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Audio Video NewsNew Products
CE Veteran Tom DeVesto Launches Como Audio
SV Staff  |  Jun 20, 2016
Tom DeVesto, 40 year consumer electronics industry veteran and Hall of Famer who co-founded Cambridge SoundWorks with AV legend Henry Kloss in 1988 and started Tivoli Audio in 2000, has launched a new venture, Como Audio.
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Tech2
HTC Vive Review: Part 2, Games
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jun 17, 2016
In Part 1 I talked about setting up the HTC Vive VR headset. Here’s what it’s like to play.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Spectre
Chris Chiarella  |  Jun 17, 2016
Picture
Sound
Extras
After an acclaimed reboot that successfully shed the sillier trappings of the long-running James Bond franchise, the creators of the recent Spectre have now curiously chosen to embrace the clunky clichés and cartoon villains not only of the 007 canon but seemingly every thriller of the past decade. Big Brother has arrived! It’s the death of privacy! “We must stop this doomful technology before it goes online, or it will be too late!” (Not an actual quote, but you get the idea.)
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
In the Heart of the Sea
David Vaughn  |  Jun 17, 2016
Picture
Sound
Extras
Moby Dick is considered one of the great American novels. Most don’t know—I sure didn’t—that the book was based on the true events that took place in the winter of 1820 when the whaling ship Essex left the port of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and sailed around the tip of South America looking for prey. While in a South American port, they hear a tale of a mammoth whale that can be found in the Pacific, so they venture dangerously far from land and get a lot more than they bargained for when they find that said whale has a vengeance against humanity.
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Bluetooth Speaker Reviews
Monster Blaster Bluetooth Boombox
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 17, 2016

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $400

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Killer outdoor music system
Super sturdy design
Battery powered
Awesome one-time, “no-fault replacement” policy
Minus
Pricey
Heavy!

THE VERDICT
The Monster Blaster will shock you (and your neighbors) with its powerful sound.

As I removed the Monster Blaster from its box, I felt like I was lifting a dumbbell from the rack. Seriously, the thing weighs about 17 pounds, and it’s built like a tank, ready for the rough and tumble of outdoor use.

And when I say rough and tumble, I’m not kidding. If you buy the Blaster from monsterproducts.com, it’s covered by a lifetime warranty with “one time, no-fault replacement.” As Monster explains on its website: “If the Blaster has any issues (your fault or ours), return the product and get a replacement.” Buy it elsewhere, and you get the one-year standard warranty.

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
iHome’s New Bluetooth Speakers Are ‘Weather Tough’
SV Staff  |  Jun 16, 2016
SDI Technologies says its new iHome Weather Tough line of portable Bluetooth speakers is aimed at outdoor enthusiasts who crave music in even the most punishing of environments.

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Headphone Reviews
HiFiMan Edition X Headphones Review
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 16, 2016

Performance
Build Quality
Comfort
Value
PRICE $1,799

AT A GLANCE
Plus
High resolution and sensitivity
Ultra-thin planar diaphragms
Snazzy cosmetics
Minus
No friend to dirty amps
Can sometimes sound over-etched

THE VERDICT
The HiFiMan Edition X are high-resolution headphones that tell an emotionally fulfilling and balanced version of the truth about your music files.

Head-fi is somehow more personal than hi-fi or home theater. I may love my loudspeakers, but I don’t wear them on my head. Speakers bring music into my room; headphones bring music into my head, and voices in my head are the very definition of personal. So if the sound of my fairly stable main system is aesthetically consequential, the sound of my constantly rotating head-fi system is emotionally charged. That may explain the intensity of my bond with the HiFiMan Edition X headphones. The look pushes my bling buttons, and the sound brings me closer to music—close to what I love, to my original motive for getting into audiophilia in the first place.

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New ProductsPremiere Design
Akoustic Arts A Directional Speaker
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 16, 2016
The Akoustic Arts “A” is one of the more unusual-looking speakers you will encounter, with its honeycomb of mini transducers (200 in all). But looks aren’t the only thing unusual about this speaker. Rather than spray sound in every direction like a conventional speaker, the A projects sound in a focused beam. As the Paris-based company likes to say, it’s “the speaker that only you can hear.” And it appears to be off and running. By mid-April, Akoustic Arts had raised more than $200,000, exceeding its Indiegogo funding goal by 662 percent in less than a month. We spoke with founder and CEO Ilan Kaddouch to learn more.
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Audio Video News
3DTV Fades Away
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 16, 2016
First 3D was the next big thing in television. Then it was a feature, not a category. Now it may be turning into an absent feature and a dead category.
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Ask S&V
Which Home Theater Upgrade Should I Invest in Now?
Al Griffin  |  Jun 16, 2016
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I have a substantial amount of money invested in my home theater. With the arrival of object-based Dolby Atmos/DTS:X audio and High Dynamic Range video, not to mention the forthcoming ATSC 3.0 Digital TV standard, I’d like to know which components in my rig should I replace first? Also, how much should I plan to spend for each upgrade? —R. Hill / Chattanooga, TN

Q The first component I’d recommend upgrading is your A/V receiver. Why? New 2016 receivers from Onkyo, Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, Pioneer, and Anthem are equipped to provide Dolby Atmos and, in some cases, DTS:X processing (either out of the box or via a firmware upgrade). Along with offering the latest advancements in home theater audio, 2016 receivers should all be outfitted with HDMI 2.0a connections. Why is that important? Because HDMI 2.0a, the latest HDMI version, accommodates a range of new video technologies including 4K/Ultra HD resolution, 10-bit color, and High Dynamic Range (HDR). Plan to spend $500 and up for a new HDMI 2.0a-equipped receiver with object-based audio support.

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