Home Theater with iPod Dock

Philips HTS3565D/37 1000 Watt DVD 1080P HDMI (Upconversion Dolby Home Theater with iPod Dock) are one of top 10 best sellers Home Theater System.
High definition picture and powerful surround sound delivered by this elegant system provide unbeatable home entertainment. Enjoy sharp pictures with 1080P HDMI upconversion, as well as convenient iPod playback via the dock included. Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Link plays media form USB flash drives. HDMI 1080P upscales to high definition for sharper pictures. Dobly digital and Pro Logic II surround sound. 12 bit/108 MHz video processing for sharp natural images. Plays WMV, DivX, W-A, MP3 and jPeg digital camera photos. Plays CD, (S)VCD, DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW,DVD+R DL. Easy link for easy control of connected devices via HDMI CEC. Easy fit connectors with color coding for simple set up.FM Tuner with 40 presets.
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Cheap, But Elegant (save abaout 64% of your your money)

With Philips 2.1 DVD Home Theater System HTS6600/37 (Four Piece Set) you can save your $320.00 . But of course this is only for limited time and I can't give you guarantee this is operative when you buy it in another time.
produck detail/feature:

• 2.1 home theater system with Ambisound technology
• 1080i HDMI video upscaling with progressive for great HD pictures
• Compatible with iPods, USB flash drives and MP3 players with line out jacks
• Embraces multi-channel surround experience from just two speakers
• Includes smart surround technology to automatically suit the media being played

Philips 2.1 DVD Home Theater 1080I HDMI Dolby System with high performance surround sound with Ambisound. Featuring Ambisound, the HTS6600 delivers an embracing multi channel surround sound experience from just two speakers, in any sort of room. Providing excellent sound and picture quality the easy set up wall mountable system fits any home. Ambisound for full no fuss multichannel surround sound. 1080i for high definition video upconversion. Smart Surround optimizes surround setting automatically. DoubleBass for an extended , deep bass experience. Vertical speakers that can be wall mounted with your flat TV. Sophisticated design that matches any flat TV. Quick and easy set up for no fuss installation. Connect your iPod for audio and video playback. USB direct plays photos and music from USB flash drives. MP3 line in for music playback from portable media players.

see customer review of this produck here:

Very Cool Digital Surround Sound Speaker System

Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 505-Watt 5.1 are very cool Digital Surround Sound Speaker System,one of the best sellers speakers system. This is not happen by accident of course, this is because These speakers are even better than you read about.
How By improving everything from the subwoofer to the satellites and adding new innovations like real-time digital sound equalization. The result is the Logitech Z-5500 Digital, a THX-certified, 500-watt 5.1 surround sound speaker system that offers everything you could possibly want and some things you didnt even know you needed. And once you plug in your PC, DVD or music player, or video game console, youll never want to listen to anything else.
you must read the produck review completely here:

Hulu Released dedicated client for Mac

Not running Plex? Not happy with Hulu on Plex? Well...now you can run Hulu direct onto the mac, without a browser and with full apple remote support!

Click here to read all about it.

Speakers For Games

Logitech G51 Surround Sound 5.1 Speaker System (Black) is very cool speakers sytem with great surround sound. Some customer say that they was a little reluctant to purchase another set of Logitech speakers.

• Product Type - Speaker
• System Components - 5.1 System
• Audio Amplifier - Integrated
• Matrix surround

Games are meant to be experienced in surround sound. Hear your enemies sneaking up behind you or listen for the action in every direction. The G51 brings your games to life with 360 degree urround sound.
The G51 is the first G-series speakers, designed specifically for gamers. Besides delivering an immersive surround-sound experience and thunderous bass, it is equipped with gamer inspired features including the weighted, non-skid control pod, independent, easy-to-access mic and audio mute controls, and customizable satellite speakers. In short, the G51 is authentic gaming equipment!

Rock Speakers

The HiFi Works 30020 HFW Rock Speakers are stone-shaped, outdoor garden speakers that blend in with most landscaping to provide great sound without even noticing a speaker. The all-weather plastic housing can withstand the elements throughout the seasons.
The high-efficiency design allows the HFW to operate on as little as 10 watts of power, but it isn't sheepish -- this speaker can handle the heft of a wide range of home theater and stereo receivers (up to 80 watts). The speaker delivers high tones through the 0.625-inch tweeter that features a polycarbonate dome. The 5.25-inch subwoofer features a black polypropylene cone with a rubber surround seal that delivers deep, bumpin' bass tones. This pair of outdoor speakers are built to look just like ordinary garden stones and deliver outstanding sound that you and your guests will hear, but not see.

• One pair outdoor garden speakers
• Rock-shaped design blends in with landscaping
• All-weather, all-season plastic housing
• 5.25-inch black polypropylene subwoofer and 0.625-inch polycarbonate dome tweeter
• Measures 8.75 x 8.38 x 12.25 inches (W x D x H)

click this link for more review

JBL Duet Speakers

These great speakers were easy to set up and look good as well.

