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Headphone Reviews
Review: Phonak Audéo PFE 232, PFE 132 and PFE 012 Perfect Fit Earphones
Brent Butterworth  |  Feb 03, 2012

At the CanJam section of last fall’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, a manufacturer said something that’s resonated with me ever since. “The fit is the sound,” he told me, referring to the fancy new tips included with his company’s in-ear monitors. With that simple statement he summed up the reason why different listeners can have such different opinions of headphones. With IEMs, unless the tips seal well and the sound tubes fit properly within your ear canal, you’ll get little or no bass, and your treble and midrange will be out of balance at best and grossly uneven at worst.

Perhaps 50 feet away in the same ballroom, Phonak — the world’s largest manufacturer of hearing aids — showed me a way they’d come up with to address the fit problem with IEMs. The company’s Perfect Fit system employs L-shaped earpieces designed to conform to the folds of your pinna, allowing the body of the earpiece to reach further and more consistently into your ear canal for a better fit.

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Vote
How Often Do You Go Out To The Movies?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 03, 2012
Last week, I asked about how many Oscar-nominated movies you've seen, and I was surprised that the most popular response was "none" followed by "a few." This led me to wonder how often our readers actually go out to the movies. Of course, many of you have a good home theater, which is generally quieter, more controllable, and less expensive (that is, not counting the purchase price!) than a commercial cinema. And some home theaters even provide a better audio/video experience than lesser commercial venues.

On the other hand, if you stay home to watch movies, you don't get to see the latest titles until they are released on Blu-ray or other media. Also, there are many commercial cinemas that surpass all but the most elaborate home theaters in performance. Then there's the social aspect—maybe I'm weird (okay, maybe there's no "maybe" about it!), but I actually enjoy sharing the movie experience with my fellow humans, as long as they don't talk or text during the show and the kid behind me doesn't kick my chair.

So how often do you go out to the movies? Why do you go—or not—in lieu of your home theater?

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

How Often Do You Go Out To The Movies?
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Custom Installation How-ToHome Movie Theaters
Casual and Luxurious
Kim Wilson  |  Feb 03, 2012
Photos Nick Woolley

Park City, Utah, boasts three world-class ski resorts. Canyons, the largest of the three, offers ski-in and out access to The Colony, a residential area where the homeowners of this theater reside part-time. When they aren’t on the slopes, this couple likes relaxing and sharing their custom home theater with friends and family.

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Home Movie Theaters
Anatomy of an Install: Your Steps To Home Theater Nirvana
Rob Sabin  |  Feb 03, 2012
Any room with a TV, a surround sound audio system, and a mess of wires snaking across the floor can become a home theater once the lights go down. But a truly integrated room that fits your lifestyle and makes you proud to show it off takes some work. Whether you do it yourself or bring in a pro, the steps to get there are always the same. This article will help you understand the process. Building a home theater isn’t rocket science, but it does require a broad mix of knowledge and skills, and a willingness to do your homework before you begin. If after reading this, you’re not confident you can handle the job, you should strongly consider hiring a pro who does this day in and day out.
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Curtain Call
Are We Clear?
Michael J. Nelson  |  Feb 03, 2012
Ah, the heady days of the early ’90s. Maury Povich strode the globe like a conquering god-king, and all fell at his feet in awestruck worship. Cropped sweaters and high-waisted jeans were all the rage, and, sometimes, even women got in on the action. In pop, C+C Music Factory was up and running three shifts a day, their forges and foundries cranking out unit after unit of high-quality, low-cost dance hits for the grateful masses. (Yes, on occasion the factory line did shut down, as in the famous incident in which workers went on strike when it was discovered that there were some people defying the order that “Everybody dance now!” After some tense negotiations, the union agreed to compromise on its insistence that everybody dance now, allowing the sick and infirm to be given a waiver, provided they promised to dance at some time in the future. With passage of the bipartisan Dance Act, the workers returned and the factory line was soon up and humming again.)
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Other TechAudio Video NewsNew Products
2011 Top Picks of the Year
HT Staff  |  Feb 03, 2012
It’s always a blast around here to take a look back and see which of the hundred or so components we’ve reviewed in the last year really rose to the top. Of course, the best of these end up on our Top Picks list, but like watching a good movie whose message or performances resonate in the days and months that follow, there are always a few pieces of gear that prove themselves to be just a little more special over time.
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Ask S&V
PCM or Bitstream from Blu-ray Player
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 03, 2012
Which is best, PCM or bitstream from a Blu-ray player to the A/V receiver? I have reviewed many posts on various forums, but I have not found a definitive answer. I have an Onkyo TX-SR608 AVR and an LG Blu-ray player capable of decoding DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD lossless audio. I view Blu-ray discs and regular DVDs about 50/50; certainly Blu-ray when available. Should I set the player to output PCM or bitstream? Why one over the other? Do I need to tell the AVR which stream is incoming?

James

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HDTV Tech
What's the Deal with Color?
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 03, 2012

Did you read that headline in Seinfeld's voice? While contrast ratio, black level, and light output all rightly occupy the top of the list of specs one considers when purchasing a new display, color is often completely overlooked.

Good color reproduction usually won't make or break a display, but it can make one that's good into one that's great.

Yet for all its importance, it's rarely understood - and it's regularly done wrong.

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Music Reviews
Surround Review: King Crimson
Parke Puterbaugh  |  Feb 02, 2012

“Superb. The music is brought to life.”

That’s Robert Fripp’s own assessment of Steven Wilson’s 6-channel mix of Discipline. I have to agree.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

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New Products
New Gear: Audio Solutions TVAM3.1A Audio Mount
Michael Berk  |  Feb 02, 2012

It's pretty clear that TVs are going to keep getting thinner - the hot sets at CES this year were downright wraithlike, measuring mere millimeters in thickness (Bose has been bucking the trend with their Videowave, but that's another kettle of fish entirely). That doesn't leave much room for amps and speakers, so built-in audio can't help but suffer. Sure you can add a full system, but what if you're challenged for space in the first place, or looking to outfit a secondary viewing room? Audio Solutions has a new all-in-one wall mount and sound system that might fit your needs.

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