Speakers

What's New

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.

» Read More
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.

» Read More
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.

» Read More
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.

» Read More
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.
» Read More
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.

» Read More
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.

» Read More
Klipsch Cinema 10 Home Theater Speaker System
- By Al Griffin
- Posted December 9, 2003
Photos by Tony Cordoza Up against the wall! That's the marching order being given to speaker designers by companies that want to offer systems to complement flat-screen TVs. With cabinets barely exceeding the 3- to 4-inch average depth of most plasma or LCD sets, some new speakers incorporate this directive literally.

» Read More
Athena Audition Series Home Theater Speakers
- By Daniel Kumin
- Posted November 10, 2003
Photos by Tony Cordoza As I unpacked Athena Technologies' Audition Series home theater speakers, I recalled that Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, reason, and purity. Was it wise and reasonable, I wondered, to expect purity of sound from a six-piece system that costs less than $1,500? If anyone could make such a system, though, I figured Athena could.

» Read More
Canton Karat Series Home Theater Speaker System
- By Al Griffin
- Posted September 23, 2003
Photos by Tony Cordoza

» Read More
6 Easy Pieces

Real-world home theater speaker systems that rock
- By Al Griffin
- Posted August 25, 2003
Photos by Tony Cordoza You've got to give credit to the guy who invented the six-pack. What a concept: six bottles, all strapped together in a bundle that can be easily toted from your local 7-11 to your fridge. Although not as portable as a bunch of brewskis, many home theater speaker systems adhere to a similar model.
» Read More
Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 5 Speaker

It /is/ rocket science!
- By David Ranada
- Posted August 20, 2003
My first encounter with the BeoLab 5 was on an international audio-press tour of the Bang & Olufsen factory in Streuer, Denmark. It's out in quiet, flat, farm country something like the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. But our introduction was anything but staid.

» Read More