Surely you remember Sony's all-in-one media stand (optional) / surround sound system combo from CES, right? If not, Sony's giving you a reason to recall, as it's just unveiled a full list of specifications and a swank new picture of its RHT-S10. The unit boasts 350-watts of total power (50-watts x 5 + 100-watts x 1), a subwoofer pre-out, HDMI control, a digital media port, FM tuner, coaxial digital audio input, a trio of optical audio inputs, two composite audio inputs and a power save mode. You'll also notice a digital amplifier capable of understanding Dolby Digital and DTS along with News, Standard, Cinema, Sports, Music and Personal Audio sound modes. Sadly, pricing / availability remain a mystery.

[Thanks, Lawrence]

Update: Sony pinged us to say that it will be out in May for $800, and a wall mount kit will be bundled in.

Craving the custom install look, but not willing to tear down walls to get it? Sony has debuted the Sound Wall RHT-S10 stand for all your HT gear, and it's packing 5.1 surround sound to boot. The free-standing unit has a TV mount, amplifier and subwoofer all built in. Hang the display, route any wires behind the unit and plug everything together at the A/V rack in the base and you're all set. But hey, what about the rear channels in this 5.1 system? Those rear signals are mixed in with the fronts -- combined with Sony's S-Force Pro, they claim you don't need those pesky channels any more. We're skeptical, but they've packed in some good features: 350-Watts of digital amplification, 1080p24 passthrough, BRAVIA sync (CEC) and Sony's Digital Media Port for bringing your other media devices to the party.

If you've got a Vizio slim bezel "Black Tie" LCD, and are looking to surround yourself in sound, the company has a treat for you. The company is rolling out its Jive SV5.1 Enhancement Kit. This bit of kit adds the all-important center channel, rear channels and a (2.4 GHz) wireless sub to your LCD's existing front channel so you can brag up your 5.1 surround system. That sub unit packs a 70-Watt RMS, 560-Watt peak amp in it for the Jive speakers. Vizio didn't break your checkbook with that LCD, and they won't with this surround system, either: expect a price around $299 when the system ships in July.

Just in case you don't have enough digital download choices, here comes iTrax to give you another. This site, however, deviates from the beaten path by offering up DRM-free HD Audio tracks for those with more discerning ears. Granted, the music selection is quite limited, but for the albums that are available, users can download individual songs or entire records in a variety of encoding formats / mixes. Among the options are MP3, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA Pro, WMA Lossless and even uncompressed PCM 96/24, and most songs can be downloaded in 2.0 stereo, 5.1 "stage" and 5.1 "audience" perspectives. Currently, the available music all stems from AIX Records, but more options are purportedly on the way, and if you're curious about pricing, most albums look to run you anywhere from $9.99 to $24.99, depending on quality / mix.

So far only only a few HD DVDs have rolled out with a Dolby TrueHD lossless audio soundtrack, and with good reason, the only players on the market didn't support it. But now, thanks to the just-released 2.0 firmware, Toshiba HD-A1 owners everywhere can enjoy advanced audio. According to High-Def Digest, as long as you have a receiver that accepts audio via HDMI or analog 5.1 inputs (but not S/PDIF, sorry) you should be ready to go. Of course this is only worthwhile if there is a noticeable difference and by their report, there is with improved quality and surround sound effects. We look forward to more TrueHD enhanced releases, although you have to wonder what this will do to potential HD DVD/DVD combo releases that don't have the space for the movie and uncompressed audio. Given the benefit, the possiblity of bricking your HD DVD player during the update is but a miniscule risk (take any discs out before updating via the Ethernet port or it's to Toshiba customer support you must go.)

Erik mentioned this during the podcast earlier, and I thought some of you might find it interesting. TWICE has an article up listing the various audio options that will be available on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs and players. All HD-DVD players must include support for two-channel Dolby True HD, 5.1 DTS HD, and 5.1/6.1 Dolby Digital Plus. Blu-ray players are required to support Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 and 5.1 PCM.

More information on the HD-DVD audio codecs is available from the DVD Forum, and info on Blu-ray codecs at Blu-ray.com. They also mention what sort of feature upgrades we can expect, at least in respect to audio second-generation HD-DVD players will add features like 7.1 analog connectors and HDMI 1.3 outputs. As much as we talk about MPEG-2 and h.264, are you taking audio options into account with your next purchase?

Dolby is kind enough to let us know that if any figure skaters should happen to be clubbed in the kneecap, we will be able to hear their plaintive wails in full 5.1 surround sound. I certainly hope the Winter Olympics broadcast is better than the Summer Olympics.

While it was very high quality, it was worthless because it was a day behind. Yeah I watched every moment of it in on both broadcasts thanks to my dual tuner DVR because I'm an addict. However, if I want to see two men in tights lay down on top of each other and slide down a hill I'll go see Brokeback Mountain then I should be able to see it live and in HD.