A/V Receiver
A/V Controller Powered by Eight Channels
Rather than asking what types of features McIntosh’s MHT200 A/V System Controller offers, the better question may be “What doesn’t it do?”. The MHT200 is capable of decoding DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, switching component, S-Video and composite video and pumping out 140 watts x 8 channels. Internally the MHT200 processing is handled by 24-bit DSP chipsets, and 24-bit converters perform all digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion. Additionally, the controller can generate its own test noises or automatically calibrate a system’s speaker levels and delay times through the use of a supplied microphone.
MSRP is $6,100. McIntosh Laboratory, Binghamton, N.Y., 607-723-3512, www.mcintoshlabs.com
DVD Recording
Record Your Favorite Programs Digitally
The D-R1 DVD recorder from Toshiba is one of the first multi-drive recordable DVD devices to hit the consumer market. The unit can record with DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs, and play back discs recorded in the DVD-RW format. The unit offers users functions such as Time Shift and Time Slip, and the ability to organize their recordings through the player’s Auto Title, Chapter and Thumbnail Creation features. The unit also provides users with a one-touch recording feature and an IEEE-1394DV input that allows them to burn their home camcorder recordings to DVD.
MSRP is $599. Toshiba America Consumer Products, Inc., Wayne, N.J., 800-631-3811, www.toshiba.com
Whole-House Audio
Device Serves up 160GB of Storage
The SMS3 Media Server from Russound enables users to manage and store a variety of digital files, including music and images. The unit has 160GB of storage and can be used as the central component in a whole-house audio system. The SMS3’s built-in CD-ROM drive provides homeowners with the option of playing discs from the CD library and then saving the songs to the unit’s hard drive. Additionally, the SMS3 incorporates Gracenote’s database technology to allow users to set up their own play lists with artist information.
Russound, Newmarket, N.H., 603-659-5170, www.russound.com
Kitchen Appliances
LG Redefines TV Dinners
Who says you can’t watch television and eat at the same time? LG Electronics has released its TV Refrigerator, a kitchen appliance that incorporates a cable-ready 13-inch television, an AM/FM radio and a pair of loudspeakers. The refrigerator, which is available in a side-by-side unit, features the TV and AM/FM tuner on the right door and an automatic icemaker and water dispenser on the left door. The 26-cubic-foot refrigerator also includes a number of food storage features such as its “grab n’ go” door basket, wine rack, “pizza nook,” tilting door bins, glass and sliding shelves.
MSRP is $3,000. LG Electronics, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 800-243-0000, www.lge.com
Video Projection
Projector Powered by Texas Instruments’ Technology
The ScreenPlay 5700 from InFocus incorporates Faroudja’s DCDi deinterlacing and 3:2 pulldown processing technology. It also uses Texas Instruments’ new Matterhorn DLP chip that delivers a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and 1024 x 576 native resolution, which makes it compatible with EDTV programming. The projector provides users with a brightness rating of 1,000 lumens and a contrast ratio of 1400:1. And through the use of Faroudja’s DCDi processing, the 5700 can reduce video noise and improve overall video quality.
MSRP is $4,999. InFocus Corporation, Wilsonville, Ore., 800-294-6400, www.infocus.com
Home Security
Security Panel Has Several Newly Added Features
Honeywell Automation and Security Control Solutions’ ADEMCO unit has released a new set of features for its LYNXR-EN wireless security system, which combines a control panel, a wireless receiver, a siren and a dealer in one package. Some of the new features include a voice prompt that helps guide installers through the setup process, a “lack of usage notification” that notifies the central station if the homeowner isn’t using the system, a “follow me” function that alerts homeowners to specific events and appointments, and a feature that provides dealers with the company’s 5828V secondary wireless keypad that incorporates a message center.
Ademco, Syosset, N.Y., 800-467-5875, www.ademco.com
Back Office Solutions
Software Streamlines Data Resources
Community Management Systems’ (CMS) new builder management tool features the technology of the Internet, and allows new-home builders to work more efficiently. The Internet-powered technology provides builders with a means of creating reports, calculating and tracking sales commissions and reviewing contracts. To use the CMS technology, all a builder needs is a computer, a Web connection and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser software. The CMS technology is protected with a state-of-the-art security system, and users have to log in with secure passwords.
