Crave

Panasonic SC-ZT2

(Credit: Panasonic)

LAS VEGAS--Last year, Panasonic showed its SC-ZT1 wireless home theater system and it got a nod as a Best of CES 2009 finalist in the home audio category. At CES 2010, Panasonic has announced the next generation, the SC-ZT2, pairing it down to only two pole-like speakers and adding pass-through support for 3D video. Here are the announced features.

Key features of the Panasonic SC-ZT2:

• Wireless audio/receiver package with two pole-like speakers
• Pass-through 3D video support (which implies HDMI 1.4)
• Virtual surround sound from two speakers
• 5-inch subwoofers built into the cylindrical base
• Onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio
• Return audio channel over HDMI support (also implies HDMI 1.4)
• Available in June 2010; no pricing announced

We didn't get a chance to review the SC-ZT1 last year, but the more minimalist two-speaker setup makes more sense to us for the style-conscious buyers this system will appeal to. We're also assuming the SC-ZT2 supports HDMI 1.4 (still trying to confirm with Panasonic), which ... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog

The LightSpeaker bundle above will will carry a retail price of $599.

(Credit: Klipsch)

Klipsch has come up with an intriguing concept: Marry a wireless speaker with a LED light bulb. The product's called the LightSpeaker and a bundle of two, complete with a transmitter, radio frequency remote, mini jack to RCA plug cable, lenses and trim, is set to go on sale in late January for $599. Single units will cost $250.

"Today's consumers are overloaded with complex technologies, and the LightSpeaker is designed to enrich their lives without complication," said Klipsch president Paul Jacobs. "It offers brilliant light, reduces energy costs and creates a multiroom ambient music system in mere minutes. There's no wiring, no retrofitting and no software to deal with."

The LightSpeaker comes with a dimmable LED bulb and fits 5- and 6-inch recessed light fixtures with a standard Edison socket. Klipsch says upcoming accessories will allow the LightSpeaker to accommodate hanging light fixtures as well as floor and table lamps.

In terms of specs, the speaker uses ... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog

(Credit: CNET)

If you're lucky enough to get your favorite piece of home theater gear this holiday season, the next step is setting it up and getting it tweaked just right. CNET dishes out home theater setup advice all year, but we've rounded up our most important home theater tips so you can spend your holidays on the couch rather than crawling behind your TV cabinet.

Home theater setup tips

• Don't buy expensive HDMI cables
• Speaker-placement tips for audiophiles
• Home theater speaker placement tips
• Is it worth setting up my Dolby Pro Logic IIz height speakers?
• Subwoofer setup guide
• How to get the most out of your subwoofer
• How to use your AV receiver's speaker calibration
• What'd he say? How to improve home theater dialogue intelligibility
• What do my speaker specs mean?
• Demystifying speaker impedance--what you need to know
• What's up with watts: How much power do you need?
• How to double your home theater receiver's power
• Six ways to make your turntable sound better
• How to get the best sound from in-ear headphones

Of course, the other half of the home theater equation is the HDTV, so be sure to check out David Katzmaier's HDTV setup tips, too.

Is this the future of Blu-ray?

(Credit: Amazon)

Brace yourselves. Less than two weeks after you open your gifts on Christmas morning, the consumer electronics industry will be reminding you that all those new gadgets--touted as lustworthy just days earlier--are already obsolete.

OK, maybe that's a tad cynical. But it's certainly true that the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (January 5-10) codifies the trends and sets the bar for what you can expect to see on store shelves for the following 12 months. That's especially true in the home theater category. But before we look forward to the upcoming show, let's take a look back at what we saw in 2009.

As the 2009 show came to an end, we chose the Samsung HT-BD7200 home theater system and the EchoStar "SlingLoaded" HD DVR 922 as the most promising products in the home audio and video realms. The latter product, to date, has yet to make an appearance in the real world (an all too common trend for many high-profile CES

Zvox Z-Base 525

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Surround sound and its accouterments tend to dominate a living room, requiring an AV receiver, several speakers, stands, and wires to make the whole thing work. That's why many people choose to skip surround sound, opting instead for the tinny acoustics of their TV speakers.

Single-speaker solutions like the Zvox Z-Base 525 represent a middle ground approach, promising much better audio than your TV without all the fuss. The Z-Base 525 is particularly fuss-free; its unique design makes it look like nothing more than a pedestal for your HDTV. Even better, the Z-Base sounds better than most sound bars do, although it doesn't have as much of the surround effect as other sound bars. (The step-up Z-Base 575 sounds even better, but it's larger and more expensive.)