The JBL Duet multimedia speaker system provides smooth and accurate sound for any portable music player or computer. With its incredibly easy setup and use, Duet is a sophisticated approach to achieving great two-channel sound.
Duet uses patent-pending Tangential Strain Relief (TSR) technology that was designed specifically to deliver extra bass and lower distortion in small enclosures as a result of controlled linear excursion of the speaker. It also provides superior midrange- and high-frequency reproduction.
The neodymium magnet creates more power and sensitivity. Duet also uses a proprietary Adverse Pressure Gradient (APG) port design, which greatly enhances the bass performance.
Features

• Drivers: Phoenix SE Tangential Strain Relief (TSR)
• Power Output: 6 Watts per speaker (1% THD)
• Power Consumption: 20 Watts maximum
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 9" x 6" x 6"
• Weight Per Speaker: 3.5 lb (1.6kg)
• Input Impedance: Less than 5K Ohms
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Less than 70dB
• Frequency Response: 60Hz-20kHz
• Input Sensitivity: 400mV for rated power
• Finish: Silver
• Self-powered satellite speakers
• Volume controls on satellites

click link below for more detail

BestSellers: Logitech 970223-0403 X-540 5.1

You want get the greatest speakers that ever seen before?? Logitech 970223-0403 X-540 5.1 Speaker System (Black) is the answer for you.
The X-540 speakers use FDD2 (Frequency Directed Dual Driver) technology to produce a uniform soundfield anywhere in the room. Immerse yourself in the game using the selectable matrix mode, which automatically creates 5.1 surround sound from common 2-channel stereo sources. The compact satellites are wall-mountable, and a special clip lets you place the center channel speaker on top of most flat-panel monitors to reduce desktop clutter. Use the wired control center to control volume and bass levels or connect headphones to enjoy your games and music privately.

• 5.1 Surround Sound: Immerse yourself in movies and games with a full 360° of audio.
• "Matrix Mode": Enjoy a 5.1 surround sound effect even from 2-channel stereo sources.
• Frequency Directed Dual Drivers (FDD2™): Get balanced, uniform sound without inconsistent, uneven spot
• Real-time Bass Equalization: Maximize bass response and minimize distortion.
• Ported Down-firing Subwoofer with 5¼" Drivers: Enjoy deeper bass thanks to greater air displacement.

see here for more detail:

Save Your $500.99 With Sony BRAVIA V-Series

Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL-46V5100 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV are latest sony product with great and impressive permormance. This is very easy to set up and wonderful display.
With Full HD 1080p resolution and Motionflow 120Hz technology, Sony BRAVIA V-Series HDTVs are engineered for fast-action movies, sports, and game play. Enjoy sharp, crystal clear images with the BRAVIA Engine 2 fully digital video processor on the KDL-46V5100's 46-inch screen

• 46-inch 16:9 Full HD 1080p Resolution Panel provides optimum resolution from any HDTV source that delivers 1080p content
• Dynamic contrast works in real time to produce deep blacks in darker scenes, as well as fine details in shadows
• Engineered for fast-action sports, movies and games, Motionflow 120Hz technology further reduces blurriness
• Seven HD inputs, including four HDMI inputs (up to 1080/60p capable), HD component and combo inputs (1080/60i capable), and a PC input
  BRAVIA Link compatibility lets you expand your HDTV's capabilities with BRAVIA Link modules, such as BRAVIA DVD Link and BRAVIA Wireless Link

For consumers who want an HDTV that keeps pace with fast-action movies, sports, and game play, Sony BRAVIA V-Series Flat Panel HDTVs combine Full HD 1080p performance and Motionflow 120Hz technology for an amazing viewing experience. Motionflow 120Hz takes both high-definition and standard programming a step further by increasing sharpness and detail in fast-moving images for more fluid, natural motion. In addition, BRAVIA V-Series HDTVs use proprietary Image Blur Reduction technology to further enhance the picture for even better performance. The HDTVs also feature BRAVIA Engine 2 technology, which uses exclusive Sony algorithms to reduce visual noise and sharpen and enhance an already-striking dynamic contrast ratio. Additionally, they include seven versatile HD connections to ensure you get impressive image quality from all your HD components. Take advantage of four HDMI inputs, component and composite inputs, and a PC input, as well as a USB input that lets you play audio files from USB storage devices, or connect a compatible camera to your HDTV for a quick and easy slide show. Sony knows your home theater set-up doesn't stop with your HDTV, which is why the BRAVIA V-Series HDTVs are compatible with BRAVIA Link Modules -- including the BRAVIA Wireless Link, BRAVIA DVD Link, and BRAVIA Input Link Modules (all sold separately). The HDTVs also support BRAVIA SyncTM technology so you can control all of your compatible devices with a single remote. And all BRAVIA HDTVs exceed ENERGY STAR 3.0 requirements for in-use and stand-by power consumption, meaning you don't need a lot of power to get a lot.
click picture below for more detail

PS Audio Power Plant Premier

For computer users, I am sure most of you are using a Uninterruptable Power Supply unit or Voltage Stablizer to ensure a power surge will not break anything in your computer hardware. The power source from our power substation is constantly fructuating and sometimes drop to a danger level especially at industry area. Those who uses projectors will notice the unstable voltage from the power outlet quite easily while using the projector. Unstable and "noisy" power source reduces the life of our projector's lamp and the component in our AV equipment.



