Featured Reviews & Articles

My dentist was looking for a compact, reasonably priced home theater system that provided surround sound in the main family room and distributed audio throughout the home. The challenge was accommodating all of the design constraints outlined by his wife while still offering a respectable solution I could rest well at night after installing. Although this installation wasn’t perfect, I managed to take a pretty grim situation and turned it around to a workable solution. This system comprises Denon, Samsung and Panamax components with EMP and SVS speakers and subwoofers, respectively. Knowing the caliber of dentist my friend is, I asked him if the sound quality and function of the system met his expectations and he confidently told me “NO! They exceeded them!” Looking for a home theater system that you and your spouse can live with? Check out our install.

Background noise can drown out soft dialogue in movies or soft details in music. Unfortunately, most people only think about blocking noise from leaving a home theater, instead of stopping noise from coming in. Here are a few tips to keep noise out of your home theater.

We love speakers but hate seeing wire run down the wall or across the floor. More importantly, your spouse probably hates it too. Luckily, with a few tools and some guidance you can hide the wires in the wall, often times without having to do any repair work. The key is knowing how to run the wire, so we came up with a few tips. Don’t worry if these tips don’t explain everything, a more complete “How to Conceal Wire in Your Home” article is in the mix.

Many readers of our website know that we're avid fans of getting your flat panel TV off the furniture and onto the wall. In fact we've written several different articles about this in the past. But what may not be so obvious, because we haven't yet made a big enough stink about it, is that we also love to make those flat panels seem almost "magical". How do you do that? By hiding the source components and equipment that make them work and send them their signal. Now, you may not want to do this with truly high-end gear and if you take lots of pride in your assortment of amps, pre-processors, flagship Blu-ray players and other equipment, but, if you're like most people, that doesn't describe you. If you're like most people, you've got a mainstream AV receiver and some source components that get the job done, but don't rise to the level of "glamorous" or "high-end".

While many of us would love to spend the majority of our day locked in our man-caves or home theaters listening to music on our big audio rigs, the reality is that we don't. In fact, most of our time at home is spent in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom or family room. This being the case, whole house audio should be a part of your home if it is not already. And it shouldn't be an afterthought. Many newer homes, especially in tract-housing developments, come with pre-installed systems, but many times these consist of cheap speakers with paper cones that have been installed by the alarm guy who "specializes in home audio."

There are home theaters that focus on luxury, some that focus on high-end equipment, and others that are themed. This latest, from Electronic House's "Cool Homes" section, is all about golf. And that's not a description of the home or the theater itself, mind you. It's just that, while some people have to load up the car and drive to get their golf on, John and Pamela Blakely just look right outside. This is because they live inside the well-regarded Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, Fla. Surprisingly, however, the couple’s favorite hobby does not involve shooting 18 holes or even carrying bags for the other homeowners. Instead, the two have been fixing up houses since the mid-1990s. And when we say fixing up houses - we mean fixing up BIG houses.

Why review a NetGear Powerline AV500 Adapter Kit? Well, it seems these days everything requires an Internet connection - at least for anything having to do with home theater. So what do you do if you don't have your house wired for Internet? What if you want to stream movies and your wireless connection can't quite cut it? Well the HomePlug Powerline Alliance got together a ton of companies and created a standard for networking over power lines. You can use your home's existing electrical system - the regular power outlets you have all over the place - and transmit networked audio, video and data. And it's not expensive to do. Devices like Netgear's Powerline AV500 Kit are set to revolutionize the way we connect our homes and our gear. You should check it out, because our testing shows that it beats wireless hands-down - it just may forever change the way you look at networking.

There’s a lot you can do with a home control system. They are so smart and powerful that if you wanted to automate the dog you probably could. Not quite, but there’s no limit—other than your budget—to the amazing setups possible when you’ve got the right system, the right professional installing it and a really creative mind. The Elan g! system programmed by AudioVideo Specialists for a 10,000-square-foot suburban Chicago home epitomizes the extent of a well-executed home control plan. The g! system accomplishes these and other feats by seamlessly integrating a variety of electronic systems under one main control processor. Tied together in this home are a whole-house audio and video system, lighting, heating and cooling, security, surveillance cameras, motorized window treatments, irrigation and pool and spa controls.

Say you're an avid sports fan and you want the biggest and loudest theater possible. Check. Home system design and installation company Audio Video Interiors (AVI) of Middleburg Heights, Ohio, will tune up a rockin' JBL Synthesis speaker system that will make you feel every bone-crunching gridiron hit. Say you want the best HD video possible, with superwide CinemaScope capability and the ability to produce an image that will pop even when the room lights are on? Check. AVI will mount Digital Projection's monster Titan Reference 1080p projector with an anamorphic lens to produce those superwide pictures. On the other end of the room will be a 14-foot-wide Stewart Filmscreen CineCurve display to show those CinemaScope movies in all their glory. Say you want a multi-screen theater, but don't want to compromise on the size of a big screen...