Accessories / Audio / Computing

Onkyo <3 Apple

- 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 …

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Want to Go to Reno?

- 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 …

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Audio

Deal Alert: Cheap Carver Speakers

- 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 …

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Audio / Industry

Thiel Goes Amazon – Growth, or Desperation?

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a 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 …

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Accessories / Audio / Computing / Industry / Music

RIP Snell, Escient

- 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 …

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Audio / Industry / Television

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

- by Avi Greengart - 5 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 …

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Front Projector Sales Up! (Or down. Depends on your point of view.)

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

CEPro reports that Quixel Research says home-theater front projector sales rebounded in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, with a 51% increase in unit sales and 17% increase in revenue. Woo hoo! Then again, sales are down consecutively from last quarter (the overall market value was $72 million at the end of the first quarter, down from $97 million in Q4 2009). Q1 sales declines are normal – most people buy projectors for Christmas, not the Super Bowl. Nice to see that the high end of the market is recovering overall.

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Audio / Computing / Music

Sonos Goes Stereo

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Just a quick note today: Sonos just started shipping a new software update that adds some new Internet radio options, crossfading between songs, some new language support, new alarm settings, and the ability to use two S5's as a stereo pair. None of the features is critical on its own (though the S5 stereo feature is quite cool; when everything is digital, you can do all sorts of neat things) but Sonos already built the best multi-room component system. I sent back my Sonos review system so I can't test this personally. Sigh.  With the Sonos gone, we've been using …

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