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Subwoofers

GoldenEar Triton Three Floor-Standing Speakers

Piero Gabucci

After the successful launch of the Triton design, GoldenEar soon introduced the Triton Two, which packed a 1200 watt class-D amplifier powering two 5" x 9" "racetrack" subwoofers, along with a pair of 4.5" midrange drivers and the now popular HVFR folded ribbon tweeter. Triton Three followed on the heels of the larger Triton Two. The Triton Three is a smaller version with one less subwoofer and one less midrange driver.

Floor Standing Speakers

Triad Gold Monitor Speakers and Silver Subwoofer

Chris Heinonen

Last year, I had a chance to pay a visit to Triad Speakers, which is located in my home town of Portland, OR. They showed how their speakers are designed and built, from the very beginning, to prototype testing, to building and shipping the final product. Unfortunately, the one opportunity that wasn't available at the factory was the chance to listen to their speakers, as they were doing a complete redesign of their listening room from the studs up. On my way out, they let me take home a pair of In Room Gold Monitors and an In Room Silver DSP Subwoofer for review. Now knowing how they were built and designed, I was certainly looking forward to hearing how they sounded.

Subwoofers

KEN KREISEL DXD-12012 Dual 12″ Push-Pull Subwoofer

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Ken Kreisel of M&K sold his company years ago, and it continues to thrive. Now he is back, selling subwoofers and speakers mainly to the pro market, under the company name KEN KREISEL. The DXD-12012 is the foundation for a subwoofer system that, when combined as two subs, one on top of the other (called the DUO) or more (sixteen subs, called the QUATTRO-QUATTRO), produces the kind of SPL that movie and music studios need when they are in post-production. However, what differentiates the DXD-12012 from other subs is its accuracy.

Subwoofers

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – July, 2011

The SECRETS Movie Review Team

The Adjustment Bureau (Blu-ray), Happy Gilmore (Blu-ray), Red Riding Hood (Blu-ray), The Outlaw Josey Wales (Blu-ray), Hall Pass (Blu-ray), Blue Crush 2 (Blu-ray), American: The Bill Hicks Story (Blu-ray), 13 Assassins (Blu-ray), Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) (Blu-ray), Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition) (Blu-ray), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) (Blu-ray), Ocean Wonderland 3D (3D Blu-ray), Sharks 3D (3D Blu-ray), The Eagle (Blu-ray), Source Code (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Escient

Secrets
Escient is a division of D&M Holdings U.S., Inc., and is the pioneering leader in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sales, distribution and support of a groundbreaking category of audio/video products that meld the power of the Internet seamlessly with intuitive home-entertainment devices.
AV Directory

Anthem

Secrets
For more than a decade Sonic Frontiers International has manufactured award-winning high-end components. Sonic Frontiers and Anthem products are used internationally at all levels of music reproduction: in homes and recording studios as well as in professional broadcasting.
AV Directory

Sabian 21″ Vault Holy China Crash Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

In the 1950's Avedis Zildjian got together with Gene Krupa to make something that would be called a Pang cymbal. It looked like a regular cymbal with the edge turned upward, and it had a distinctive Far East sound quality. The Swish cymbal, a variation on the Pang, was also developed, and it had a higher pitch with more wash. Jazz drummers started using Pangs in their kit, and these days, many drummers have several of them, calling them simply China cymbals. While the first one didn't look distinctive except for the turned up edges, the China cymbals of today have all kinds of distinctive characteristics, including engravings. Sabian collaborated with Chad Smith and introduced what they call the Holy China cymbal, because it has holes in it. Drilling holes and slots in cymbals, calling them Special Effects cymbals, is very popular now, and Sabian has done this with the Holy China line. Available in 19" and 21" sizes, the present review covers the 21".

Cymbals

Dynaudio Focus 110A Actively-Powered Bookshelf Speakers

Jason Victor Serinus

Few things other than human relationships are as important to a writer and music/audiophile critic as the sound of their system. As someone who spends the bulk of his time in front of the computer, the necessity for a great-sounding desktop sound system that can transform bits on a solid-state or hard drive into living, breathing music is essential. For many of us, an essential aspect of a computer-based desktop system is compactness. Some people may have room for a separate amplifier, preamplifier, DAC, and pair of bookshelf (or bigger) speakers in their office; I, for one, do not. Thus, when Michael Manousselis of Dynaudio USA offered me a pair of the Focus 110A "active-powered" (built-in amplifiers) speakers, I was more than happy to accept.

Bookshelf Speakers

Screen Innovations Black Diamond II HD Front Projection Screen

John E. Johnson, Jr.

One of the major problems affecting those of us with projectors is the ambient room light that tends to desaturate colors of the images on the screen when we watch movies. Screen Innovations (SI) has designed a new material that helps solve this problem. It's called the Black Diamond II HD. The screen can be wall mounted, or ceiling mounted with or without motorized control.

The company also offers other types of screen material such as fabric that lets sound come through so you can place your speakers behind the screen.

Screens

Neko Audio D100 Mk 2 Stereo DAC

Rick Schmidt

DACs are taking over. I've been waiting for this day ever since the CD format came out because DACs provide an upgrade path. Upgrading is fun. And because DACs are cool. The conversion from digital to analog is of course crucial and for electrical engineers holds more than a little fascination as the music is (we hope) recreated from simple ones and zeroes. In this review, we take a look at the Neko Audio Mk 2 stereo DAC.

DACs

Integra DTR-50.1 7.2 A/V Receiver

Jim Clements

Integra is a major electronics manufacturer which markets and sells their products through custom installation supply chains. Their focus goes beyond sheer performance and encompasses upgradability, system integration and multi-zone capabilities. These are qualities that are widely needed and used within the custom installation industry. The Integra DTR-50.1 Receiver is right in the middle of the lineup of Integra's receiver offerings.

Receivers

Panasonic BD-60 Blu-ray Player

Chris Heinonen and Adrian Wittenberg

Panasonic has a long tradition of producing well regarded, competitively priced disc players. Many of their DVD players were among the best at producing a 480p image, and at a very reasonable cost. Panasonic was at it again with Blu-ray, being one of the main companies out there with a large line of affordable players for consumers, with some extra features that other companies don't include.

Blu-ray Players