LATEST ADDITIONS

New Products
December 2016 New Gear
SV Staff  |  Dec 02, 2016
New gear from the land of AV, including a minimalist AV cabinet, 4K TV done right, and a classy turntable from...Klipsch.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
YouTube Rolls Out Live 4K Streaming
SV Staff  |  Dec 02, 2016
Last month YouTube announced that it had added support for high dynamic range (HDR) video and this week the online video community announced that it is rolling out of 4K live streaming for 360-degree and standard videos.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Interest High in VR, Smart Home, and Drones
SV Staff  |  Dec 02, 2016
Holiday shoppers are showing record interest in virtual reality (VR) headsets, smart home devices, and drones, according to the Consumer Technology Association’s recently released study of holiday purchase patterns.
Continue Reading »
Ears On
Hi-Fi or Head-Fi?
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 02, 2016
If you have a limited amount of money to spend on audio gear, should you spend it on hi-fi or head-fi? In recent years head-fi has been gaining ground as sales of traditional audio components flatlined and sales of headphones and associate gear skyrocketed. Companies with long track records in hi-fi (and mass market audio) have conjured new headphone lines out of thin air. Companies with long track records in head-fi are making hay.

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
DTS Puts a Soundtrack to the Art of Cardistry
SV Staff  |  Dec 02, 2016
DTS has brought cardistry—the magic of manipulating playing cards with sleight of hand—to life with a riveting soundtrack in “Avant Card: The Art and Sound of Cardistry.”
Continue Reading »
Tech2
Civilization VI Review
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Dec 02, 2016
It’s a little weird reviewing a Civ game, since pretty much everyone who would like it already knows about it, and has probably already bought it.

So this is a review for the rest of us. People who aren’t familiar with the Civ series, and perhaps think it’s not something they’d enjoy.

I say “we” because I’m not a big turn-based strategy fan. But I am a fan of a fun and addictive game, and this is definitely that.

Continue Reading »
Projection Screen Reviews
VApex PRO Fixed Frame Screen Review
Al Griffin  |  Dec 01, 2016

Performance
Setup
Value
PRICE $219 as reviewed

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Highly affordable
Good uniformity
Quality construction
Minus
Time-consuming to assemble

THE VERDICT
The VApex PRO is a great option for anyone looking to put together a home theater on a budget without cutting corners.

Recent advances in projection screen technology have created a shift in home A/V from cave-like theaters that block out every last drop of light to open spaces that integrate with the rest of the living environment. For screen manufacturers, a main mission over the past few years has been to design models capable of withstanding some degree of ambient light while delivering good image quality over a wide viewing angle. Known as ambient-light-rejecting (ALR) screens, these do exactly what their name suggests: cancel out the impact of lamps, overhead lighting, and undraped windows so that the light you see reflected off the screen is primarily what’s beamed at it by the projector.

Continue Reading »
Throwback Thursday
Flashback 1889: Coin-Op Phonograph Foreshadows Jukebox
SV Staff  |  Dec 01, 2016
You have to go back 117 years to find the origins of the jukebox. But that early machine (left) is nothing at all like the iconic Wurlitzer 1015 jukebox from 1946 (right) or the ’60’s-era Zodiak (middle).” The primitive contraption wasn’t even called a jukebox…
Continue Reading »
SmartStream
DirectTV Now Launches with Free Apple TV, Fire TV Stick Offer
Barb Gonzalez  |  Dec 01, 2016
AT&T has released the live TV and VOD streaming app, DIRECTV NOW. While the app has many problems at launch, AT&T is offering some attractive incentives to lure new subscribers.
Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
Can You Recommend a Dolby Atmos Preamp/ Processor Without a Tuner?
Al Griffin  |  Dec 01, 2016
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q Are there any standalone surround preamp/processors that decode Dolby Atmos? I’m interested in a unit that doesn’t include an AM/FM radio tuner. —Doc Lockett

Continue Reading »

Pages

X