Home AV Review Hub: Receivers, Speakers and Media Hubs
Real-world reviews for your perfect home theater.
Home AV Review Hub: Receivers, Speakers and Media Hubs
Real-world reviews for your perfect home theater.
I sat there in my living room, staring at my bookshelf speakers with a sense of pure dread. Just the night before, I’d been showing off my new system, cranking the volume a bit too high during the climax of an action movie. But now? Everything sounded wrong. The crisp snap of the snare drum […]
I remember the first time it happened. I had just finished a late-night session with my “dream” basement theater. I’d spent a fortune on a massive driver that shook the drywall. I hit the power switch on my AV receiver, and then—THUD. It sounded like a bowling ball hitting the floor from ten feet up. […]
I remember the first time I decided to hide my gear. I wanted that sleek, professional look where the speakers are invisible and the movie is the only thing on the wall. I spent a long weekend tucking my center channel neatly behind a massive fixed-frame screen, making sure my expert speaker cable setup tips […]
I remember sitting on my living room floor, surrounded by a mountain of speaker cables and a very expensive, very heavy new power amp. I had spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon routing wire through the attic to make my setup look professional. But when I finally powered everything up, the sound was… […]
I remember the distinct, stomach-turning ‘thwump’ sound my old CRT television made right before the corners of the screen started melting into a psychedelic puddle of neon purple and lime green. I had just finished creating the perfect media hub and, in my excitement, I shoved my massive, unshielded vintage bookshelf speakers right against the […]
I sat there on my floor, surrounded by cardboard and high-end packing foam, feeling like I’d been cheated. Those speakers looked stunning, but the ‘thump’ I expected was more of a ‘tick.’ My wife walked in, listened for ten seconds, and asked why it sounded like the music was coming from a tin can. That […]
I was sitting in my favorite chair, morning coffee in hand, when the sunlight hit my left tower speaker just right. It wasn’t pretty. The once-pristine black cone looked like it had been through a desert storm. My first instinct? Grab a damp rag and give it a good wipe. Stop right there. If you’ve […]
I was halfway through the thundering dinosaur chase in Jurassic Park when it happened—a sharp, plastic-on-wood vibration that pulled me right out of the movie. At first, I panicked. I thought my subwoofer was bottoming out or that I was pushing my system too hard, potentially seeing why your receiver shuts down during loud movie […]
I was sitting on my sofa, the popcorn was hot, and the lights were dimmed for the opening scene of a blockbuster I’d been dying to see. Then I heard it. Not the orchestral swell, but a low, persistent bzzzzzz that seemed to vibrate in my very marrow. My brand-new powered subwoofer was humming like […]
I remember sitting on my living room floor, surrounded by a mountain of premium speaker cables and a brand-new, massive subwoofer that cost more than my first car’s transmission. I’d spent hours working on my expert speaker cable setup, but when I finally fired up my favorite action scene, the low end felt hollow. It […]