For Audiophone and Stereophile who is always looking for clean & stable voltage to run your equipment, the Power Plant Premier by PS Audio is your ultimate solution.



PS audio Power Plant Premier (PPP) clearly explains itself. It's a power generator that can produce up to 1500 watts or regulated power that is clean of noise and distortion. It comes with 10 outlets, five IsoZones, a built-in power sequencer, THD analyzer, voltage meter, Multiwave, Cleanwave and a remote control to access all the features without having to get up from your comfortable seat.

Basically, PPP converts the power from our outlet from AC to DC, does its work and generate a clean, free of distortion, multiwave AC power with better charge, back for your equipment.

VIDEO_TS (DVD rips) networked skipping problem: SOLVED!

For about a month now I've been having problems with VideoTS (DVD rips) skipping / pausing for about a second or two during playback. I don't have this problem with TV shows in AVI. To remind everyone, I have my files on a mac pro and everything is on the network, so the mini is pulling data from the pro.

My setup:

Intel based MacPro quad core 4GB RAM
2009 Mac Mini, 2.0 GHz with 2GB RAM
Time Capsule N router (not the newest one that came out a few months ago)
Netgear XAV101 Powerline Eathernet Adapter

Both the Pro and Mini plugged into its own Netgear poweline adapter and then there is one where the router is, in another room. House is one story, 1600 sq ft. (I say this so you can get an idea of distance). Straight line distance, imagine a triangle and everything is about 30 feet from any one unit. Both are running 10.5.7. Did it with 10.5.6 as well.

As I said, both 720DH MKV and SD avi TV shows play fine no problems. Playing the Video TS files is where I was having this pausing problems, which basically made the movie unwatchable.

Things I tired:

- I maxed out all the caches in the Plex - didn't work.
- I stopped spotlight on the mini - didn't work
- I was running iphone airmouse server on the mini. I stopped that - didn't work.
- Nothing else was running on the mini in the background.
- I moved the Video TS folders from the USB external drive to a Firewire External drive - didn't work.
- I moved files from the firewire to an internal HD on the Pro - didn't work.
- I reset both computers, and made sure the Pro wasn't doing any internet activies - didn't work.
- I reset the router and the Ethernet adapters - didn't work.

What happened last night? My girlfriend said, do you just want to watch it the macbook? Very annoyed the system wasn't working, and that we would lose the awesome explosions on the sub (we were going to watch Body of Lies), and eveything that goes along with it - I said, sure why not, we've tried everything else.

Well, usually with the mini, the Video TS movies would take like 30-40 seconds to load up and start. She pulls out the macbook and in like 5 seconds, the movie way starting - ummm....wow, that was pretty fast. - what's up with that?

So we select play and the actual movie starts again pretty quick. That's odd - usually it takes like 30 seconds for the buffer to fill up - interesting....

We keep watching - 1 minute, 2 minutes (by now on the mini, it should have studdered and paused/played) - we watch the whole movie - STUDDER FREE! WTF is going on?

Yes, I know you've thought of it too. It can't be the mini - the mini has only one thing on it - Plex. Nothing else is running. Her macbook had like excel open, firefox open, spotlight running, something else going on, etc... granted it is a 2.4GHz and 4GB of RAM, still....

The only difference is....yes - the macbook was wireless and the mini had wireless off and the netgear powerline as its connection.

Well, I just unplugged the netgear from the mini (still plugged in on the Pro) and turned on the wifi on the mini. The movie has been playing for an hour now in the background with NO skipping or pausing! Fantastic!

The only thing I can think of - originally when I set the system up, the Pro was running wifi and it was just the mini and the router connected via the netgear. Then recently I added another netgear to the Pro. I guess when you have 2 computers using the netgear via only 3 units, you start running into bandwidth problems.

Either way, problem solved and hope this helps anyone who is having similar issues :)

Best Seller TV

This is info about great and cheap TV product.
Samsung LN32B460 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV is very impressive LCD TV. Most customer are satisfied for this product.

• SRS TruSurround HD
• 10Wx2 audio output
• Wide Color Enhancer
• 3 HDMI
• 2 Components & PC input

Most customer are Very impressed with their new Samsung LN32B460. very easy to set up with the on screen plug and play setup.Bought this tv for your bedroom looks great with the sleek design and appereance.The contrast is unreal life like picture.Can't beat the price of 599.00 plus free shipping and no TAX!!!Fast delivery ordered on 04-19-09 recieved it on 04-22-09.Highly recommend the Samsung LN32B460 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV.

click picture below for more detail

Plex 0.8.1 Released :)

Click here for the official link or read below - then, go download :)

Remember how when Windows 3.0 came out, it really sucked, and it wasn’t until 3.1 that Microsoft got things right? Well, I’d like to think of this release (download here) as being the “Windows 3.1″ release of Plex. We’ve fixed a lot of issues, and this version should be much more stable than the previous one. Additionally, the people who were staying with v0.7.13 because of issues with BluRay rips in subsequent versions can now download this version without fear.

