SVSound PB-12 Plus Subwoofer

Chris Eberle

In today's economy, good value in audio is more important than ever. To that end SVSound (SVS) has created a line of subwoofers that address every possible need in home theater and music listening without breaking the budget. I recently spent some quality time with their big box model, the PB12-Plus. This superbly-built sub includes quality amplification, a sweet-sounding 12-inch driver and plenty of adjustability. I would venture to say that most bass issues can be resolved with the PB12's tuning and EQ controls.

Subwoofers

Theta Generation VIII Series 2 Digital-to-Analog Converter/Preamp

Jason Victor Serinus

Many moons ago, in March 2003, Secrets published one of the first reviews of Theta's then state-of-the-art two-channel DAC/preamp, the Generation VIII (aka Gen. VIII). Close to six years later, after umpteen advances in digital chip technology, Theta has released a significant, Series 2 upgrade to the original Gen. VIII. The upgrade, which can either be easily installed at home or purchased as part of a new unit, renders such significant improvements to the sound as to demand a new review.

DACs

Parasound Halo P7 Preamplifier

Rick Schmidt

The Parasound Halo P 7 Preamp is a problem solver. The problem is the gap between home theater systems and hi-end stereo systems. Many home theater buyers are fond of the stereo systems that they already own (and paid big bucks for), those that don't already have a stereo might find that they can afford a lot more two channel gear than 7.1 channel gear and since 90-100% of their music collection is two channel.. well, you get the idea. But unless you are a hifi nut like me, you don't have a room dedicated to the stereo and another dedicated to the home theater.

Preamplifiers
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YAMAHA UPDATES ITS MARKET-LEADING RECEIVERS

giles

BUENA PARK, Calif.--Yamaha Electronics Corporation, the innovator in home theater and digital audio and video reproduction, today introduced a new line of versatile, high-performance AV receivers featuring the RX-V665 (MSRP: $549.95), successor to the RX-V663, the industry's best-selling model in 2008. This model and the other four in the line (RX-V765, MSRP: $649.95; RX-V565, MSRP: $479.95; RX-V465, MSRP: $379.95; and RX-V365, MSRP $249.95) deliver the best HD video and audio performance along with exceptional versatility at popular price points.

Press

Toshiba XD-E500 DVD Player – Benchmark

Brian Alvarez and Adrian Wittenberg

I can remember a time when Toshiba offered entry level DVD players and also high dollar flagship models like the SD-9200. As DVD players became a commodity Toshiba logically focused on mainstream consumer players much like the XD-E500 reviewed here.  The XD-E500 is a main stream DVD player priced at $99.99 and offering the features a player of this price offers. This includes the obvious DVD playback, the almost universal support amongst new DVD players for DivX playback, Mp3 and WMA.

DVD Players