Best Home Audio Sound Systems & Speakers of 2012
Having a great sound system means the difference between merely listening to your audio and truly experiencing it. Regardless of whether you are trying to be in the moment while watching your favorite movie, want to jam to your favorite music while you do housework, or just need a great external speaker system to play your iOS device music files on, getting the best deal on quality home audio is the key to total enjoyment.
What is your favorite home audio equipment?
Home audio encompasses a broad spectrum of gadgets designed to help you do one thing: Get the best sound quality out of your home entertainment center.
Whether you’re looking for a great set of surround-sound speakers to enhance your home movie experience, or an iPod docking station/speaker combination, you can usually find an exceptional device at a reasonable price. Here are some of the best available.
Best Mid-Range AV Receiver Denon AVR-1912 The heart of any true home entertainment center is the AV receiver. This is the device that coordinates your components and allows you to access FM broadcast stations. But not only does it handle any peripheral you wish to throw at it, it can perform plenty of other impressive tricks in style. The Denon AVR-1912 is one of the best in this category.
Price: $450
Pros:
Having a great sound system means the difference between merely listening to your audio and truly experiencing it. Regardless of whether you are trying to be in the moment while watching your favorite movie, want to jam to your favorite music while you do housework, or just need a great external speaker system to play your iOS device music files on, getting the best deal on quality home audio is the key to total enjoyment.
What is your favorite home audio equipment?
Home audio encompasses a broad spectrum of gadgets designed to help you do one thing: Get the best sound quality out of your home entertainment center.
Whether you’re looking for a great set of surround-sound speakers to enhance your home movie experience, or an iPod docking station/speaker combination, you can usually find an exceptional device at a reasonable price. Here are some of the best available.
Best Mid-Range AV Receiver Denon AVR-1912 The heart of any true home entertainment center is the AV receiver. This is the device that coordinates your components and allows you to access FM broadcast stations. But not only does it handle any peripheral you wish to throw at it, it can perform plenty of other impressive tricks in style. The Denon AVR-1912 is one of the best in this category.
Price: $450
Pros:
- Impressive Design. The Denon AVR-1912 is a sharp-looking device thanks to sleek, rounded corners and a soft, fingerprint-resistant matte casing.
- Multiple Connection Points. Connecting peripheral equipment to this receiver is a breeze with the six dedicated HDMI ports. It also has integrated AirPlay technology so you can wirelessly stream audio from any iOS device (iPod touch, iPad, iPhone, etc.) You can also put a remote control application on your iOS device and control every aspect of the receiver.
- Simple Menu Structure. The simple menu structure – plain block lettering against a black background - could be seen as a con, but is intuitive and easy to navigate.
- Good Sound Quality. The sound quality is great, though it will be somewhat dictated by the speakers you have attached.
- Oversized. The Denon AVR-1912 is big and will take up quite a bit of shelf space in your cabinet.
- No Integrated Wi-Fi. This device lacks built-in Wi-Fi, requiring a USB dongle to get Internet connectivity to run Pandora and Rhapsody. Either that or you can hard-wire the device to an Internet connection.
- Lack of HDMI Port in the Front. While the device does have six HDMI ports for connecting all your peripherals, it would have been nice if one of these ports had been added to the front of the device for easy temporary connections.
- No Satellite Radio Support. Surprisingly, this device includes no satellite radio support. XM/Sirius subscribers are out of luck.