• FIX: Idle CPU reduced greatly. On an iMac we went from 24% to around 9.8%. On a 1.83GHz Mini we went from 38% to 16%. Al Gore is happy.
• FIX: Hang when playing WebKit content after 5.1 content.
• FIX: A few issues causing App Store/plug-ins to disappear.
• FIX: Hang on exit (when Media Server Scrobbler was enabled).
• FIX: Cannot play/browse AC/DC (and other artists with funky names) from the iTunes library. Heavy metal fans rejoice!
• FIX: Scrobbling plays of AAC files to the Plex Media Server wasn’t working.
• FIX: Crash on start when Plex Media Server was run on a computer without Plex.
• FIX: Intermittant lack of audio when starting 5.1 videos when background music/themes was enabled. (We also disabling the fading, which was not helping.)
• FIX: VC-1 apparent regression in ffmpeg 0.5 which caused much higher CPU usage and related problems. Ryan and I resolved it by reverting to an earlier version of the codec. Thanks to Peter for bringing the issue to our attention, and to Aaron for help in tracking it down.
• FIX: View Slideshow context menu items weren’t enabled for top-level photo plug-ins.
• FIX: Jay and Isaac tweaked the default settings for IMDB to make sure the best quality posters are returned.
• FIX: James made some tweak to Now Playing. The flip time is now configurable in the Advanced Settings Cocoa UI (Make it flip every 5 seconds! Make your child and/or pets motion sick!) Additionally, the background is more in line with look of MediaStream.
• FIX: We’ve defaulted the automatic audio stream selection to false, as we think that default makes more sense (Thanks, Isaac! You can turn it off manually yourself in the video player preferences.) We also fixed an issue with the auto-selection of subtitles if the auto-selection of audio streams was disabled.
• FIX: We pulled the latest libdcr code which decodes RAW images (it fixes some pink-hue issues with newer cameras).
• FIX: As forum user “someone” reported, the German strings were botched in the previous version.
• FIX: Sébastien Vaast kindly send us updates to the French translation.
• FIX: We fixed a possible crash with Javascript seek bars in site profiles.
• FIX: Relative coordinates on “thumb” seek-bars were broken, many thanks to Robert Nio for reporting the issue and testing the fix.
• FIX: We pulled the latest XBMC UPnP code, in hopes this would help with some problems reported on the forums. We also pulled a fix related to the sendkey HTTP-API command, and a few other fixes.

Save Your $200.00 With Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Entertainment System

You can save about 33% of your money with this equipment. This landmark Energy 5.1 Take Classic home entertainment system flaunts superior MDF cabinets finished in sophisticated high-gloss black. It includes a powerful 200-watt subwoofer with a front-firing port, 8" driver and patented Ribbed Elliptical Surround(TM) for well-defined bass reproduction. But the coup de grâce is the newly added Convergent Source Module (CSM) with its 3" poly-titanium woofer and .75" Hyperbolic(TM) aluminum-dome tweeter. This proprietary technology provides a dynamic frequency range and an expansive soundstage, resulting in smooth, realistic sound that emanates from each satellite speaker as well as the center channel. Music and movie lovers can now rejoice because the Take Classic not only breathes life into every entertainment experience, it incites an intense passion in every listener.

• 4 gloss black 2-way satellite speakers
• 1 gloss black center channel
• 200 watt subwoofer with front firing port and 8" driver and patented Ribbed Elliptical Surround(TM)
• Perfect for a large or small space surround sound solution
• Wall mountable

here more review of this produck

New Iphone remote just for Plex

Check out the new iphone remote for Plex. If anyone is using it, please comment!

Click here for the official post, or read below:

New Plex Remote for the iPhone
Thursday, April 21, 2009 - 11:51 AM EST
Posted by: Brian

Aargh-a-Knot, a member of the forums, has created a hot new Plex remote for the iPhone. In fact, I think it has been the talk of our Mac mini HTPC forum for about the last week. Why you might ask? Well, it's probably one of the best looking and most functional remotes around for controlling the Plex media center on your iPhone. He actually created the remote using the Snatch trackpad and remote application for the iPhone, which received a major update to version 3.0 earlier this month. This version of the application makes it possible for users to save and load remote layouts to and from their desktop, and install pre-made remotes downloaded from the Snatch website. They currently have remotes available for Plex, EyeTV, Front Row and Windows Media Center, as well as a numeric keypad for your Mac.

If you're interested in learning more about Aargh-a-Knot's remote for Plex, I suggest that you head on over to his website. He just posted a new article explaining how to install and use the remote in greater detail. All you really need is the Snatch application running on your iPhone or iPod touch and the Snatch Server running on your Mac. He'll walk you through the rest.

Cheap Theater System

You want save your money?
This is can solve your problem if you want to have a theater system without spend a lot of your money of course. But don't expect this is cool for you, because there is no bass at all, so you if you want some good kicks then get a better system or hook up it up through another system.

