Weekly Site Roundup (07/21/03)

ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT
Power Mad!
POWER! Its seems that power is the name of the game these days, in politics, business, relationships, and in home theater systems. You check out those ADs in the newspaper for a receiver or amplifier for your audio system and the one feature that sticks out is the Watts-Per-Channel rating. One receiver has 50 Watts-Per-Channel (WPC), another one has 75, and still another has 100. The more watts the better, right? Not Necessarily...

HOME ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY NEWS HEADLINES
CENTRIS Study Reveals: Sixty Million...U.S. Households Can Watch a DVD Movie (DVD Insider)
Dolby Shows Tapped for Emmys (Stereophile Guide To Home Theater)
Hitachi Expands DVD Product Line To Include New DVD-RAM, DVD-R Recorder (Widescreen Review)
DVD-Audio Hybrid Discs Still Vaporware (Audio Revolution)
Cable's HDTV offerings Vary Widely (USA Today)
Vinyl Record Day Returns (Stereophile)
Panasonic Raises Its DVR Storage Bar (CNET)

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
Pioneer DV-563A Universal DVD Player
Up until now universal DVD/SACD/DVD-Audio players have been a little on the expensive side, but the new Pioneer DV-563A comes in at less than $200! Not only does this unit play DVD/SACD/DVD-Audio discs, but also plays standard CDs, but CDR/RW, MP3, and WMA. On the video side, this unit offers progressive scan. Even though this unit may not have the subtle nuances of its more expensive cousins, for the price, this is definitely a DVD player to check out.

FEATURED LINKS THIS WEEK
Sencore
Maker of audio/video test and calibration equipment, a must for home theater installers and repair personnel.
Featured in the Home Theater Subject Page.

Remotec
Makers of remote control appliances and systems for home theater installations.
Featured in the Gadgets, Gizmos, and More Subject Page.

FROM THE HOME THEATER FORUM
ANSI Lumens
From WTYOW:
I am interested in HT Projectors. They seem to be measured in ANSI Lumens. What is ANSI Lumens and is it the higher the better? Also, what is a DLP Projector? I hope somebody can help here.
Join in on the discussion.

FROM THE MAILBOX
From H:
I have tried to record some of my many 33rpm vinyls and some old 78 rpm discs and have had poor luck on with a new TDK unit model 5900 (CD Recorder). The auto track function will not auto track because there is never 3 seconds of silence from vinyl records when the needle is in contact with the record. I returned the unit to Best Buy and am currently looking for one that will not require manual track assignment every time the needle goes between selections. I have a BSR changer that will hold a number of discs and would like to archive the many discs that I have from preww2 and post ww2. I have hundreds of them. Will the Pioneer PDR-609 CD Recorder that you spoke of perform in the autotrack mode when a bit of noise is present?? If so I will buy one. Thank you for your help.

From Your Guide:
Since Vinyl records have so much surface noise (especially 78's!), CD recorders have a difficult time distinguishing individual tracks. I have found the best way is to use a CDRW disc and manually label the tracks after you are done recording. You can also try to adjust the audio threshold function on the PDR-609 or another CD recorder, but you also run the risk of losing quiet musical passages that are just above the surface noise level.

FINAL WORDS

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Stereophile Guide To Home Theater.
Stereophile Magazine.

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