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Subwoofers

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

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – January, 2010

John E. Johnson, Jr.

The Hangover (Blu-ray), The Marine 2 (Blu-ray), Mamma Mia! (Blu-ray), Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Blu-ray), Extract (Blu-ray), Jennifer's Body (Blu-ray), Horton Hears a Who! (Blu-ray), Command Performance (Blu-ray), 9 (Blu-ray), A Perfect Getaway (Blu-ray), Taking Woodstock (Blu-ray), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Blu-ray), CSI: The First Season (Blu-ray), 10 Things I Hate About You (Blu-ray), Fighting (Blu-ray), Love Actually (Blu-ray), American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (Blu-ray), Funny People (Blu-ray), Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

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

Emotiva X-Series A/V Cables

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Emotiva, which started out marketing amplifiers, expanded to include preamplifiers, SSPs, speakers, and now, to complete the line, a complete series of cables. These include coaxial analog RCA, coaxial digital RCA, digital Toslink, balanced XLR, HDMI, and speaker cables. They come in two models, one being the X-Series that we review here, and the Ultra-Series, which is the entry level. I found the cables to be extremely well constructed, with gold-plated contacts, and rugged enough to be man-handled through the typical maze of wires that we all have behind our equipment racks. The sound in my reference system using the Emotiva cables was excellent. The prices are very reasonable, and are a better value than what I see in blister packs at various mass market electronic stores.

Video Accessories Misc

Movie Renter’s Guide – December, 2009

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Star Trek (Blu-ray), The Taking of Pelham 123 (Blu-ray), Angels & Demons (Blu-ray), Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws (Blu-ray), A Charlie Brown Christmas (Blu-ray), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1965, Blu-ray), Wrong Turn (Blu-ray), An American Werewolf in London (Blu-ray), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000, Blu-ray), The Office: Season 5 (Blu-ray), Battlestar Galactica - The Plan (Blu-ray), District 9 (Blu-ray), The Inglourious Basterds (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Pioneer SC27 7.1 A/V Receiver

Chris Heinonen

Over the past few years, Class D amps have been gaining in popularity for many reasons including their much smaller size, their incredibly high efficiency, and the much smaller amount of heat that they put off compared to a standard Class A, AB, or B amplifier. More and more high end audio companies such as Rotel, Bel Canto and PS Audio have come out with Class D products that offer high performance in a much smaller form factor than was possible with standard amplifier technologies.

Receivers

Marantz PM8003 Stereo Integrated Amplifier

Jared Rachwalski

Marantz is a name that has been around for a long time; refreshingly they continue to produce quality two channel gear despite branching out into both budget and high-end home theater. My own listening experiences have found their budget home theater receivers to be the most musical for the price. Where other budget offerings can do movies well, most make for mundane music reproduction.

Integrated Amplifiers