Feature News Stories (669 Posts)

An Open Letter To Audiophile Record Labels About Blu-ray For Music

HomeTheaterReview.com publisher/editor Jerry Del Colliano makes the case for why audiophile music labels should be much more aggressive in bringing out both old and new audio titles, as well as concert videos, in the Blu-ray disc format. Continue Reading

Blu-ray Limits Its Growth Rate With Constant Firmware Updates

Home theater technology does not endear itself to users when every time the manufacturers make "improvements" on the products, these improvements require time, effort, research and frequently cash infusions on the part of purchasers to get all the elements to work together. Continue Reading

Is Cheap The New Green? Not For Long In This Economy...

Yes, right now, while the economy is in bad shape, luxury stores like high-end a/v retailers are not doing well. It is easier to sell less expensive items right now than products with a lot of bells and whistles. While this may be the case right now, will it hold long term the way promoting "green" or environmentally friendly products will? Not in the USA it won't. Continue Reading

Netflix Ups Blu-ray Surcharge From $1 to $4 Per Month

Although it's still not a huge amount of money - only four dollars a month - Netflix is potentially quadrupling user subscription fees for Blu-ray, depending on how many discs are rented by the consumer under the Netflix subscription plan. Continue Reading

Blu-ray and SACD in the Same Package From 2L Records - HD Downloads Too?

2L Records is a relatively small European company, but they provide big value by making their audio offerings available as both HD discs and HD downloads, a practice that the better-known major labels should consider emulating. Continue Reading

Plasma Pat Sought By Tampa Area Police

Tampa Bay police are searching for a man who is defrauding people with the promise of budget HDTVs. If you live in the area and a guy named Pat tells you he can use his Wal-Mart employee discount to get you a great deal on an HDTV, keep your wallet in your pocket. Continue Reading

Saving Audiophila Part 2: The Role of the Major Record Labels

Major record companies were caught off guard as music downloads replaced the SACD. Napster proved consumers could now copy their products without actually paying for them. But record labels still may have a role to play in the future of music and it could be by using Blu-ray to sell their products. There are many advantages to it. Continue Reading

Saving Audiophila: How To Get a Young, New Generation of Audio Enthusiasts Hooked

The heyday of audio equipment came in the 1960s and 70s. Now, with the economy faltering, the industry has to find a way to get a new generation hooked on top of the line audio equipment. Continue Reading

Home Theater Enthusiasts Can Take Control of Their Credit Cards As Banks Act Poorly

HomeTheaterReview.com tells you how you can continue to purchase the specialty audio and video equipment that quickens your heartbeat and causes you to strategize financially, without falling prey to horrendous credit card interest rates. Continue Reading

Nowhere To Sell: Specialty AV Makers Look For New Channels To Sell Their Goods

Like most American businesses, the specialty audio/video trade has gone through quite a roller-coaster ride over the last several years. Once tried and true customer-attracting techniques need to be changed to accommodate different times and new clients. Continue Reading

Hollywood Sets New Trend: Recycle Your Home Theater (LA Style)

West Los Angeles has begun a new initiative in trying to live an uber-healty lifestyle: the recycling of old electronics in an easy way for consumers to adhere to and want to put into practice. Continue Reading

Telarc Records To Stop Producing Its Own Records - Firing 26

In another sad sign of the times, the Grammy-winning, Cleveland, Ohio-based audiophile company Telarc Records has announced that it will no longer produce its own albums on its label. The company president has resigned from his position. Continue Reading

Last Chance at Circuit Liquidation Sale is This Sunday

Great American has pulled the plug on the Circuit City chain a week earlier than expected. One possible reason is that the going-out-of-business sale in the stores has caused such a rush of purchasing that there isn't a whole lot left for bargain hunters to buy. Continue Reading

Spinal Tap To Tour In 2009

Turn your amps up to 11 because Spinal Tap has just announced they will be touring in 2009. The faux heavy metal band created by director Rob Reiner for his film, "This is Spinal Tap" will be on their "Unwigged and Unplugged Tour". Harry Shearer, aka bassist Derrick Smalls, will lead the group on the tour. Continue Reading

Dish Network Loses Over 100,000 Subscribers In Q4 2008 - More Expected

Echostar's Dish Network is in a little trouble. The satellite provider lost over 100,000 subscribers in the forth quarter of 2008. This news comes as Dish Network is about to end its relationship with AT&T Continue Reading

Sherwood's New $439 Bluetooth AV Receiver - Can It Do It All?

The latest A/V receiver from Sherwood America, the RD-7503, offers high performance at a suggested retail price of just $439. The RD-7503 is a 100-watt x7 receiver which includes Bluetooth audio streaming, HDMI 1.3 audio repeater capability and lossless audio decoding Continue Reading

NHT Goes "Dark" In Bad Economy

Now Hear This, aka NHT, is a speaker company with an interesting way to get around tough financial times. NHT isn't filing for bankruptcy or going out of business. Instead, the firm plans to sell its current inventory and then simply take a break for awhile. Continue Reading

Apple's 2009 iLife Will Teach People How To Play a Musical Instrument

The latest thing you can do with an Apple product? Learn how to play a musical instrument. Steve Jobs and company's new Apple iLife 2009 can be used to learn to play the instrument of your choice. iLife 2009 also features nine tutorials from famous rock stars like Sting, John Fogerty and Sarah MacLachlan. Continue Reading

Vizio Now Number 2 Flat HDTV Seller in America - Samsung Is Tops

Look out, Samsung. The breath you feel on the back of your neck comes from Vizio, who has just passed Sony to become the second largest HDTV seller in the United States with a 14.3 percent market share. Samsung currently leads the market with a 20.2 percent share. Continue Reading

Specialty AV Brands Look To Dealers To "Push" Their Products Over Creating New Consumer Demand

If you are a manufacturer of specialty audio/video products, you want to retailers carrying your products to do something more aggressive about moving the merchandise than just directing customers to the right aisle and swiping the occasional credit card. Continue Reading