Audio / Music

Orb Audio Mod2X review

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

It's been a long time since I've done a full formal home theater speaker review, but my "reference" Carver HT5.2 speakers are over 15 years old and I've had the upgrade urge for most of the past decade. When Orb Audio reached out early last year* and offered to send over a complete set of speakers with sub, I thought it was time to start the process of finding a new mid-priced system for our home theater — or at least start listening to something new. Orb sells complete packages that start at $600 and go up to $2500; I …

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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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Audio

Product Review: Sonos PLAYBAR

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Let’s get the disclaimers out of the way up front: Sonos has lent me various components for review, and some are on long term loans. When the PLAYBAR was first announced, I attended a demo and wrote an analytical report for Current Analysis clients, but I was eager to get a unit for a full review. Earlier this year Sonos sent one, along with a pair of PLAY:3’s for use as surround sound speakers (much earlier this year. Sorry!). I also pulled in a Sonos SUB in for a full 5.1 setup. Sonos does not pay anything for consideration and …

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Uncategorized

Belated Happy 8th Birthday, HomeTheaterView!

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Time flies. I was looking for something I had posted a while ago and discovered that this site has been live and somewhat regularly updated since October 24, 2004. So I'm about a month late noticing, but this site is an eight year old! We're a tween!  My first post:  Welcome. Thanks for reading. Now I need to go out and buy a cake.

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Industry

Home Theater for the Fairer Sex

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Here's another link to that unrelated site with the similar name. HomeTheaterReview has a thoughtful piece on an old chestnut: how do you get women to buy home theater gear? (I wrote something similar a bit over a decade ago.) Two things that stand out: While her advice is not new, Adrienne Maxwell has about as strong a pedigree to say it as anyone. She's written and edited home theater magazines at the highest levels. And while she can geek out with the best of them — I've met her at trade events and can confirm this firsthand — she, …

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