NHT’s M-00 active mini-monitor and other pro products are now available at specialty audio dealers. This line of products cater to “customers who want to use the products with PC-based audio systems and digital media players and components.”

Powered speakers are a lot more efficient than passive speakers, because each amplifier drives each speaker cone directly, without having to force its power through a crossover first. My Linn 5140 and 5120 speakers can be modified to become active, and that’s a step I’d love to take but that is quite expensive. So I’ll have to leave that to another decade!

NHT “Moo” Now Available to Specialty A/V Dealers

When I first got my Pioneer 24tx a long time ago I used a digital SPL meter from Radio Shack to dial in all of the speakers. I also ran around the room with a measuring tape getting just the right distance down.

Fast forward a few years and now with my Pioneer 45tx I just plug in the microphone, choose automatic surround setup, and walk away for about 10 minutes.

So why am I boring you with all of this? If you have a receiver that must be manually calibrated our buddies at Engadget wrote a good little how to on dialing in your surround sound.

Do take note though, if your receiver does allow for automatic setup, use it. They are much more accurate than anything you can do with a meter because many of these newer surround setup programs like MCAAC will check the sound level for different frequencies on each speaker. This would be difficult to impossible for someone to do with just a meter.

For example, I believe that MCAAC on my pioneer looks at 5 different frequency ranges for each speaker. For a 7 speaker system (not including the sub) that would 35 different tests. I don’t know about you, but I would have one whopper of a headache listening to all that pink noise.

By the way I do still modify some of my settings each time I run MCAAC. The program likes to make my front speakers large and I like to turn up the center channel just a +.5db to catch every conversation.

Now if someone could come up with a system to first check my hearing, then tune the surround sound around me. That would be nifty!

How-To: Dial in your surround sound

I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but Ultimate AV (formerly Stereophile’s Guide to Home Theater) is a magazine that I really enjoyed. The reviewers really went in-depth when covering their products. Now Ultimate AV is online only, and one of the things they’re doing now (and had actually started to do while in print) is to do a “Short Take” of a product. A Short Take is basically a mini-review. Good enough to whet your appetite, especially considering that Ultimate AV’s “mini” reviews are as long as some other publications’ full reviews.

The meal they’re serving up this time is of the Anthem amplifier variety. Doesn’t taste so good, but it’s quite filling! And at $1500, it’s not so bad for a seven channel amp that does 105W per channel.

When it comes right down to it, this amp is for people who like good quality sound reproduction. There are other amps out there that will provide more slam at a similar price, but sacrifice the sound. Mr. Buettner concludes his review by saying “Anthem’s PVA 7 is an audiophile’s multichannel amp. That it’s so affordable is gravy. ‘Nuff said.”

If he says he’s said enough, I guess I have too!

Anthem PVA 7 Multichannel Amplifier

Do you use a universal remote? You need something to replace that stack of remotes sitting on your ottoman. I could potentially have five remotes sitting there, but I only have one. That’s because I bought a used Marantz RC2000 Mk II remote years ago and I love it. It’s actually a learning remote. A learning remote is one that can learn the codes directly from your remote. You hold your remote up to the learning remote, and push the button you want the learning remote to learn. The learning remote then learns it. You have to assign it a key as well. You go through this process for all the buttons on each remote you want to use. It’s tedious, but you get to put keys where you want and you get to choose which buttons to learn.

A universal remote is a little different. A universal remote has a bunch of codes already stored in its memory, and you just choose which set you want to use. If your remote codes are not stored in the remote, you’re out of luck. That usually doesn’t happen unless you have a particularly esoteric remote.

There are also remotes that are both learning and universal at the same time, so you get the best of both worlds.

Harman/Kardon licensed technology from Logitech’s Harmony brand to make this remote. It’s a universal remote with some flexibility, which is good. The Sound & Vision reviewer thinks highly of it. Once my Marantz bites the dust I’ll put this one on my list of remotes to look at.

Harman Kardon TC30 Universal Remote

I’ve always been a fan of B&W, the speaker manufacturer. (I have a pair of B&W 302’s in my living room.) B&W pushes the envelope of sound design, which can readily be seen from some of their statement pieces, one of which looks like a shell from the beach. A huge shell from the beach.

While B&W’s new XT series of speakers don’t have the same stratospheric price as those shell speakers, they are stylish nonetheless. The XT series includes the XT4 three-way speaker, the XT2 two-way speaker, the XTC two-way center channel speaker, and the PV1 subwoofer.

The tweeters use Nautilus technology, which has been filtering down from B&W’s high end speakers. The subwoofer, a strange spherical design, has two 8-inch woofers facing back-to-back.

The design of these speakers is rather space-age-ish. Which wouldn’t really fit well in my family room. But they do look cool, and they may fit well in yours. The only think you need to do now is give them a test drive with some of your favourite material, to see how they sound.

