LATEST ADDITIONS

Director David Lynch's film tells of Joseph Merrick, whose terrible deformities to head, limbs, and skin led to him being called the Elephant Man. It begins with Merrick's nightmare of his mother being attacked by elephants—supposedly the cause of Merrick's condition—in smeary, scary, surreal images as disturbing as those from Lynch's earlier fatherhood paranoia party film, Eraserhead.

Like so many other things in this upside-down world, CES 2021 is a casualty of the pandemic. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) decided months ago to transition from the usual mega gathering in Las Vegas to an all-digital virtual experience. The show must go on — just not in person this time around. So instead of walking an expansive show floor and visiting company booths to check out new wares firsthand, the staff of Sound & Vision will be logging onto the official CES portal to seek out news and information relevant to our readers. (Sorry, the portal is available only to media and members of the trade who have registered for the show.) Though the virtual show officially goes live on Monday (January 11), A/V-related news is trickling in with high-tech TV leading the way.

The best thing I can say about 2020 is that it's over. You'd think a year that was challenging on so many fronts might result in a drought of interesting A/V gear, but that was not the case for 2020. Logistical issues slowed shipment of certain products, but most eventually arrived. When they did, Sound & Vision's reviewing team eagerly went to work.

When it was first introduced, digital audio was criticized as sounding “cold” or “sterile.” I vehemently disagreed. What some listeners heard as cold, I heard as a lack of distortion. Even after all these years, I suppose that's something we can still debate. But digital audio is indeed cold and sterile. Not the sound quality - the fact that it isn't nearly as funky, quirky, and weird as analog audio. Which brings us to George Peckham.