Evolution and Xperience

This article appears on Home Theater & Sound and on SoundStage! Network because it affects both sites -- it will be the last editorial ever published on HT&S, and for the SoundStage! Network group of online publications, it’s the mark of something new. At the beginning of April, Home Theater & Sound will be shut down. In its place will be our newest website, SoundStage! Xperience -- a next-generation online publication. Call it an evolution.

We conceived of SoundStage! Xperience in January, in Las Vegas, when our crew met while covering the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. At first, our discussion revolved around redesigning Home Theater & Sound -- something we do for each of our sites every three years or so. For HT&S, however, the original design had been in place for ten years -- while it had served us very well, a rework was long overdue. But it soon became apparent that everyone sitting around that table thought we should do more than just redesign the site -- we should try something brand-new, something that would redefine it. Soon we were discussing not merely overhauling HT&S’s appearance and ease of navigation, but the creation of a unique new publication that would not only build on the success of Home Theater & Sound and the rest of the SoundStage! Network publications, but would also set the standard for what a next-generation specialty A/V publication should be. And so SoundStage! Xperience was born.

SoundStage! Xperience will take the core concept behind all the SoundStage! Network publications -- industry-leading expertise in the evaluation of high-quality sound components for the home -- and broadly apply it to all home-entertainment products. Whereas Home Theater & Sound focused exclusively on home-theater equipment, Xperience will feature critical evaluations of home-theater and hi-fi gear, as well as of personal entertainment devices -- something no other SoundStage! Network publication has yet done. There will also be room on Xperience for coverage of custom-installation products, as well as for so-called "lifestyle" products -- those that provide high-quality sound while enhancing, not degrading, home décor.

Besides equipment, we’ll also be reviewing new video and music releases, but with a twist. Instead of doing what every A/V publication in the world does, including ours -- that is, review a smattering of new titles each month -- our staff will target only releases that we consider "must-haves." Instead of reviews or critiques, these will be movie and music recommendations. This means that each release must distinguish itself in some way -- by its quality of sound and/or video, or simply by the fact that it’s too good to be ignored or overlooked. Our goal is to turn you on to the better music and movie selections that we can find, to help you maximize your home-entertainment experience.

Because the design of SoundStage! Xperience is still underway, I can’t tell you much about it just yet, but I can tell you this: We’re using the most advanced Web technologies now available, and we’re challenging our art department to create something visually arresting, but rich in features and easy to use -- a design that won’t just be overhauled every three years, but will grow and improve along with the content itself. And while the bulk of that content will be written articles, video will also play a big role on Xperience. Our first successful foray into this medium was our SoundStage! V site, which now boasts dozens of videos online. SoundStage! Xperience will feature more.

We bid a fond farewell to Home Theater & Sound, which has served us well since its launch in December 2000. We welcome the new opportunities that SoundStage! Xperience will bring us with its launch in April 2010. Where will you find it? At www.SoundStageXperience.com, of course -- or, for short, SoundStageX.com. This new Xperience begins next month -- join us!

. . . Doug Schneider
das@soundstagenetwork.com