B&W XT Speakers

Following the likes of Sony and Apple, who do well with their own stores, and Gateway, who did not, Pioneer is nonetheless endeavouring to bring you an in-store experience that’s totally Pioneer. They’re building in Costa Mesa, California, a store that’ll give 3200 square feet of shopping space. It’ll carry the full line of Pioneer and Pioneer Elite home A/V products. All you plasma shoppers out there, take note, because Pioneer is especially famous for its good plasma displays. The store will open in early August, and will be a proving ground for Pioneer, as they also plan to test new merchandise and sell products otherwise not available in the US. Cool, huh?

Pioneer To Open First Company Store

Do you have a PSP?
Do you have a TiVo?
Do you use the ToGo desktop software?

Whew! Lots of conditions in that setup. But here it is. If you qualify, then you can copy programming that you’ve TiVo’d onto your PSP.

From TWICE:

ToGo desktop PC software that will accommodate the PSP transfers. TiVoToGo requires a TiVo Series 2 box be connected to a Windows PC or laptop through a home network. From there, the software will convert the video file and transfer it to the PSP device.

Unfortunately, because of my circumstances, I can’t effectively use TiVo. I really wish I could, because I don’t much care for the SA8300HD that I’m renting now from Rogers. But there you go.

If I did have a TiVo, I’d give this a try. But in the end I don’t think I’d use it much. I don’t ride the bus or find myself with long periods of time in need of filling. If I want to watch TV, then I just go watch TV.

TiVo Offers Link To PSPs

My wallet is on the slim side compared to many people who can afford to buy the Krells, Lexicons, and Brystons of the home theater world. Even the Anthem D2 is out of reach for me. What does Anthem offer people like me who want everything but can’t afford it? Well, nothing. But to those people with just a bit more money than me, but who also can’t afford an Anthem D2, they offer the AVM 50 A/V Processor. The AVM 50 does basically everything the D2 does, but lacks that extra step of refinement that the D2 offers. And sells for significantly less with an MSRP of $4,699.

Which includes four HDMI inputs, and video upscaling of any source on any input to up to 1080p on the HDMI output. Now that’s cool. I have a PS2 that uses component video, a DVD player with the same, an HD PVR with HDMI, an S-VHS VCR (that’s still in use - don’t ask!), and this fall I’ll be adding an HDMI PS3 to that stack. A pre/pro like the AVM50 is exactly the kind of pre/pro I’d look for were I shopping today and had a little more money. Except for one thing. I guess it’s not fair to knock the AVM50 for not having this one thing, because nobody else does either. But that one thing is HDMI 1.3 support and support for the new audio formats on HD DVD and BD discs, like DD+ and DD TrueHD.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. But at least the AVM50 certainly looks nice!

Anthem Intros AVM 50 A/V Processor

Owning a home theater is a very expensive proposition. Just ask my wife every time I propose a new addition (or substitution, as the case may be). So when father’s day comes around, a list for HT nuts is really only handy if you’re a little bit financially endowed. But that didn’t stop Robert Silva over at About.com from putting together such a list. It’s full of items like DVD players and subwoofers.

Which got me thinking. If Warren Buffet were my father and he asked me what one HT gift I would like for father’s day, what would it be?

It was a tough choice. I waffled between Anthem’s D2 pre/pro, and Sony’s Ruby SXRD projector. But since this was theoretical waffling anyway, it didn’t cause me too much stress. But I finally decided on the projector. I have a 57″ HDTV already, but I’ve been missing a world-class display ever since I moved my 35″ CRT out of my family room to make room for an HDTV.

What would your choice be? I guess you can reply even if you’re not a father!

Home Theater Gifts For Dad

My first receiver wasn’t even surround sound! In this age of 7.1 channels of surround nirvana, stereo seems somewhat antiquated. But you have to start somewhere, right? And today, if you’re looking to start yourself a nice home theater setup, but don’t have a lot to spend, then Onkyo has a receiver you might be interested in.

This receiver has HDTV-compatible component video switching, 7.1 channels of surround sound, iPod hookup capability, and a lip-sync adjust, all for a measly $300. However, it only has one coaxial digital input, which is a real limitation in my view. It also has three optical digital inputs. Why not have 2 and 2? Hmmm….

The Onkyo includes Dolby ProLogic IIx processing, which can give you 7.1 channels of surround fun from sources that.. well.. aren’t 7.1 channel. Nifty, huh?

So if you need a 7.1 receiver, and are low on cash, and have an iPod, and… and… and… ah, just take a gander.

Onkyo TX-SR504 Entry-Level 7.1 Channel XM-Enabled Home Theater Receiver

Outlaw Audio works sells strickly over the internet. You know what that means - they pass the saving on to you! Yup, you’ve heard it many times before. Direct = better. With Outlaw Audio, however, they really seem to deliver.

Take (or buy!), for example, the Outlaw Audio Model 990 pre/pro. It’s got 7.1 channels of sounds. DVI switching. Flexible crossover control and lip-sync delay. A bevy of surround sound formats including Dolby ProLogic IIx. It upsamples audio up to 92KHZ/24bit audio resolution. It has 5 optical and 2 coaxial digital inputs. Uh… wait a sec. I could use more than just two coaxial inputs. Ah, well, I guess no product is perfect.

But this product comes very close for the very reasonable price of $1099.

Outlaw Audio Model 990 7.1 Channel Preamp/Surround Sound Processor