 Filed Under: Furniture Contemporary $$ 
Posted Wed Jul 28, 2010, 6:15 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
Sanus JFV60 ($540) Filed Under: Equipment How To $$
Posted Mon May 10, 2010, 3:12 PM ET — By Mark Elson
Once when we were watching a DVD in the media room, my wife missed a scene because she was nodding off. But usually it’s me who does the nodding. I search for the remote control, and I can never find it when I need it. Forget about the whole remote, I’ll just settle for the right button. I fish around. There, that must be it. My fingers traverse the button terrain to find the Pause or Rewind button in the dark purely by feel. Because I’m holding the darned thing upside down, I accidentally hit the Open/Close button, which stops the movie cold and slides open the disc tray. Ah, the joys of not missing a minute of a movie! Does this sound familiar? If so, you need to read further. Juggling remote controls is one of the top three buzz-kills in the field of home electronics. And we can do something about it. The can-do spirit is in the air. Here, I’ll sift through the world of remote controls and share with you some prominent models that feature the absolute best characteristics in the category. Filed Under: Equipment $$ How To
Posted Mon Apr 26, 2010, 3:05 PM ET — By Darryl Wilkinson
I’ve often thought it would be nice to have music in multiple rooms of the house; but, as I’ve alluded, my home is not custom install friendly. I decided that a wireless multiroom system would definitely be the best bet. Sonos, a company that focuses exclusively on wireless multiroom audio, has a system that’s designed to do just thatŃand moreŃin up to 32 independent zones without breaking the bank or tearing down any walls. After I read the endearing tag line, “Wireless that works like magic,” I thought, what better time or place could there be to check out Sonos’ latest system incarnation? So I asked Sonos to send out its Bundle 150 two-zone package ($999 ) plus a ZoneBridge and let the fun begin. Filed Under: Reader Interiors Contemporary $$
Posted Fri Mar 19, 2010, 12:02 PM ET — By Matt Gambino
My wife Cindy and I purchased our new home in Raleigh, NC in January 2009 with an eye toward converting the large bonus room over the garage into a home theater. We wanted a space that could be used primarily to watch movies but could also serve as a place for relaxing and listening to music. Further, we wanted a space that was different from the rest of the house that would look and feel like a dedicated theater. Filed Under: Reader Interiors Theme Traditional $$
Posted Fri Mar 5, 2010, 3:53 PM ET — By Carmine Gallo
Long before I met my wife I dreamed of having my own home theater, many ideas have come and gone since then, but I always knew that I wanted a dedicated theater in a classic style. I finally came one step closer to my dream in 1999 when my wife and I bought a new home in the suburbs, although it would be years before I would actually start my project. I began researching and collecting items from the past, and in 2006 I finally got the nod from my financial advisor (that would be my wife) though there was one caveat ... I was put on a very strict budget. Filed Under: Reader Interiors Casual $$
Posted Thu Feb 4, 2010, 12:49 PM ET — By Bill Ramos
Let me start at the end...When you're a A/V enthusiast, you're never really done building a dedicated home theater room. The best you can strive for is, "this is where the room is as of today". Adding and replacing equipment goes hand in hand with the passion of the audiophile. Over the past 24 months, I've built a dedicated home theater/multimedia room in my house that includes a host of components from Sony. Filed Under: $$ Reader Interiors
Posted Tue Dec 22, 2009, 4:44 PM ET — By Michael Sieck
We recently remodeled our master bedroom to accommodate a fairly high end home theater/audiophile AV system. Since we're as much into great music as great films, we designed the system to provide optimum playback for both. We spend most our time either viewing movies or listening to music, so the bedroom is now our main living area. Filed Under: $$ Equipment
Posted Fri Nov 13, 2009, 6:24 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
You can't have an audio system without speakers, however, it's the speakers that cause the most problems, especially with respect to interior design. Known for their wide selection of residential ceiling fans, Hunter has teamed up with Soundolier Integrated Wireless Technologies to create the Concert Breeze, a combination ceiling fan and powered audio system. At first glance, the Concert Breeze looks like any common ceiling fan, yet hidden inside the fan’s light is a proprietary 2.4GHz wireless audio system. Without the hassle and expense of running wires, the Concert Breeze receives full range digital quality audio from any source, up to 300ft away. Simply connect a Soundolier Maestro wireless transmitter to any audio source – TV, mp3 player, etc. – through the speaker level or 3.5mm input jack and send stereo DSP audio to the Concert Breeze. Four selectable stereo signal channels virtually eliminate interference and one transmitter can send the signal to an unlimited number of receiver devices within the signal range. Filed Under: Reader Interiors $$
