A/V Veteran

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A/V Veteran
How to Position Speakers for the Best Sound
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 30, 2020  |  0 comments
I recently responded to a question from a reader on proper speaker placement, a complicated subject that can never be given enough attention. It involves not only how you or I might prefer to position the speakers, but also possible veto by the décor committee. Here are some tips on where to put speakers for the best possible sound.
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A/V Veteran
Movies for a Summer Night
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 16, 2020  |  0 comments
We all suffer through choosing a film to play for friends and family on a movie night. This might invariably include Joe and Ann from down the block, the neighborhood’s premier movie fans (apart from you!) who claim to have seen just about everything. Of course, most of what they’ve seen might have been on a 40-inch set (or even an old 27-inch, low definition CRT), constantly interrupted by commercials. Or perhaps new neighbor Bob from across the street, who hasn’t seen a movie in 20 years on anything but his computer — or not at all.
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A/V Veteran
Are We Ready for Movie Theaters to Reopen?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 02, 2020  |  10 comments
It’s only been two months since I last opined on this topic, but things are never static in these interesting times. The subject of the survival of movie theaters, important not only to the movie industry but to the home video market as well, continues to evolve. Both industries, for better or worse, are dependent on the on the health of the film industry.

Some folks believe that the market for streamed movies will compensate for any permanent closing of theaters.

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A/V Veteran
Reopening Guidance for the A/V Shopper
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 19, 2020  |  4 comments
As we march into the third month in this Days of Our Lives lockdown, it appears that the jail doors are starting to inch open, if ever so cautiously. Before long we might be back to some semblance of normal. The long term effects of our response to the Covid-19 virus might be worse than the virus itself, but that story won’t fully hit the presses for a few months—or years. In the meantime, here are a few, pithy thoughts on some perennial home theater topics.

TV Shopping Takes a Hit… Unless you’re Amazon, this virus has been a serious blow to the consumer electronics market.

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A/V Veteran
The TV Supply Chain: Taking Stock
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 05, 2020  |  0 comments
We have no confirmed data to show how the current coronavirus pandemic might affect the consumer electronics market. Even experts paid to research such things can only guess, but there’s little doubt it’s effect will be significant.
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A/V Veteran
Will the Lockdown Change A/V as We Know It?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 21, 2020  |  21 comments
Ah, the good old days. Happy crowds coming together in joyful celebration, shopping together for a new TV on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Seems like only yesterday. Oh, wait, it was. But in the greater scheme of things, how the current Wuhan Virus pandemic will affect our small world of consumer audio-video isn’t a big topic on the nightly news. Nevertheless, that’s our gig here, and it’s important to consider the possible consequences. Will this be the end of the A/V world as we know it?
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A/V Veteran
Can Movie Theaters Survive the Shutdown?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 07, 2020  |  5 comments
A month or so ago, my local AMC theater sent out a notice that they were only selling seats separated by a few feet to minimize close contact. A few days earlier I had gone to the Dolby Cinema screen in the same complex to see Onward, but it was a weekday afternoon and there were only about a half dozen of us spread out across the theater’s 250 seats. Today, thanks to the corona virus, that theater is closed for the duration. That’s true throughout the world...
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A/V Veteran
Homeward Bound: Things to Do In Your Free Time
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 24, 2020  |  5 comments
As you settle into a new routine during these unprecedented times, here are few things you can in your (mandated) free time.
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A/V Veteran
Will Coronavirus Impact the Flow of 2020 TVs?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 10, 2020  |  3 comments
Every year as LG gets ready to release new TVs into the market, the company invites reviewers from all over the country to its Los Angeles facility to introduce the new lineup. Just this week I was scheduled to travel to that annual event for an up-close look at LG’s 2020 TV lineup. I thought seriously for days about whether or not to attend as coronavirus (COVID-19) slowly spreads across the country...
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A/V Veteran
Where Have All the Hi-Fi Shops Gone
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 25, 2020  |  16 comments
When I was a lad I served a turn as a Hi-Fi looker with no bucks to burn…

With apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan, I’d venture that more than a few veteran audiophiles began that way. Back in the day every city of medium to large size had at least one hi-fi shop. Big cities had dozens....I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but by the mid ‘90s there were far fewer shops than before...

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A/V Veteran
The Martians Are Coming
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 11, 2020  |  10 comments
I first saw George Pal’s 1953 The War of the Worlds as an 11-year old. It terrified me, but I couldn’t look away. I wasn’t aware at the time that it was based on a book by H.G. Wells, a story that had earlier been adapted by Orson Welles into a 1938 radio drama. The latter had panicked hundreds of adults. Scared as I was in watching the film, I knew it was just a movie. A surprising number of those 1938 listeners thought the broadcast was real.

Both that 1938 broadcast and the 1953 film insured that alien invasions from outer space would become a staple of sci-fi films. Since then the Earth has been attacked from beyond dozens of times in movies, television shows, and even in a 1978 progressive rock album from Jeff Wayne. The results, depending on individual tastes, have ranged from stunning to silly.

But no serious film fan today can deny that the 1953 War of the Worlds is a cult classic...

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Projector SetupProjector TechA/V Veteran
How to Choose the Right Projection Screen
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 28, 2020  |  3 comments
In Choosing the Right Projector for a WOW! Experience, we compared the merits of big-screen TV vs. video projection and covered the ins and outs of selecting the perfect projector. Now it’s time to delve into what it takes to choose the perfect screen to go with your new projector.
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A/V Veteran
CES We Hardly Knew Ye
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 14, 2020  |  0 comments
CES 2020 is history. It might seem odd for me to comment here on an event I didn’t attend. But Sound & Vision editor Al Griffin, along with free-lancers, went and got the job done. Upwards of 185,000 dedicated souls registered for the event, including over 30,000 from points outside of North America. As far as I know it’s the biggest consumer technology show on the planet...
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A/V Veteran
Christmas Movies: Ho, Ho, Ho!
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 23, 2019  |  1 comments
For those pining for Part 2 of my latest tome on projectors and screens, it will come soon enough. But posting it on Christmas Eve seemed like an invitation for me to plunge into the reindeer-and-chestnuts memory hole. With the biggest holiday of the year fast approaching as I write this (not counting Super Sunday), you'll likely be looking for relief from Uncle Harry's annual Christmas dinner ramblings: "when I was your age..." So fire up the old home theater and settle in for a movie or two — a movie about the holiday, on the holiday.
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Projector SetupProjector TechA/V Veteran
Choosing the Right Projector for a WOW! Experience
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 10, 2019  |  2 comments
Ready to create a WOW! big-screen experience at home but not sure where to start? No worries, I’ll guide you through the process.
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