Harman Kardon : Complete Home Entertainment System

The Bridge II

Hub is a buyer (like me), but he doesn't usually spend the household income (unlike me). I know that certain folks in our circle actually have sympathy for the man - for having a wife who's both bonkers and a spendthrift.

But I have to tell you that that's not totally true. I enjoy spending little bits of money regularly; He often spends a huge sum in a go (which would come to the same thing - almost). And I like to think that I'm careful (enough) with his hard-earned pennies, for I'm Asian after all. Even when I was a poor student I've never blown my budget. And would still have enough leftover to save.

All this to say that the dormant volcano woke up last night and ordered himself us a Harmon Kardon complete Home Entertainment System. You could feel the ground shake.

But to do him justice, he did hesitate quite a bit before commiting himself as times are bad as we all know - but he deserved it for working so very hard. And he does vegetate quite a bit in front of the TV when he's at home. Not really the DIY sort, you know.

Have never heard of H/K before, but apparently the company has won loads of prizes (e.g. EISA, ADEX...) in recent times and those machines cost a small fortune in this age where stuff like that usually cost lesser and lesser.

I'm the TV + DVD Player sort. PAL, progressive scan (dunno what it means though)...Anything more than that and it would be Greek to me. And this H/K theatre system is made up of the following :

1. AVR 355 Amplifier : featuring Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, and Faroudja DCDi Cinema video processing up to 1080p. Connectivity is via a series of optional accessories including that of an A-BUS connector. This enables users to connect to a wall-mountable controller, via ordinary Ethernet cable, which will power a pair of speakers. Allows for multi-room set-up.


2. DMC (Digital Media Center) 1000 : The 250GB hard drive media server offers a host of advanced media-storage and playback capabilities, including independent, simultaneous playback of up to four audio streams in four separate zones, and HDMI output with video upscaling to 1080p. Content stored on the hard drive can also be copied to a memory card, a USB storage device or a CD-R/RW disc.


3. The Bridge II : The Bridge II connects to the DMC 1000. Only needs one cable to connect the source, no power, and it will charge your iPod — all versions, excepting the shuffle. Distributes tunes as a multi-room source.
   
   
4. HKTS 11 Surround Speakers : Review here.

Doesn't all that sound like Greek to you? Am writing that down so as to better digest it.

We do not have an iPod so may have to buy one. Maybe also a new LCD/Plasma. Why not a PS3 while we're at it. And brains to go with the whole thing. You'll need a degree in this thing to know how to use it. I'm a simple girl, would be perfectly happy just watching DVDs on the old Samsung. And going to the cinema for the sound (and caramel popcorn).