All HDMI cables are the same, but that now-ubiquitous connector has limitations. Ultralong runs can be problematic and expensive, HDMI cable can't conveniently be run through walls, and when carrying 4K video, it can only handle runs of a few feet.

That's the message the people from HDBaseT sent when they introduced me to their transmission protocol this week. HDBaseT is designed to allow a single Cat 5e cable -- incredibly common and incredibly cheap today -- to carry video of up to 4K resolution, audio, data (100BaseT Ethernet), power (up to 100 watts), and even other signals … Read more

For some people, an ordinary old giant flat-screen television and Blu-ray player just aren't enough.

How much would you spend for the best of the best? Some hard-core videophiles and audiophiles dump incredible amounts of cash on home theater equipment (and fancy home theaters) that can cost as much as the average car or house. … Read more

Bose is scheduled to hold an event in New York today to show off some new products. I won't be there because I'm out of town, but I was in the Venice airport today (on my way back to New York) and spotted a couple of new Bose products in the Bose store and decided to snap a few photos.

The first is the $249 Bose AE2w, which is the company's first Bluetooth headphone. It was announced back in May and is now available online in the U.S. It's based on the AE2 design but … Read more

Now that Logitech's Squeezebox is out of the picture, Sonos is one of the best streaming devices you can buy, but it hasn't been without its niggles. One of the previous criticisms of the Sonos software was that playlist support was limited and couldn't incorporate songs from Spotify; the newest software update promises to remedy this.

The Sonos 4.1 update allows users to not only manage their Spotify playlists and playlist folders but also to create new Sonos playlists from multiple music sources.

Sonos says you can now select tracks from any music source and add … Read more

Google TV, the ambitious living room operating system often maligned as slow to update, difficult to use, and less focused than alternatives like Roku or standard Smart TV suites, will finally get a major operating system upgrade later this year.

LG announced today at Google I/O that its Google TVs will get the update to Android version 4.2.2, aka Jelly Bean, in the third quarter. LG is the only manufacturer still selling actual televisions with Google TV built-in, although a few set-top boxes are available, too. LG's models, including the 2013 GA7900 and GA6400 and the … Read more

The way people listen to music has changed drastically over the last 10 years, but home audio components have been surprisingly slow to keep up, refusing to slim down and offer basic wireless connectivity that's standard on other devices.

That's the thought NAD had in mind when designing its latest slate of digital-audio components. The company has announced three new models, the D 1050 USB DAC ($500), D 3020 integrated amplifier ($500), and D 7050 network receiver ($1,000), each sporting a sleek, compact look that's in sharp contrast to the bulky boxes home audio components usually … Read more

A recent CNET review of the Monoprice 9774 by Matt Moskovciak and Steve Guttenberg revealed that, beyond striking physical similarities, they sounded nearly identical to the more-expensive Energy Take Classic speaker system.

A recent lawsuit seems to bear out that Energy feels the same way.

So how similar are they? I acquired sets of both to take apart and compare the guts. Further, I enlisted the help of measurement wizard and speaker guru Brent Butterworth to measure the frequency response.

The results were very interesting.… Read more

There are a lot of reasons why sound bars are taking over home audio, but one of them is increasingly obvious: AV receivers are terrible.

I've reviewed a lot of them for CNET, and while receivers are fine for enthusiasts who know what they're doing, they're a frustrating experience for everyone else. Most technology gets better over time, but AV receivers seem frozen in amber, with giant chassis, thick inscrutable manuals, and onscreen interfaces that could only generously be called "standard-definition." They're embarrassingly backward compared with the rest of your home theater gear, yet … Read more

For those of you who've had your eye on the Sonos subwoofer -- or Sub, as it's officially called -- but have held back on purchasing due to its rather hefty $699 price tag, take note that Sonos has begun offering a matte-black version of the same speaker for $100 less, or $599.

When releasing the swanky-looking, glossy black version of the Sub last year, Sonos had promised to deliver a matte version, and here it is, albeit in limited quantities. According to a PR rep, "Sonos has made a limited quantity available for purchase via Sonos.com, … Read more