• 5.1-channel progressive scan DVD player, compact and slim design, DVD, DVD±R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, and JPEG compatible, Dolby digital decoder
• 5.1-channel audio for surround sound systems, digital and analog AV outputs for home theater use, NTSC/PAL compatible, convenient front panel and on-screen display
• Picture zoom function, parental lock control, AC 100-240V automatic power switching
• 5.1-channel surround sound system with 300W total output
• 5 full-range satellite speakers, subwoofer with tuned port for deep bass response

Click picture below for more detail

The Right Amplifier For Your Auto Sound System

Setting about to find the best Amplifier for your sound system could be a whole lot simpler if you just dedicate sometime before hand to learn what is best for you and will perform best with your type of car, truck or SUV's audio system. It's worthwhile to learn about the functions of an Amplifier for you to make an informed purchase; the major function of an Amplifier

is that is receives small sound signal from your auto sound system and increases it to produce louder sound. This means that the more powerful your Amplifier, the more exceptional quality sound it produces. A lesser-powered Amplifier will therefore have a weak, thin sound that is quite unappealing in any auto sound system and most other sound system as well.
It is also worth mentioning that power rating of an Amplifier is determined by the utmost power it's able to expend and not by it's regular usage amount. RMS rating is a good indicator of an Amplifier power output. Another thing to consider is that never purchase an Amplifier based only on RMS rating or maximum output. This number can be remarkably misleading in Amplifier purchse.If your preference is towards a thumping driving bass beat, then ensure that your Amplifier is equipped with a bass boost button. Such a button will be a plus in giving you a bass boost. I sure believe this is a must have to most bass lovers. Not every Amplifier is equipped with this, so shop smart in accordance to your likes.
Amplifiers are essentially divided into four main classes (but of course, there are many more classes, though mostly uncommon, so I will not dwell much on defining them) which represent excellent quality you ought to expect from the system.
A) 1. This is a class with amazing production of superior sound, but the down side is that it wastes large amount of energy in producing that good quality sound.
B) 2. This class is somewhat better than 1 as far as energy consumption is concerned, but it is a bit worse as it produces lesser quality sound.
C) 1/2. This is like a cross-breed between 1 and 2 because energy and sound wastage depends on the volume. Low volumes will use the class 1 attribute of the Amplifier while higher volumes are more in maintaining with class 2.
D) 3. This is mostly decent in producing good quality bass sound and nothing more. The quantity of sound and energy wastage is both moderate and is neither very impressive.
This is of course a skeleton run through most of the core amplifier basics. It is also worth noting that a score of people these days talk of amplifiers as just Amps, instead of fully pronouncing the entire word Am-pl-i-fi-er, maybe it's too long for most folks or just a hype. It's probably a slang widely accepted that no one would blink an eye if you utter it. Infact if you go the so-called old way and call it AMPLIFIER, don't be surprised if you get funny looks. Despite of all these, Amplifiers aren't the end to all that would be of an automobile sound system. its necessity is determined by you the consumer, because as a matter of fact most audio sound system work well, minus the extras like an amplifier that only serves to justify the price raise.
A decision to buy an Amplifier for your latest auto sound system, truck or SUV is at one moment filled with excitement and exhilaration, because this is habitually a decision that you have introspected over time. This same excitement can result to fear at later stage, due to the absence of clarity in what you truly need. I presume that this has at least gone a distance in informing your decision on whether or not to purchase an Amplifier, and if your answer happens to fall in the affirmative, you will ultimately make an informed decision prior to purchase.

Latest Home Theater System + Full HD Media Player Offer

We are currently offering a SUPER DEAL for Complete DENON Home Theater System + Dvico HD Media Player 6500 series for only RM3,499. Comes with Complete Denon HDMI AV Receiver, 5 Satellite Speakers with an Active Subwoofer, Dvico M-6500a HD Media Player, speakers cable and hdmi cable included.





Pre-Order Yours today. Call us 017-808-9020 or visit our showroom now.

Why We Love Our Home Theaters

Beyond the obvious “cool” factor, why exactly do we own home theaters? Convenience, sure. Your own “theater” ready when you are. But isn’t it really about being able to fall into a movie, become absorbed, taken away for a while, the “suspension of disbelief”? And these days, it’s getting harder and harder to tolerate the experience of a commercial movie theater, largely because so many things can interfere with that “suspension of disbelief”.

Here’s a short list of what commercial theaters do wrong, that home theaters do right:

1. The cost. OK, truth be told, it is actually cheaper to go to the theater than to buy a really high-end home theater. But on a per-event basis, $10 or more for a ticket to a show is pretty high, especially when they expect you to also buy the most expensive food in the world – popcorn! Anyone ever figure out exactly what that big bucket costs? It’s worth about 25 cents, but you paid $6 or more for it. And it’s ever so chewy, slathered with all that imitation butter. What do you get at home? Really fresh popcorn you just microwaved, with real melted butter. No sour after-taste there. Yes, if you divide the cost of your HT system up by each movie you see, it is more costly, but isn’t it worth it?

2. Trailers by choice. Not in the theater, though. You are told the film starts at 8, but really it’s more like 8:15, after you get force-fed the trailers, ads, and two or three warnings to turn off your cell phone, which you do of course, but that idiot behind you is living a highly important life, and needs his left on, ringer and all.