Like any sound bar, it doesn't compare with a full 5.1 system, but if you can live with the compromises, the Z-Base 525 ($350) is one of the more affordable options with respectable sound and an outstanding design.

Read our full review of the Zvox Z-Base 525.

Zvox Z-Base 525 photos

Livio broke onto the Wi-Fi radio scene with the Livio Radio, featuring a "less is more" design philosophy that focused on Pandora's streaming music service. Today the company has announced a new Wi-Fi radio in the same vein, The NPR Radio ($200), which puts the focus on easily finding NPR content.

The backbone of The NPR Radio is the NPR menu, which is programmed by NPR and aggregates all of the company's content into a single menu, so you can easily find the NPR station you're looking for without having to know the station's call letters. Bringing up the menu is as easy as hitting the NPR button on the front panel and your saved stations pop up when you hit My NPR. You'll also have the ability to stream NPR podcasts, which is nice if you prefer on-demand listening rather than tuning in at a specific time.

Aside from NPR programming, The NPR Radio is still capable of accessing the thousands of other Internet radio stations freely available. The design and feature set of The NPR Radio is nearly identical to the Livio Radio; a remote is included, and there's an auxiliary input on the back. Livio told us that the company intends to add Pandora streaming functionality to The NPR Radio (and, conversely, add the NPR menu to the original Livio Radio), but it couldn't give us a specific date of when that functionality is expected.

If you're a techie, it's easy to be cynical about The NPR Radio; you can get all the same streams on better-featured products like the Grace GDI-IR2000 and Logitech Squeezebox Radio. Still, we can't deny that The NPR Radio's straightforward/simple approach has appeal, especially for those who love NPR's content, but are less comfortable with technology.

The NPR Radio is currently available for preorder on NPR Shop and is expected ship in November.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Prices on AV receivers range from as little as $100 up to several thousands, but most home theater buyers focus in on the "sweet spot," where you get most of the important features and performance for the least amount of money. We tested the midrange models from nearly all the major AV receiver manufacturers to see how they stack up, and after completing our roundup we came away with some clear picks depending on what you need for your home theater.

The standout AV receiver is the Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K, which we awarded the Editors' Choice. The VSX-1019AH-K does just about everything right--it has four HDMI inputs, a graphical user interface, and outstanding sound quality. It can upconvert analog video signals to 1080p with average image quality, which is impressive because receivers at this price generally have poor image quality on upconverted sources.

The most unique feature is the VSX-1019AH-K's iPod-compatible front-panel USB port, which allows you to browse and play back songs from your iPod using the receiver's onscreen display. (Pioneer even throws in an iPod cable.) It's a little more expensive than some of the other receivers we looked at, but you'll feel like you got your money's worth.

Next in line are the two Onkyo receivers. The trump card for these units is HDMI connectivity; the TX-SR607 has six HDMI inputs and the HT-RC160 has five (it lacks the front-panel HDMI input of the TX-SR607.) They also measure up well in terms of sound quality, which won't surprise fans of the Onkyo brand. On the downside, both have poor upconverted image quality and surprisingly lack a multichannel analog input. Both receivers offer a lot of value, but the HT-RC160 is an incredible deal with its street price inching below $400. If you just need HDMI connectivity and powerful sound, the HT-RC160 is the way to go.

Sony STR-DA5500ES

Like many manufacturers, Sony has two brands of its AV receivers--the standard line (from the STR-DH100 and the STR-DG1200) and the premium, ES (elevated standard) line. Today at CEDIA, the company announced two new models of the ES line, the STR-DA3500ES and STR-DA5500ES. Let's take a look at the feature breakdown.

Key features of the Sony STR-DA3500ES:

• 7.1 AV receiver, 100 watts per channel
• Four HDMI inputs
• Second zone HD video
... Read More

Harman Kardon AVR 3600

Harman Kardon has announced a new line of AV receivers at CEDIA 2009, ranging from $600 to $1,200. Each of the models features a nearly identical exterior design, with a stylish two-tone front panel and a thin strip of buttons running down the middle. Let's take a look at how the receivers break down in terms of features.

Harman Kardon's new line of AV receivers--photos

Key features of the Harman Kardon AVR 1600:

• 7.1 AV receiver, 50 watts per channel
• Three HDMI inputs
• Automatic speaker calibration
• Text-based onscreen display
• Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio
• Six digital audio inputs (3 optical, 3 coaxial)
• Available now | $600 list price

Key step-up features of the Harman Kardon AVR 2600:
... Read More