Accessories

Accessories / Audio / Music

TCL’s MTRO 200NC First Impressions

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

TCL is best known for its high-value televisions, but it is actually one of the largest consumer electronics conglomerates in the world. TCL runs its own factories and is investing $8 billion in its latest display panel fab. TCL's mobile division sells Alcatel and TCL branded featurephones, smartphones, and tablets, and the parent company also makes washing machines, refrigerators, consumer IoT devices, and more. I have tested some of TCL's super-inexpensive in-ear headphones — some as low as $10 — and found them to be ridiculous values; they sound as good as products 10x the cost. So I was eager …

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Accessories / Audio

Avi’s Audio Heirarchy

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

A practical guide for the order in which you should upgrade (or build) your AV system: Avi's Audio Heirarchy: External speakers – even a cheap soundbar – are nearly always better than the tinny ones built into your HDTV. More speakers and discrete surround sound are always better than a soundbar.  Subwoofers in particular make a movie sound like a movie. (Note: I have found that there is often gender bias when it comes to subs – stereotypical men want them to make things go boom, stereotypical women don't think they watch movies where it will make a difference. The …

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Accessories / Audio / Computing

Sonos Play:1 – Hands On

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Sonos sent over a pair of Play:1 speakers for review. In my review of the Sonos PLAYBAR I found too many setup limitations, but I absolutely love the Play:1's. A single Play:1 fills any small or medium sized room with rich, clear sound, and it serves as a perfect entry point to building a full multi-room, multi-source music system. My full report for Current Analysis clients is up; here's an excerpt:  Sonos notes that multi-room audio sales have been rising 80% year-over-year, fueled by streaming music. With most consumer electronics categories losing ground as consumers put more of their money into …

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Accessories / Audio / Industry / Music

CD Players Are Not Dead (Yet)

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Apple’s iTunes now sells more music than any other retail outlet and CD sales are famously in decline, so you’d be forgiven if you thought nobody makes CD players any more – or at least nobody would be foolish to launch new ones. That's why I was somewhat delighted to read this press release: Parasound has just introduced a new CD player, the Zcd. This isn’t a CD player aimed at the mass market, but it isn’t targeting money-is-no-object audiophile snobs, either. It costs $400; mass market CD players start at $17.99 at Target, and audiophile brands can top $4,000. …

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Accessories

Deal Alert: Belkin Home Theater Surge Protector

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Buy.com has the Belkin PureAV PF30 for a great price ($60). I have this unit's big brother (the PF60), and while I can't claim to hear any difference in the filtered electricity, a good quality 8 outlet surge protector usually costs a lot more than $60 (this unit originally retailed for $199). Note: I get no kickback if you click on the link above. Consider this a public service announcement.

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Accessories / Audio / Computing / Industry

Onkyo Announces First MHL A/V Receiver

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

There is no indication of price or availability, so this "announcement" is almost comically vague, but it is interesting nonetheless. For the uninitiated, MHL is a standard that aims to simplify getting content from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) while keeping the devices charged. The MHL folks were smart enough not to come up with their own unique connector/cable; instead it uses the HDMI or microHDMI connectors, and includes HDMI backwards compatibility. It looks like Onkyo's reciever will pop up windows showing you what content is available on the device, allowing you to easily push that content on to the …

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