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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Panasonic SC-ZT1: Wireless, ultraslim speaker system
Panasonic released a bundle of home theater systems at CES 2009, but the SC-ZT1 is easily the best of the bunch. The SC-ZT1 is a wireless home theater system that uses the 2.4GHz band to send uncompressed audio to all four speakers. Like all wireless systems, you'll need need to run a power cable for each speaker--so it's not completely wireless--but you won't have to deal with long speaker cable runs all over your living room.
The SC-ZT1 is somewhat unusual as its technically a 4.0 system--there are just the four, spindlelike speakers (Panasonic calls them Sound Slim Speakers), pictured in the image. These four speakers each have four vertically aligned speakers within them, which the SC-ZT1 uses to create a virtual 7.1 surround sound effect. Sure, it probably won't sound as good as a real 7.1 system, but you'll be dealing with a lot fewer wires. You'll also notice that the SC-ZT1 lacks a dedicated, separate subwoofer. That's replaced by integrated subwoofers in each of the speakers, filling in the low end. Again, it won't match the rumble of a dedicated unit, but it's definitely less hassle and looks better in your living room.
The SC-ZT1 is somewhat unusual as its technically a 4.0 system--there are just the four, spindlelike speakers (Panasonic calls them Sound Slim Speakers), pictured in the image. These four speakers each have four vertically aligned speakers within them, which the SC-ZT1 uses to create a virtual 7.1 surround sound effect. Sure, it probably won't sound as good as a real 7.1 system, but you'll be dealing with a lot fewer wires. You'll also notice that the SC-ZT1 lacks a dedicated, separate subwoofer. That's replaced by integrated subwoofers in each of the speakers, filling in the low end. Again, it won't match the rumble of a dedicated unit, but it's definitely less hassle and looks better in your living room.
Pioneer VSX-819H AV receivers
VSX-819H hits the sweet spot. Here's the full rundown:
Key features of the Pioneer VSX-819H:
Three HDMI inputs
Two component video inputs
Three digital-audio inputs (two optical, one coaxial)
Onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding
Automatic speaker calibration
Auto Level Control (keeps commercials from being louder than programs)
Connect your iPod via USB and browse your songs with an onscreen interface
Sirius-ready, with onscreen interface
April release date, $300 list price
Key features of the Pioneer VSX-819H:
Three HDMI inputs
Two component video inputs
Three digital-audio inputs (two optical, one coaxial)
Onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding
Automatic speaker calibration
Auto Level Control (keeps commercials from being louder than programs)
Connect your iPod via USB and browse your songs with an onscreen interface
Sirius-ready, with onscreen interface
April release date, $300 list price
Samsung's HT-BD7200 Blu-ray home theater system
Samsung's slick HT-BD7200 Blu-ray home theater system - photosThe Samsung HT-BD7200 is the 2009 follow-up to the HT-X710T, and gets several upgrades including Blu-ray (replete with BD-Live capability and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding), Netflix streaming, and the Pandora music service.
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