3. Picture quality. Oh, you say, your home theater will never have a screen that size. True, the size is impressive, though if you watch a plasma screen, you may actually see a better contrast ratio, and a brighter picture. But in a theater, equally impressive are the stains on the screen, the drink straw stuffed into one of the screen perforations, and the seam down the middle. You may not be treated to all these visual amenities at every theater, and hopefully not all at the same time, but there’s usually something to distract. Perhaps it’s the exit sign lighting up the screen, or the bad framing. Or focus, though that one’s so basic it should simply NEVER happen, but does. How about the low-rez digital projection of the ads before the show? 1080p it ain’t. Not even 720p. The last one we saw was probably 480p, with some scaling, but mid-theater seats could clearly see every pixel. And it was dim, and washed out. Yes, it was only the pre-show "ads", but come on, guys. This is a "professional" theater, isn't it?

4. Sound quality. Yes, again, size matters. But it’s only one part of the story. There’s usually something to annoy everyone; the blown woofers, defective tweeters, fried subwoofers, and out of balance surrounds, or missing channels. Yes, even the all-important center speaker is often damaged. The last show we went to added a sharp snapping click every half second or so, all through the film. Complaining did no good, their alternative was to “bypass the system”, and play the track in mono, with no noise reduction, resulting in lifeless, compressed, non-dynamic sound. State of the art, circa 1940. Thanks, but I’ll just live with the ticks. And we did. Sort of. It took three chats with the manager. Talk about getting pulled out of the film. Not at home, though. Sound will be predictable, consistent, and adjustable by you should you need more or less.

5. Do you dash to make the show on time, or just push “start” when you’re ready? The best theaters around here are at least 15 minutes drive away, then perhaps a wait in line, a wait in the concession line, then you sit through the above mentioned inane trailers, then you watch what you paid to see. At home, you sit down, relax, and start the show at 8:23, or whatever time you are ready for it. Oh, and if the worst happens, and you need to take a break, you can, and never miss a single frame.

Our family paid $30 to see Star Trek at the Yorktown Theaters, Lombard, IL, and put up with bad sound for the entire feature. One of us paid even more per ticket to see the same film at the Navy Pier IMAX theater, replete with a bad subwoofer, and low volume. When we stay home and pop in a disc, none of that happens. We just watch the film undistracted, uninterrupted, and when we want.

Need more reasons to own a Home Theater? Just go out and see a movie, you’ll have your own list in no time.

New Plex Plugins Released

A new series of plugins from Plex has been released. Click here for the official link, or read below.

As we fix some of the bugs that slipped into the first release of Plex/Eight, we thought we’d offer up some new content for you to enjoy. The very cool thing about this batch of plug-ins is that they have been created almost entirely by the Plex community!

First up is I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER written by Bart Dorsey, a plug-in that we’ve all been loving. It allows you to browse pictures from a huge selection of funny sites like the Fail Blog, Pundit Kitchen, and of course the eponymous site itself.

Next up, great for the kiddies, is Sesame Street. Written by Beowulfe, it gives you access to hundreds of short videos from years of the show.

Written by one of our most prolific plug-in authors, Gordon Johnston, Llewtube provides access to content from Robert Llewellyn’s Car Pool video blog. Robert (of Red Dwarf fame), has taken to driving around with interesting people and filming the whole thing.

Written by Brad Dolman, Tripleman is a photo blog from a Vancouver photographer.

This next plug-in, written by pygmalion (great job!), provides HD content from fxguide, which is a leading site covering visual effects in filmmaking. They’re all streamed at 720p, professionally produced, and have great content; for example, the most recent one features an interview with J.J. Abrams.

This was requested on the forums; the Bill Moyers Journal has lots of great content, including thought-provoking interviews and discussions.

Lastly, I tossed together a quick plug-in for Adam Carolla’s podcast.

Additionally, a few plug-ins were updated. Rick Fletcher finished a brilliant update to his Major League Baseball plug-in which now provides access to MLB.TV. Rick has really pushed the envelope with this plug-in, and we had to add some new Media Server features to make this plug-in work.

I also pushed a minor update to the NPR plug-in which provides much better metadata so that it looks better in the Now Playing window.

There are a lot more plug-ins in the works (some nearly done), so expect a new batch pushed to the App Store in the next few weeks.

One last note: The plug-in authors should check the released versions, as they may include minor changes or fixes.

DVD Home Theater System with Digital AM/FM Tuner

Do you want wonderful surround sound in your simple and smaller room??
This system very recommended for you.

• 5.1-channel progressive scan DVD player with integrated amplifier, DVD, DVD±R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, CD+G and JPEG compatible
• Dolby digital decoder, plays digital media files directly from USB drives and SD/MMC/MS cards, integrated digital AM/FM tuner with 40-station preset memory
• Dual microphone inputs for karaoke function, digital and analog AV outputs for home theater use, NTSC/PAL compatible
• Convenient front panel and on-screen display, multiple language, subtitle, and camera angle support, parental lock control, AC 100-240V automatic power switching
• FCC approved and ETL listed, home theater speakers included; 5.1-channel surround sound system with 600W total output*, 5 full-range satellite speakers, subwoofer with tuned port for deep bass response

Coby DVD938 5.1-Channel DVD Home Theater System with Digital AM/FM Tuner, Click picture below for more detail.

