Home

Audio

Focal Spirit One Over-the-Ear Headphones

Chris Heinonen

Many people now listen to their music through headphones. On their commute to work, at their desk, in the gym, or anywhere else, you're very likely to find people using headphones. As part of our headphone roundup, this review covers the Focal Spirit One Headphones, which are of the design that, generically, are called "Over the Ear", which means they completely cover the ear in a chamber, which may be sealed on the outside or open to the surroundings. The Focal Spirit One's are sealed.

Headphone and Earphone Reviews

Klipsch Gallery G-28 Home Theater Speaker System

Secrets

The Klipsch name has been present in the speaker industry since the second World War. Started in Hope Arkansas, Founder Paul Klipsch devoted much of his life's work to the improvement of horn-loaded tweeters and integration of them into audiophile speaker enclosures. The world of audio has come a long way since then, and Klipsch has been there, year after year. Here, we review their Gallery G-28 home theater speaker system. 

Surround Sound Speaker Systems

Eficion F300 Floor-Standing Speakers

Jason Victor Serinus

Critical to extracting ultimate performance from the F300 are optimal positioning, including toe-in angle, and pairing with a fast amplifier capable of delivering and controlling copious amounts of bass. When equipped with the latest super tweeter and internal crossover modifications, the Eficion F300 never fails to turn heads and win hearts.

Floor Standing Speakers

Integra DTR 50.3 THX Select2 Plus 7.2 A/V Receiver

Ross Jones

Integra has produced a high-quality, high value product in the DTR 50.3 7.2 receiver. It has all the bells and whistles you could ask for in a modern receiver, and still has that clean, neutral Integra sound. Read our review and find out why we say, "Definitely recommended!"

Receivers

D-Wings Cable Management

John E. Johnson, Jr.

All of us have had to deal with cable management in our audio and home theater systems. What we usually end up with is a tangle of wires that look like a mess. There are a number of cable management systems out there, but they most often involve tubes through which you pass the cables. D-Wings, marketed by UT-Wire, represent a completely different, and much easier to use, cable management product.

Audio Accessories Misc

Gallo Classico CL-4 Loudspeakers

Chris Groppi

Gallo loudspeakers have had a long history of exceptional sound quality. In both this publication and others, no one has much bad to say about Gallo's reference quality loudspeakers. I like them so much, I've owned several of their speakers, including my current Reference 3.5s. Opinions on styling are a different story.

Floor Standing Speakers

Aperion Verus Forte Home Theater Speaker System

Jim Clements

The history of Aperion Audio goes all the way back to the turn of the Century, the 21st Century that is. That is a fairly long history for an Internet-Direct audio company. Staying in business that long, selling direct on-line, implies that the products are good. And, they are. Reviewed here is the Aperion Verus Forte speakers, which are in a home theater configuration.

Surround Sound Speaker Systems

NAD M3 Integrated Stereo Amplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

If you look at the specs of most stereo integrated amplifiers, the rated RMS power output is between 60 watts and 120 watts per channel. This is lower than the power output of outboard power amplifiers, which typically are about 125 watts to 300 watts per channel. Monoblocks go all the way up to 2,000 watts output. One of the main reasons for this is that in an integrated power amplifier, the preamplifier circuit is situated very close to the power amplifier. Keeping the high voltage, high current power amplifier signal from inducting noise into the preamplifier circuit is difficult. NAD apparently has solved this problem with the introduction of their M3 Integrated Amplifier, which has a rated output of 180 watts per channel, at 0.004% THD+N, and clipping (1% THD+N) at 220 watts.

Integrated Amplifiers

NAD T 187 7.1 A/V Processor & T 975 Seven-Channel Power Amplifier

Chris Eberle

NAD, which stands for New Acoustic Dimension, was founded in 1972 with one simple goal: to reproduce sound as faithfully as possible. Eschewing bells and whistles, NAD products are all about simplicity, value and performance. From their earliest components, like the legendary 3020 integrated amplifier, to today's multi-channel amps and preamps, they have never wavered from this mantra. Here, we review separates: the NAD T 187 7.1 A/V SSP and the T 975 seven-channel power amplifier.

Processors

Anthem P2 Two-Channel Power Amplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Anthem's statement multi-channel power amplifiers are called the P series. They come in two versions, a five-channel (P5) and a two-channel (P2). My home theater test lab has a 200 watt x 5 amplifier which works great for the majority of applications, but it is driving electrostatic speakers (ESLs), and for a handful of Blu-ray movies, the amplifier will go into protect mode when at high volume, because ESLs typically have a very low impedance (1 ohm) in the high frequency range.

Power Amplifiers

Integra DTR-80.3 9.2 A/V Receiver

Robert Kozel

The Integra name always makes my short list of leading companies in the receiver and processor market space. While Integra is a premium manufacturer of high-end A/V equipment catering to custom A/V installers, their products offer a great mix of leading-edge technology along with outstanding performance at an attainable price. At CEDIA 2011 this past September, Integra introduced their latest product updates, including the flagship DTR-80.3 receiver, which I cover in this review.

Receivers