WD200711ZA-sm.pdf

Home Audio
Scorecard
A/V RECEIVERS
SURROUND-SOUND
HEADPHONES
VIRTUAL SURROUND SYSTEMS
WIRELESS 5.1
SYSTEMS
Model Price
Denon AVR-4308CI $2,499
Onkyo TX-NR905 $2,099
Pioneer Elite VSX-91TXH $1,000
Yamaha RX-V861 $1,000
Model Price
1 1 4 WIRED TEST
Power
Output High-End Inputs
7 x 140
watts
7 x 140
watts
7 x 110
watts
7 x 105
watts
Weight
(ounces)
4 HDMI (plus 2 HDMI out),
3 component, 7 S-video,
4 optical, 3 coaxial
4 HDMI (plus 2 HDMI out),
3 component, 6 S-video,
3 optical, 3 coaxial
2 HDMI (plus 1 HDMI out),
3 component, 5 S-video, 6 optical
2 HDMI (plus 1 HDMI out),
3 component, 5 S-video,
4 optical, 2 coaxial
Wireless
Protocol
Range
(feet)
Satellite
Audio
Ready
Streams
Media
From PC
Auto
Calibration
Dimensions
(inches,
HxWxD)
Weight
(pounds) Rating
Yes Yes Yes 7.7 x 17.1 x 17.9 42 8
Yes Yes Yes 7.6 x 17.1 x 18.1 54 7
Yes No Yes 6.8 x 16.6 x 18.3 34 7
Yes No Yes 6.8 x 17.1 x 16.6 29 6
Battery Life
(hours) Rechargeable
Number of
Speakers Surround Code Rating
Pioneer SE-DIR800C $399 8.8 IR 26 16 Yes 2 DTS, Dolby Digital, Pro Logic 8
Sony MDR-DS6000 $300 12.7 2.4-GHz RF 98 7 Yes 4 DTS, Dolby Digital, Pro Logic 7
Sennheiser RS130 $170 9.7 900-MHz RF 328 22 Yes 2 SRS 5
LTB Q-Home-FX $260 7.5 2.4-GHz RF 98 6 Yes 6 Dolby Digital, Pro Logic 4
Model Price
Yamaha YSP-4000 $1,700
Cambridge SoundWorks
SurroundWorks 200
Polk Audio
SurroundBar 50
Philips HTS8100
SoundBar
$1,000
Sharp SD-SP10 $349
Power
Output Inputs Outputs Subwoofer
120
watts
225
watts
2 HDMI, 2 component,
2 optical, 2 coaxial,
2 analog audio,
3 composite
component, 3 S-video,
optical, coaxial,
3 composite
HDMI,
component,
composite
component,
S-video, optical,
2 composite
Dimensions
(inches,HxWxD)
Weight
(pounds) Rating
No 7.8 x 40.6 x 5.7 35.3 9
Yes
Receiver: 2.6 x 17.3 x 13.5
Speaker: 4.4 x 14.8 x 6.9
Subwoofer: 11.1 x 10 x 12.3
45 8
$1,100 — None None No 4.4 x 51 x 5.1 16 7
$800 N/A
140
watts
HDMI, component,
coaxial, analog audio,
composite
2 optical, coaxial,
3 analog audio
HDMI,
component,
composite
Yes
None Yes
Model Price Power Output Speaker Configuration
Kef KHT5005.2W.J $2,600
Samsung HT-TX75 $480
Creative Gigaworks
ProGamer G550W
$400
Panasonic SC-PT1050 $599
How We Tested Home Audio
VIRTUAL SURROUND SYSTEMS
No laboratory listening room, no
special audio padding or sterile
fields. We tested in real-world
conditions—one small apartment
and a big pile of discs. Note to
neighbors: Sorry about the noise.
5 x 100 watts
1 x 250 watts
6 x 170 watts
1 x 180 watts
5 x 36 watts
1 x 130 watts
4 x 250 watts
2 x 100 watts
A/V RECEIVERS Using identical
speaker placement and a decibel
meter to match volumes, we
checked surround effects and
pass-throughs in scenes from
Lord of the Rings; for dialog, we
dove into The Life Aquatic.
5 satellites (2 tower stands),
1 subwoofer
4 towers (tallboy), 1 center-channel,
1 subwoofer
4 satellites (2 front bookshelf, 2 bookshelf
surrounds), 1 center-channel, 1 subwoofer
Receiver: 5.7 x 36.8 x 5.3
Subwoofer: 17.6 x 11.6 x 11.6
Receiver: 17 x 10.75 x 4.1
Subwoofer: 4.5 x 17.1 x 16.5
38.6 6
23.6 6
Wireless
Range (feet) HDMI Rating
82 No 8
108 Yes 7
8 No 6
2 surround speakers, 1 subwoofer 26 Yes 5
WIRELESS 5.1 SYSTEMS We played
a variety of CDs and DVDs (hi-def
and standard) to evaluate each
system on ease of setup, quality
of surround transmission, appearance,
and sound quality in high,
low, and midrange frequencies.