A/V Product Reviews

Dynaudio has totally overhauled its popular Contour series loudspeakers with new internals. All four speakers in the new Contour i series employ a new tweeter design and updated woofers and crossovers. The flagship Contour 60i floor-standers ($10,750/pair) are almost entirely new from the ground up. And it doesn’t hurt that they sport gorgeous new finishes. Read on to learn more.

What happens when you move into your new smart home complete with Crestron and Sonos and the only way to get a reasonable musical soundtrack in the kitchen or dining room was to use a phone or an iPad? How about an IPORT LUXE WallStation ($375) and an IPORT LUXE Case ($270), all in white and designed to wall-mount an iPad Mini for use with the Sonos app, as well as the much more complicated and professionally programmed Crestron application. Read on.

Can you use pro-audio equipment for home audio applications? We ask that question in our review of the Kali Audio LP-8, a studio monitor. If the purpose of a loudspeaker is to reproduce accurate sound, the resultant sound of a studio monitor shouldn't differ from a home audio speaker. With this in mind, let's see how the LP-8 fares for recreational listening rather than monitoring. Should you consider them for your stereo or home theater system, or should they stay in the studio? Read our in-depth review of the Kali Audio LP-8s to find out.

Developed alongside the less expensive EVO4 range, Wharfedale’s new flagship Elysian range is now the brand’s top offering. The Elysian 2 stand-mount speaker ($7,000/pair) and the Elysian 4 floor-standers ($10,000/pair) combine an Air Motion Transformer tweeter with custom-designed midrange and bass drivers. Wharfedale claims that these beauties “push the boundaries of capability and performance from a speaker at this price-point.” Read on to learn more about these speakers that were 3 years in the making.

More than two years after Definitive Technology launched their Demand series bookshelf speakers, they have expanded the line to include some tower speakers. However, the Demand tower speakers look to be a lot more than simply larger versions of the bookshelf speakers. They show a significant design departure from past Definitive Technology floor-standing speakers, and that has us interested in this new direction. In our review of Definitive Technology's new Demand D15 floor-standing speaker, we will look at why Definitive Technology has changed their direction in loudspeaker design and see what advantages this new direction holds.

Watch out Denon! Audio manufacturer Marantz released information on their newest SR-Series AV receivers for 2020. The SR5015, SR6015, SR7015, and SR8015 receivers are all 8K-ready and will range in price from $1,100 to $3,200. The receivers will vary in number of channels and power output, but all will carry Marantz' HDAM-SA3 preamplification based on decades of extensive tuning. How are they different than their lower priced Denon counterparts? Read on to find out.

Last month Denon released details for the worlds first 8K receivers with their new X-Series lineup. Now Denon has released details on their new AVR-S960 7 channel AV receiver for a mere $650! Has Denon gone mad! Along with all the latest video features, the AVR-S960 also boasts some impressive audio features for its price point. To see what other amazing features this receiver has to offer read on.

Yes, I know we review audio equipment, but sometimes a new piece of tech equipment falls in your lap and you want to share your findings with other hi tech gear heads. Enter the pHin Smart Water Monitor from pool equipment giant Hayward Industries. The pHin checks your water 1,000 times a week and lets you know if your chemicals are balanced through an app on your smartphone. Is it worth the $350 price tag and $99 yearly subscription after the first year? Read our in-depth review to find out.

If you're in the process of building a smart home you've probably heard of Savant. Savant's audio subsidiary Artison is currently shipping their new MCC160 and MCC320 MKII in-wall or in-ceiling subwoofers designed to blend perfectly into your new automated home. To see what we think of Artison's newest in-wall or in-ceiling subwoofers, read on.

Atlantic Technology is now shipping their new S-Series of wireless subwoofers. Although compact, the FS-S65 and FS-S8 have the engineering that Atlantic Technology is known so the sound may beat your expectations. Atlantic Technology has also thrown a few surprises into the mix to make these some of the most versatile little subs on the market. To see what's in the box, read on.

Focal’s Kanta N°2 floor-standing loudspeakers ($10,000/pair) are now available in two new finish options, Carrara White and Black Lacquer/Walnut. The new finishes will come to the rest of the Kanta range next year. One of the most popular speakers in Focal’s extensive lineup, the Kanta N°2 combines the company’s unique flax sandwich cones with its famous pure beryllium tweeter. Read on to learn more.

Passive soundbars are a unique beast. You get none of the advantages of an active soundbar with none of the advantages of a LCR home theater system. So why would RBH engineer and manufacture a $1,200 passive soundbar? There must be some logic to their madness. Read our review of the RBH Ultra-3 passive soundbar to find out how it managed to persuade me that this is a great product.

Atlantic Technology is now shipping its third headphone, a wired over-ear design called the FS-HR280. Aimed at audiophiles, the $299 FS-HR280 is a two-way “Quad Driver” headphone that uses 40mm thin-film dynamic bass drivers and patented ceramic tweeters. The closed-back FS-HR280 is one of very few multi-driver over-ear headphones ever released. Will it succeed where others have failed? Read on to learn more.

Denon released information on the industry’s first 8K-ready AV receivers. Building on its renowned line of X-Series AVRs, the Denon AVR-X6700H, AVR-X4700H, AVR-X3700H, and AVR-X2700H usher in the next generation of A/V receivers that brings improvements to all facets of the A/V system. Denon is the first A/V receiver from a big name company to come out in front of the fall releases and the X-series is setting the bar high for others to follow.