LATEST ADDITIONS

The Big Picture
Samsung Reviewers' Workshop
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 23, 2011
Last Thursday, Samsung held a day-long workshop for TV reviewers on the campus of DreamWorks Animation in Glendale, California. About 25 journalists assembled in the studio's motion-capture stage, which is painted the same Munsell gray as our own video-testing lab and ringed with cameras to capture the motion of actors wearing bodysuits with reflective dots all over them. Fortunately, we were not asked to wear such suits!
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Ask S&V
In-Wall/In-Ceiling Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 23, 2011
I have a 15x32 living room with a plasma TV above a fireplace in the center of the 32-foot wall. I would like to put in a pseudo-home theater with 5.1or 7.1 surround sound, but I'm limited to a 5-inch-high center speaker/soundbar (up to four feet wide) under the TV, two in-wall speakers in front, and two or four in-ceiling speakers. What do you think of Polk, Gallo, Revel, and Episode (or other) in-ceiling and in-wall speakers, and what would you get on a $3000-4000 budget?

Chuck

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Subwoofer Reviews
Paradigm Reference Signature SUB 2 Subwoofer
Shane Buettner  |  May 23, 2011
Price: $9,000 At A Glance: Room- and house-threatening LFE bass for movies • Surprising rhythm, pacing, and articulation for music • Relatively small footprint for a behemoth sub

Because You Can

So, I’m wheeling this ginormous 230-pound Paradigm subwoofer down and around the side of my house, to the double-door, daylight basement that serves as my home theater room. Being impatient, I’m doing this by myself and hoping like hell I don’t tip the thing over and watch it roll end over end down the slope in my backyard. About this time, it occurs to me to wonder, “Why am I even reviewing something this big?” The answer that came to mind is probably the same reason people will buy this $9,000 powder keg of bass. Because I can.

Of course, there’s more to it than that. At CES 2010, the best home theater demo I saw and heard was in the Anthem room, with Anthem’s electronics and sister brand Paradigm’s speakers and subwoofers. The bass was sensational, thunderous, and room shaking, and yet it was strikingly refined. That was the first time I saw the SUB 2, a 4,500-watt subwoofer (rated RMS, and never mind if you can actually get that out of your wall), with six 10-inch woofers arrayed in pairs, firing out of three sides of the cabinet. You read that right. I was every bit as awestruck as you probably are now. Why would Paradigm design and build such a thing? Because they can. In home theater and in life, it’s my firm belief that anything worth doing is worth overdoing. If that’s your philosophy too, read on, because the SUB 2 is a helluva ride.

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Audio Video News
Sony 4K digital projectors - 3D with a pigeon aftertaste?
Michael Berk  |  May 23, 2011

 

3D - love it or hate it, it's taking over as a mainstream cinema projection format, and the necessity of having 3D projectors on tap has driven many theaters to transition to digital equipment in more of their screening rooms. A better experience for all, right?

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hotel Rwanda (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 23, 2011
Hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) is put between a rock and a hard place when he's confronted with saving his family or doing whatever he can to save over 1,200 Tutsi refugees from being massacred by Hutu extremists.

The world can be an ugly place and in 1994 the situation in Rwanda resulted in over 1 million deaths. Men such as Rusensabagina show us that despite all the bad in the world, there are truly good people that will stop at nothing to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing their own life. Cheadle's performance earned him an Oscar nomination, but in my opinion he was robbed when Jamie Foxx won for his portrayal of Ray Charles.

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Audio Video News
TiVo Subscribers Say Ouch
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 23, 2011
TiVo is unquestionably the industry's deluxe DVR, but that status has always come at a price: Users pay for both hardware and the monthly program guide subscription. Now the latter is rising in price.

TiVo's monthly fee of $12.95 is going up to $19.99. And the cost of lifetime service, previously $399, is now $499. The new prices became effective last week, on May 19, 2011.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
I Saw The Devil—Magnet/Magnolia
Kris Deering  |  May 22, 2011
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2/5
Choi Min-Sik plays Kyung-chul, a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. The embodiment of pure evil, he has committed horrifying and senselessly cruel serial murders on defenseless victims, successfully eluding capture by the police. On a freezing, snowy night, his latest victim is the beautiful Ju-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief and pregnant fiancee of elite special agent Soo-hyun. Obsessed with revenge, Soo-hyun decides to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself. And when he finds Kyung-chul, turning him in to the authorities is the last thing on his mind as the lines between good and evil fall away in this diabolically twisted game of cat and mouse.
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Vote
Do You Enjoy 3D in Commercial Theaters?
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 20, 2011
I've asked several poll questions about 3D, which have stirred strong feelings, both pro and con. But I haven't yet asked if you actually enjoy it. So now I'm asking—do you enjoy 3D in commercial theaters? (Next week, I'll ask the same question about 3D in the home.)

As always, I really hope you'll leave a comment about your choice, especially if you enjoy 3D only with certain genres. In your opinion, which genres work well in 3D, and which do not? But I strongly encourage you to leave a comment no matter which choice you make—inquiring minds want to know what you think!

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

Do You Enjoy 3D in Commercial Theaters?
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The Big Picture
RealD at SID 2011
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 20, 2011
In addition to the news that RealD has partnered with Samsung to make so-called active/passive 3D flat panels, the company had some other interesting announcements and demos at the SID conference this week. For example, even though RealD is known mostly for passive-polarized 3D glasses, it has also developed universal active-shutter glasses that work with any manufacturer's active 3DTV.
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Ask S&V
Sub Hum
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 20, 2011
I have a Pioneer VSX-1019 A/V receiver and a Paradigm subwoofer. When the receiver is turned off, I hear a slight hum from the sub when a certain volume is selected. I have to turn the sub volume all the way down to get rid of it. The sub is supposed to have an auto-on feature, but I'm not sure if that is working or not.

I have tried different cables from the receiver to the sub. I have used a 3-conductor AC power cord. I have tried different power strips, but I still get the hum when the receiver is turned off. How do I get rid of the hum?

Douglas Dye

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