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Tower Speaker Reviews
PSB Imagine T3 Speaker System Review
Daniel Kumin  |  Jul 14, 2015

T3 Speaker System
Performance
Build Quality
Value
SubSeries 300 Subwoofer
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $11,855

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Reference-class sound reproduction
Near-perfect center- channel matching
Versatile dipole/bipole/double-monopole surrounds
Excellent finish quality
A bargain—for high-end speakers
Minus
Surround-mode change requires rewiring
Cheap for high end—but not cheap

THE VERDICT
A superb loudspeaker system from top to bottom—surely one of the best affordable high-end options available.

When you hook up a PSB speaker—pretty much any PSB speaker—you have a very good idea of what you’re going to get. To wit: balanced octave-to-octave response that fits a tight decibel window from the design’s lower limit to its upper; off-axis curves that are similarly smooth and “well bundled,” rolling off higher frequencies progressively at more extreme angles but without sudden discontinuities; impressive-for-size low-end extension without any enhanced, bass-sweetening pre-rolloff response hump; a reasonably unchallenging impedance curve for easy-to-drive amp-friendliness, and coherent, strong stereo imaging promulgated by carefully derived driver locations and spacings and by a diffraction-free cabinet design.

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The Connected Life
The Best Dolby Atmos Blu-ray Demos
John Sciacca  |  Jul 14, 2015
I’ve been fortunate enough to watch nearly every Dolby Atmos encoded Blu-ray disc that has been released so far. While some of the movies are terrific (Gravity) others are more just things you suffer through (Jupiter Ascending). To save you some time trying to find the best scenes to demo, I’m gonna pinpoint each film’s marquee Atmos audio moment! (Some spoilers ahead…)

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Signals
Coming Sooner to a Home Theater Near You: Paramount Tests Shorter Release Windows
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jul 14, 2015
If you have a home theater, it's easy to see that commercial movie theaters are both your friends, and your enemies. On one hand, without them and the billions of dollars they generate, movie studios would never spend the hundreds of millions of dollars required to make a movie. We owe the content we watch at home to the commercial theaters. On the other hand, adversarially, these theaters get first dibs on all content, and we must impatiently wait for home media to eventually appear. Don't like waiting? Well, if things work out, you soon might be able to cut in line.

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Audio Video News
DTS Answers Atmos: Dave Casey on DTS:X
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 13, 2015
In early April—a full nine months after Dolby Atmos had its coming out party in New York—DTS officially announced DTS:X, an “object-based, multi-dimensional audio technology” for commercial cinema and home theater. We spoke with Dave Casey, senior director of program management for DTS:X to learn more about the new format and find out how it differs from Atmos.

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Ask S&V
Is My Audio Setup Hi-Res Ready?
Al Griffin  |  Jul 13, 2015
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I’m interested in hi-res audio but am not sure if my current system can cut it. Here’s what I have: Integra DTR-40.3 AV receiver, GoldenEar Technology Triton 2 speakers, Macbook computer. I’m using iTunes for playback and am running an optical cable from the computer to the Integra. Here’s my question: Do I need a DAC to connect the Macbook to the receiver, or can I just continue to use the optical hookup? —Michael Skrzat / via e-mail

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Other Tech
Video Tour: PS Audio Sprout and Teac AI-301DA AmpDAC Combos
Rob Sabin  |  Jul 10, 2015
What's an "integrated amplifier/asynchronous digital-to-analog converter combo" (a.k.a. amp/DAC)? Editor-in-Chief Rob Sabin explains and presents an overview of the PS Audio Sprout and Teac AI-301DA reviewed by Dan Kumin.

Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
PS Audio Sprout and Teac AI-301DA Integrated AmpDACs Review
Daniel Kumin  |  Jul 10, 2015

PS Audio Sprout
Performance
Features
Value

Teac AI-301DA
Performance
Features
Value
PRICE PS Audio: $799/TEAC: $549

AT A GLANCE: PS Audio
Plus
Phono input
Line input and output
Warm, engaging sound
Minus
No remote control
No direct DSD decoding

AT A GLANCE: Teac
Plus
Six source inputs
Dedicated sub output
Remote control
Dynamic and transparent
Minus
No stereo line out

THE VERDICT
These compact, versatile, and affordable combos will drive good bookshelf speakers or headphones to audiophile heights, each with its own sense of style.

It’s certainly a thing. It may be a trend. Or possibly even a wave—a new-wave, high-res groundswell sweeping over the nation’s small but growing (we hope!) cadre of youthful audio fans.

I’m talking about ultra-compact integrated-amplifier/digital-to-analog converters: “ampDACs,” I’m calling them. The newly evolved species combines a two-channel integrated amplifier (usually of modest power), a headphone output (usually), and high-resolution audio digital-to-analog conversion, all engineered to meet audiophile expectations of quality, and all packaged into a single, paperback-sized unit conceived for versatility. (Most models, including the two under review here, add today’s ubiquitous Bluetooth wireless capability.)

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Ears On
I Wake Up Streaming
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 10, 2015
What if streaming isn't such a good idea after all?
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Tech2
Terminator: Genisys Review
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Jul 10, 2015
I have seen Terminator: Genisys and I have some thoughts on it.

I don’t want to spoil anything for you, so you’ll have to click through for a even just a spoiler-free review.

Below that, I’ll dive in a bit more in a very spoilery way.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Hunger Games: MockingJay—Part 1
David Vaughn  |  Jul 09, 2015
Picture
Sound
Extras
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ended with Katniss being rescued from the Hunger Games arena, leaving Peeta behind. Wracked with survivor’s guilt, she finds herself in the mythical District 13, reuniting with her little sister, mother, and best friend, who somehow escaped District 12 after the Capitol and its nefarious President Snow bombed it into oblivion following Katniss’ escape. District 13 is ready to go on the offensive against Snow and his cronies, but they need Katniss’ rebellious and inspiring message to unite the other districts in the uprising, and it’s up to Plutarch Heavensbee to enhance our heroine’s image for the masses.
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