7. Revel Salon speakers Still the reigning king of the hill of high-end speakers, say the majority of AVR reviewers.  6. Sharp LC30HV6U Aquos LCD widescreen televisionLCD sets haven’t gotten as big as plasmas yet. However, many insiders like their blacks better and think they are more likely to last longer than today’s plasmas.  5. DirecTV HD10-250 HDTV DVR with TiVoBeing able to record HDTV using TiVo’s interface is simply too cool to resist. Now the idea of “nothing being on in HD” is your fault because you can easily program your TiVo to record everything you could ever hope to watch while you are out. 4. Meridian 800 DVD player  The
800 might be the ultimate source component. Its audio performance is
unmatched for CD and DVD-Audio, but its video performance for DVDs
makes the 800’s $20,000 price tag something that causes serious video
nuts to write big checks. 3. B&W 703 speakers These speakers do everything right, just as you’d expect from a $20,000 pair of floor-standing speakers. The surprise is that they cost $3,000 per pair. Every detail is meticulously engineered from the actual drivers down to the incredibly well-made packaging. Anyone would be impressed with these speakers.  2. Anthem Statement D1 AV preampThere are more expensive AV preamps, but there might not be a better one than Anthem’s D1 Director. With upgradeability to multiple HDMI and DVI switching, along with tons of processing power, this preamp well exceeds its $4,999 price tag in value. It couldn’t have come closer to winning the number one product of the year on the AVR Top 100 list. |
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