Optoma HD and Full HD Projectors

Most people are still thinking their brain out of getting either LCD or Plasma while most of us are already talking about how big our high contrast screen should be and at what setting on our projectors is giving the optimal Picture Quality. With more and more people moving from DVD to Bluray medias, they are more eager to get bigger display and the most economic way of getting a big display within creating a big hole in your pocket is using projector.



A lot of customers still think that projector needs to be operated in dark room and will not perform well. But once they get to see the performance of the budget HD ready projector from Optoma, their mindset changes. And the next question is usually "how much does this baby costs?"; and most of them are amazed when I revealed the price for them. Price is almost comparable like those 42" LCD or Plasma out in the market but giving you double or triple the size in viewing size.

Optoma HD65 can beat most low budget HD ready LCD or Plasma display in terms of watching high definition movies. But bigger in display size means you get to enjoy the movie more. With a set of good sound system, you can have your own high definition home theater at your own house.

I will leave the specification out from this article as you can get the specification from optoma website anytime you want. What I am trying to say here is to let you guys out there who are still thinking of getting a 50" or 60" or even larger display to strongly think twice before spending that much of $$ in a small display. Do consider of getting a projector if you have the space in your house.

Drop by our shop for a demo on the Picture quality.

Plex 8 Released!!

Time for a new upgrade for Plex! Version 8 is out, and looks like they're already working on 9, which will be an official ver 1.0 release (we're still playing with an alpha/beta product lol). Also, looks like we can expect some new app goodness soon too! Read all the info below - as for me, I'm off to upgrade!

Click here for the official link and post.

Plex/Eight Released

from Plex by elan

First of all, happy Mother’s day to all the Plex moms out there! (Remember, Plex Dads, a new Plex release is not a substitute for flowers or a nice call.)

We’re very pleased to announce the first release of our stable Plex/Eight series. It’s been a long road, but we’re quite happy with the stability, especially given the massive amount of new functionality. You can download it here.

We’ve already started work on the Plex/Nine series, and you’ll be seeing lots of change between here and the official “1.0″ release. We know what areas need the most work (the library, usability) and we have a few surprises up our sleeve which we hope you’ll enjoy.

We’d like to give a really, really big shout out to our growing community of plug-in developers. The response to the new Framework has been tremendous, the plug-ins are flowing in, and we’ve gotten great feedback from everyone. Thank you all very much! As promised, James and I are heads down on documentation and will have something for you to look at very shortly. We’re also working on some updates to the App Store to improve the “regionalization” which will make it easier for our users around the world to get to the plug-ins that work for them. A pox on content providers who limit the content to only certain areas of our little blue planet.

This release consists primary of bug-fixes, but we’ve added the usual treats. As Chuck Norris said, “Anything else would be less than civilized”.

• NEW: Have you ever been annoyed by a video playing with subtitles even though the audio track is in your native language? Or having to look through all the 24 subtitle tracks in the MKV just to find the one in your language? Annoying, right? Plex/Eight auto-manages subtitles and audio tracks based on your language setting (i.e. the OS X language setting). For example, if your language is set to English, videos with English audio tracks won’t display any subtitles, whereas a foreign film will display English subtitles. If the language is set to Portuguese (Olá amigos!), an English film with lots of subtitles will auto-pick the Portuguese ones.

  Likewise, for those of you encoding dual 5.1/stereo tracks in your MP4 files, Plex will pick the AC3 track if the receiver is AC3-capable and the tracks have language tags.

  These options are both on by default, and they will not override per-video settings. Also, note that some video files don’t have language information for the audio and subtitle tracks. The code tries to be clever, but it’s not magic.

• NEW: James whipped up a cool animation for the Now Playing screen. Those of you with Plasma screens can now rest easy. The animation triggers every two minutes. Drink some nice red wine and stare at the screen.
• NEW: There are more and more of you using the Plex Media Server to stream your iTunes libraries to Plex, and a common request was to update the play counts and mark podcasts as viewed. In Plex/Eight, Plex now “scrobbles” plays to the Media Server, which updates the iTunes library (note that since it uses AppleScript, you’ll need to have iTunes running on the machine where the Plex Media Server is, and it will be started by OS X if it’s not). This feature is off by default, and you can enable it in the Media Server section of the preferences.
• NEW: Anamorphic zoom mode. Falk Husemann submitted a patch to change the 16×9 zoom mode to work with projectors which have anamorphic lenses attached. You can read more about this sort of set up here. You can enable this new mode by setting true in your advanced settings.

And the fixes:

