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Sony VPL-HW55ES Three-Chip SXRD (LCoS) Projector

Chris Heinonen

In 2012, Sony produced my favorite projector of the year, the VPL-HW50ES. While many other projectors did certain things a little better, none has the combination of attributes that the HW50ES has. From movies to sports, bright rooms to dark, it managed to excel at everything I asked it to do. In 2013, we some improvements with the VPL-HW55ES, including longer lamp life, contrast ratio, and brightness.

Projectors

Wireless HDMI Round Up

Chris Heinonen

Now that our TVs are thin enough we often want to hang them on a wall, and manufacturers keep pushing the limits of thickness year after year. CES this year saw the advent of OLED TVs that are just millimeters thick as they no longer need backlighting systems, and serve double duty as a cheese slicer with their razor-thin profiles.

Wireless

Bryston BDA-1 Digital to Analog Converter and Halide Design USB to SPDIF Bridge

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Digital to Analog converters (DACs) have been enjoying something of a renaissance in the past couple of years due to the widespread adoption of computer based music. Back before SACD, DVD-A and multichannel audio, DACs were the source component du jour for redbook CD. With the adoption of the new high-resolution formats, DACs fell out of favor, replaced by integrated universal disc players. Today, many people have gone to entirely computer based audio setups. The highest resolution digital audio available today does not come on a disc, but is available via download. This means DACs are back, and the Bryston BDA-1 is regarded as one of the best of the new breed of 24 bit 192 kHz DACs. Along with the Brytson BDA-1, we review the Halide Design USB to SPDIF Bridge.

DACs

Revel Performa F52 Tower Speakers, C52 Center Channel Speaker, S30 Surround Speakers, and Concerta B120 Subwoofer

Chris Eberle

In 1996 an announcement was made about a new speaker company being formed under the very large umbrella of the Harman brand. One could say a perfect storm was created when Harman committed their considerable resources, and Kevin Voecks; a protégé of legendary audio engineer Dr. Floyd Toole, was brought on as Head Engineer. Harman wanted a speaker brand to match the quality of its Levinson electronics. These speakers would be designed using pure science and only released to market when proven to out-perform the competition in double-blind listening tests. We know that brand today as Revel.

Surround Sound Speaker Systems

Secrets Best of 2009 Product Awards

The Secrets Editorial Team

The Secrets Best of 2009 Product Awards, featuring the following categories: Accessories, Small Accessories, Headphones, Shaker Packages, Blu-ray Players, Budget CD Players, Budget DACs, High End DACs, Flat Panel HDTVs, Home Theater in a Box, Small Audio Systems with iPod Dock, Value in Power Amplifiers, Stereo Power Amplifiers, Power Conditioners, Budget Stereo Preamplifiers, Stereo Preamplifiers, Surround Sound Processors, Budget Projectors, High End Projectors, Mid-Level A/V Receivers, Budget Receivers, High End A/V Receivers, Floor Standing Speakers, 5.1 Speaker Packages, In-wall Speakers, Bookshelf Speakers, In-Floor/In-Ceiling Subwoofers, Large Subwoofers, Mid-Size Subwoofers, Small Subwoofers, Media Processor System-on-Chip, High Definition Video Cameras, Emotiva Cables, High End SACD Players.

Best Of Awards

Pioneer Elite BDP-95FD Blu-ray Player

Kris Deering

Without a doubt Pioneer represents the high end of the Blu-ray camp at this point. While we've seen Blu-ray players from several respectable hardware companies already, I don't think any of them carry the clout that Pioneer does with home theater enthusiasts like the Elite line. Pioneer Elite has a solid reputation when it comes to DVD playback and I was excited to finally have the opportunity to review one of their higher end Blu-ray players.

Blu-ray Players