LATEST ADDITIONS

Ask S&V
Why Do I See Motion Blur on My Plasma TV?
Al Griffin  |  Feb 27, 2014
Q I thought that plasma TVs don’t suffer from motion blur, but I definitely see it when watching with my new Panasonic TC-P60ST60 plasma. Is there some setting I have configured incorrectly, or was I wrong in thinking that plasma tech is free from motion blur? —Bob Shedlock / Strongsville, Ohio
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SmartStream
Simplifying the Netflix-Comcast Deal: Net Neutrality Killer or Paying Their Fair Share?
Barb Gonzalez  |  Feb 27, 2014
Netflix has agreed to pay Comcast for direct access to their Internet service delivery. Why they did it and what it means to the future of net neutrality.
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The S&V Interview
Steven Wilson, Once and Future Surround King
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 26, 2014
Over in Reference Tracks, Steven Wilson, the one true king of transformative surround-sound mixing (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, XTC), and I discuss the building blocks of how he transformed Yes’ groundbreaking 1972 LP, Close to the Edge, into a benchmark 192/24 5.1 mix. It’s as pure and true as you’ll ever hear it on Panegyric’s Definitive Edition Blu-ray/CD combo package. “It’s a bona-fide A-level masterpiece,” Wilson says of CTTE. (The Preacher, The Teacher hath spoken!) Further good news: The venerable surround master has also confirmed more 5.1 Yes album mixes are on the way. All I can say about them at this point is at least one of them was originally released before CTTE, and at least one was released after it.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Warner Ultimate Collector’s Editions
Chris Chiarella  |  Feb 26, 2014
An eclectic batch of classics—old and new—is the basis of four very different Ultimate Collector’s Editions from Warner. Festooning eminently rewatchable favorites with a thoughtful array of mementos, the 91-year-old studio is fueling our passions with individually numbered limited-edition sets perfect for the most devout film fanatic in your life—even if it’s you.
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Music Reviews
Levin Minnemann Rudess Special Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 26, 2014
Performance
Sound
The term supergroup gets a bad rap—but with good reason. Often, it’s applied to a collective of hot-shot all-star musicians who look pretty good together on paper, but the resulting music usually proves the individual parts are actually greater than the sum. Discerning listeners tend to cast a wary eye, er, ear toward such lineup mashups—unless the pedigree is an impeccably progressive one intent on exploring the cosmos of composition to achieve a common sonic goal.
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A/V Veteran
Ultra HD Blues...and Reds and Greens
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 26, 2014
Ultra HD Blues…and Reds, and Greens I recently completed a review of Sony’s new VPL-VW600ES Ultra HD (4K) projector. This isn’t a sneak peak—that would cannibalize our coverage. The review will appear in the May 2014 issue of Sound & Vision. But for those who can’t wait, I’ll just say here that while the 600ES isn’t the champ in all respects, it’s still, overall, the best-looking projector I’ve yet had in my home theater.

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Reference Tracks
Yes: Close to the Edge in 5.1 Surround
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 25, 2014
Performance
Sound
“On the surround mix, it sounds just like you’re in the room with Steve Howe while he’s playing those guitar harmonics.” Steven Wilson is describing the clarity of the gorgeous acoustic intro to “And You and I,” the second track on Yes’ groundbreaking 1972 LP, Close to the Edge. (Said intro is keenly accented by Rick Wakeman’s understated organ fills that lightly season the rear channels.)
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Speaker Tech
Subwoofers: The Guts and the Glory
Brent Butterworth  |  Feb 24, 2014
Five Subwoofer Masters Explain How They Work Their Magic

Subwoofer design has undergone a revolution. No, the physics of woofers, amplifiers, and enclosures haven’t changed. But new technologies have made it possible to push the bass-ic laws of nature to their limits, such that the best of today’s inexpensive subwoofers can outperform many of the top models from 15 or 20 years ago.

Affordable digital audio processing lets designers tune subwoofers in ways the engineers of the 1990s could only have imagined. High-efficiency amplifiers pound out powerful bass from boxes hardly bigger than a basketball. New speaker drivers use high-tech materials to produce sound levels that would have pushed older models way past the breaking point.

Since things are so different now, we thought this would be a great time to revisit some of the fundamentals of subwoofer design and examine how the old rules might have changed in the digital age.

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Grace Notes
Goldilocks and the Three Chairs
Leslie Shapiro  |  Feb 24, 2014
Life is good. Having just moved into a house with a room for a dedicated home theater, it was time to get set up. More to the point, time for shopping. Usually, the last thing I want to do is to buy furniture, but the search for the perfect chairs for my home theater became my quest. Seeking perfection, I pored over furniture catalogs, websites and scoured any furniture in my path. A woman’s home theater is her castle, right? I already had furnished my girl-cave, I mean home office, and the A/V room, although last on the decorating list, was in my mind, the most crucial.

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SmartStream
Stream Showtime Anytime on Roku--Unless You're a DISH Subscriber
Barb Gonzalez  |  Feb 21, 2014
Showtime Anytime lets you stream Showtime TV shows and movies to many devices and now includes Roku. DISH subscribers are left out. Here's a review of the CBS and DISH feuds over the years and why DISH subscribers probably won't be able to stream Showtime anytime soon.
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