• FIX: Sometimes album art didn’t show up in the Now Playing window.
• FIX: Remote fanart (e.g. iTunes) wasn’t showing up.
• FIX: Very slow start/skipping tracks for music. We made some improvements to the Media Server, and the ever-skilled jmarshall committed a nice related fix which we pulled. You won’t believe how much faster it is.
• FIX: Speaking of performance, a big shout out to Jens Kleemann, who has been working for a while on analyzing and improving the performance of Plex. A few weeks ago, he told me that one of the main sources of the idle CPU usage was in some code that was locking and unlocking a mutex. He even sent over a patch that did less locking, and Plex took less CPU with the fix. Now this didn’t seem right to me, as a thread that is blocked on a mutex doesn’t consume any CPU. One night I looked over the mutex code, and I noticed a line of debug code that got the thread’s Mach port. I’d put this line in when I was trying to track down a threading issue *ages* ago, and it wasn’t used anymore. Except, as it turns out, it was responsible for consuming about a quarter of Plex’s CPU usage when idle. So a big thank you to Jens, and a big apology from me. Just think how many trillion of instructions your computers have executed for no good reason because of me. I might actually be responsible for global warming.
• FIX: We’ve changed the thumbnailing code for photos to use a single thumb instead of four, by popular request.
• FIX: Nikolas Stephan kindly submitted a patch so that Last.fm scrobbling works with tracks played from the Plex Media Server.
• FIX: Nikolas Stephan also submitted a patch which allows selecting folders for the photo screensaver, apparently something which used to work.
• FIX: We restart the Plex Media Server when we quit after 5.1 play (or upon restart after a crash). This is needed to work around a CoreAudio/WebKit issue, and you would have seen this issue as WebKit videos playing back without audio.
• FIX: We automatically remove empty iLife sources, so if you don’t have Aperture, it won’t show up, for example.
• FIX: GlimmerBlocker no longer prevents WebKit plug-ins from working.
• FIX: The new wider list view works with the “hide thumbs” option.
• FIX: Some SSA subtitles (e.g. Chinese) didn’t render correctly.
• FIX: James made some fixes to background music; the volume level of the background music shouldn’t be quieter than regular music, and fixed a couple of problems with it not restarting properly. Also, it’ll fade out when starting a video.
• FIX: The fonts have been fixed in the Now Playing window for the Original font set.
• FIX: A possible crash in the Plex Media Server.
• FIX: Better keyboard mappings for the Now Playing window and Mira (thanks to marklight!)
• FIX: We pulled the latest IMDB scraper from XBMC (thanks to aaron and jayman for testing it out!) and this should fix it bringing down incorrect posters when the IMPA awards option is on.
• We also pulled a good bunch of code fixes from XBMC. (No Aeon fixes, sorry.)

Next up will be a big release of new and enhanced plug-ins, and then back to work on Plex/Nine.

Velodyne Subwoofer CHT Series, CHT-8Q, CHT-10Q, CHT-12Q, CHT-15Q

Ever wonder why your home theater setup is not giving enough BoooOOOM effect? Because you need a subwoofer. Subwoofer is dedicated to reproduce of low bass frequency that your main speakers cannot produce; thus giving you the BoooOOOM effect that vibrates your whole room and makes you feel the Thrill out of the action movies.

For movies fanatics, you might want to get at least a 12 inches subwoofer as smaller sub will probably not go low enough for your need. Of course, different subwoofer size has different filling capacity for different area. Do listen and get expert opinion before getting your hands on one of this subwoofer.

You should drop by our showroom to check out the latest innovation from Velodyne. From the budget range of Velodyne Impact Series, moving up to CHT-Q Series, MicroVee for those who likes to surprise their guest with this tiny sub that can reproduce amazing boooOOOM Effect, to the SPL Series and so on.

Velodyne MicroVee Series is a 6.5 inches woofer with two 6.5 inches passive driver that can reproduce 1000-2000watts @ 38Hz, weighing up to 9.1kg.

Velodyne CHT-15Q is a 15 inches woofer that has a massive power up to 1500watts RMS @ 14Hz and weighing 34kg.

I always recommend 15" woofer for those who would really want to invest in a woofer that gives the most boooOOOM and UooooMHHH....

Check out Velodyne Subwoofer at our showroom now.

Marantz AV8003 AV Processor and MM8003 Multi Amplifier

Wants to get your hand on this latest Marantz top range AV Processor? This is a cut out of the AV8003 Processor.

Also not to miss out on the MM8003 Multi Amplifier that goes together with the AV Processor.

Visit Us at 3rd Floor Wisma Satok Kuching or call at 017-808-9020 to schedule for an audition or demo. We will try our best to fulfill your home theater, hifi or karaoke needs.

Onkyo SR 606 AV Receiver

For those looking for Onkyo AV Receiver, you can always drop by to compare the performance between Onkyo, Denon and Marantz. Hear it before getting your hands on one of the AVR.

Onkyo is famous with heating issue. No doubt on Onkyo SR 606 but as long as you use it in air conditioned room, you should be safe. And if possible, get a Voltage regulator to regulate the input power for the AVR. Most Onkyo users recommend the use of computer fans to further cool down the temperature.

Sound test out from the box feels a little bit on the Flat side when compared to Denon and Marantz. Surround sound is not as distinctive as Denon and Marantz although it gives a bit more detail which is hardly audible if not paying attention to. One good thing about SR606 is the price vs features. You pay less but you get more on features and power if compared to Denon and Marantz. However, you have to really take good care of the temperature in extended usage. Hopefully you won't forget to switch it off :P

Another feature on the SR606 when compared to the same level Denon AVR-1909 and Marantz SR-5003 is the ability to preset the audio EQ for individual speaker channels. For folks who wish to do some tunning on the EQ especially on those users who have different brands of speaker. It allows you to tune the EQ for every channels to get the best audio uniformality. However, this feature is good for more adventurous users who know what they are doing or else you will probably just mess things up.

Why look at the specification? Drop by an audition.