Two weeks ago I had the privilege of spending the weekend with Peter McGrath and John Giolas of Wilson Audio as we swapped out...
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Home Theater
Anthem MRX 700 Audio Video Receiver
Fred Manteghian has posted a review and measurements of the Anthem MRX 700 audio video receiver ($2000) at Home Theater. His conclusions: The Anthem MRX 700 is a great-sounding AVR but not one of the Swiss army knife variety. There’s no parade of logos across its front panel, but what it has works extraordinarily...
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Krell S1200u Processor and S1500 Amplifier
Richard Stevenson has posted a review of the Krell S1200u surround sound processor () and S1500 five channel amplifier ($5495) at Home Cinema Choice. His conclusions: The battle scenes In LOTR: Return of the King (Blu-ray) are utterly believable, placing you in the thick of the action and the emotion. With the Oliphants charging...
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Marantz AV7005 Surround Sound Processor
Chris Heinonen has posted a review, including measurements, of the Marantz AV7005 surround sound processor ($1499) at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. His conclusions: It was a mistake of me to let the Marantz AV8003 escape when I was finished with the review. For the couple of issues that I ran into...
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Theta Compli-Blu Universal Blu-ray Player
Alvin Gold has posted a review of the Theta Compli-Blu universal Blu-ray player ($2999) at Hi-Fi Choice. His conclusions: On the minus side, the loading mechanism isn't the smoothest ever and the player is mechanically rather noisy during play though you'll be unlucky to hear jt in your listening room in practice. As a...
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Oppo BDP-93 and BDP-95 Universal Blu-ray Players
Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray Player Oppo BDP-95 Blu-ray Player John E. Johnson, Jr. has posted reviews, including measurements, of the the audio performance of Oppo’s new BDP-93 and BDP-95 universal Blu-ray players ($499 and $999, respectively) at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. His conclusions: Both the OPPO BDP-93 and BDP-95 represent two of...
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Ayre Acoustics DX-5 Universal Disc Player
Kal Rubinson has posted a review of the Ayre Acoustics DX-5 universal disc player ($10,000) in his Music in the Round column at Stereophile. His comments: The superior sound of the DX-5 was apparent with the Meridian 621/861, the Classé CT-SSP, and the McIntosh Labs MX150 A/V Control Center (see below), but not with...
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JVC DLA-X3 3D D-ILA Projector
David Birch-Jones has posted a review of the JVC DLA-X3 3D D-ILA projector ($4500) at The PerfectVision. His conclusions: JVC’s highly refined D-ILA imaging technology seems ideal for 3D, as this reasonably-priced entry level model delivers an enticing 3D image, along with excellent 2D high resolution imagery. The feature set isn’t as broad as...
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Screen Innovations Black Diamond II Screen
Kevin Nakano has posted a review of the Screen Innovations Black Diamond II home theater screen at LA Audio File. His conclusions: Screen Innovation's Black Diamond II is a great performer with significant advancements in screen technology. The BD II provided us with the best blacks we have seen to date on any screen....
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Ayre DX-5 Universal Disc Player
Kal Rubinson has reviewed the Ayre DX-5 universal disc player ($9995) in his Music in the Round column in the January issue of Stereophile. This follows on the heels on Michael Fremer’s review in the December issue. The question on everyone’s mind, of course, is does it sound better than the Oppo BDP-83 on...
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Ayre Acoustics DX-5 Universal Disc Player
Michael Fremer has posted a review of the Ayre Acoustics DX-5 universal disc player ($9950) at Stereophile. His conclusions: Ayre Acoustics' DX-5 is a unique way to meet your current and future digital playback needs with a single box. It plays every disc format in your collection now, and it's ready to play 24-bit/192kHz...
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Anchor Bay iScan Duo Video Processor
Brian Bloom has posted a review of the Anchor Bay iScan Duo video processor ($1299) at Audiophile Audition. His conclusions: At the simplest level the iScan Duo is a sophisticated video switcher with high quality upscaling and upconversion capabilities. In other words, it can take any digital or analog video source and convert the...
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Roku XDS 1080p Streaming Video Set-Top Box
Ian White has posted a review of the Roku XDS 1080p streaming video set-top box ($99.95) at Big Picture Big Sound. His conclusions: Building a better box does not necessarily mean than people are going to buy it. You actually have to offer them something to watch through it. From my perspective as a...
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Anthem Statement D2v Processor and P5 Amplifier
has posted a review of the Anthem Statement Statement D2v surround sound processor ($8499) and Statement P5 five-channel amplifier ($7499) at The Perfect Vision. His conclusions: Anthem’s Statement D2v A/V controller and Statement P5 multichannel amplifier are extraordinary components—partly because they have been so carefully thought out, partly because they are both so well...
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Rotel RSP-1570 SSP and RMB-1575 Amplifier
Michael Fremer has posted a review, and test measurements, of the Rotel RSP-1570 surround sound processor ($2199) and RMB-1575 five channel amplifier ($2799) at Home Theater Magazine. His conclusions: Most audio designers will tell you that low-level signal processing and amplification are far more difficult to get right than the high-powered variety. Here, Rotel...
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Mark Levinson No 533H Multi-Channel Amplifier
Andrew Robinson posted a review of the Mark Levinson No 533H Multi-Channel Amplifier ($) at Home Theater Review. Normally I don’t put much stock in their "reviews", but Andrew Robinson is an experienced audio journalist and has credibility. His conclusions: One cannot discuss the No 533H in a vacuum, for it occupies a place...
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Emotiva UPA-7 Multi-Channel Power Amplfier
Gene DellaSala has posted a comprehensive review, including a full suite of test measurements, of the budget-priced Emotiva UPA-7 multi-channel power amplfier ($699). His conclusions: I'm actually growing tired of reviewing Emotiva amplifiers. They are mostly uneventful both on my test bench and my listening tests. They don't falter, they deliver rated power (and...
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Classé Audio CT-SSP Surround-Sound Processor
Kal Rubinson has posted a review of the Classe Audio CT-SSP surround sound processor ($9,000). This unit is the equivalent of the SSP-800, but in a utilitarian case designed for rack mounting. Kal’s conclusions: The Classé CT-SSP is the first surround-sound processor I've used that I do not want to remove from this system,...
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Krell Evolution 707 Surround Sound Processor
Kal Rubinson has posted a review of the Krell Evolution 707 surround sound processor ($30,000) in his Music in the Round column at Stereophile. His conclusions: In transparency and impact, Krell's Evolution 707 Reference was at least the equal of any other processor I've used. Its sound was somewhat more forward and detailed, where...
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Oppo BDP-83 Special Edition Blu-ray Player
Matt Evert has posted yet another review of the Oppo BDP-83SE ($899) at Audio Video Revolution. His conclusions mirror those of evryone else who has reviewed the unit: The Oppo BDP-83 Special Edition Universal DVD Player is one of the few intermediately priced universal players that can provide the quality needed to shake loose...
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Classé CT-SSP Surround Processor and CT-5300 Amp
Fred Manteghian has posted his review of the Classé CT-SSP Surround Processor ($9,000) and CT-5300 Amplifier ($9,000) at Home Theater. Here is an excerpt: I love movies that show snippets in the lives of fictional musicians, like Pure Country from 1992. It’s not a great movie, to be sure, but when George Strait takes...
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