Onkyo Goes All Out With The Onkyo TX-NR929 and Onkyo TX-NR828

Onkyo already has a wide range of AV receivers under its belt and it continues to strive to do better all the time. This time, Onkyo seems to have pulled out the stops on features in its latest duo of AV receivers – the Onkyo TX-NR929 and Onkyo TX-NR828.

Not only do they feature built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, they are also THX-certified and 4K-compatible. These receivers can upscale to 4K with its Marvell Qdeo video processing technology.

The high-end Onkyo TX-NR929 is a 9.2-channel network AV receiver that comes with Audyssey’s MultEQ XT32 room acoustic equalisation, 9 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI outputs. Its cheaper counterpart, the Onkyo TX-NR828, features Audyssey MultEQ, 8 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI outputs, amongst many other features.

Read the full reviews to find out more and grab one quickly! The Onkyo TX-NR929 is already out of stock on Amazon.com!

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Monster ISF Certified HDMI Cable Tells You Signal Resolution

New technologies such as 4K Ultra HD in HDTVs, projectors and Blu-ray players put new demands and high video bandwidth on cables. But how do you know if your home theater equipment is outputting the highest signal resolution? Well the latest Monster latest line of ISF Certified ‘Smart’ HDMI cables have glowing signal indicators that show you if the cable is sending a standard definition, HD, or 4K video signal. This innovative feature eliminates guesswork when connecting your 4K capable components together.

Monster Smart HDMI Cable with Signal Indicators

Monster Smart HDMI Cable with Signal Indicators

But these cables do not come cheap. The top model costs more than most blu-ray players! They are priced from $60 to $350 in varying lengths between 5 to 75 feet with three transfer speeds: ISF 2000 (21 Gbps), ISF 1250 (17.8 Gbps); and the ISF 750 (14.3 Gbps). They are supposed to give you the best signal quality and solve one of the most pressing issues in video signal transfer over a poorly hatched HDMI standard. So Monster came out with their proprietary solution in the form of a V-Grip connector that increases the retention force of the HDMI cable for a more reliable connection. Bear in mind that HDMI cables do not like being bent as signal timing is critical. If you have a long cable run, twists and turns can degrade performance.

So the big question is do you need to spend this much for cables? Well it depends on your system setup and budget. If you have a 150 inch screen in a dedicated home theater room with high-end equipment you may want to give this a serious consideration as Monster has a lifetime guaranteed for whatever technology that comes along in future as well as cable failure. It’s the only guarantee of its kind in the industry we’ve heard off. This in itself is worth the price of entry.

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New AirPlay Network AV Receivers From Harman Kardon

Harman Kardon AVR 3700

Harman Kardon AVR 3700

Harman Kardon has launched two brand new AV receivers and they are the Harman Kardon AVR 2700 and AVR 3700. Powered by the Harman Kardon high-current, ultra-wide bandwidth amplifier and boasting 8 HDMI inputs with 3D compatibility and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, these AV receivers look attractive, to say the least.

The AVR 2700 is a 7.1-channel av receiver that delivers 100 watts per channel. It also features built-in DLNA-certified 1.5 Ethernet connectivity and Apple AirPlay, and most of all, 4K video pass-through and upscaling.

On the other hand, the AVR 3700 is a 7.2-channel network AV receiver that chucks out 125 watts per channel. On top of the features found in the AVR 2700, this AV receiver also offers multi-zone functionality and allows for the use of external power amplifiers with its full preamp outputs.

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Sony’s All New AV Receivers Boast Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Airplay

Sony has always had AV receivers in its range of products, though they were never the market leaders in this arena. While most other manufacturers have features almost as a standard in their AV Receivers, Sony has finally launched brand new AV receivers that come with features such as Wi-Fi, AirPlay and Bluetooth.

Its 2013 range of AV receivers come with a great number of HDMI inputs with the base model, the Sony STR-DN840 boasting 6 HDMI inputs and its high-end Sony STR-DN1040 boasting 8 HDMI inputs, an advanced GUI and dual HDMI outputs.

It’s time we looked out for these receivers!

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Smartphone Remote Apps For Your AV Receiver

Is it time to ditch your AV receiver remote in favor of using your smartphones? This is becoming a reality as Onkyo, Denon, Sony and many others offer Apple and Android apps that allow you to use your tablet or smartphone as a remote control. The reality, although not apparent to many, is that smartphone apps are generally better at things like navigating digital music sources and controlling multi-zone playback. The only time you really need your receiver’s remote is during the initial setup phase, or all you ever do is watching a movie from start to finish and adjust volume levels.

If, on the other hand, you wanted to listen to Spotify or Pandora, remote apps offer more intuitive and much quicker navigation. Using the hard-button remote is laborious in comparison when you need to scroll through lists of artists, albums, genres, etc. With the app you can simply tap the content you want to listen to. For example the Denon remote app has 8 short-cut buttons that are fully customizable to allow you to choose the look and function to suit your taste and needs. How it works is that once the app is installed on your smartphone, it sends remote control signals via WiFi in your home network.

Denon Remote Apps

Denon Remote App

Owners of 2009, 2010, 2011, or later Onkyo network home theater receivers can use the Onkyo Remote Control App to access a variety of functions, including volume, radio tuning, input selection, and other functions.

Onkyo Remote App

Onkyo Remote App

The latest Sony ES Remote App is compatible with their latest receivers such as STR-DA5800ES, STR-DA2800ES, STR-DA1800ES, STR-DA5700ES and STR-DA3700ES. It can even control your lights with the purchase of compatible switches or dimmers!

