Audio Video News

When Emerald recently announced that the annual September CEDIA Expo would be canceled due to Covid-19 concerns, our next thought after taking that news in was, “What about CES?” Well, the answer to that question came today with the Consumer Technology Association’s announcement that its 2021 tech-fest, scheduled for January 6-9, will be an “all-digital experience.”

Darren Revilla is an avid collector of vinyl LPs and vintage audio gear. If you’re looking for an album from an obscure band no one (except collectors) has ever heard of, he’s the guy you ask. He’s also the owner of Revilla Grooves and Gear, the retro-cool shop specializing in vinyl LPs and vintage audio gear he opened five years ago in the heart of Milltown, New Jersey, 15 minutes from the main campus of Rutgers University in neighboring New Brunswick.

No question, new product introductions dropped off from what we usually see during springtime but they didn’t grind to a halt. Dozens of products were announced during the historic COVID-19 lockdown that transformed the life of every American for more than three months and continues to threaten our return to normalcy. As we prepare to celebrate the founding of this great country, we pause to take look at some of the gear AV companies have rolled out in recent weeks, including a few you may have missed. Here’s to hoping that the current wave of flare-ups is short-lived.

British hi-fi firm Naim has added native support for Qobuz high-res music streaming to its 2nd generation Mu-so family wireless music systems, the Mu-so 2 and Mu-so Qb, both Sound & Vision 2019 Top Picks. The service is available now via an over-the-air firmware upgrade that users can download for free.

Speakers are the single most important link in the audio chain — one that defines the sonic character of your system, whether it’s a straight up stereo rig or a surround-sound movie setup. Great speakers put you in the front row of an intimate musical performance or draw you into a scene in an emotional (and sometimes harrowing) way. Here we spotlight 16 of Sound & Vision’s Top Picks, running the gamut from inexpensive wireless speakers to a selection of home theater systems featuring a suite of wireless speakers at one end and a stately six-piece setup at the other. The mix also highlights a couple stand-out subwoofers and soundbars as well as a handful of all-in-one wireless speakers, including one you can take outside.

Life is good. You’re digging your big-screen Ultra HD TV, especially since you upgraded to a high dynamic range (HDR)-capable model that takes an already awesome picture and makes it even better. Add to that the expanding roster of 4K movies and TV shows you can stream or watch on disc and you’re all set. Which brings us to 8K, the next-generation TV format you’ve been hearing about — the one that delivers images four times more detailed than 4K.

The presence of music in Dolby Atmos format on Tidal has been something of a well-kept secret since the streaming service started adding it in December 2019. Why? I suspect it’s because Atmos support so far has been limited to select Android smartphones and tablets—not exactly a premium method to experience immersive music. But things changed big time this week with Dolby and Tidal’s joint announcement that Tidal Hi-Fi subscribers can now stream Atmos music to home theater systems via an Apple TV 4K, Fire TV Stick, NVIDIA Shield TV, or other compatible device.