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Desktop Speaker Reviews
Review: Libratone Live
Brent Butterworth  |  Oct 26, 2011

Just three years after the iPod ruled the audio industry, manufacturers are starting to look on it as a quaint “legacy device,” one they have to accommodate for customers who just aren’t with it. The iPod’s being replaced as our primary music source by all sorts of wireless stuff, like smartphones, Bluetooth-equipped computers, and routers connected to network-attached storage (NAS) drives.

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Music Reviews
CD Review: Coldplay
Brett Milano  |  Oct 25, 2011

Most of the music-buying public may disagree, but Coldplay is a tough band to get passionate about, pro or con.

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 84: John Atkinson
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 25, 2011
Fresh from his presentation of the Richard Heyser Memorial Lecture at the 131st AES Convention, Stereophile editor John Atkinson talks about some of the points he made in that address, including the fundamental differences between objective measurements and subjective listening, mental maps and the nature of reality, blind testing, how some types of audio products that measure poorly are often praised by listeners, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 1:02:00

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New ProductsHeadphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Curvaceous Docks: Monitor Audio i-Deck 100 and 200, Now Available
Michael Berk  |  Oct 25, 2011

British manufacturer Monitor Audio has a deserved reputation for well-designed, high-performing speaker systems, and the latest offerings in the company's line of iOS device docks, the i-deck 100 and 200, follow in those footsteps. And now they can be yours.

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Signals
How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways.
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Oct 25, 2011

 

How many copies of Jurassic Park do you own? I'll give you an hour to tell me. That's because if you are a dino-fan, it will take awhile to tally them all. Don't miss any! There's VHS, Laserdisk, DVD, the Trilogy DVDs, the Adventure Pack DVDs, Blu-ray…. So, how many copies of Jurassic Park do you own? Well, get ready to buy some more. The Jurassic Park: Ultimate Trilogy Blu-ray set is being released today (with a freshly remastered DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack and a whole lotta extras as incentives to purchase). And after that. . .

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AV Receiver Reviews3D Blu-ray Player ReviewsBlu-ray Player Reviews
Samsung HW-D7000 BD-Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Oct 24, 2011
Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $600 At A Glance: A/V receiver with Blu-ray player • Trove of network A/V content • Supplied iPod/iPhone dock

Whenever I want to watch a movie, I plunge a fiberoptic cable into the back of my neck. Apart from a persistent dribble of blood from my neck jack, the results are enviable. In my mind, I experience a full 360-degree 3D image—there’s not even a frame—accompanied by surround sound with height and depth channels that extend from heaven to hell. Music is just as easy. I just access the 100-zettabyte solid-state drive built into my brain. My doctors tell me that with one more firmware update, I can have lossless audio with a bit depth of 831 and a sampling rate of 90,245 kilohertz. Almost as good as vinyl.

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Ask S&V
Oppo BDP-95 with Arcam AVR350
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 24, 2011
Four years ago, I purchased a high-end Arcam AVR350 A/V receiver without a good understanding of the future. Now I want to take advantage of the new lossless audio formats offered on Blu-ray from my new Oppo BDP-95 player. I can connect the multichannel analog output of the Oppo to the Arcam's multichannel input, but I am concerned about bass management, equalization, and lip sync. Can an amateur do the adjustments recommended or is a professional needed? Also, I am questioning my recent decision to repair my AVR350, which had a power-supply issue (it cost $400 to repair). Should I have bitten the bullet and scrapped this $2700 clunker for a newer receiver? It's a hypothetical question because now I don't have the funds to buy both a high-end receiver and high-end Blu-ray player. Any thoughts?

Lisa Kaye

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Tech2
Review: SleepPhones
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Oct 24, 2011

Sleep is not a topic much discussed around these parts. After all, "Sound" and "Vision" are two things not usually conducive to slumber. 

But the company AcousticSheep has come up with an interesting product: SleepPhones, a soft fleece headband with embedded headphones, meant for comfortable listening while slumbering.

With the above picture in mind, how could we not review?

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D
David Vaughn  |  Oct 23, 2011
Captain Jack Sparrow is back with a new adventure on the high seas as he's on the hunt for the Fountain of Youth. After a daring escape from the King of England, Jack becomes enslaved on Blackbeard's ship and learns that a woman from his past has some hidden daddy issues that could cost him dearly. In pursuit are Sparrow's nemesis Barbossa and a separate Spanish armada, who have their own nefarious plans for Ponce De Leon's legendary spring.

3D conversions are all the rage in Hollywood, but thankfully this isn't one of them and it shows from the outset while Jack is loose on the streets of London. Detail is excellent in both foregrounds and backgrounds and separation between objects adds a lot of depth to the image. But as good as the 3D is, it's the DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack that's the star of the show. It features plenty of discrete effects, strong bass response, and virtually unlimited dynamic range.

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Vote
Are Class-D Amps Ready For Prime Time?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 21, 2011
Despite their high efficiency and low power consumption and heat generation, class-D amplifiers have long been relegated to second-class status by much of the audio community, appearing mostly in low-cost, low-performance audio products. (One notable exception is powered subwoofers, which require amplification only in a limited frequency range.) Lately, however, full-range class-D amps have gained more respect—for example, Pioneer has been using this technology in several generations of its Elite AVRs, including the 2011 SC-55 and flagship SC-57 reviewed exclusively on HomeTheater.com.

Reviewer and long-time class-D detractor Michael Fremer was finally won over by the new Class D3 amp used in the SC-57 (shown above), but many audiophiles still scoff at this technology, preferring the sound of purely analog class-AB designs. What's your take? Have class-D amps finally achieved a performance level commensurate with class-AB?

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

Are Class-D Amps Ready For Prime Time?
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