Thomas J. Norton

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Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ85U Plasma HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 06, 2008  |  0 comments
The One to Beat?

While LCD displays may dominate that video wall at your local Best Circuit Shack these days, don’t dismiss the benefits of plasmas. No company has put more R&D into plasma development than Panasonic, and it’s paid off. People may disagree about who makes the best plasma sets, but no one will dispute that Panasonic is in the thick of the action. When it comes to the breadth of its product range, Panasonic is the champ.

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CES 2014
Panasonic's All In For LCD
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 14, 2014  |  0 comments
In a dark cubicle, with no photos possible (or allowed), Panasonic demonstrated a prototype of a 4K flagship LCD/LED set planned for release later in 2014. Sited next to the now discontinued ZT60 plasma, it looked impressive. The LCD set had full-array LED backlighting, and appeared to have respectable off-center performance—as far as it was possible to tell in such a small space. One of the Panasonic reps said it had an IPS LCD panel—the LCD technology with the best off-axis performance.

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CES 2011
Panasonic's Glass Towers
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 07, 2011  |  Published: Jan 08, 2011  |  0 comments
Panasonic came up with a nifty solution to the problem of demonstrating 3D with glasses. The glasses are fixed in the vertical supports shown, which easily slide up and down to fit the height of the viewer.
CES 2014
Panasonic's Stealth OLED
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 14, 2014  |  0 comments
While some of the competition (particularly LG) went all out for OLED this year (though OLED was hardly the talk of the show, an honor reserved for 4K) Panasonic didn't make any OLED product announcements. But they haven't been sitting on their hands.
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CEDIA 2018
Paradigm and Anthem Go Anamorphic for CEDIA Demo
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 09, 2018  |  0 comments
The demo in the Anthem-Paradigm sound room was impressive, using a pair of the new Paradigm Prelude 800F tower speakers (under $2,000/pair) for a two-channel demo and Paradigm’s upscale in-wall (on-wall in this demo) speakers for the AV presentation... So why the picture here of Panamorph anamorphic lenses?
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Subwoofer ReviewsSurround Sound System ReviewsTower Speaker Reviews
Paradigm Premier 700F Speaker System Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 31, 2019  |  6 comments

Premier 700F Speaker System
Performance
Build Quality
Value

Defiance X-12 subwoofer
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $4,700 (as tested)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Crisp detail
Big, powerful sound
Minus
Tower unstable on thick carpet
Poorly designed grilles

THE VERDICT
The Premier range is far from the most expensive in Paradigm's speaker lineup, but the performance and build quality that it offers lets it compete with speakers twice the price.

The other day a friend who's neither a videophile nor an audiophile dropped by my home to watch a movie. A pair of loudspeakers I had just finished reviewing for Stereophile, our sister publication, were sitting in a corner, waiting to be packed up. When I told him their price—$6,000/pair—he appeared shocked. Even Paradigm's affordable new 700F speakers, then as now serving as the left/right channels in my system, are pricier than he would like were he to invest in a system of his own (unlikely!).

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CEDIA 2014
Parasound's Even Dozen
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 13, 2014  |  0 comments
Parasound's new ZoneMaster 1250 12-channel amplifier couldn't have arrived at a better time. Of course the name suggests a custom installation with multiple zones, but it could be used to satisfy the demands of Atmos as well, supporting a multitude of ceiling and surround speakers in a variety of configurations. Any pair of channels can also be bridged. Without bridging, the power is rated at 50W per channel into 8 ohms, all channels driven. A bridged pair of channels is rated at 120W into 8 ohms and 200W into 4 ohms. I can conceive of a user bridging three pairs for the front channels and using the other six unbridged for a 5.2.4 Atmos setup.
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CES 2011
Pass Laboratories SR-2
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 11, 2011  |  0 comments
Most of our budgets won't stretch to the $18,000/pair level of these floorstanders, but with their Nextel series drivers from Seas of Norway, each speaker with one 7-inch midrange driver, one 10-1/4-inch long excursion woofer, and a 1.1-inch HEXADYM™ magnet tweeter, the Pass Pabs SR-2s sounded mighty sweet.
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A/V Veteran
Pass the Hat
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 04, 2006  |  3 comments

Will the prices of HD DVDs and BDs—the discs themselves, never mind the players)—keep the brakes on sales of the new format? If current trends continue, those of us with big DVD collections had better start saving up if we want to eventually replace them with HD DVDs and BDs (Blu-ray discs).

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Passengers
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 21, 2017  |  1 comments
Picture
Sound
Extras
Onboard the starship Avalon, thousands of passengers and crew are bound for a new colony on a distant planet. They’re in suspended animation for the 120-year journey. But passengers Jim Preston and, later, Aurora Lane are awakened 90 years too soon—and the pods can’t be reconfigured to put them back to sleep.
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