Speakers

What's New

Home Theater on a Budget

Speaker systems from Energy, Hsu Research, and JBL show that surround sound doesn’t have to be expensive to be good
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted October 16, 2004
No, these aren't HTiB systems - home theaters in a box. You'll need to add more than just a TV to them before you can kick back and enjoy a movie theaterlike experience at home.

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Seismic Subs

A dozen subwoofers to rock your world
- By Tom Nousaine
- Posted September 26, 2004
The day has finally arrived when you can legitimately call yourself a Home Theater Enthusiast. You've got your HDTV, and you've upgraded from a nice enough home-theater-in-a-box system to a decent set of surround speakers.

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Extreme Bass
- Posted September 24, 2004
Most people will think twice before plunking down $500 to $1,000 on one of our ten subs for their home theaters. But if you love your bass and money's no object, there are subs out there for you, too - monster subs like Genelec's HTS6 ($7,750) and Velodyne's Digital Drive 1812 Signature Edition ($15,000) that are in a (whacky) class all by themselves.

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Definitive Technology BP7002 Home Theater Speaker System
- By Rich Warren
- Posted September 1, 2004
Looking for a good test DVD for Definitive Technology's BP7002 system, I settled on the swashbuckling Master and Commander. The commander, Jack Aubrey, portrayed by Russell Crowe, set sail in 1805 in this adaptation of Patrick O'Brian's historically accurate novel, but the special effects and sound quality are definitely 21st century.

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The Walls Are Alive

On-wall speakers from KEF, M&K, and Theil promise superb home theater sound without taking over your room
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted August 18, 2004
Flat-panel TV is the 900-pound gorilla currently ruling the home theater roost. More and more people are deciding that, yeah, a steep price, grayish blacks, and the occasional digital video glitch really are worth it for a hang-on-the-wall TV that's big, bright, and bodacious - décor-wise.

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Artison Portrait Home Theater Speakers
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted July 27, 2004
Artison is a new speaker company with more going for it than just a clever name. It also boasts an impeccable pedigree (creator Cary Christie was a founder of industry pillar Infinity), some classy, smart industrial design, and a well-considered answer to the puzzle of how to mate plasma TVs with serious home theater speakers.

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Infinity Beta Home Theater Speaker System
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted July 27, 2004
Back in hi-fi's golden age, there used to be hot debates over "East Coast" vs. "West Coast" sound - no doubt a tame forerunner of the hip-hop wars of the '90s. East Coast speakers were thought to be smooth and mellow, with "concert-hall" sound best suited to classical music and jazz.

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NHT Evolution L5 Home Theater Speaker System
- Posted June 24, 2004
Flatness is what it's all about today when you go shopping for home theater gear - and I'm not talking frequency response. Now that plasma and other flat-screen TVs rule, depth - the kind measured in inches - has become the kiss of death for anything that might share the light from the screen, like speakers.

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Atlantic Technology System 4200 Home Theater Speakers
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted May 28, 2004
High-tech wonders like the DVD and Dolby Digital get much of the credit, but the home theater revolution owes just as much to a more mundane development: compact, affordable subwoofer/ satellite speaker systems.

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You're Surrounded!

Three midprice speaker systems that will envelop you with sound
- By Al Griffin
- Posted April 1, 2004
The piercing sounds of the action/splatterfest Freddy vs.
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Paradigm Reference Studio 40 v.3 Home Theater Speaker System
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted March 9, 2004
Many of the new speaker designs I've seen recently look more like a wing, an orb, or an obelisk than a speaker, so it was reassuring to unpack this latest system from Paradigm Reference, the high-end division of Paradigm. The Studio 40 v.3 front left/right speakers are solidly conventional, quadrilateral boxes.

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Speaker, Speaker on the Wall

Seven space-saving systems to put the home back in home theater
- By Al Griffin
- Posted January 6, 2004
Photos by Tony Cordoza The next time you go to the movies, take a look around for the speakers. Where'd they go? Pull back the screen and you'll find the front left, center, and right speakers stashed behind it, while the side and rear arrays are mounted high up on the walls. The idea is to make the audio system unobtrusive, and it works.

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