Posted Thu Oct 29, 2009, 4:06 PM ET — By Don Harmon
A few years ago, my wife and I visited her brother’s home in Denver, Colorado. He had just finished constructing a home theater in his basement and we were completely captivated by the idea to build our own theater. Our only problem was that we were living in Southern California, where basements are rare. We wrestled with a few different ideas, most centered on an extensive remodeling of our family room where we would lose much of its functionality. One day, we saw a Loft Masters truck at my neighbor’s house. Being nosy neighbors, we asked what they were doing. They were going to loft their living and dining rooms to get another bedroom, bath, and game room. The quest for the perfect location for our home theater had just ended. We decided to build a loft over our living room. Filed Under: Equipment $$
Posted Thu Oct 15, 2009, 10:02 AM ET — By Kim Wilson
if you thought you couldn't afford a high quality 1080p projector– think again. Panasonic's new PT-AE4000U just lowered the bar, on price, but not quality. This LCD projector retails for $2499, though some say it can be found for less, even from authorized dealers for hundreds less. Consciously designed for smaller home theaters, the PT-AE1000U can project a 120-inch image from as little as 11 to as much as 24 feet away. You sure can't get that in a flat panel display for a mere $2.5k. Filed Under: $$ Equipment
Posted Tue Sep 22, 2009, 3:34 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
While the title of this entry may sound like an oxymoron, I assure you it's not. Runco has recently announced details about the LS-3 LightStyle projector that will ship in November, just in time for Christmas. Retailing for only $4995, this is the Runco projector many folks have been waiting for. Filed Under: $$ Equipment
Posted Fri Sep 4, 2009, 4:53 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
For the price of other stand-alone Blu-ray players, it only makes sense to invest in Samsung's BD-P3600, which integrates streaming technology providing you a lot more bang for the buck. Streaming movies, TV, music and other content is without question the wave of the future,,,and the wave is only gathering up more water as a variety of new AV products are partnering with content providers. Filed Under: Equipment $$
Posted Tue Aug 18, 2009, 4:39 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
A cost-effective alternative to touch screen controllers are universal remotes. The Harmony Remote 900 by Logitech uses advanced RF technology to operate all your AV devices up to 100 feet away without the need for RF emitters attached to each device. Instead, the Harmony 900 uses a single IR blaster and one or two mini blasters on the cabinet shelves of your entertainment center. A color touchscreen allows selection of each device and the intuitive button layout provides all the necessary controls for AV Receivers, DVD/Blu-ray Players, TVs, Projectors, cable/satellite set-top boxes and any other IR device. The Harmony remote creates macros easily through an online interface so all you need to do is select the buttons labeled "Watch TV", "Watch a Movie" or Listen to Music" to fire up all the appropriate gear and select the proper inputs. Forget the coffee table clutter and integrate all your gear into the single, easy to use Harmony 900. For more details about the Harmony 900, which retails for $399, click here Filed Under: Equipment $$
Posted Fri Aug 7, 2009, 12:53 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
As flat panel TV's get even thinner, speaker manufacturers are working overtime to supply soundbars, the latest speaker craze, that will unobtrusively sit underneath these newer sets, The latest entry is Leon Speakers with their Horizon 212, designed expressly for the newest ultra-thin TVs. Available in an enclosure that is only 1.5" deep and 3.25" high, the L/C/R speaker features dual 2" Peerless woofers surrounding a 1" Morel cloth dome tweeter for each channel. The Left and Right channels are rated at 60-watts RMS (@8 ohms) while the center channel is rated at 90 watts RMS (@6 ohms). The Horizon can be flush mounted directly to the wall or with the use of the Leon Under Mount bracket, the speaker can be mounted to any articulating wall bracket. The Horizon 212 series starts at $1695 depending on the channel configuration. In addition to the L/C/R model, the Horizon 212 can be configured for L/R or center only. Filed Under: Reader Interiors Casual $$
Posted Tue Aug 4, 2009, 5:11 PM ET — By Erik Pancyck
