Sound & Vision Announces Reviewer's Choice Awards

Sound & Vision Announces Reviewer's Choice Awards Year's Best Products and Technologies Honored in December Issue NEW YORK, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Sound & Vision, the world's largest entertainment equipment magazine, has announced the winners of its annual Reviewer's Choice Awards. The 20 outstanding products (and one web site) honored in a special feature in Sound & Vision 's December 2004 issue were culled by the magazine's reviewing staff from all products tested throughout the year. They range from Kaleidescape's $27,000 groundbreaking DVD movie jukebox the Zvox 315 Sound Console, a $200 speaker/processor that fills the room with sound from a box the size of a modest center speaker. The best (or best buys) among traditional audio/video components including surround-sound receivers, home theater speaker systems, and high-tech, big-screen TVs shared accolades with the iTunes Music Store, Apple's living proof that great technology and a well- designed interface beats copyright theft any day. The service was graced with a Special Recognition citation. To select the award winners, Sound & Vision asks its respected reviewers to nominate products that stand out each year from approximately 120 tested based on innovation, performance, quality, or value. The merits of each product are then argued by the editorial staff to arrive at the final list. "There are no cumbersome guidelines for our reviewers to follow, and no limit to the number of products to be awarded," explained Bob Ankosko, Sound & Vision's Editor-In-Chief. "In the end, though, each product had to have made an indelible impression on the tester and must possess unique qualities that truly separate it from the pack." A list of 2004 Reviewer's Choice Award recipients follows. Prices are manufacturer's suggested retail, month indicates issue in which full review appeared. Sound & Vision 2004 Reviewer's Choice Awards Apple iTunes Music Store (February/March, reviewer: Michael Antonoff) Easy-to-use software, superior compression technology, an exceptionally deep music catalog, and seamless integration with the wildly popular iPod player make iTunes the music-download service to beat, and earned Apple a Special Recognition citation from Sound & Vision editors. (http://www.apple.com/itunes, 800-692-7753) Atlantic Technologies System 4200 Home Theater Speaker System ($3,500, May, reviewer: Daniel Kumin) Superb sound and exceptional flexibility from a system that "relies on conventional ... technology but simply gets it all right." (http://www.atlantictechnology.com/, 781-762-6300) B&W FPM Home Theater Speaker System ($4,650, January, reviewer: Al Griffin) Perfectly styled to match plasma displays, the flat-panel monitors at the heart of this six-piece system retain the B&W family sound, providing "superb imaging and midrange clarity" on music as well as movies. (http://www.bwspeakers.com/, 800-370-3740) Bose Lifestyle 38 Home Theater DVD System ($2,999, November, reviewer: Ken C. Pohlmann) A complete, easy to set up and use home theater audio system with a built- in DVD/CD player and a hard disk that can store up to 200 hours of music ripped from CDs. What really sets the Lifestyle 38 apart, however, is its talented brain, with skills that range from adjusting the sound for your room acoustics to learning your music preferences and playing your favorites automatically from the hard drive. (http://www.bose.com/, 800-444-2673) Definitive Technology Mythos Home Theater Speaker System ($3,700, January, reviewer: Al Griffin) DefTech's elegant, plasma-friendly system sounds as good as it looks, delivering awesome dynamics, lush detail, and overall performance that enable it to "stand up against systems costing three times as much." (http://www.definitivetech.com/, 410-363-7148) Denon AVR-3805 Digital Surround Receiver ($1,199, July/August, reviewer: David Ranada) A remarkable balance of performance, versatility, and price, the AVR-3805 manages to combine all the latest technology with exceptional ease of operation. It even frees the user from that most tedious of home-theater installation chores, speaker calibration, automatically detecting speaker size while accurately adjusting levels and distance compensation. (http://www.usa.denon.com/, 973-396-0810) DirecTV HR10-250 HDTV Satellite Receiver/TiVo Hard-Disk Recorder ($999, September, reviewer: Gary Merson) Incorporating a total of four excellent digital TV tuners, two for satellite and two for off-air, the HR10-250 can record one standard- or high- def program to its 250-gigabyte hard drive while you watch another - or even record two programs at once. (http://www.directv.com/, 888-347-3288) Harman Kardon AVR 7300 Digital Surround Receiver ($2,400, November, reviewer: Daniel Kumin) This powerhouse 7.1-channel receiver boasts gobs of inputs and a long list of cutting-edge features, including automatic setup using a microphone built into the remote control, Faroudja DCDi digital video processing, and component-video upconversion. (http://www.harmankardon.com/, 800-422-8027) Hsu Research Ventriloquist VT-12/STF-1 Home Theater Speaker System ($498, October, reviewer: Daniel Kumin) Hsu has come up with an ingenious solution to the common problem of maintaining proper upper-bass/lower-midrange warmth and weight in sub/sat systems that use very small satellites. A larger center speaker combined with deft bass management save the day in this 6.1-channel Ventriloquist system, yielding impressive sound at a bargain price. (http://www.hsuresearch.com/, 800-554-0150) Kaleidescape System DVD Movie Jukebox ($27,000, February/March, reviewer: