Recently Filed in AV Components

For legendary blues guitarist BB King, the thrill isn’t gone when it comes to touring. The 83-year-old “King of the Blues” is still on the road with his famous Gibson guitar “Lucille” performing 100 concerts per year. And King gets from gig to gig on more than just a simple set of wheels. King rides in a $1.4 million, 45–foot luxury motorcoach that has more than $200,000 worth of electronics inside, making it a center of inspiration for laying down tracks, reviewing audio and video,… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • Digital Media Servers • Multiroom Audio • Multiroom Video • Receivers • Set Top Boxes • Displays • HDTV • Lighting Control • Cool Homes

Earlier this week we reported on Roku adding two new Netflix players, the Roku HD-XR and Roku SD, and Netflix support on the PS3 coming in November. Now it’s Nintendo’s turn. According to Dan Rayburn of BusinessOfVideo.com, Nintendo is currently testing Netflix streaming on the Wii. The report, which cites an undisclosed project insider, says Nintendo’s original plan was to bring Netflix playback to the Wii by the end of 2009. That might still happen. The same source also says Nintendo might hold off on… View this story
AV Components • Digital Media Stores • Gaming • Gaming Systems • Movies and Music • Product News

I love reviewing flagship products. It’s a chance to play with some of the very best equipment this industry has to offer. Denon’s DVD-A1UDCI Universal Blu-ray Player is a dream machine that plays every existing disc format known to man, sans HD DVD. If you want a reference player that will handle all of your DVDs, Blu-rays, DVD-A and SACDs, you’ve come to the right place. But it’s not cheap to own this player. So what does $4,500 buy you over, say, a $500 Oppo… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • DVD Players • Reviews • Home Theater • Product News

Update: Sears is offering a series of “Black Friday Now” deals that will be available every Saturday between Oct. 31, 2009 and Christmas from 7 a.m. to noon. Due to Halloween, doorbusters sales will start on Friday, Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. Not to be out-leaked by OfficeMax, the Black Friday ads from Sears have been posted on BlackFriday.info. Black Friday is on Nov. 27, 2009, and Sears has some great deals on consumer electronics and DIY products, including TVs, Blu-ray players, home theater systems,… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • DVD Players • Cables, Wires and Tools • HDMI • Displays • Flat Panel • HDTV • LCD • Plasma • Furniture • Gaming • Games • Deals

Q. After I fried our Panasonic home theater receiver, my husband bought a used Harman/Kardon AVR 635 on eBay. It often refuses to put out sound. Some of the time it freezes up completely. Other times, it seems to come on, the screen provides the right message, you can adjust the volume and the numbers go up and down, but there’s no sound. Sometimes when the screen turns on, after it cycles through its start-up messages, it says “Unlock.” I have tried resetting by unplugging… View this story
AV Components • Receivers • Ask a Pro

Roku is adding two set-top boxes and new content channels in the coming weeks. The step-up Roku HD-XR ($130) and Roku SD ($79) will join the popular Roku HD Player. The Roku HD-XR, like the Roku HD, features 720p HD playback, optical audio output and HDMI connection. However, the Roku HD-XR has upgraded the WiFi to b/g/n and added a USB 2.0 port, which Roku says there currently is no use for. The Roku SD loses the HD outputs of the other two models, offering… View this story
AV Components • Digital Media Stores • Set Top Boxes • Miscellaneous • Web Services

We haven’t even reached Halloween yet and Black Friday deals are already beginning to leak. BlackFriday.info has posted deals from OfficeMax, receiving word from “a few anonymous sources” that the deals are real. (via Gizmodo) The Web site says that while the final version of the ad might change slightly, most of the items listed should be on sale. After looking over the deals, some immediate highlights include a $30 Memorex portable DVD player and a $150 Acer Aspire One Netbook. Here’s the list of… View this story
AV Components • DVD Players • Computer Systems • Computer Accessories • Computers • Software • Furniture • Gaming • Games • Deals • Product News

Of all the cool home electronics, the one system that strikes a chord with nearly every homeowner is whole-house music. “With all the options available, multiroom audio is still the most sought-after electronic home upgrade,” says Rick Ho of London Audio in Ontario, Canada. “A great sounding and easy-to-use system will often be played from morning till night.”  It’s easy to see the appeal. With just a touch of a button, your favorite music can follow you throughout your house—and you won’t have to blast… View this story
AV Components • Multiroom Audio • Audio • Info and Answers

Sonos has introduced its new all-in-one ZonePlayer S5 music system, which can stream music wirelessly from iTunes on a computer. The wireless multiroom system also features built-in speakers, a five-driver speaker design, digital active amplification and DSP-powered equalization. Other playback options for the tabletop system include: Internet radio stations Last.fm Napster, Rhapsody, Pandora Sirius Internet radio Supported audio formats include: compressed MP3, iTunes Plus, WMA, AAC (MPEG4), Ogg Vorbis, Audible (format 4), Apple Lossless, Flac (lossless), uncompressed WAV and AIFF files. There’s an analog input… View this story
AV Components • Multiroom Audio • Product News

One of the most important decisions you can make when buying a whole-house music system, home control system, or home theater system is choosing the remote control. It’s the thing you use to communicate with all that equipment. And it better work. So what should you look for? After all, tons of universal remote controls are available. Some have a few simple features; others have a bevy of high-end amenities. We’ve compiled some feature sets of six remotes from popular custom install brands that showcase… View this story
AV Components • Remote Controls • Home Theater • Info and Answers

Do you have cable? Do you have a Motorola or Scientific Atlanta cable box? Might I suggest getting rid of those slow, buggy, low capacity cable-company boxes and stepping into the light known as TiVo. Strait from Tivo.com you can currently pick up refurbished TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL DVRs for 25-33% off their new MSRP.  These refurbished units come direct from TiVo with the same 1-year warranty and 30-day money-back guarantee as a brand new units. The TiVo HD is not only a… View this story
AV Components • Digital Recorders • Set Top Boxes • Deals • Product News

Mondays are usually slow for me. I’m not a morning person, and it doesn’t help when you stay up too late on Sunday night. But over the years I’ve found the best way to get going on Monday morning is to jump in head first. I’m doing just that today with three great deals!  Our first two deals come from Best Buy. The first comes in the form of the Sharp Aquos 40E67U, a 40” 1080p LCD with 60 Hz refresh rate, 6ms response time,… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • Displays • HDTV • LCD • HDMI • Deals • Product News