When constructing a home theater, the first thing I recommend is cooperation from your spouse. She had (and still does) complete veto power over every single decision that went into the development of this theater. I first had to convince her to turn a spare bedroom in our brand new townhouse into a dedicated home theater. However, what probably took more persuasion was convincing her of the importance to paint the room an unusually dark color such as charcoal grey with black trim. Or painting the connecting hallway Hollywood red, or the third bathroom metallic gold. Of course, the idea of having "exit" signs all about and life size busts of pretty ugly Hollywood characters took some hard selling, too. Filed Under: Reader Interiors How To Casual $$
Posted Thu Jul 30, 2009, 5:29 PM ET — By Craig Dickerhoff Photography: Richard Boese
While this theater was my dream, the 7-year project required the support and occasional manual labor from my wife, daughters, son-in-law and a couple of friends. I did consult with Roy Johnson of Green Mountain Audio a few times and want to thank him for his insights. Other than those acknowledgments, the Geek Theater was my baby, costing around $90,000 once it was all said and done. I designed the room, specified and installed all of the equipment and furnishings. I also did all the interior work myself except for laying down the carpet. In the design of the theater, my first objective was to make the room as audio perfect as possible and secondly, make it a “rock and roll” movie theater room. Filed Under: Equipment $$
Posted Fri Jul 24, 2009, 4:43 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
PSB, the highly respected Canadian speaker manufacturer, has redesigned their highly acclaimed Image Series. Based on trickle down technology and styling from their flagship Synchrony series and the follow up Imagine series, PSB's Image series has been completely remodeled and equipped with the company's most current features and enhancements for an entirely new auditory experience. Filed Under: Equipment $$ Contemporary
Posted Tue Jun 9, 2009, 4:02 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
Design and manufactured in Israel, the SoundSpot Music Theater 1 from Morel is as compact as it is stylish. There are two complete 5.1 systems. The SoundSpot MT consists of five 3.5-inch satellite speakers (model SP-1) and one 8-inch powered PSW8 Subwoofer that retail for $1,300.00. The reference SoundSpot MT 2 includes five 4-inch satellite speakers (model SP-2) and the same subwoofer for $1,900.00. Also, the speaker spheres and subwoofer can be purchased separately, if you want to expand your system beyond five channels. The systems are available in three beautiful finishes; black, white and metallic champagne piano finishes. Each speaker can be easily mounted on the ceiling, wall or simply set on a shelf for quick and simple installation. Filed Under: $$ Equipment
Posted Thu Jun 4, 2009, 12:02 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
Designed to serve primarily as a high performance center channel speaker for home theaters, the compact Encore TF ($499 each) from Martin Logan uses an ATF (Advanced Thin Film) driver, long-excursion low-mass woofers, and sophisticated crossover engineering to produce sound with lifelike clarity and openness. The Encore TF can be discretely mounted beneath a high definition flat screen or used with the included table top stand. Additionally, the Encore TF is highly adaptable, performing equally well mounted horizontally or vertically. The Encore TF can also be used for all 5-channels in a home theater. Like all MartinLogan speakers, the Encore TFs are carefully hand-built and incorporate the best air core coils and low dissipation electrolytic capacitors, The crossover employ's MartinLogan's proprietary Vojtko topology for extremely low distortion and seamless driver integration. This precision-tuned network is capable of preserving the most subtle sonic nuances while handling the full dynamics of any source. Filed Under: Equipment Furniture $$
Posted Fri May 1, 2009, 10:37 AM ET — By Kim Wilson
Sanus Systems' VisionMount LMT15 motorized tilting mount provides automated movement by remote control, making it easy to adjust the viewing angle of your TV. It can automatically tilt to a pre-set position up to 13 degrees when the TV is turned on, or it can be positioned as desired with the IR remote control. When the TV is turned off, the mount returns to a neutral position, flat against the wall, for a low-profile appearance. It's available in black for $319, and supports flat panel displays from 40-60-inches, weighing up to 150 lbs. The LMT15 offers a variety of features, including: ClickFit, a technology that allows power conditioners and other small accessories to snap onto the mount, so they're hidden behind the TV yet easily accessible. An open wall-plate design provides for wiring flexibility. The extruded aluminum frame makes it incredibly easy to install the mount and provide a strength-to-weight ratio with corrosion resistance greater than steel. Motion-detection sensors are used for safety reassurance. 1 2 3 Older Posts >
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