Community Management Systems, Columbia, Md., 888-202-3831, www.buildercms.com
Home Theater Treatments
HT Interiors for the Common Man
Massachusetts-based Architechxtures is bringing the look and the experience of high-end home theater to mainstream consumers. The company’s theater packages offer the look of expensive home-theater interiors that match the price points of today’s entry-level and mid-fi electronics. The theater packages offer amenities such as plug-in lighting systems and IR remote-control capabilities to provide homeowners with selectable lighting control scenes and control at a reasonable cost. The packages have also been designed to ship and install without much trouble.
MSRPs range from $1,400 to $12,000. Architechxtures, Holyoke, Mass., 413-552-4055, www.architechxtures.com
Home Networking
Faceplate Keeps a Low Profile
Unicom’s latest product release addresses the desire to supplement the utilitarian look of a home or small-business network by adding a functional but stylish flush-mount connection faceplate. The company’s Flush Mount Low Profile Stainless Steel Faceplate can be used for both commercial and residential applications, and features an integrated module retainer that keeps each jack flush with the faceplate, while providing a smooth appearance. Unicom offers the faceplates in a choice of one-, two-, three-, four- or six-port single-gang configurations, and the faceplates can be used for voice, data or video connectivity situations.
Unicom, City of Industry, Calif., 800-346-6668, www.unicomlink.com
Home Theater
Speaker Covers All the Bases
The Michigan-based loudspeaker manufacturer Leon Speakers’ new Horizon line of loudspeakers is designed to offer users a combination L/C/R solution that mounts flush below a flat-panel display. The speakers measure four inches deep, and are made of MDF. Leon can build the speakers to size. They come in six standard finishes, as well as a choice of custom finishes. The line of speakers features six models that range from a standard center-channel speaker, to combination left and right speakers and a single-box-solution L/C/R.
MSRPs range from $1,495 to $2,095 each. Leon Speakers, Whitmore Lake, Mich., 888-213-5015, www.leonspeakers.com
Home Theater
European Style Blends with Modern Décor
The Vision Model 60 from Vidikron incorporates three native-aspect-ratio D-ILA chips that provide a resolution of 1400 x 788. Vidikron says the Model 60 is capable of delivering a light output of 17.9 foot-Lamberts using the company’s Cinema Standards Measurement System (CSMS) and 1,000 ANSI lumens, along with a contrast ratio of 800:1. The projector also includes a number of inputs, including DVI with HDCP copyright protection, and European-influenced industrial design in a package that weighs only 20 pounds.
MSRP is expected to be less than $15,000. Vidikron, Union City, Calif., 510-324-5900, www.vidikron.com
Home Communications
Get to Know Your Neighbors
From Elbex, the makers of CCTV equipment, comes its new connected color digital video Interphone. The System 4 can enable up to 999 apartments to be connected via a single twisted pair of wires to up to 15 combined entries/concierge stations all communicating simultaneously with different apartments. The vandal and weather resistant door units offer multi-language operation, tailored door control/entry programming and access through a high finish stainless steel panel in a variety of mounts and finishes. Aimed at the high-end market, the video interphone monitor with its 4-inch color LCD screen provides high-quality images in an easy to install unit.
Elbex, Los Alamitos, Calif., 714-761-8000, www.elbex.com
Whole-House Audio
System Raises Bar for Distributed A/V
The XDM4600KIT Xtreme Digital Music System from M&S Systems is an expandable four-zone/six-source digitally based whole-house audio system that also provides the added functionality of voice communication to each zone and the front door. The system employs a 30-watt digital amplifier and a built-in IR repeater device, which allows homeowners to control the system’s zones through the use of a remote control. The zone keypads fit in a two-gang space, and each zone features a microphone that enables listening and paging.
M&S Systems, Dallas, Texas, 800-877-6631, www.mssystems.com