John Sciacca) The world's first hard-drive DVD storage system is expensive but also very cool and very impressive. Base capacity is 180 DVDs (expandable to 500), preserving all features and content with no loss of quality. It even catalogs the movies for you, for easy browsing and selection. (http://www.kaleidescape.com/, 650-625-6100) MartinLogan Fresco Home Theater Speaker System ($5,790, January, reviewer: Al Griffin) "Wedding lush sonics with flat-panel flair," MartinLogan's Fresco satellites blend exquisitely with plasma displays. The system's stylish yet powerful Grotto subwoofer provides a solid bass foundation. (http://www.martinlogan.com/, 785-749-0133) Mitsubishi WD-52525 52-inch DLP HDTV ($4,000, November, reviewer: David Katzmaier) Built around Texas Instruments' latest and greatest DLP chip, the HD-2+, this tabletop rear-projection HDTV is "a finely chosen blend of understated style, up-to-date features, and uncompromising picture quality." (http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/, 800-332-2119) Panasonic SC-HT1000 Home Theater System ($1,000, April, reviewer: Rich Warren) The first home-theater-in-a-box system to include a DVD recorder, the SC- HT1000 as we tested it in April would be a terrific value even without that feature. So bargain hunters should find cause to celebrate over it's replacement, the even more fully-loaded SC-HT1500. (http://www.panasonic.com/, 800-211-7262) Pioneer Elite DVR-57H DVD/TiVo Recorder ($1,000, January, reviewer: David Ranada) Depending on how you look at it, Pioneer's groundbreaking Elite DVR-57H is a TiVo hard-disk video recorder with a built-in DVD recorder or a DVD-recorder with a built-in hard drive. Either way, it's versatile, easy to use, and very capable. (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/, 800-746-6337) RCA Scenium Profiles HD61THW263 61-inch DLP HDTV ($10,000, December, reviewer: David Katzmaier) Less than 7 inches deep, the HD61THW263 is much skinnier than any other rear-projection TV ever made (except for its stable mates in the Profiles line). It can even be wall-mounted, like a plasma or LCD set. Best of all, the shrinkage doesn't seem to have entailed any compromise in picture quality, which is superb. (http://www.rca.com/, 800-336-1900) Samsung HL-P5063W 50-inch DLP HDTV ($3,800, October, reviewer: Al Griffin) Compact and capable of excellent picture quality, the HL-P5063W is a strong value among rear-projection HDTV sets. (http://www.samsungusa.com/, 800-726-7864) Sharp XV-Z12000 DLP Front Projector ($12,000, June, reviewer: David Katzmaier) Sharp engineered the XV-Z12000 from the ground up for home theater, rather than simply adapting one of its industrial projectors designed for corporate presentations. The result is nothing short of "a jaw-dropping picture that you'll want to charge your friends to watch." It's expensive, but if you've got the money, it's worth every penny. (http://www.sharpusa.com/, 800-237-4227) Voom High-Def Satellite Service (April, reviewer: Gary Merson) Offering more than 35 HDTV channels - at least triple the number of any other satellite or cable service - Voom is a feast for the high-def gourmet at a time when most cable and satellite providers serve up HD like fast food. (http://www.voom.com/, 800-438-8666) Yamaha RX-V750 Digital Surround Receiver ($650, September, reviewer: Daniel Kumin) This moderately priced 7.1-channel receiver is "powerful, easy to use, rich in helpful design touches, and excellent in every crucial surround sound task." The RX-V750 even provides an efficient, accurate auto-setup routine. Yet it maintains an underlying simplicity of operation, unencumbered by flashy features of dubious value. (http://www.yamaha.com/yec, 800-492-6242) Yamaha RX-Z9 Digital Surround Receiver ($4,499, May, reviewer: David Ranada) "Unsurpassed in performance and features," this 9.1-channel, THX Ultra2- certified receiver has it all, including an auto-setup system and Yamaha's most advanced digital audio processing. And with bass management on its multichannel analog inputs and an IEEE-1394 (FireWire, i.Link) input, it provides unexcelled support for DVD-Audio and SACD reproduction. (http://www.yamaha.com/yec, 800-492-6242) Zvox 315 Sound Console One-Piece Stereo Speaker System ($200, October, reviewer: Rich Warren) About the size of a large center-channel speaker, this unprepossessing box takes the output from any audio source, from DVD player to iPod, and turns it into room-filling stereo sound with a spread that belies its physical dimensions. (http://www.zvoxaudio.com/, 866-367-9869) Sound & Vision -- Where Technology Becomes Entertainment(R) -- is the largest magazine in the world covering products and trends in home entertainment, including audio, video, home theater, and multimedia technology. It is a publication of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., which publishes 20 consumer titles reaching nearly 50 million readers in the U.S. Source: Sound & Vision CONTACT: Rob Sabin of Sound & Vision, +1-212-767-6027 Web site: http://www.apple.com/itunes http://www.atlantictechnology.com/ http://www.bwspeakers.com/ http://www.bose.com/ http://www.definitivetech.com/ http://www.usa.denon.com/ http://www.directv.com/ http://www.harmankardon.com/ http://www.hsuresearch.com/ http://www.kaleidescape.com/ http://www.martinlogan.com/ http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/ http://www.panasonic.com/ http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ http://www.rca.com/ http://www.samsungusa.com/ http://www.sharpusa.com/ http://www.voom.com/ http://www.yamaha.com/yec http://www.zvoxaudio.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment