- Acoustical Sound Panels -
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      Acoustically treating your room is the least expensive and most effective way to improve the listening experience. Our screening room is proof as it sadly failed the clapping hands test until we installed a few Acoustical Solutions, Inc.'s acoustical sound panels.

      Once installed the reverberation was gone and we couldn't believe how much better the audio sounded. Sounds were far more distinctive and directional. Overall the improvement was well beyond our last couple of AV receiver upgrades and considering the cost you can't get a better bang for the buck.

 
- Brick Wall PW8R15AUD -
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      The Brick Wall PW8R15AUD ($245) is a surge protector, which uses Series Mode instead of MOVs that degrade over time until they no longer work at all. The Brick Wall will continue to work indefinitely. If you are interested in the technical differences visit Brick Wall's site for a complete explanation. The AUD models also reduce powerline noise with dual filtering. We have been sold on their performance for years and they are very competitively priced.

- ColorVision Spyder2Pro -
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      ColorVision Spyder2Pro ($249) includes the ability to calibrate your home theater display or front projector. The Spyder2 Colorimeter connects via USB to your PC or Mac and interacts with the included software to calibrate gamma and color temperatures. Using the Wizards you can quickly arrive at accurate grayscale and color rendition.

      The Spyder series are designed for calibrating computer monitors but the Pro version includes additional software for front projectors and comes with a sensor tripod-mounting bracket. We see the Spyder2Pro between using AVIA or Digital Video Essentials and having a full blown ISF calibration. We strongly recommend calibrating your display and if you enjoy tweaking beyond the calibration disc level you'll certainly enjoy using Spyder2Pro.

      Hands-on Report

      We were all ready to order the Spyder2Pro to see just how well of a calibration it would do on our front projector until we ran across the following software. By all accounts it is far more powerful and slanted towards front projectors than the Spyder2Pro. Did we mention on top of that it's free!

      The HCFR Colormeter ($0) doesn't come with a sensor but it does supports the Spyder2, which is one of the least expensive ones on the market and performs reasonably well with front projectors. The only issue is its ability to take accurate readings at really low light levels.

      Looking over the software's screens we were convinced it was just what we were looking for and still needing a sensor we decided to order the ColorVision Spyder2 Express ($79). It comes with the same sensor as the Pro which is what we really wanted and as the name states less featured software which was fine by us as we wouldn't be using it.

      Once it arrived we couldn't help but run the Wizard on the computer we would be using for calibrating and even though the before and after images weren't that different we were never the less impressed enough to recommend it solely on its ability to calibrate your computer's monitor. The originals colors were fine but the software nicely balanced the brightness and contrast levels resulting in an image with a little more punch.

      That covers our experience with the Spyder2 Express but if you are interested in calibrating your home theater display keep reading. Once we loaded everything up and dragged it to the theater the fun began. The HCFR Colormeter instantly found the Spyder2 sensor that was mounted a few feet in front of our screen.

      Our goal was to set grayscale correctly by displaying various gray IRE test patterns via the PS3 and with a few clicks of the mouse we were getting continuous read outs of each color's percentage. By using the projector's Bias and Gain settings for each color we went to town fixing one IRE level and then going back and readjusting the previous level as every change you make to correct one IRE level affects all of the others. We won't go into the gory details about the process but after a little work were right at D65 across the various IRE levels. Job well done!

      The software offers tons of other useful features and performs them just as nicely. We couldn't be more impressed and we hear shortly there will be a new and improved version available and it will still be available at the same price. If you have ever wanted to calibrate your home theater display now you can and all for well less than one hundred dollars. Highly recommended.

- Harmony 550 Universal Remote -
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Top Five Selection

      The Harmony 550 ($129) remote is one of Logitech's least expensive models but still offers almost all of the features of the more expensive models. This learning remote can control up to fifteen of your audio and video devices. Programming the remote couldn't be easier with online access to over 100,000 IR devices from the world's largest A/V database. With activity and help buttons using all of your equipment couldn't be easier!

- HCFR Colormeter -
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      HCFR Colormeter offers world-class calibration software for free! All you need is to make the sensor as described on their site or do what we did and purchase one of the supported sensors such as ColorVision's Spyder2. You can read about our calibrating experience in the ColorVision Spyder2 Hands-on Report.

      In summary if you ever wanted to improve your display's image now you can go well beyond a calibration disc with this professional caliber tool. It might not replace your favorite ISF professional without spending a considerable amount for a high quality sensor and a lot of man-hours of research to understand what all of those nifty graphs mean.

      We feel this program can open your eyes to the world of life-like images that go far beyond the typical over saturated images found on most displays. With a little effort you can even bring that life-like world to your own display.

- HDMI 2 Meter Cable -
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Bargain Selection

      You can't have too many HDMI cables and at $3 a pop you can afford to keep a few around! The great thing about digital cables is they either work or they don't. If you have any issues you'll see sparkles or no image at all. So don't let your local AV salesman talk you into paying a monster of a price for one.

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