BenQ W1070 Projector

Chris Heinonen

I'll be blunt: I don't like 3D. I've never been able to justify paying extra to see it in the theater, and at home it has always left me cold. Most implementations give me a headache almost instantly with their crosstalk-filled images and ghosting the drives me crazy... Fast forward to CES 2013 and BenQ is in the South Hall showing off a pair of projectors that are very similar to the W7000, but scaled down: the W1070 and W1080ST.

Projectors

Dune HD

Secrets
Dune HD offers an array of high-quality digital media players for both consumer and commercial markets. The product line ranges...
AV Directory

Triad Gold Monitor Speakers and Silver Subwoofer

Chris Heinonen

Last year, I had a chance to pay a visit to Triad Speakers, which is located in my home town of Portland, OR. They showed how their speakers are designed and built, from the very beginning, to prototype testing, to building and shipping the final product. Unfortunately, the one opportunity that wasn't available at the factory was the chance to listen to their speakers, as they were doing a complete redesign of their listening room from the studs up. On my way out, they let me take home a pair of In Room Gold Monitors and an In Room Silver DSP Subwoofer for review. Now knowing how they were built and designed, I was certainly looking forward to hearing how they sounded.

Subwoofers

Pioneer Elite N-50 Network Audio Player

Robert Kozel

Pioneer currently offers two network audio players in their Elite product line. Both models are best described as media streamers since they do not store music within the player's chassis but rather acquire music from external music servers or devices. The first model is the N-30, which offers the ability to stream high-resolution digital music via Apple's AirPlay or from DLNA-compatible servers. The second model and subject of this review is the N-50 that builds upon the functionality of the N-30 by adding an asynchronous USB DAC as well as optical and coaxial digital inputs so the N-50 can be used as an outboard D/A converter.

Media Streamer

Stereo Bass from AV Processor or Receiver?

Scott Wilkinson

I want to use two subwoofers and keep the bass stereo for recordings that, in fact, have phase differences in the low frequencies. So I am looking for a processor or receiver that, when all the main speakers are set to "small," sends the left-side bass to the left subwoofer, the right-side bass to the right subwoofer, and splits the center-channel bass. Also, if any product actually does this, what happens when you run the auto EQ/room correction? Would the auto EQ make the subwoofers mono?

- Richard Severance
St. Paul, MN

SECRETS Home Theater Q&A

Anthem Room Correction (ARC) System – Part 2 – Including a Subwoofer

David A. Rich, Ph.D.

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the Anthem ARC (Anthem Room Correction) firmware that is present in their SSPs as well as the AVRs which have a  reduced filter bank size. By far, the most significant sonic issue for acoustic music when a subwoofer is deployed occurs around the crossover from the subwoofer to the main speaker. In Part 2 of this series, we take a look at Anthem's ARC (Anthem Room Correction) when adding a subwoofer to the system.

Audio Calibration

Bryston BDA-2 DAC

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Following on the highly successful BDA-1 DAC, Bryston has raised the bar with the addition of an asynchronous USB input and reduced distortion in their new BDA-2 DAC. Take a look at what I found. The performance is quite a surprise.

DACs

Which Speaker System is Best?

Scott Wilkinson

I am considering buying the Klipsch Reference II 5.1 home-theater speaker system, Aperion Audio Verus Grand Tower XD system, or GoldenEar Technology TritonCinema Two system. Which is the best choice? Or what would you recommend around the $4000 - $4500 price range?

- Arnel Balatbat
Auburn, WA

SECRETS Home Theater Q&A