Home audio

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

Onkyo's rightfully known as the king of AV receiver value and its new 2013 line looks worthy of that reputation.

The company announced its new AV receivers this morning, with the step-up TX-NR626 and TX-NR727 models getting two big new features for 2013: built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. All of the models are also packed with HDMI connectivity, with even the entry-level TX-NR525 offering six inputs.

Here's how I'd break down the most-important features:

TX-NR525 ($500): 5.2 channels, six HDMI inputs, Audyssey MultEQ, networking, unpowered second zone TX-NR626 ($600) step-ups: 7.2 channels, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, … Read more

The real audio power comes from the low end, the bass. When you feel the rumble in your chest, that's bass.

Most of us want this at home, but with myriad subwoofers out there -- and even more specs and sizes -- what's the best choice? Though the simple "the biggest, most powerful you can afford" is easy to say, the correct answer is little more complex.… Read more

Say the phrase "AV receiver" and the experience that comes to mind is crouching behind a narrow TV cabinet with a tangle of cables, trying to wrap bare wire around a banana plug. And that's before you even get to the fun stuff, like assigning and renaming inputs.

That fact AV receivers are so synonymous with "frustration" is the inspiration for Denon's new 2013 line of AV receivers, which are shooting for "new levels of user friendliness." The company announced three new mainstream models, with the higher-end models including ease-of-use-minded features like … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Announced on Saturday at Mobile World Congress, the Samsung HomeSync is a home theater media hub that aims to inject a little Android OS into your TV via your Galaxy handset. Slated for April, the device can stream videos, games, and other media from your Galaxy phone to your big-screen TV through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Think of it as an Apple TV for the Samsung faithful.

Design The Samsung HomeSync is packaged in a minimalistic glossy black box, and it's about the size of three DVD cases stacked on top of one another. When placed on a flat … Read more

Congrats to Michal H. of West Lafayette, Ind., for winning a copy of Nuance Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 in last week's giveaway. Now, get ready to pump up the volume. This week we're giving away a pair of satellite speakers from Aperion Audio.

Aperion -- whose home theater speakers have been called "spectacular" by CNET contributor and Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg -- went petite with its Verus Forte speakers. Intended for small spaces, they measure 9 inches by 5 inches wide by 5.7 inches deep and weigh 6.5 pounds.

The callout feature on these … Read more