Recently Filed in Audio

I feel really, really bad both professionally and personally that satellite radio is going away. What? You say the merger will preserve the longest running alternative to the slowly dying, little choice over-commercialized terrestrial radio? I don’t think so! No matter how this transition pans out, satellite radio will never be the same. Last week’s morphing of music and other radio content may do little to prevent the real fans of satellite radio from eventually walking away from the dial. A few months ago, the… View this story
Industry • HD Radio • Satellite • Audio • Info and Answers

It’s a modem, it’s a cellphone, it makes fries. Sadly, the latter Is just a pipe dream, but Toshiba’s G450 wants to be many things to many people. The tiny device is an HSDPA modem, a phone, a memory stick, alarm clock and an MP3 player in one package. Into Mobile got to play around with the G450, which sounds simple to use and a whole lot of fun too—despite the measly 160MB of memory. Who’s idea was that? Still, it’s a pretty cool idea… View this story
Portables • Cell Phones • Gadgets • Audio • Networking • Product News

Looking for the gift that keeps on giving? Guitammer just announced an at-home ButtKicker kit, which will be available starting Black Friday. The do-it-yourself kit transforms any piece of furniture into a wild ride, adding motion to every movie, CD or video game. Just attach it to any piece of furniture or the floor. No need to crank up the volume; the ButtKicker uses low-frequency audio transducers to provide realistic special effects. The new offering includes a 4-ohm ButtKicker Advance transducer, the BKA300-4 amplifier (115v)… View this story
Amplifiers • Weird Stuff • Home Theater • Audio • Product News

Q. I have a single subwoofer output on my Onkyo TX-SR705 A/V receiver but want to run two subwoofers and a basshaker amplifier. What is the best way to pull this off? - Dennis, St. Louis A. This particular receiver is designed for 7.1 surround, which means it only supports a single channel for a subwoofer. Technically speaking, this cannot be done. However, if you want to do it anyway, you could use the 2-zone capability of this receiver to make this work. Install a… View this story
AV Components • Speakers • Audio • Ask a Pro

Surround-sound speaker systems for your theater room can range wildly. You can be happy with a 5.1 setup that’s right out of a home theater in a box, step up to more weighty cabinet and bookshelf models, or have a larger system that uses towers all over the place—including the center channel and surrounds. We asked our friends over on the AVS Forum for some recommendations that our readers can use for the holiday season. In our “AVS Recommends” series we’ve already discussed options for… View this story
Speakers • Bookshelf Speakers • Speaker Systems • Subwoofers • Surround Sound • Buyers Guides • Audio • Info and Answers • Slideshows

Not to be out-leaked by every other retailer, Best Buy has announced some of its own Black Friday specials. Assuming you aren’t a contest VIP, here is what you can expect to snag and for how much, come Friday, November 28 at 5:00 a.m. LG 32” Widescreen 1080p LCD HDTV w/ Free TV Setup - $699.98 Mitsubishi 60” Widescreen 1080p DLP HDTV - $999.99 Panasonic Viera 50” Widescreen 720p Plasma HDTV - $899.99* Samsung 32” Widescreen LCD HDTV - $499.99 Samsung 42” Widescreen Plasma HDTV… View this story
Retailers • Deals • Home Theater • Audio • Networking • Product News

Another retailer is making its deals known. RadioShack is adding a lot of items into the Black Friday fray. All you need is your credit card and your phone number and/or zip code (do they still ask for that?), and a peek at what they are expected to have on hand. Here are a few of our favorite deals: Samsung Blu-ray Player - $199.99 (no model listed) Sirius SUB-2X Dock & Play Boombox - $49.99 TomTom One 125 GPS - $99.99 Belkin Tunebase FM Transmitter… View this story
Retailers • Deals • Home Theater • Audio • Networking • Product News

If you thought 3D was good, wait till you get a load of 4D! That’s what the surround soundtrack on this week’s “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” will be offering as the first release to incorporate GenAudio’s AstoundSurround mixing technology. The Colorado-based company had its AstoundSurround software employed by Micasa Multimedia during the mastering process for the movie for home theater, and says it delivers true a 360-degree spherical sound field. The mix is used for both the 5.1 and 7.1 soundtracks for Hellboy, which… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • Audio • Product News

Audiophiles understand the importance of speakers in a home entertainment set-up. This is arguably the most important decision made when purchasing and assembling the audio components for the system. It is certainly one of the first features shown off when fellow audiophiles drop in for some aural sampling. When selecting speakers, consumers may find themselves confronted with the option of active speakers, passive speakers, powered speakers, or some combination. To make life more difficult, not all vendors and experts agree on the usage of those… View this story
Speakers • Audio • Info and Answers • Slideshows

Sony Ericsson has certainly made the Walkman into a pretty cool product. No longer destined to collect dust on the shelf, the new Walkmans (Walkmen?) include phone and camera features. The newly announced W705 even has Wi-Fi support, which allows users to snag songs and YouTube videos while in any hot spot. Other features include the TrackID SensMe music recognition application, as well as Shake control, which allows you to twitch into the next song. Oh yeah—it’s a phone, too. The slider features a 3.2-megapixel… View this story
Wireless Speakers • Portables • Cell Phones • Gadgets • Audio • Networking • Product News

If you’ve shopped for a new A/V receiver anytime in the past few years, you’ve no doubt seen Audyssey’s logo join the ever-growing collection of silk-screened faceplate emblems. The company’s MultEQ automatic room correction system has quickly become the de facto standard for equalization in home theater, and is included these days as standard equipment on receivers and preamps from Denon, Integra, Onkyo, NAD, and Marantz (View slideshow of Audyssey-enabled receivers). Recently, Audyssey introduced two new sound-shaping technologies to the market, dubbed Dynamic EQ and… View this story
Speakers • Audio • Info and Answers

Loudspeakers might be the character actors of your home A/V setup. Long ago, they were the stars: You had a pair of giant cabinet or tower speakers that captured your full attention, while sound to accompany video was relegated to the TV’s paltry speakers. Video displays have become home entertainment’s A-list celebs, but today’s loudspeakers are more versatile than they were in hi-fi’s heyday. So like great character actors, they can fill any role in your house—and often steal the show. Hundreds of manufacturers produce… View this story
Speakers • Buyers Guides • Audio • Info and Answers