Onkyo released their new 7.1 AV amplifier that even features an HDMI 1.3 port. It’s called the TX-SA706X, and it offers five HDMI inputs and one HDMI output supporting 1080p video signals.

The device also handles Dolby True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio and provides a maximum output of 200Watts x 7, a frequency response of 5Hz-100,000Hz and includes Audyssey Dynamic EQ Processing. Now that’s nice and powerful. You’ll be able to get the Onkyo TX-SA706 on July 19th, 2008 for €1,120.

Sony is updating its line of upper end “Elevated Standard” A/V receivers with three new models. The STR-DA4400ES, STR-DA3400ES and STR-DA2400ES receivers are priced at around $1,500, $1,000 and $800 respectively.

Sony said all three receivers will be available later this summer. Key features include 7.1 channel surround sound, support for advanced audio codecs like Dolby TrueHD, a new graphical user interface and auto audio calibration. You can get the full details of these new Sony ES A/V receivers after the jump.

Here’s a way to satisfy your Stargate fetish if you happen to have lots of spare change in your pocket. A guy by the name of Andrew Caldwell worked with a home theater outfit called Visual Concepts and others to build a Stargate-themed home theater room. Sweet!

The centerpiece of the theater is the 10-foot diameter “Stargate” screen, according to CE Pro. The ceiling sports a dome with “a sky mural and twinkling stars” and there’s even air-piston doors which open at a hand swipe as well as replications of the wall panels from Atlantis.

Krell is one of those high end audio companies you don’t hear much about unless you are a true audiophile who has some serious cash to drop on top notch gear. One of the company’s latest products is a case in point - the Evolution 707 preamp/processor, reported to be pricing at around $30,000.

The Krell Evolution 707 provides for 8.4 channels of audio output, including two center channel and four subwoofer outputs for blasting your neighbors into submission. It supports HDMI 1.3 as well as pretty much ever standard of Dolby and DTS you can think of, plus nine of Krell’s own specialized surround sound modes.

If you’ve got some dough to drop and are uber-fanatical about having that perfect audio tuning in your media room, Audyssey Labs has a product you might want to check out. It is called the Audyssey Sound Equalizer and you’ll find it pricing for around $5,000.

The Audyssey Sound Equalizer uses the company’s MultEQ XT room correction technology and a special PC application to “capture up to 32 points of acoustical information throughout a listening area. Based on these measurements, MultEQ Pro automatically calculates an equalization solution that corrects for time and frequency response problems in the listening area, creating a fully automated surround system setup.”

Marantz America is out with a few new home theater components designed to add a little extra pop to your personal entertainment options. These are the AV8003 and MM8003, priced at around $2,600 and $2,400, respectively.

The AV8003 preamplifier is, according to Marantz, a multi-zone processor and controller offering streaming A/V capability, while the MM8003 amplifier works with either a 7.1- or 5.1- channel system. Full details of both are found after the jump.

When we saw a press release from Salamander Designs announcing new A/V cabinet configurations, we yawned and moved to click to another page. Our click was stopped through when we read an interesting line about the company’s Extended Rear Panel with Active Cooling Kit. That looked pretty cool to us given the hot rat’s nest behind our A/V cabinet in the next room.

The Salamander Designs Extended Rear Panel with Active Cooling Kit is designed (without the Active Cooling Kit) to provide more depth and ventilation than standard rear panels and can reportedly be removed quicker. What the Active Cooling Kit adds to this configuration is a remote thermostat and dual fans which offer self-described “precision cooling.”

One of the worst things about a home theater aside from the wires is that the speakers tend to be big and bulky. Larger speakers often sound better, but they are hard to hide and can really mess up the looks of a room (so says my wife).

To go along with the new line of Sony Bravia HDTVs I wrote about this morning Sony has released a HT-IS100 Bravia Theater Micro System. The system is designed around five tiny speakers that are each about the size of a golf ball or a strawberry.

Audiophile specialist McIntosh Laboratory has just unloaded a flotilla of new high end (i.e. pricey) components for the “price is no object” home theater. The one we picture above, for example, is the MC2301 Vacuum Tube Power Amplifier, priced at around $11,000. That’s right, $11k.

Full details on this vacuum tube piece of audio equipment and four other new McIntosh releases are found after the jump.

LG put out more detailed information today on some new home theater systems first shown off at CES earlier this year. These include, besides the LHT888, the new LHT874, LHT854, LFD850 and LFA840.

These systems are in the processing of appearing at retail locations such as Best Buy and Circuit City. LG describes them as featuring “distinctive designs” and “advanced technology. We detail the other items in this new line up after the jump.

A home theater system with surround sound and a nice big screen TV is high on the priority list of many guys. The catch is that the wife or significant other often doesn’t want “ugly” cables running all around the room. LG Electronics introduced a nice home theater system at CES 2008 called the LHT888 that fixed that issue.

LG announced today that the LHT888 is now available for purchase at a MSRP of $649.95. For the money you get a home theater system with all four speakers on stands and wireless rear speakers that eliminate the need to run wires to the back of your room.

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.