Important Updates from AVguide.com, Playback, and The Perfect Vision

Nextscreen LLC, the publishers of AVguide.com and Playback, would like to make you aware of some exciting new changes that will begin to unfold in the coming weeks, including a sharpening of focus for Playback as well as expanded coverage of home theater under The Perfect Vision (TPV) name. 

To help readers better appreciate these new developments, we are taking this opportunity to offer both a look backward—to help you understand the roots of AVguide.com, Playback, and The Perfect Vision—as well as a brief sketch of our plans for the future.

History

Nextscreen LLC, a publishing company originally established as Absolute Multimedia Inc., began operations in 1998 with the re-launch of the popular and authoritative high-end audio magazine The Absolute Sound (or TAS). A year later the company re-launched TAS’ sister magazine, The Perfect Vision (or TPV), an enthusiast-oriented home theater magazine. In 2007, NextScreen expanded its consumer electronics offerings with the launch ofPlayback, a digital magazine that initially focused on music and affordable music playback equipment. The AVguide.com website has served as the online “home base” for all of Nextscreen’s consumer electronics publications, drawing content from TAS, TPV, Playback and other sources.

Merging TPV with Playback

In early 2008, Nextscreen made the reluctant decision to discontinue publication of The Perfect Vision as a print magazine, but expanded the scope of Playback to incorporate many of the topic areas previously addressed by TPV—essentially “morphing” the two publications. From a business standpoint, merging Playback and The Perfect Vision made a lot of sense, but it also left some readers, manufacturers, and editorial staff wishing that they still had a dedicated home theater publication.

Moving Forward with The Perfect Vision and Playback.

We are happy to announce that starting in January 2010, Nextscreen will refocus its expanding coverage of home theater under The Perfect Vision name. Content from The Perfect Vision will be hosted on the AVguide.com website and also delivered to readers via email newsletters. Importantly, The Perfect Vision will also offer free Buyers’ Guides that each focus on a major home theater product category. The first such Buyers’ Guide, The Perfect Vision’s Guide to Flat Panel TVs and Projectors, will arrive early in January.

Playback, in turn, will shift back toward its roots, with a sharper-than-ever emphasis on affordable, entry-level music systems with an emphasis on headphones, personal/portable and desktop/PC-based audio components. Playback, too, will offer Buyers’ Guides appropriate to its areas of coverage, such as the popular Playback Headphone Buyer’s Guide released this past fall.

We hope and believe these changes will enable us to serve our readers better than ever before. As we move forward, please let us know if there are specific topics or particular pieces of A/V equipment that you would like us to cover. We are, as the old saying goes, at your service.