Home Theater

Are you looking to add a high-end Blu-ray player to your home theater system? Marantz recently announced a deal where you can "Get some green by going Blu." The company is offering a $100 rebate on two of their high performance Blu-ray players, the BD7004 ($800) and BD5004 ($550).

Purchases must be made from authorized retailers from November 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. Rebate forms must be sent in by January 31, 2010.

For more information on the Marantz BD7004 and BD5004 Blu-ray players and to download the rebate form, visit the company's website.

Canton today announced two new models in its high-end Vento loudspeaker line -- the floorstanding Vento 880 DC and the Vento 810 bookshelf speaker. These are the first models in the line with the company's 6-inch aluminum cone woofer, making them an inch narrower than other Vento models.

Measuring 39-inches tall, and under 8-inches wide, the Canton Vento 880 DC is a three-way bass reflex floorstanding speaker with a pair of aluminum cone woofers and a 6-inch aluminum midrange driver. It also features Canton's DC technology for clear, linear bass reproduction; at frequencies lower than other conventional speakers its size. The Vento 880 DC is available now for $2,250.

The new Vento 810 is the smallest model in the Vento lineup. Featuring a single 6-inch aluminum woofer, this compact two-way speaker is great to use as a satellite or surround speaker in a home theater system or can also be used as a small monitor. Also available now, it retails for $800. Read more

Paradigm just announced a new giveaway to show appreciation to their Facebook fans. Now through March 2010, each month Paradigm will be giving away a Cinema CT System. All you have to do is become a fan of Paradigm's Facebook page and you will automatically be entered to win! One fan will be selected at random every month and given a Cinema CT Home Theater Surround Sound System.

The Cinema 90 CT system is made up of 2 Cinema 90 satellites, 2 Cinema ADP surrounds featuring Paradigm's Adapted Dipole (ADP) technology, a Cinema CC center channel and a Cinema 90 CT subwoofer with 10-inch driver.

To win a system from Paradigm between now and March 2010, sign up to be a fan on Facebook and check back every month to see if you're a winner! Good luck!

Now this is something different. How would you like to experience home theater sound without loudspeakers drilled into the walls? BodySound Technologies just unveiled a new line of furniture with "personal surround sound."

Each seat features a wireless 7-speaker surround sound system, powered by a built-in multi-processor and 650 watt amplifier. The system allows you to fine tune it to hear sound the way you like. BodySound technology will then automatically adjust the volume to match your settings. The built-in speaker system also produces vibrations throughout the seating area, which you can also customize with how much or how little you want to feel.Read more

Roku has added the Roku SD and Roku HD-XR to their instant streaming player lineup, the company announced this week. They now have three models available, the SD, HD, and HD-XR. All players deliver instant entertainment from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand and MLB.TV.

The new Roku SD player connects to the TV using the included Yellow-Red-White video/audio cable. In addition, the Roku SD player incorporates Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) and an Ethernet port for broadband connectivity. The new Roku SD is priced at only $79.99 and can be purchased at www.roku.com or www.amazon.com.Read more

JVC today announced the availability of a new entry-level Blu-ray player. The new XV-BP11 not only plays Blu-ray discs, but adds playback of the AVCHD format, the high definition format widely used for HD camcorders, including JVC's HD Everio line.

JVC XV-BP11 Features

• Playable Discs: BD-Rom, BD-R/RE, DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, Audio CD, CD-R/RW
• Playable Formats: AVCHD, WMV, JPEG, MP3, WMA, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital plus, Dolby True HD, DTS, DTS HD Master Audio/Essential

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Paradigm is now shipping the Special Edition (SE) Series speaker line. The SE series features the SE1, a bookshelf speaker, the SE3, a floorstanding model and the SE Center and SE Subwoofer, all with real wood veneer cabinets. Paradigm Special Edition (SE) speakers let budget conscious consumers get high-end sound, as expected from the Paradigm name.

SE 1 Bookshelf

• Two-driver 2-way bookshelf/stand-mounted:
• 5-1/2" M-ICP mid/bass, 1" H-PTD dome
• Estimated $299 MSRP

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Do you want to add some bass to your home entertainment system without the hassle of running wires throughout your house? Boston Acoustics has the solution to this problem. Just announced are three new Classic Series wireless-ready subwoofers featuring built-in wireless receivers. They include the 8" 200-watt (350-watt Peak) CPS 8Wi, 10" 300-watt (650-watt Peak) CPS 10Wi and 12" 400-watt (850-watt Peak) CPS 12Wi.

Each subwoofer has front-firing, front ported design, meaning you can actually place the subwoofer in a cabinet. All three also feature volume control, a phase switch, speaker-level inputs, line level input and LFE input. Read more

Owners of the Olive Opus Hi-Fi Digital Stereo now have a new way to control their stereo. The company just introduced the free iMaestro application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, giving iPhone users the ability to control the Opus Hi-Fi Digital Stereo from anywhere in the home.

iMaestro application features:

• Control the Olive Opus from anywhere in the home with access to their complete music collection.
• Control the Olive Melody multi-room players for easy wireless access to play music throughout the home.
• Find music in their collection easily with the full-color touchscreen. Select by artist, album, track or genre or tap a few letters to do a quick search.
• See album artwork and detailed information, including artist, album, release date, record label, instruments, soloists and more about the music currently playing on the Opus.
• Control music currently playing by adjusting the volume, repeating or shuffling tracks or rating a track to personalize their music collection.
• Create playlists to set the mood for any occasion. Songs can even be added to playlists while listening.
• Choose from thousands of free, pre-set internet radio stations or add personal favorites.

Read more

Panasonic this week announced a new full HD home theater projector, the PT-AE40000U. Designed for home theater enthusiasts, this LCD home theater projector has 1080p resolution with 1,600 lumen brightness and 100,000:1 contrast ratio.

The projector features an enhanced Intelligent Lens Memory that lets you program up to six different zoom/focus positions, VIERA Link, and programmable 12V triggers. It includes three HDMI inputs. Also, with its signal aspect detection capability, the projector can automatically switch between movie theater (2.35:1) and 16:9 aspect ratio.

The Panasonic PT-AE4000U 1080p high definition home theater projector will be available later this month for $2,499. Read more