Canton is pumping new life into its high-end Karat loudspeakers with the introduction of six new models. The new Canton Karat 795 DC, 790 DC, 770 DC, 755 DC, 730 DC and 720 replace, respectively, the previous Karat 711 DC, 709 DC, 707 DC, 705 DC, 703 DC and 702 models. Prices range from $2,400 per speaker for the top-of-the-line Karat 795 DC, to $600 each for the two-way Karat 720.

Canton has said its new Karat speakers “incorporate upgraded drivers and crossovers, subtly refined cabinet aesthetics, and new high-gloss finish options.” One example of the technology upgrade “is a refinement in the integration between the tweeter and midrange drivers accomplished through improvements in the aluminum diaphragm, soft rubber surround, and associated crossover circuits of the midrange drivers used throughout the line.”

Klipsch is taking what it calls an environmentally friendly approach to the development of its upcoming flagship Palladium P-39F floorstanding speaker. This speaker is currently due out this summer.

The Klipsch Palladium P-39F speaker will be using a style of zebrawood veneer, which is reportedly common in select luxury goods. Klipsch’s approach, however, will instead be a “Linia” veneer, described by the company as real wood source from trees which were part of a government sanctioned controlled harvest.

At some point in time it becomes necessary to move beyond the milk cartons and cardboard boxes you house your A/V gear in. One relatively new A/V cabinet we are eying is the AVSC-2061E from Bell’O, pricing at around $700.

Bell’o’s AVSC-2061E does up a nice combo of wood, glass and metal. It can hold a flat panel up to 65-inches in diameter as well as at least six audio video components and a center channel speaker. The middle shelf is adjustable as well.

Onkyo has released an upgrade to its TX-SR605, HDMI 1.3a home theater receiver with the announcement of the TX-SR606, while still keeping the price under $600. This new model comes similar to the original but with two more HDMI inputs added in which bring the total to four. They’ve also added in 1080i video upscaling, Audyssey’s new Dynamic EQ loudness compensation technology and the companies new Music Optimizer.

This is an impressive set up for the price, allowing four high-definition video inputs each with high-def 7.1-channel surround sound, and will also convert non-high-def signals up to 1080i. Aside from the new add-ons, the TX-SR606 receiver comes equipped with a 90 watt-per-channel amp, Remote Interactive HDMI control, has a number of surround sound codecs and is equipped to handle Sirius Satellite Radio.

Onkyo wants you to feel the home theater in a box (HTiB) love as it unleashed today three new entry level systems which only require a HDTV to get them going. The Onkyo HT-S5100, HT-S4100 and HT-S3100 will be available in April with suggested retail prices of around $580, $480 and $380, respectively.

Key highlights of these systems include a HDTV-capable audio-video receiver, five or seven surround-sound loudspeakers, powerful subwoofer and an included iPod docking station. These of course vary depending upon the specific system. For more details, read the full release after the jump.

This HTPC has some really nice specs, which include a quad-core Intel processor at 3GHz, 3GB of RAM and NVIDIA’s GeForce 8600GT with HDMI out and PureVideo HD support. Plus, you can get the unit in the color of any automotive paint you want from a basic glossy black to $10k gold-flaked. Nice!

It’s also got a 32GB SSD drive for the OS and a 1TB drive for media storage, although you’ll probably want to upgrade that to 2TB if your media collection is huge. It can also play both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs. Windows Vista Ultimate comes pre-installed and of course card readers and everything else you might expect. Which is good because the base price is just under $6k.

If the wife is screaming because your media center PC has cables running everywhere around your home theater room, you need a remedy to restore marital bliss. One possible solution might be the MediaCore and its furniture cabinet looks.

The MediaCore is a wooden enclosure which looks like a stylish European type cabinet. It is essentially a full fledged computer which is built into this thing, as you can see from the picture above. It has a forced air flow design to keep things cool and can host other A/V equipment like cable boxes to keep clutter down.

How many well known consumer electronics brands can be shoved under one stable? We may soon find out as word has come from the Land of the Rising Sun that Harman International has bid for D&M Holdings in a sale which could run the former around $700 million.

This bid, according to Bloomberg, first surfaced on Friday. This potential acquisition bumped up D&M stock in Tokyo. If this purchase were to go through, a news article from the Japan Corporate News Network suggests Harman would ending up taking “a dominant share in the global audio …

First off, sorry about the photo - that backside shot is the only one we could find. It belongs to the center speaker of a new series of speakers Monster announced today called the StreamLine 100. Prices vary between $300 and $600, depending upon which speaker component you need.

Monster designed the StreamLine 100 speakers to be integrated into a home theater. In this series you have a pair of towers, one center and a subwoofer. All offer interchangeable side panels with five color options, depending upon the colors lying around your room or your desire to be neurotic and change them every other day.

Home electronics company Onkyo is set to bring us two new entry level A/V receivers which are each available in black or silver finishes. The 80 watt-per-channel TX-SR576 and 75 watt-per-channel TX-SR506 are priced at around $480 and $380 respectively.

These new Onkyo A/V receivers offer dual source “powered zone 2″ capability, meaning the receiver’s rear surround amplifier channels to power stereo speakers in a second room while still listening to 5.1-channel sound in the main zone. They also both offer support for Audyssey’s new Dynamic EQ loudness correction technology.

Polk Audio has apparently begun shipments of a Sirius tuner component product it first announced late last year. The Polk Audio SR-H1000 is now available for around $350.

Sony has got to be the proprietary technology king. It seems like a new CE season hardly goes by where it isn’t unveiling something. This year’s offering is its wireless S-Air technology, appearing in a variety of new home theater systems and accessories.

When geeks set out to make home theaters, the results are often astounding, with some very cool themes. Often based on Sci-Fi flicks, these amazing works of art are expensive labors of geek love. I proudly present some of the cooler home theaters that have recently caught our eye.

KEF, a British manufacturer of home theater speakers, recently unveiled the necessary components for a new 5.1 surround sound system. It is called the KEF KHT1005.2 Series and pricing is at around $850.

The KEF KHT1005.2 Series includes a diminutive high performance subwoofer and egg-shaped speakers. KEF has its own patented driver technology for its speakers, which can reportedly “project an exceptionally broad frequency range from just a single point.” They are available in a high-gloss black finish and include mounting brackets.

$6 million is a lot of money, no doubt. What would you do with that much cash if you had it? One possible option is to hit up audiophile Jeremy Kipnis to set up for you his self described Kipnis Studio Standard. Think of it as the ultimate home theater experience.

The Kipnis Studio Standard is described by writer Steve Guttenberg as being “all about aggressively advancing the state of the art of picture and sound presentation.” Kipnis has installed in this uber-amazing screen room a massive screen which showcases video projected from “a Sony ultra-high-resolution (4,096-by-2,160) SRX-S110 digital projector.” Damm.