I interviewed Joseph Sahyoun, President of Earthquake Audio Corporation, about several of their newest technological developments, including new voice coil cooling that will allow more power to be delivered from subwoofer drivers.
If an HDTV like this had been available three years ago, it would have been spectacular. However, this is mid-2008, and there are lots of excellent 1080p units out there. In short, although the contrast ratio on the Toshiba 46RV53OU was exceptional, the overall performance was disappointing.
Exquisite is a word I once reserved for the subtle beauties of classical song. Then I began to listen to ECM Grammy Award-winning producer Manfred Eicher's jazz recordings, and my perspective changed. I can't vouch for yours, but I feel confident that the rarefied atmosphere of opening five trackson this CD may very well take your breath away. And that includes the trio's cover of Prince's 1991 "Diamonds and Pearls," as well as sublime renditions of music by Gary Peacock, Ennio Morricone, contemporary trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, and pianist / trio founder Marcin Wasilewski.
ANNE SOPHIE VON OTTER: TEREZÃN THERESIENSTADT, J.S. BACH: LUTE WORKS VOL. 1, TERRY RILEY: THE CUSP OF MAGIC, ELLA FITZGERALD: LOVE LETTERS FROM ELLA, SHELLEY MORNINGSONG: OUT OF THE ASHES
Canon's new HG10 is a hard disk drive (HDD)-based high definition (1080i) video camera that can be had for less than $1,000. It takes very nice videos, but how does it compare to Canon's HV20 which uses tape and a different compression algorithm, at about the same price?
It's the special qualities of Karrin Alysson's instantly recognizable, slightly hoarse vocalism that set her apart. Her careful attention to words, the phrases molded with an intelligence that declares her total involvement, the impeccable pianism that illuminates a good share of her performances, and her overarching desire to tell a story all unite to pull listeners into her songs. Whether she's singing about poet Robert Frost or a lover's embrace, the warmth, depth, and honesty of Alysson's artistry catapults her into the same august company as three of her jazz idols, Carmen McCrae, Nancy Wilson, and Dinah Washington.
I keep thinking that subwoofer technology improvements have flattened out, but I keep getting proven wrong. The Earthquake MiniMe P10 is a good example of that. It is small, lightweight, easy to set up, and best of all, it delivers.
The HDX900 is an HDTV streamer based on the Network Media Tank (NMT) middleware platform by Syabas. If you don't know what a streamer is yet, think of the AppleTV but without any of the Apple restrictions. Consider a player that will play all of your movies, in file format, including Blu-ray, DVDs, or any popular format you might have on your computer hard drive, as well as pictures and audio, but doesn't require you to pay a monthly iTunes bill.
Remember back a few years when projectors were 720p resolution, had modest brightness, not so great contrast, and you could spend $15,000 to get one? Well, you can still spend that kind of money and a lot more, but it gets you a lot more too. The buzzword now of course is 1080p and HDMI all the way. Marantz' latest donation to this category is called the VP-11S2. It has two HDMI inputs, will accept and project native 1080p, has Deep Color capability, and is built like a tank.
Classic War Films: The Sand Pebbles (Blu-ray), Battle of Britain (Blu-ray), Patton (Blu-ray), The Longest Day (Blu-ray), A Bridge Too Far (Blu-ray), The Eye (Blu-ray), Jumper (Blu-ray), Bella (SD DVD), Witless Protection (Blu-ray), Step into Liquid (Blu-ray), Meet the Spartans (Blu-ray), The Spiderwick Chronicles (Blu-ray), Weeds, Season 3 (Blu-ray), Chipmunks TV Shows (SD DVD), Gangs of New York (Blu-ray), National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (Blu-ray)
When the local Sony dealer asked me which model I wanted to check out, I wasn't sure if I should get the smaller 40" or the larger 46" model. On the one hand, statistics say that the 40" model will be a lot more popular, but they also suggest that the 44-50" segment, particularly in the US, is growing at an amazing rate.
MartinLogan has just introduced their latest model of electrostatic hybrid speakers, called the Spire. They are something else! One of the best ESL's I have ever heard, at any price.
ARC, or Anthem Room Correction, has been a long time in coming. Its origins can be traced back as far as 1990 to research conducted at Canada's NRC (National Research Council). Was it worth the wait? Our Brian Florian finds out!
Montana Loudspeakers, marketed by PBN Audio, is a company whose products I have been very interested in for a long, long time. I have seen them at numerous hi-fi shows, and since I have two massive 1,200 watt monoblock power amplifiers that I like to pair with massive speakers once in awhile, I have been attracted to the Montana's, partly because the line includes some really big models. But more importantly, they have always impressed me with the sound quality at shows - which is not easy to do because the rooms are less than ideal - and they are incredibly beautiful.
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. John E. Johnson, Jr. founded Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity in 1994, shortly after publishing a hardcopy book of the same title. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity until 2022. John has been involved in audio and video for more than 50 years, having built radio transmitters, amplifiers, turntables, and speakers from scratch. He was also one of the founders of the Northern California Audio Video Association, now The Bay Area Audio Society.
John holds four university degrees, including a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, and has published numerous scientific books, along with dozens of scientific articles on biomedical research topics as well as imaging technology. He was the founder and Editor-in-Chief of two medical/scientific journals for 20 years. John holds several patents, including one on high resolution image analysis and one on a surgical instrument. He has been affiliated with NASA, The National Institutes of Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Stanford Research Institute, and The University of California at Berkeley. He is President of the consulting firm Scientific Design and Information, Inc., which is based in Redwood City, California.
John resides in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife and multiple kitties! His daughter, Cynthia, who was an integral part of SECRETS for many years, resides in San Francisco.
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