LATEST ADDITIONS

A/V Veteran
Heat and AC Infinity
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 15, 2021  |  0 comments
Heat is the enemy of electronics, including all of that audio gear crammed into your cadenza. Over time it can cook it relentlessly. In the early days of electronic entertainment, vacuum tubes (or as our Brit friends call them, valves) were the thing—the only thing. As one of my teachers once explained, the key to vacuum tubes was the little man with a switch inside. But he must have been sweaty, as a tube device could serve well as a space heater.

Back in the day our electronic entertainment consisted of little more than a radio. The family gave no thought to what was inside until one of the tubes failed, prompting a visit to the local drug store with its tube tester and ready supply of replacements.

Then came hi-fi and an interesting thing happened. Because of the heat issue, relegated largely to the output stages of an amplifier, separates were born. The separate preamp driving an amp on a separate chassis was a popular way to go.

The divide, between separates and the integrated amplifier (or perhaps AVR), still exists today in both the 2-channel and home theater worlds. Long forgotten is its genesis, since with solid state electronics heat is no longer an issue.

Or is it?...

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Andover Previews Sub for its SpinBase System
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 14, 2021  |  0 comments
Massachusetts-based Andover Audio has announced a companion subwoofer for its innovative SpinBase turntable system, winner of a Sound & Vision Top Pick in 2020.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition (Remastered)
Chris Chiarella  |  Jun 11, 2021  |  3 comments
Picture
Sound
Extras
Legend has it that director Zack Snyder was streaming his Dawn of Justice one day and was unhappy with the color, specifically red, a shade relevant to much more than a certain Last Son of Krypton. And so, the studio took the unusual step of remastering the movie from the existing 4K video transfer and rereleasing it, with the new version addressing Snyder's crimson concerns as well as showcasing the de rigueur IMAX scenes in their full and correct 1.43:1 aspect ratio.
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Audio Video News
Best Speakers of 2021 (So Far)
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 10, 2021  |  0 comments
Is your sound system as good as it can be or, more to the point, as good as you want it to be? If not, it’s a great time to make tweaks and upgrades you thought about but didn’t quite get to during pandemic lockdown. Here’s the lowdown on the dozen speakers that made our Top Picks list so far this year.
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Editor's Eye
Back to Basics
Al Griffin  |  Jun 10, 2021  |  1 comments
Yes, it had to be done. Consider it a form of spring cleaning. The “it” is in this case is a streaming service — HBO Max to be specific — that I decided to drop. My video streaming plate had become over-filled during the pandemic as I spent much of my free time at home, and now that I was vaxxed up and ready to re-engage (as much as possible) with the world, I made the decision to dump at least one service. It’s not that I wanted to lose it — in the final days of my active subscription, I of course happened upon a new original series, Mare of Easttown, that was right up my alley — but something had to give, and it was going to be HBO Max.
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SmartStream
Hands-On: Roku Express 4K+ and Voice Remote Pro
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jun 09, 2021  |  1 comments
Roku released two new products mid-May. The Roku Express 4K+ is a value priced streamer that performs at a level much higher than its price tag suggests. We tested both the Express 4K+ and the Roku Voice Remote Pro, a new, hands-free voice remote. Both may have a place in your Roku streaming arsenal.
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Headphone Reviews
Face-Off: Noise-Canceling True Wireless Earbuds
Stewart Wolpin  |  Jun 09, 2021  |  0 comments
What the world needs now is active noise-canceling (ANC) true wireless earbuds. ANC buds meet the needs of the moment by providing a way to boost audio quality during Zoom calls while simultaneously isolating us against intrusive environmental factors (remote-schooled kids, other work-from-home adults, etc.). And fortunately for us all, they are getting better-sounding, more feature-packed, and less expensive.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Vizio Announces Pricing & Availability for 2022 TVs
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 08, 2021  |  1 comments
Vizio has announced details, pricing, and availability for the 32 models that comprise its 2022 TV lineup. You read that right — 2022. Pandemic-driven setbacks pushed the release of its 2020 TVs to late in the year so those models were carried over into 2021. About a third of the new models are currently available, with the remainder slated to ship in July or August. All but eight of the models are 4K.
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Signals
Covid and a Concert Hall
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jun 07, 2021  |  1 comments
Suppose you're head honcho of an orchestra. Cool gig! Then Covid arrives. You cancel your season and shut down the hall. You manage to keep the musicians on payroll, albeit at a reduced salary, but your revenue drops to zero. What do you do? You speed-dial an architectural firm.

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Music and Soundtrack FeaturesThe S&V Interview
Robbie Robertson: When I Paint My 5.1 Masterpiece
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 04, 2021  |  0 comments
Whenever we talk about artists who changed the course of rock history who aren't The Beatles, one group with perhaps the most unassuming yet wholly appropriate name tops the bill: The Band. Their homespun July 1968 debut Music From Big Pink literally turned the rock world on its collective ear to such a degree that contemporaries like Eric Clapton instantly renounced their virtuosic "look at me" playing styles and adjusted their thinking toward creating more organic and more authentic music truer to their essential selves.
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