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Have You Optimized the AC Power in Your Home Theater?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 03, 2012
Last week's poll question asked if your home theater's AC power is protected from things like lightning strikes and blackouts. This week, I'd like to know if you have taken steps to optimize the AC power to your home theater. Such steps can include installing a dedicated circuit, establishing a common ground, and using a power conditioner, such as the Furman IT-Reference 20i pictured above.

If you use a power conditioner, have you noticed an improvement in the audio and/or video performance of your system that you can reasonably attribute to that device? Inquiring minds want to know!

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

Have You Optimized the AC Power in Your Home Theater?
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Ask S&V
PCM vs. Bitstream
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 03, 2012
Which is best, sending PCM or bitstream from the player to the A/V receiver? I have reviewed many posts in the A/V forums and other areas that don't seem to give a definitive answer. I have an Onkyo TX-SR608 AVR and an LG Blu-ray player capable of decoding DTS and Dolby lossless audio. I view Blu-ray and DVD discs about 50/50; certainly Blu-ray when available. Should I set the Blu-ray player to output PCM or bitstream? And why the final choice? Do I need to tell the AVR which stream to expect?

James

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TV Reviews
Panasonic TC-P65VT50 3D Plasma HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 03, 2012

3D Performance
2D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $3,700 At A Glance: Bright, punchy picture • Blacks and shadow detail approaching reference quality • Near-complete adjustability

Panasonic has improved its plasma sets each year, and while that march forward has generated torturous verbiage to describe its continually improving plasma HDTV black levels (Infinite Black, Infinite Black Pro, Infinite Black Ultra, and, perhaps next year, Infinite Black Pro Ultra), the company has kept pushing the design envelope. And it has done so even as flat panel prices continue to drop. A 65-inch plasma for $3,700 would have been considered an impossible dream just a few years ago when the goal was to get prices down to $100 per diagonal inch.

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AV Receiver Reviews
NAD T 787 A/V Receiver
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 02, 2012

Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $4,000 At A Glance: Seven powerful amplifiers • Complexity simplified • Future-proof modular design

For good reason, grizzled veterans of the audio/video hardware wars eagerly anticipate reviewing NAD gear. The company’s distinguished history began in the 1970s with the invention of the business model that was adopted years later by Apple, among others. Rather than building a factory to produce its products, NAD contracted with existing manufacturing facilities, thus avoiding high capitalization costs.

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AV Receiver Reviews
Pioneer Elite VSX-42 A/V Receiver
Chris Chiarella  |  Aug 02, 2012
Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $450 At A Glance: Good streaming features • Ample power for a budget receiver • Free iOS/Android control app

Pioneer Electronics has long offered consumers an evolving array of attractive audio/video receivers, from simple, high-value choices to high-end alternatives that serve up the most desirable new features. In the company's step-up Elite line, the extremely affordable VSX-42 is the entry-level model and still relatively new, having debuted just this spring. Pioneer offers non-Elite models that are significantly less expensive, and some much pricier, but the VSX-42 offers a surprising complement of features at a price under $500.

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Vintage Gear
Maxell Audio & Video Tape
Steve Guttenberg  |  Aug 02, 2012
I don’t think there’s ever been a more iconic audio ad than Maxell’s “Blown Away Guy” campaign that started in 1979. It’s the one with the hipster on the right side of the picture slouching in a massive recliner, with a table lamp and martini glass being blown away by the sound of a JBL L100 speaker on the left side of the frame. That ad sold a lot of tape over the years!
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Casablanca: 70th Anniversary Edition
David Vaughn  |  Aug 02, 2012
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
During World War II, Casablanca served as an exit point for many Europeans seeking to escape the gripping hand of the Nazis. American expatriate Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), owner of Rick’s Café Américain, isn’t what you would call a people person. When Rick’s ex-lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), arrives in town with European resistance fighter Victor Laszlo, they seek out Rick’s help in obtaining papers to escape Casablanca. Can the man who refuses to “stick his neck out for nobody” set his cynicism aside and do the right thing?
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Ask S&V
HDMI CEC or Universal Remote
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 01, 2012
I am searching for an appropriate AVR and speakers to build a modest system around a Samsung ES8000 flat panel. Simplicity of use for the basic functions is an important criteria to get final approval! I have a PS3 and Sky satellite box to connect. Do I really need to limit myself to products displaying an Anynet+ label in order to minimize the number of button presses required? Just how standard are the implementations of HDMI CEC today? Or would a universal remote control make such concerns irrelevant?

Simon Leach

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Tech2
Pro Audio Technology: P.A. Power, Audiophile Sound
Brent Butterworth  |  Aug 01, 2012

When pro audio technology invades home theaters, it’s usually in the form of a recording monitor repurposed for consumer use. Pro Audio Technology comes at it from another direction: It’s bringing P.A. system technology into the home.

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 122: Gordon Wetzstein & Matt Hirsch
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 31, 2012
MIT postdoc researcher Gordon Wetzstein and Ph.D. student Matt Hirsch explain a new glasses-free 3D flat-panel technology they are working on at the MIT Media Lab. Conventional stereoscopic displays show two views (left and right eye) in a narrow viewing area, and all viewers see the same perspective. The new display shows many perspectives across a wider area, providing each viewer with a different perspective, much like a hologram. The new display combines several LCD layers, directional backlighting, and sophisticated processing to achieve its remarkable result. This isn't going to be a commercial product any time soon, but it does point the way toward a more realistic 3D display without needing those annoying glasses.

Run Time: 55:22

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