Sharp LC-60LE835U 60″ LED LCD 3D HDTV

Adrian Wittenberg

Along with competitively priced gargantuan panels the other thing Sharp is generating buzz for is their Quattron technology, which is the inclusion of a fourth yellow sub pixel in the pixel matrix. Sharp says adding this yellow sub pixel not only creates a wider color gamut (especially in yellows, greens, and cyans) but also makes the panel both brighter and more efficient due to the amount of light that passes through the yellow filtered sub pixel. Since the Sharp panels are getting very good Energy Star ratings there probably is some very smart engineering going on under the hood. Here, we review the Sharp LC-60LE835U 60" LED 3D HDTV.

HDTV

Anthem MRX 300 7.1 A/V Receiver

Secrets

Anthem is a company that is well-known in audiophile circles for cost-no-object separates and excellent separate power amplifiers. Anthem is the parent company to Paradigm, whose Studio 20 v.3 monitors were used in conjunction with the Anthem seven-channel MRX 300 AV receiver for this review.

Receivers

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8700 UB LCD Projector

Chris Eberle

Commenting on value in a review is always risky. The worth of a product is ultimately in the eye of the beholder. In the case of the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8700 UB, I have every confidence that you will agree when I say, this projector is one of the best values on the market today. For less than the price of many big-screen TVs, you can have the front projection experience with plenty of light, accurate color, high-end video processing, and all at full 1920x1080p.

Projectors

CEntrance DACMini USB DAC

Rick Schmidt

CEntrance is a Chicago based company with engineering in the US and Moscow, Russia, design in Holland, and manufacturing facilities in Asia but final assembly in the US . Let's just say 'multi-national'. They got their start in pro audio making microphone/guitar pre-amps with analog to digital converters, the MicPort Pro and AxePort Pro in amazingly small packages. Designed to plug inline on the microphone or guitar cord with a USB output (the units are powered by the USB connection) they provide the smallest possible recording studio, enabling musicians to plug a microphone or guitar 'directly' into a computer as if they were plugging into tape deck. Here, we review the CEntrance DACMini.

DACs

Zildjian 22″ K. Zildjian Constantinople Medium Thin Low Ride Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Zildjian has re-introduced the K. Zildjian Constantinople series of rides and crashes, described as being mellow, dry, dark, and warm. The 22" ride comes in two versions, the medium thin high and the medium thin low. We have already reviewed the high version, and now we cover the low version. The words high and low refer to the tonal balance, not the shape of the bell or curvature. They both have a nostalgia "K" sound that so many drummers, particularly jazz drummers, are looking for.

Cymbals

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – November, 2011

The SECRETS Movie Review Team

Captain America: The First Avenger (Blu-ray), Horrible Bosses (Blu-ray), Toy Story 3D (Blu-ray), Toy Story 2 3D (Blu-ray), Toy Story 3 3D (Blu-ray), Cars 2 3D (Blu-ray), The Change-Up (Blu-ray), Crazy, Stupid, Love (Blu-ray), The Nutcracker: The Untold Story (Blu-ray), Chicken Little 3D (Blu-ray), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Blu-ray), Conan the Barbarian (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Martin Logan Theos Hybrid Electrostatic Speakers

Chris Heinonen

At the CEDIA Expo in 2010, Martin Logan was giving one of the first demonstrations of their new Theos electrostatic speakers (ESLs) for the press and dealers. Though the conditions at shows are often less than optimal, when seated in the sweet spot of the room, the experience was nothing short of amazing. Sounds came from all around, causing me to check and make sure that there were no surround speakers setup in addition to the Theos.

Floor Standing Speakers

Harman Kardon HK 990 Stereo Integrated Amplifier with Digital Room Correction and Dual Subwoofer Bass Management – Part II

David A. Rich, Ph.D.

This second part of the HK 990 review examines the signal flows in the HK 990 dual-domain integrated amplifier. This analysis is relevant to all units, including modem AVRs, with a DSP signal processing unit in the main signal path. The signal flow is more transparent in this stereo unit than a 7.1 multichannel unit; so, if you are interested in AVR, please stay tuned in to Part II.

Integrated Amplifiers