home theater
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Yamaha announces new receivers ready for 8K, 4K/120 and the Xbox Series X
Yamaha's Aventage receivers are coming home this summer with prices starting at $1,300, but features like 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz support won't be available at launch.
So you've bought an OLED TV — now what?
Here's a list of the best accessories to buy for your OLED TV, plus tips to make the most out of your new set.
Denon expands its home theater lineup with the Home Sound Bar 550
The $599 soundbar will be available in February.
ASUS' ZenBeam Latte is a coffee cup-sized portable projector
ASUS has launched a ZenBeam Latte projector with a coffee cup-sized design you can carry around the home.
How to make sense of Logitech's universal remote lineup
We take a look at Logitech's Harmony line of universal remotes to see which works best for your home.
Nest Audio will become a home theater speaker for your Chromecast
Google has revealed that Nest Audio speakers will soon integrate with the new Chromecast to create a home theater system.
The best tech gifts to upgrade your home theater
Here's a list of the best streamers, speakers, TVs and other tech that can upgrade a home theater setup.
Vizio's rotating Dolby Atmos soundbar is now available for $1,000
The $1,000 Elevate Sound Bar first emerged at CES this year.
DTS:X for home theater comes to Xbox One
After releasing its Sound Unbound spatial audio for headphones on Xbox One, DTS is doing the same for home theater systems. The company has just released its Sound Unbound DTS:X home theater support on Xbox One to Xbox Insiders, following testing on the Alpha Ring.
Samsung’s latest Q-series soundbars include a $1,800 9.1.4 channel option
Samsung’s latest Q-series soundbars are its fanciest yet, with 9.1.4 channels.
Sonos Arc review: An upgrade worth the wait
Sonos has finally given us an upgrade to the Playbar, and it’s impressive. The Arc has an improved design, modern features and stellar sound. Plus, Arc automatically adjusts if you choose to expand your system.
Samsung lets you enjoy nature with its 2,000-nit outdoor QLED TV
You can enjoy TV outdoors -- minus the glare from the sun -- with Samsung's new Terrace TV.
Sonos' updated Play:5 is now just called 'Five'
Most relevant to anyone considering the Arc is probably the 3rd-generation Sonos Sub. In fact, the new Sub looks identical to its predecessor, but it got a major internal update. The Sonos Play:5 is receiving a nearly identical update.
The Sonos Arc is a smart soundbar with Dolby Atmos support
Beyond the Arc’s Atmos support and adaptive audio tricks, it has all the things you’d expect from a modern Sonos speaker.
Vizio's new soundbar rotates its speakers for Dolby Atmos, DTS:X content
Vizio isn't just the brand that makes cheaper TVs with high-end features, over the last few years it's increasingly become known for offering a number of excellent home theater audio options too. For CES 2020 its soundbar lineup is getting a rebranding to match the popular M-Series and V-Series 4K televisions it sells, while a new premium soundbar is made to match the new OLED TVs it just announced. The Vizio Elevate Sound Bar (shown above) has 18 total drivers, with a pair of channels in the main soundbar that point forward when playing stereo or 5.1 audio, but automatically rotate up to increase height effects when they play Dolby Atmos and DTS:X encoded audio. It's made to work on its own with any TV, or to dock "seamlessly" with the Vizio OLED TVs. There's also a wireless 8-inch subwoofer and two satellite surround speakers that add p to 107dB of output. Like everything else Vizio is announcing today, there's no word on a price or release date. Other than that model, instead of simply branding its soundbars by size and speaker configuration, they now have M-Series and V-Series names just like its midrange 4K TVs (the Elevate has a P-Series model number, P514a, just like the high-end TVs). The M-Series and higher models with Atmos and DTS:X will have HDMI 2.1 inputs along with eARC support, so that you can pass through uncompressed Dolby and DTS Audio from built-in TV apps.
LG's 2020 soundbars add 'AI Room calibration' to optimize their audio
CES is right around the corner, and that means we'll once again meet a slew of new home theater equipment. LG is unveiling its 2020 soundbar lineup right now, and a new headline feature for this year is "AI Room Calibration." Exactly what separates this tech from non-AI automatic calibration we've seen is unclear, but LG is openly committed to applying machine learning and related technology across its products. Combined with content mastered in Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, it should make everything sound more accurate no matter what kind of room you're in, how many speakers are hooked up or where they're located. We'll have to get some demo time to see how effective the technology is, but this year's new SN family of soundbars (SN11RG, SN10YG, SN9YG, and SN8YG) have 4K passthrough, eARC and more tech designed to make sure they work in any kind of setup. The SN11RG is the top of the line, a 7.1.4 package with wireless rear speakers that can also project sound up for a true 3D effect. It's also still integrating audio tech from Meridian, and in 2020 LG says that Google Assistant will be built into more models. If the package you buy only comes with the main soundbar, there's also the SPK8 Wireless Rear Speaker Kit to add-on surround speakers later for maximum flexibility. There's no word on pricing or ship dates, but we should learn more about these -- and the sleek TVs LG will pair them with -- next week at CES 2020.
Amazon lets you connect Fire TV and Echo devices to create a home theater
You can now connect your Amazon Echo and Fire TV devices to create an Alexa home theater system. By linking your devices to the same network and accounts, you can get wireless audio via your Echo devices when you're watching favorite shows and movies. Amazon announced the change late last week.
Roku's first soundbar doubles as a streaming box
Generally, when I think of Roku, I think of those handy HDMI streaming boxes that turn dumb TVs into smart ones. And sometimes my mind will wander to Roku TVs, smart television sets built by companies like TCL and Sharp that run the company's Roku OS. The thing is, Roku wants to be more than just an outfit that throws Netflix onto your TV screen. As evidenced by the wireless speakers it released last year and its growing team of audio researchers and engineers, Roku also wants to be the company that makes your streaming media sound great. And that's where its new Smart Soundbar enters the picture.
OnePlus TV may come with eight speakers and Dolby Atmos support
OnePlus has been slowly releasing details about its upcoming smart TV. Today, we learned that OnePlus TV will have eight built-in speakers with a combined 50 watts of power. According to an Amazon listing spotted by 9to5Google, they'll pack "punchy bass to fill your living room," and they'll be powered by Dolby Atmos.
Canvas is a big-ass speaker stand for LG OLED TVs
If you've picked up an OLED TV, you're left with two choices for high quality sound: A soundbar, or large speakers for a home theater setup. Canvas, a new project from a group of audio veterans, is something in between. It's a huge speaker that serves as a stand for LG's OLED TVs, giving you sound quality comparable to bigger Hi-Fi offerings, in a form factor that's still relatively compact. And based on a brief demo, it sounds incredible.
