Sundance Film Festival 2012

Rick Schmidt

Sundance 2012 was as busy as ever including the all important film deals. There may have been a slight let-up in the downtown party scene, but I may not have been the best judge of that as I opted to stay in on Friday and Saturday night of the opening weekend. That was due in part to the relentless Saturday snow which became slush on the ground. I wore my favorite shoes, they are not waterproof. That Saturday snow also led to an enormous traffic jam. At about 6 pm on that day it seemed like there was one theater bus, with about 500 people on it and it was not going anywhere.

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

WideaLab Aurender S10 Music Server

Jason Victor Serinus

Like most people I have some pet peeves. When I shop for televisions, I am always hoping to find one without speakers. I have a dedicated theater with speakers and electronics that are leaps and bounds ahead of what I could possibly get in a TV. I don't need speakers; I'll never turn them on. I don't want them! Simply having them adds cost, complexity, and size to my TV. I don't want to pay for what I won't use!

Media Servers

Pass Labs X1000.5 Monoblock Power Amplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

We have reviewed several Pass Labs products in the past, and I finally decided to get a pair of what they call "Room Heaters", i.e., the X1000.5. These monoblock power amplifiers are rated at 1,000 watts rms into 8 ohms. They are similar in physical design to the XA200.5, but the XA200.5's are biased into Pure Class A, while the X1000.5's are biased about 80 watts into Class A, with the rest as AB.

Power Amplifiers

Paradigm Monitor 7 Series Speakers

Brian Florian

Speakers however are one of the last bastions of long term value and investment. Simply stated, good speakers will never be obsolete. My father has a pair of Paradigm Monitor 7se speakers which are almost 25 years old... and not only are they in great shape, but are still an enviable, excellent sounding pair! Here, we review the Paradigm Monitor 7 Series, which includes the Mini-Monitor, the Center, and the Surrounds.

Surround Sound Speaker Systems

Pioneer BDP-52FD 3D Universal Blu-ray Player

Chris Heinonen

Of all the new equipment that I saw at the CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis in 2011, my favorite booth visit was to Pioneer. Showing me around their booth and their new products, it was obvious they had read our review of their last generation of Blu-ray players. So, here is another one, in this case, the BDP-52FD, which is 3D-capable, and will play DVD-A as well as SACD, making it a universal player.

Blu-ray Players