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Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – June, 2010

John E. Johnson, Jr.

The Wolfman (Blu- ray), From Paris with Love (Blu-ray), The Edge (Blu-ray), Marked For Death (Blu-ray), Armageddon (Blu-ray), Do The Right Thing (Blu-ray), Invictus (Blu-ray), Alice in Wonderland (2010) (Blu-ray), Carlito's Way (Blu-ray), Edge of Darkness (Blu-ray), Saving Private Ryan (Blu-ray), Daybreakers (Blu-ray), Robin Hood: Men In Tights (Blu-ray), Tetro (Blu-ray), High Anxiety (Blu-ray), Dirty Dancing (Blu-ray), Elektra (Blu-ray), History of the World- Part 1 (Blu-ray), Wolverine and the X-Men (DVD), Heroes: Season 3 (Blu-ray), Battlestar Galactica- Season 2.0 (Blu-ray), Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (DVD), Dune (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Klipsch Icon W 5.1 Speaker System

Jim Clements

Klipsch designed the Icon series of loudspeakers for smaller rooms and spaces. They also wanted the Icon speakers to blend well with contemporary decors. The system I reviewed here incorporated speakers from the Icon "W" line. These speakers have a sweet real wood veneer with a furniture-grade finish. Was Klipsch able to produce a compact, horn-loaded speaker system which epitomized these design goals while delivering the Klipsch signature sound? Read our review to see what we found.

Surround Sound Speaker Systems

NuVision NVU65FX5 65″ LCD Flat-Panel HDTV

Chris Eberle

PRICE DROP AS OF 1-18-10. When shopping for an LCD panel, NuVision is not one of the first manufacturers that come to mind. Sold only through a network of CEDIA-member dealers, NuVision is firmly in the category of boutique brands. Their line of televisions are "built by connoisseurs for connoisseurs" to quote their website. Here, we review the NuVision 65" NVU65FX5, which is their 65" LCD Flat-panel HDTV. At an MSRP of $10,499 ($9,999 for black bezel version), it is a pricey HDTV. Read our review to see if it cuts the mustard at the checkout counter.

HDTV

Marantz AV8003 SSP and MM8003 8-Channel Power Amplifier

Chris Heinonen

The first receiver that I remember having in the house was a classic Marantz model. Unfortunately I was too young back then to realize the quality of that component, or even recognize the name, and at some point that receiver was replaced with a much more generic, mass market model with newer features. I am old enough now to know the impact that the name Marantz has on the A/V community, and just about everyone realizes that it commands respect. Here, we review their new AV8003 A/V processor and MM8003 eight-channel power amplifier.

Receivers

Focal Dome 5.1 Speaker System

Chris Eberle

Many loudspeakers today are marketed more for their ability to blend into a space or make an aesthetic statement than to provide high performance.  Since they are the most visible AV component after the television, sizes and styles vary as much as colors of the rainbow.  With many lifestyle products come compromises in audio quality; not so with the Focal Dome system.

Surround Sound Speaker Systems

PSB Imagine B Bookshelf Speakers

Jim Clements

The Imagine speakers are PSB's newest speaker line. There are four models in this line – The Imagine T towers, the Imagine B bookshelf speakers, the Imagine C center speaker and the Imagine S surround speakers. I opted to review the Imagine B's for the mains versus the much more common towers for two reasons – first, this is the inaugural Secrets system review and the point is to review affordable system and the bookshelf speakers are somewhat less expensive than the towers and secondly, my system works better with bookshelf speakers.

Bookshelf Speakers

Cadence CSX-15 Subwoofer

Richard Stevens

I remember building my first home theater system many moons ago. I can still feel the agonizing pain of shopping for a subwoofer. Of all the components in my system it was the one item I obsessed over the most. Being the newbie that I was I had two basic requirements, big and loud. Over the years as my tastes refined I started to care less about size and subwoofers that go "boom" and began to care more about detail, finesse and accuracy.

Subwoofers

Cinepro and Custom Home Theater

Piero Gabucci
Those of you that follow our show coverage, like CEDIA or CES will know the name Cinepro and its' President and Vice President Michael J. Panicci and Gus Cossifos respectively. Cinepro's dynamic demonstrations are very much talked about during the show. Although many of demonstrations are loud, what sets Cinepro apart is their commitment to playing back at "Dolby Digital Reference Levels", which cannot be done accurately without tons of power. So with their ever increasing “how about another 10dB?” volume adjustments, if Gus & Michael were chefs, they'd be saying BAM as they added more spice!
Custom Home Theaters