Sony HT-ST7 Sound Bar

For all the things we associate Sony with for home theater, speakers are lower down on that list. Many people scoffed when they decided to introduce a $27,000 pair of speakers, the SS-AR1, but response to them has been phenomenal. They've followed that up with a full set of home theater ES speakers meant to compete with the likes of B&W and other high-end brands. They are also a big player in sound bars with their recent models racking up a bevy of awards. What they haven't had is a product to merge those two ambitions in audio until now. With the HT-ST7 sound bar Sony is taking aim at the high-end sound bar market and offering up a few features that we don't usually see at this price point.

Q&A – Monitor Audio or Tannoy Speaker Upgrade

I'm currently using a Yamaha A-S500 integrated amp to drive my Mirage Omni 250 towers. They mate well together. I also have an HK-3490 stereo receiver. I want to upgrade my current speakers to a pair of Tannoy DC6T/DC6T SE. Would either of my electronics mate well with the Tannoys? If not, how about the Monitor Audio Silver RX-6? These are currently the only speakers I'm considering. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jay B.
Palm City, Florida

Revel Performa 3 M105 Bookshelf Speakers

Revel has just released the third generation of their Performa speaker line. Dubbed the Performa3's, the new lineup offers nine models – two tower speakers, two bookshelf speakers, two center speakers, two subs and one surround. Revel touts the Performa3's as having an "Ultima2 Heritage at attainable prices". The Performa3's are all-new designs with all-new drivers. The M105's reviewed here are the smaller of the two bookshelf speaker models. They have a 5-1/4" ribbed aluminum mid/woofer and a 1" aluminum dome tweeter that was designed by the Untima2 team. These tweeters are mounted in a new waveguide that lends the speakers a sexy silhouette and a very smooth in-room response. Who could argue with that? As if this weren't enough, Revel decided to price the Performa3's on a very competitive level which makes these speakers a major value-for-money opportunity.

Al Jolson Jazz Singer

Known as the "Father of the Talkies", The Jazz Singer was the first film to match sound and picture. By 1927, some short subjects had already been "talkies," and even a few features had some bits of synchronized music, but The Jazz Singer was the first to put them altogether on the Silver Screen.

Francis Ford Coppola

Just in time for the New Year celebration, I received a copy of a new Blu-ray collection from Lionsgate Studios of some of Coppola's best films. This set contains Apocalypse Now/ Apocalypse Now Redux (1979), The Conversation (1974)...

Paradigm H15NC Noise-Cancelling On-Ear Headphones

The new Paradigm H15NC Noise-Cancelling Headphones are the latest foray into the lucrative headphone market and part of the Shift line of Paradigm products. They feature a noise isolating on-ear design along with active noise cancellation which utilizes a microphone paired with processing to analyze the noise around you and filter it out. Paradigm believes that sound quality trumps celebrity endorsement, and I couldn't agree more. Let's see if the H15NC headphones are up to snuff.