AudioControl has introduced an updated, upgraded, souped-up version of “The Director” multiroom amplifier I reviewed last year for Residential Systems (which, by the way, has now been discontinued). The new sixteen-channel “Director Model D4400″ retains all of the advanced control and connectivity of its forebears — and one hopes its amazing audio quality, as well more »

At some point in the future, I would like to have a man-cave. You’re almost certainly thinking, “Duh. What man doesn’t?”, and I’ll allow it. One of the decisions that will have to be made is whether to put it together myself, or have a custom installer do the job. While I’ve been daydreaming, Integra more »

Colleague Jeff O’Heir of Dealerscope sat down recently for an exclusive Q&A with Innovative Technology founder Corey Lieblein to discuss the company’s history, changes in the consumer electronics market, and IT’s new Justin Case line of power-providing tablet and mobile device cases. Some say Innovative Technology, a CE vendor based in Port Washington, N.Y., is more »

If you want to keep an eye on the really innovative stuff going on in the audio world these days, you need to keep tabs on Kickstarter. My latest find on the crowdfunding website is an intriguing little Bluetooth speaker, dubbed Tiptop, with a brilliantly simple design that doubles as a portable speaker and a more »

At an ever-increasing rate, the router is becoming the most crucial piece of hardware in home entertainment and home control, not only for providing streaming audio and video from the interwebs, but also as the central communications hub for modern home automation systems. Add to that the fact that most of us use Wi-Fi to more »

If you’re in the market for an HDMI matrix processor, longevity is, of course, a crucial concern. These sophisticated matrices — which allow you to route HDMI signals from multiple sources to multiple displays throughout your home or business — don’t come cheap. Add in automation support, advanced setup functionality, cloud connectivity for remote diagnostics more »

In spite of the competition from AirPlay and other streaming systems, Bluetooth reigns supreme in the wireless speaker market, but you may have noticed that most Bluetooth speakers systems are a bit — shall we say? — cramped. Virtually monophonic from any appreciable distance. A neat Kickstarter project I just stumbled across addresses that issue, more »

In honor of concluding this week’s international home and office trade show in Milan, Salone del Mobile, Tivoli Audio is constructing an ginormous walk-through audio/visual installation outside of Teatro Social of Como, roughly an hour’s commute away in the province of Como. The exhibit, entitled “The Whispering Trees,” will present to the public a massive more »

Although there are a few examples to the contrary, the words “portable” and “audiophile” normally aren’t uttered in the same sentence. But iriver is looking to change that perception with its Astell&Kern line MQS (Mastering Quality Sound) professional portable media players. Following on the successful launch of last year’s $699 AK100, the company is now introducing more »

Klipsch announced today the availability of its first Bluetooth speaker system, the first product in what promises to be an expansive line of portable audio systems dubbed the Klipsch Music Center series. For some reason, though, the company skipped the KMC 1 and KMC 2, and jumped right ahead to the Klipsch Music Center KMC 3 as more »