Weekly Site Roundup (06/16/03)
ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT
Product Review: Yamaha YST-SW205 Powered Subwoofer
Is your home theater or audio system coming up a little short on the bass end? Then consider the addition of the Yamaha YST-SW205. This is one compact powered subwoofer that may just fill the bill. Check out my review.
HOME ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY NEWS HEADLINES
Best Buy Sells Musicland For A Song (TWICE)
Masses Slow to Say ‘I Want My Digital TV’ (Newsday)
Thomson Closes Two U.S. TV Tube Plants (TWICE)
Nakamichi Bows 29-inch LCD TV (TWICE)
Cable HDTV Availability Continues To Grow Nationwide (Widescreen Review)
Integra's DTR-6.4 THX Select Receiver (Home Theater Magazine)
ReplayTV To Launch Less Controversial DVRs (TWICE)
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
JVC FZ-700BK CD Changer
I included the FZ-700BK as a product of the week because of its unique 7-disc CD capacity, which more than traditional CD changers. This is for those that like music all day but don't want a bulky CD-Jukebox. In addition, the JVC-FZ-700BK provides great audio performance with CDs/CDR/CDRWs with its 1-bit processor and 8x oversampling filter. Other features include both analog and digital audio outputs.
FEATURED LINKS THIS WEEK
Projector People
Online shopping site for video projectors of all types for home theater or business applications. Also has rental services.
Featured in the Home Theater Subject Page.
Laserdisc Forever
A great online resource for laserdisc fans. Includes resources such as FAQs, buying, selling, trading discs, and information on players.
Featured in the DVD/Laserdisc/VideoCD Subject Page.
Flexplay
Flexplay is the main force behind disposable DVD technology. Check out all the info on this controversial technology heading for a store near you.
Featured in the DVD/Laserdisc/VideoCD Subject Page.
FROM THE HOME THEATER FORUM
Which DVD Recorder To Buy?
From EAGLEWIN1:
Has anyone heard when the Pioneer DVR-002H will be available? The idea of having a hard drive onboard a DVD recorder is certainly intriguing. If anyone reading this currently owns the Pioneer DVR-7000, I'd very much like to hear what you think of its' disc sharing ability. So far I can't find anything I don't like about the DVR-7000 and I've gotten comfortable with the idea of the DVD-R/DVD-RW formatt. I had the Philips DVDR-985A and did not like the units' performance. The Sony RDR-GX7 also looks interesting. I read an article on the RDR-GX7 that claims it can make DVD recordings from home video look better than the original thanks to Time Based Corrector, Pre-Field Noise Reduction and Pre-Video Equalizer technologies. Definitely food for thought.I know some of my VHS camcorder tapes from the mid 80's could stand some tweaking."What to buy"?
Join in on the discussion.
ELSEWHERE ON ABOUT.COM
Home Video/DVD
Check out the latest DVD and VHS movie releases as profiled by Ivana Redwine, About Guide For Home Video/DVD.
FROM THE MAILBOX
From M.T.:
My parents bought me a DVD player for Christmas last year and I am having issues with it. It is a low on the totem pole player with no big options or features, and the brandname is not a recognized one - Curtis.
I have a stereo TV with A/V inputs, digital cable, a hi-fi VCR, and a bookshelf stero system. Currently, the cable is hooked into the VCR and the VCR into the TV. The VCR is also hooked into the stereo, as it only has one AUX jack. I use it for stereo/surround sound. That all works fine, until you try to add in the DVD player.
I currently have the DVD player hooked into my TV and I have y-connectors off the VCR for sound out of the stereo. I cannot have the VCR and DVD player hooked up to the stereo at the same time, so I am always having to rearrange cables to watch a DVD with the stereo on. And to top it off, the sound quality of the DVD player is terrible!!! I have to turn the stereo up quite a bit to get the same sound as I do from a VHS tape or a show on cable. I am guessing that it has to do with the connections somehow. Or it could be the DVD player. I don't really know. I do know that I have never had a problem with the TV/cable/VCR/stereo connection, and I did that for over three years.
Can you recommend a way that everything can be hooked up and work together happily??? I would like to be able to have sound out of the stereo whether I watch cable, VHS, or DVD.
From Your Guide:
All you need is to get a video switcher from Radio Shack or Best Buy. This will allow you to hook the outputs of the DVD player and VCR to the switcher and then hookup of the AV outputs of the switcher to your TV or Stereo, or you can send the video output to the TV and Audio outputs to the AUX input on your stereo receiver. With this hookup you can still have a cable box and cable output the VCR hooked up to the cable input of your TV as well.
FINAL WORDS
If you need more great info on home theater and audio, with an emphasis on the higher end, be sure to check out About.com's related partner sites:
Audio Video Interiors.
Home Theater Magazine.
Stereophile Guide To Home Theater.
Stereophile Magazine.
Lastly, I would like your feedback on this Weekly Site Update Page. If you have any comments, either positve or negative, just let me know.
A Special Reminder: Although I update this site regularly, sometimes I miss broken links, this is especially a concern as old product listings expire and new ones have different link addresses. If you encounter any broken links in my articles or listings, just bring it to my attention so I can correct the address or delete it from the site if it has expired and can no longer be accessed.
For a look at earlier Home Theater Nooz and Vewz Weekly Updates, CLICK HERE
Feel free to
email me at hometheater.guide@about.com
with your questions and/or comments.