Sony ES Remote App

Sony ES Remote App

And best of all these apps are free for owners of their receivers. Most of the apps are available for download on Google Play.

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Wireless Soundbars Provides Stiff Competition To AV Receivers

Soundbars are becoming more and more popular nowadays and may one day be the component of choice for setting up a home theater due to its ease of integration.

Another new development comes in the form of wireless soundbars that will really make this segment take off. The new Sonos Playbar is a case in point. It could signal a transformation for the mass market who are not very particular about sound quality but more inclined towards ease of implementation. And a big factor is its asthetics – it looks great and neat under your flat screen TV, a big plus for the ‘wife approval rating’.

Sonos Playbar

Sonos Playbar

The Sonos Playbar is the latest entry in Sonos’s line of streaming audio products. It is very simple to set up. All you need to do is to connect an optical TosLink cable to your TV and plug the Playbar to your power socket. Streaming music from a computer, NAS or server on your network is just as easy with an Ethernet cable or wirelessly using the optional Sonos bridge which costs an additional $50. The 35 inch-wide soundbar can lie flat at the base of any TV larger than 40 inches. Soundwise the Sonos is not a slouch either. The surprisingly wide soundstage flooded the room with music and the bass response is adequate for most parts. It can play pretty loud without distortion. At $699 it represents excellent value for money for what it can do.

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Do You Need Expensive HDMI Cables?

Nowadays HDMI cables come in many shapes, forms, construction and of course, prices. They can cost somewhere between $5 to $500, and maybe even more. With such a vast difference in price, whether or not to buy an expensive HDMI cable is probably one of the most debated subjects on the internet. Some believe it is a waste of money as it’s a digital cable, so either it works or it doesn’t.

hdmi-cables

Is there is any discernible difference in video quality that can be perceived by the human eye? The simple answer is yes, but not much.

Is it worth spending 10 times or more for a HDMI cable? Well it depends on your budget and how much value you place on build quality, visual construction and how well the connectors mate with the receptacles on your receiver. More expensive cables have been engineered to eliminate timing jitter or reduce binary errors.

To a large extent, the size of your screen and the resolution of your system will determine whether it is worth spending more for HDMI cables. If you have a 200 inch screen and a optimum setup in a room with total lighting control you may be able to realize the benefits of slightly sharper picture, better contrast, skin tones and less noise. Audio performance also improved with better depth and voice quality. But in a lesser system, these effects may not be so discernible.

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Get Home Theater Apps To Improve Your Viewing Experience

Smartphones are now a way of life. Everyone has one and cannot live without it. Even when watching movies at home, the phone is by our side. The ubiquitous use of smartphones has spewed a proliferation of apps have really changed the way we control home theater content.

It can even make watching movies at home more fun. Just do a quick search for an app that is applicable to your AV receiver or HDTV. Nowadays, almost every manufacturer has an app. But it’s not limited to just hardware. DirecTV, TiVo, DISH, Verizon, Slingbox, Netflix, and a many other service and software providers also have apps. With the well thought out features they do provide a lot of fun and functionality.

Dijit App

Most apps are free, otherwise they will not cost an arm and a leg. But finding them that can sometimes be quite challenging as they have names you are not familiar with like the free Dijit app by NextGuide which combines listings from any live TV service with movies and TV shows that can be found and played on Hulu Plus, Netflix, and iTunes, with rich searching capability, alerts, and one-click watching. Another free app called Plex puts everything, including TV, videos, music, photos, and much more, into the palm of your hand.

Another useful app is “Audiocalc & Videocalc” (available for iOS) that helps you optimize your home theater’s audio and video outputs. Whether you’re trying to check the power of your amp, or figure out where to place your projector, this app have you covered. Costing only $3, it’s definitely cheaper than hiring an installer.

For more apps, try iTunes app store and look under the ‘Entertainment’ category. The only problem is that it is such a broad category which makes finding the app that you want rather difficult.

Have fun exploring and playing with your new found apps!

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Multizone Video In Denon And Marantz Receivers

When multizone video first popped onto the home theater scene, everyone thought it was uber cool. Now, home theater gurus Denon and Marantz are bringing it to a whole new cool level by packing it into their newest receivers.

These new receivers will have an extra HDMI output that provides video in another zone and chances are, users will get multi-channel audio and upscaling, amongst many other features too.

Look out for this multizone video in Denon’s upcoming In-Command line of receivers and the new Marantz SR series.

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Features You Will Want In Your Next AV Receiver

Looking to upgrade your AV receiver? AV receivers today certainly have a whole chunk more of features that will sweep any user off their feet. So here is a look at some of the these amazing features that you will want to have in your next av receiver.

1) Network Capability – Most folks would want to be able to access video-based services such as Netflix, Amazon VOD and YouTube, and even Internet radio stations and streaming music services such as Pandora or Spotify throughout their av receivers. Hence, keep a look out for that Ethernet port.

2) Dual HDMI Outputs with ARC – This will prove to be extremely convenient for your home theater. ARC (Audio Return Channel) is also great for folks who wish to send audio from their TV back to the receiver over HDMI.

3) Beautiful Onscreen User Interface – A user interface that is not only a breeze to use but also easy on the eyes.

4) High Quality Volume Leveling – Consider having Dolby Volume or Audyssey Dynamic Volume so you will not always have to grab the remote control to deal with volume discrepancies.

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