West Coast Audio Video Gallery

The AV receiver has become a very important component in home theater today. This box is the hub that ties all our other components together. Everything runs to and from this key device. While receivers have nearly reached dime-a-dozen status, those of us desiring separates have fewer options. The choices that do exist are usually very expensive. The problem is once you’ve experienced the superior dynamics and power handling of separates, it’s hard to go back to a receiver.

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I’m hoping to not be the minority when it comes to design and audio equipment. Far too often you hear of audio and videophiles mentioning that a piece of gear has a high WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor). All too often this denotes it’s not a boring slab of black electronics or a monolithic boring speaker. Why is it only the spouse who has high aesthetic requirements? Here, we review Waterfall Audio's Iguasçu Evo floor-standing speakers that have glass enclosures.

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For nearly forty years, Nelson Pass has been designing simple, high-performance electronics. In 1991, with twenty years experience under his belt, he founded Pass Laboratories which has since become among the most highly regarded companies for high-end power and integrated amplifiers. His design goals couldn’t be more clear: power, simplicity and performance.

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Most stereo and home theater enthusiasts know NAD, and can almost certainly pick out a piece of NAD gear without seeing the label from it's distinctive, slate gray color scheme. While most people probably know NAD more for their CD players and integrated amplifiers, they have a whole line of home theater equipment, from receivers to processors, Blu-ray players and multi-channel amplifiers. Recently, NAD came out with a whole new line of receivers and processors featuring their Modular Design Construction.

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I have always been a fan of integrated amplifiers, and they were the heart of all my audio systems up until recently. They offer the best value in terms of getting the most performance per dollar, but they take away one thing many audiophiles love: fooling around with their system. Several ultra-high end companies have recently introduced very serious integrated amps, for the audiophile who is done with fooling around.

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For a long time now, I've been wanting an easy solution to get music streaming all throughout my house. I've added a Network Attached Storage device (NAS) to allow me to keep all the music in one location that is always accessible, and I've tried out many different streaming solutions, from the Sony PS3 to various processors and receivers with DLNA access built in. Unfortunately, nothing to this point has been both powerful, and easy to use.

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I think of good times and crazy innovations when I think of Beck Hansen's music. He's one of those folks that are so cool that they don't need a last name. Most folks just call him "Beck." I will too from this point on.

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