There are a lot of reasons why sound bars are taking over home audio, but one of them is increasingly obvious: AV receivers are terrible. I’ve reviewed a lot of them for CNET, and while receivers are fine for enthusiasts who know what they’re doing, they’re a frustrating experience for everyone else. Most technology gets …

Sarah Tew/CNET Aereo promised a breakthrough service for cord-cutters: the ability to watch and record over-the-air TV without the hassle of an antenna or additional hardware for $8 to $12 a month. Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision against Aereo means the company’s current service is effectively illegal. (CBS, the parent company of CNET, is one of the companies that brought the …

Pioneer SP-EBS73 bookshelf speakers with top-mounted drivers. Pioneer Dolby announced that its Atmos surround-sound format is coming to home theaters earlier this week and now Pioneer is ready to detail its new Atmos-enabled speakers. Pioneer announced several Atmos-enabled home audio components this morning, including three Elite AV receivers and an Andrew Jones-designed speaker system. The 9.2-channel AV receivers and Elite-branded …

The $1,000 Integra DTR-30.6 will receive Dolby Atmos compatiblity via a firmware update in the fall. Integra Dolby Atmos launched back in 2012 and since then the new surround sound format has been used by an impressive list of movies, including blockbusters like “Gravity”, “Frozen” and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”. Today, Dolby announced that Atmos is coming to …

Sarah Tew/CNET Logitech’s Harmony remotes can control nearly every device in your living room, but Sonos’ components have always been left out of the remotes’ near-universal device support. Related stories Logitech’s Harmony 350 remote gets you universal control for cheap Logitech Harmony Smart Keyboard: A living-room keyboard and universal remote Sonos offers 6 months of Google Play Music with purchase …

Samsung is making a big push into the wireless home audio market, but it’s hard to compete the extensive app library that Sonos has built up over years. That gap is narrowing a little bit more today, as Samsung announced that its Shape wireless audio platform now supports Spotify Connect. Not only does that add another support service to the …

Simple.TV owners are getting another outlet for streaming their over-the-air TV. Chromecast support was added to Simple.TV’s app for iOS and Android today, enabling the ability to “cast” straight from the app to a Chromecast. The Chromecast joins Roku and Apple TV as supported living room devices, although Roku remains the only option with its own onscreen interface. Simple.TV also …

Sarah Tew/CNET NPR is ready to make its first official entrance on Roku. NPR Music is planning to roll out a dedicated Roku channel for its Tiny Desk Concerts series later this month, which features short musical performances from the cubicle of “All Songs Considered” host Bob Boilen. This is NPR’s first dedicated app for the Roku platform; live NPR …

Sony SS-CS5 bookshelf speakers Sony Sony’s been making a push with high resolution audio since late last year, labeling its own products with a “High-Res Audio” logo to indicate compatibility. Today Sony announced the latest product to get the “High-Res Audio” treatment: a new line of speakers called the Core Series. The new line consists of a traditional 5.1 speaker …

Sarah Tew/CNET YouTube has long been a thorn in the side of Roku, but that’s officially coming to an end. Roku announced that YouTube is now available on all of the company’s current-generation streamers in the US, Canada, UK and the Republic of Ireland. YouTube was first added to the flagship Roku 3 box in December of 2013, and the …