LATEST ADDITIONS

SmartStream
Hands On: Second Generation Apple TV 4K
Barb Gonzalez  |  May 25, 2021
The second-generation Apple TV 4K has arrived. Except for a faster processor and new remote, not much has changed and it remains one of the best-performing streaming players available. Still, depending on your current setup, you may not need to upgrade.
Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
How Do I Connect a Subwoofer for Music Listening?
Al Griffin  |  May 25, 2021
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q What’s the best way to connect a subwoofer used mainly for music listening? I’ve been trying both the stereo RCA and mono LFE input connections on my Klipsch R 120SW subwoofer, but am not sure which works best, and also where I should set the low-pass/LFE filter on my Onkyo TX-NR717 receiver. My front speakers are Klipsch R-28F towers. I would appreciate any recommendations on crossover settings for the receiver and the subwoofer itself. —Ken Zarubi, via email

Continue Reading »
Audio Video NewsNew Products
Yamaha Revamps Flagship Aventage AV Receiver Line
Bob Ankosko  |  May 24, 2021
Yamaha’s flagship Aventage line of A/V receivers is undergoing its most significant upgrade since the line was introduced 11 years ago.
Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Remaster Class: The Who: Quadrophenia
Mike Mettler  |  May 21, 2021
The Who had pioneered—and seemingly perfected—the art of the rock opera with May 1969's all-seeing Tommy, but the ever-provocative British quartet's chief visionary Pete Townshend wasn't done with his honing of the overarching story-arc concept just yet. October 1973's magnum opus Quadrophenia—the 81-minute, 17-song cycle chronicling angst-driven youth-culture clashes and a yearning to break free from a preordained societal rut—reinforced how guitarist/ vocalist Townshend was a musical architect of the highest order.
Continue Reading »
Home Movie Theaters
AV Industry Makes a Home Theater Wish Come True
Bob Ankosko  |  May 20, 2021
All photos courtesy of Make-A-Wish’s Mary Holguin and Screen Innovations’ Jason Russell (projection screen, AV rack, Cinema Now Showing sign).

ProSource was busy making plans for a fundraising event to support the Make-a-Wish Foundation (MaW) last year when the pandemic struck. The buying group, which represents hundreds of A/V specialty retailers and custom integrators around the country, was hoping to top the $110,000 it raised in 2019 but was forced to regroup. Then they received a fortuitous call: MaW’s Central and South Texas Chapter wanted to know if ProSource would be interested in making a donation to help make an 8-year-old’s wish come true. Turns out, Miles, who had been diagnosed with a semi-rare liver disorder known as portal vein thrombosis, thought it would be cool to have a home theater.

Continue Reading »
Subwoofer Reviews
SVS SB-1000 Pro and PB-1000 Pro Subwoofers Review
David Vaughn  |  May 19, 2021

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE SB-1000 Pro: $499.99 (Black Ash), $599.99 (Piano Gloss Black/White); PB-1000 Pro: $599.99 (Black Ash)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
ig, deep bass from a small box
Best-in-class control app
45-day in-home trial period
Minus
No auto-calibration/room correction
Best suited for smaller rooms

THE VERDICT
SVS outdoes itself again by offering a pair of budget-friendly subwoofers controlled by the company’s best-in-class app.

Innovative technologies tend to debut in more expensive goods so that companies can recoup their research and development costs. Take Mercedes, for example. When new tech gets introduced, the company does not debut it in its A or C class of cars, but instead reserves it for its S class to entice buyers to "trade up" to the more expensive—and likely more profitable—model.

Continue Reading »
A/V Veteran
Inflation Now! Will A/V Prices Increase?
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 18, 2021
In case you haven't noticed, prices in the consumer world are creeping up. It's not yet a tsunami, but the signs are there. This should be a concern for everyone, and audio- and videophiles won't be immune from it. Some of the rising costs are due to unexpected events, such as the hacking of an oil pipeline, which might settle back in time. Others are due to government monetary policies, for better or worse in the unsettled time of Covid-19. Inflation is always produced when too much money chases too few goods. And there's no money tree in the back room of the Capitol in Washington. We're borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, but Peter can't object; he's just a printing press. The typical payback is inflation, a hidden tax on everyone.

Economics is a boring, black art, but it could inevitably affect our own little A/V corner of the wider world...

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Apple Music Adds Atmos, Lossless Audio in Sound Quality Makeover
Bob Ankosko  |  May 17, 2021
Apple today announced a sound quality makeover for its subscription-based Apple Music streaming service that expands its Spatial Audio surround-sound platform with support for Dolby Atmos and brings lossless audio to its music catalog.
Continue Reading »
Signals
OK, Boomer, Listen Up
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  May 17, 2021
As the saying goes, it sucks to grow old, but the alternative is much worse. And as we grow old, our hearing acuity declines. Ergo, we have hearing aids. But that product category is about to undergo rapid change, thanks to Bose and other audio companies.

Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Soul
Chris Chiarella  |  May 14, 2021
Picture
Sound
Extras
Pixar O.G. and now Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter touched our hearts with Up, then plumbed the intricacies of the human mind in Inside Out. It would follow, then, that his next movie would be Soul.

Together, these are arguably the most grown-up entries in the Pixar canon, not for any sort of overly mature content, but rather for their sophisticated themes and storytelling. And Soul might be the most adult-skewing: It's the longest of the three, exploring The Great Hereafter and even "The Great Before," namely where souls originate prior to their arrival on Earth. This concept requires quite a bit of exposition, and it's executed masterfully by Docter, co-writer/co-director Kemp Powers, and co-writer Mike Jones, through bold visuals and pithy gags.

Continue Reading »

Pages

X