A/V Product Reviews

Paradigm has recently replaced their acclaimed Prestige loudspeaker line with the Founder series. The Founder speakers are packed to the gills with new advances in loudspeaker design, yet they keep many signature Paradigm design elements. The result is a speaker that pushes the technology envelope while benefiting from traditional engineering practices that have served Paradigm so well over the years. Read our preview of Paradigm's Founder speakers to see how much further forward they have pushed the high-end of sound reproduction.

When the newly established home theater company Bomaker emailed me to review their new Tapio V Soundbar and Subwoofer with a MSRP of $110 I thought maybe they left off a zero. The Tapio V is a semi portable 100 watt 2.1 system. If you want to improve the sound of your HDTV on the cheap, you'll want to read this review!

SVS has just announced that their entry-level subs have received a major redesign, and we at Audioholics have been given the scoop on the new 1000 Pro series subwoofers: the PB-1000 Pro and SB-1000 Pro. The smallest children of SVS's subwoofer line has just had a growth spurt and now features more powerful amplifiers, improved drivers, and incorporates the advanced DSP technology from SVS higher-end offerings. Read our preview article to find out how SVS's most affordable subwoofers just became more powerful.

At last, our full review of the Monoprice Monolith HTP-1 AV Processor is here! Do you want sixteen channels of highly-configurable, fully-balanced XLR pre-amp output? Of course, you do! The cherry on top of this cake is support for Dirac Live, one of the most sophisticated room correction equalizers in existence. Throw in full support for all three immersive surround formats (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro 3D) and you've got the recipe for a great home theater processor. Read our review, complete with measurements, to see what the HTP-1 can do for you.

What happens when you take all the high-end technology and advanced build-material used by Focal in its flagship headphone Utopia and add the luxury, comfort and style of full-grain leather and optimize it to fit the efficiency and characteristics of a closed-back design? One answer is Stellia, Focal's Flagship closed-back headphone. Expectations are high as they should be, because Stellia is an undeniably expensive headphone. But, Focal has plenty of experience making a variety of high-end headphones, and this isn't even Focal's first closed-back model. So, let's take a closer look and see what the retail price of $3,000 for Focal's Stellia gets you. Musical Bliss? Read on to find out.

Attention citizens of these great United States of America! Your country needs YOU to speak out on behalf of consumers and the future of hi-fi audio. The Federal Trade Commission is presently reviewing its amplifier power ratings regulation, or "Amplifier Rule", and we need YOU to participate in the review with citizen public comment by February 16th, 2021 or we may lose this ruling forever. In this article we show you how you can tell the FTC to maintain and modernize stringent standards in manufacturer's published power ratings to keep false claims and dishonest marketing away from our beloved audio gear. You're just a click away from being one of the great Americans taking action on behalf of your great republic.

Looking for a new pair of noise-cancelling headphones? The choice can be daunting, but if you're budget is in the $300-$400 range we've taken the well known Bose 700 UC and directly compared it to the Bowers & Wilkins PX7. We found that both headphones have associated strengths and weaknesses in terms of sound quality, usability and effectiveness of noise-cancellation. Read on to discover which headphone may be right for your needs.

Looking for a pair of bookshelf speakers in the $500 price range? Look no further! We have compiled a list of our top choices for bookshelf speakers at that price point for 2021. We think these are the best picks, and we will tell you why. Read our round-up of the best $500 bookshelf speakers that are currently available.

Wilson Audio’s new SabrinaX Loudspeaker raises the price of its least expensive floorstander by almost 20%. But if you have a spare $18,900 lying around, it promises to deliver Wilson’s legendary performance and build quality in a smaller and less expensive package (relative to other Wilson speakers, that is). The SabrinaX boasts all new drivers and a cabinet built from the company’s proprietary composite X-Material. Read on to learn more.

Celestee is the latest closed-back headphone by Focal, due to hit the streets by March 2021. Aimed at Focal's entry level price-point, Celestee will replace Elegia in Focal's high-end headphone lineup. While you were listening to your Focal headphones, Focal has been listening to you! The French audio company engineered the most requested performance enhancement from Elegia's original design, then incorporated esthetic cues from its flagship closed-back, Stellia. Focal wrapped it all in a new color combination, navy blue with soft copper accents to make its next-generation headphone a modern-classic. Let's dig in and find out how it actually looks, feels and sounds.

If you're still nostalgic about your vinyl, but don't want to setup a dedicated system for it, check out the new +Record Player from Plus Audio. The new +Record Player has incredibly realistic sound for an all in one record player system and it doesn't take up a ton of real estate. Is it worth the $1,600 price tag? Read our review to find out.

On the heels of unveiling their A/V Processors and A/V Receivers audio company Anthem released three new multi-ch power amplifiers starting at $2k that are sure to be on all the immersive audio enthusiasts wish lists to kick off the New Year. The MCA 225, 325, and 525 are designed to compliment the new AVM 70 and AVM 90 A/V Processors from Anthem. Anthem is claiming impressively low noise specs and up to a whopping 600 watts of power/ch to make your speakers come alive. Read on to find out more.

KEF has updated the modern classic LS50 loudspeaker with a groundbreaking innovation called “Metamaterial Absorption Technology.” Featured in both the passive LS50 Meta ($1,500/pair) and the active LS50 Wireless II ($2,500/pair), Metamaterial Absorption Technology uses a complex acoustical device located behind the drivers to absorb 99% of the sound created by the tweeter’s rearward motion, which would normally enter the speaker cabinet and cause distortion. Read on to learn more about this unique innovation.

We'll give you our opinion on what speaker cables to buy here on Audioholics and what to look out for as snake oil. For a snake oil free cable company, check out Shielded Audio. This family owned and operated company has designed high quality instrument, power, RCA, XLR, and of course, speaker cables. Read on to see what we think of them.