Devices View – Page 7 – a Techsponential Company

Kaleidescape Ships Blu-ray Server (Sort of)

December 14, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

First a bit of background: Kaleidescape is a high end media server vendor. They make boxes you have a custom installer put in one spot, which connect over a wired network to smaller boxes your installer connects to each TV and projector in your home. You – or your installer – copies all your DVDs onto the big box, and then you can watch all your movies anywhere in your home. Basically, it's Sonos for movies for rich people. How rich? Kaleidescape was actually the reason I instituted a policy not to review anything I could not reasonably afford. Years …

Computing / DVD

Buy a Blu-ray Player. Now.

December 9, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - 2 Comments.

Philip Berne's latest Slashgear column provides a well argued view for buying a Blu-ray player despite the rise of downloadable and streaming content. Full disclosure: I also write columns for Slashgear. If you click on the link, I get… nothing. So I guess that's more of a plug than a disclosure.

Accessories / Audio / Computing

Onkyo <3 Apple

November 24, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

As if the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad family wasn't already encroaching on distributed audio and home automation control systems, Onkyo announced that its future A/V receivers will come with free iOS remote control apps. This is a good idea for Onkyo on several levels: it allows Onkyo to tap into Apple's marketing momentum, and gives it the ability to market a rich touchscreen remote control without having to add anything to the bill of materials for the receiver. Of course, using a phone as a remote can be problematic – what happens when someone wants to use the system and you're on …

Industry

Worst DIY Home Theater Installations

November 19, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

The Nintendo cartdrige router should never have made it into the mix (it's awesome), but the rest of CE Pro's slideshow of consumer-submitted photos are hilarious. Custom installers, avert your eyes!

Uncategorized

Want to Go to Reno?

November 16, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Wisdom Audio has figured out a way to properly demo its super-high end architectural (in-wall) speakers: it's offering "qualified" prospects a free trip to its Carson City, NV headquarters. "Offer: Wisdom Audio will provide round trip transportation for a visit to our factory for someone with qualified interest in a large-scale Sage Series system. They will tour our factory with their dealer, meet the Wisdom Audio team and spend time in our sound room listening to their favorite music. (Limited to North America and must occur before January 31, 2011)" I've never been there – or heard Wisdom Audio's speakers …

Displays

Overcoming a Low Ceiling

November 15, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Electronic House poses a terrific real world question: how do you set up a home theater with a projector in a room without the headroom (literally) to hang a projector from the ceiling? Too bad they don't spend much time walking through the different options and just describe the finished room (which placed the projector on a shelf at the back).

Audio

Deal Alert: Cheap Carver Speakers

July 23, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Looking for some good cheap speakers? Wiredforless.com bought up a cache of unloved (discontinued) "Carver TS-241S Home Theater On-Wall Speaker System" speakers, apparently part of a plasma-friendly HTIB system. A pair is just $69 (original price was $199/pair) plus $5 shipping, a deal good enough to be featured on sellout.woot. These are slim, curved aluminum cases with a wonderfully simple (and included) mounting bracket. I bought a pair. At 89 db sensitivity they're easy to drive and play a few db louder than my reference speakers, they're a bit bright, and they require a subwoofer (like any speaker this size). Are they …

Audio / Industry

Thiel Goes Amazon – Growth, or Desperation?

July 16, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - 1 Comment

HomeTheaterREview (no relation) is reporting that high end speaker maker Thiel will stop selling exclusively through independent retailers and begin offering some of its entry level products on amazon.com (story here) and indeed, a quick amazon search for Thiel products shows in-walls from $900, and standalone speakers ranging from $1200 – $3,000. Founder Jim Thiel passed away in September, so I'm sure there are some who are saying that Jim must have said, "not over my dead body" and the company waited until that was literally true before making the move. I never interviewed Mr. Thiel, so I don't know what his …

RIP Snell, Escient

July 14, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Not sure where I was when this crossed the wire back in April, but I was saddened – but not surprised – to learn that D&M Holdings shut down both Snell and Escient. Snell was a high end speaker brand without enough brand recognition. Selling $30,000 speakers in a recession is extremely hard. Selling $30,000 speakers from a brand that only involved enthusiasts have heard of is basically impossible, no matter how terrific they measure and sound (Snell was famous for rigorously achieving ridiculously flat frequency measurements). I suspect that the recession did in Escient, which made well regarded music …

Audio / Industry / Television

New Onkyo Receivers Come with HDMI 1.4 and Buyer’s Remorse

June 3, 2010 - by Avi Greengart - 6 Comments.

The problem with 3DTV – aside from the glasses and the nausea and the total lack of content – is that you need to buy an entirely new equipment chain. It is not enough to replace your TV with a 3D capable set, you will also need a 3D-capable Blu-ray player, and – much to the delight of Monster Cable – you may actually need to upgrade your HDMI cables to handle the increased signal bandwidth. The typical HDMI connection in most devices today is 1.3b, but you'll need to upgrade to HDMI 1.4a for 3D. This has implications for audio …