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Audio Video News
New Staffing Company Targets Custom Electronics
SV Staff  |  Aug 10, 2017
Brent Wiseman and Tres Huber, veterans of the custom installation and construction industries, have formed a company to address “critical labor and personnel shortages in the custom electronics/integrator industry.”
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Audio Video News
Disney to End Netflix Deal and Start Streaming Service
SV Staff  |  Aug 09, 2017
The Walt Disney Company yesterday announced plans to end its licensing deal with Netflix and launch its own streaming services.
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Tower Speaker Reviews
Dayton Audio Epique CBT24 Speaker System Review
Daniel Kumin  |  Aug 09, 2017

Performance
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $1,995 pr (assembled); $1,295/ pr (kit)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Remarkable, panel-speaker-like stereo imaging
Neutral tonal balance
Complete absence of “floor-bounce” thickening
Minus
Curtailed bass requires subwoofer support
Needs custom- or auto-equalization for best performance
Modest subwoofer localization

THE VERDICT
A genuine rarity—a truly distinct take on consumer loudspeaker design— Dayton Audio’s Epique CBT24 delivers exceptional performance with exceptional stereo imaging. Extremely unusual looks and the need for modest equalization and a subwoofer shouldn’t deter adventurous listeners.

And now for something completely different: Dayton Audio’s Epique CBT24.

What’s an Epique CBT24? A 24-driver, no-crossover, one-way tower loudspeaker that stands 5 feet tall yet is no more than 3.5 inches wide over its full, dramatically arched length. A tower speaker with a unique geometry, pedigree, visual aesthetic, and equally unique technical story (and even marketing plan).

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Music Reviews
The Brain Box: Cerebral Sounds of Brain Records 1972-1979
Mike Mettler  |  Aug 09, 2017
Performance
Sound
Let there be Kraut! So goes the Kampfschrei, or battle cry associated with the Krautrock movement of the 1970s. If you’re unfamiliar with this relatively experimental musical form, it probably won’t surprise you to learn Krautrock’s origins are rooted in, of course, Germany. Rather than follow the more blues-based framework that served as the springboard for much of the rock that came out of the U.K. and U.S. during that era, the progenitors of Krautrock sought to build their music more on the avant-garde and progressive fringes, laying down a free-form template for the post-punk, improv jazz, electronic, ambient, and even New Age tuneage that would follow. Incidentally, the scene also has been referred to as kosmische Musik, or cosmic music—and rightly so, since its practitioners often seemed to shoot for the stars.
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Audio Video News
Modulus Previews ‘All-in-One’ Media Hub
SV Staff  |  Aug 09, 2017
Austin, TX-based Modulus Media Systems today announced that it will unveil an all-in-one media center at CEDIA 2017, which opens in San Diego September 5.
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Audio Video News
RIP: ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ Glen Campbell
SV Staff  |  Aug 09, 2017
Glen Campbell, the Arkansas born country pop singer/guitarist know for such memorable hits as “Wichita Lineman” (1968), “Galveston” (1969), “Rhinestone Cowboy” (1975), “Southern Nights” (1977), and many more died yesterday following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 81.
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Audio Video News
David Letterman Headed Back to TV in Netflix Deal
SV Staff  |  Aug 09, 2017
David Letterman is returning to television to host a six-episode series that will air on Netflix in 2018.
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A/V Veteran
Light it Up: How Your TV Produces an Image
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 08, 2017
When it comes to shopping for a new television, manufacturers will flood you with a tsunami of glowing prose hyping all of the advantages their sets offer. But these claims can be a puzzle to potential buyers, who understandably haven’t made a study of TV technology. The latter is perhaps most confusing with regard to how a TV produces a visible image; that is, how it lights up the screen. Here are some of the key facts...
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Audio Video News
Alexa: I Control the World
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 08, 2017
Amazon is many things to many people, and now it’s become the king of the smart-speaker market. Parks Associates reports that the online retail giant dominates smart speakers with 70.6 percent of sales, adding that smart speakers are in 11 percent of U.S. broadband households.
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Signals
Amazon Echo Dot: When Sound Quality Just Doesn't Matter
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Aug 08, 2017
I crossed my fingers. I carried a rabbit's foot. I went out in the backyard and found a four-leaf clover. I started eating Lucky Charms for breakfast. I rearranged the furniture in my home theater according to feng shui (good for luck, not so good for sound). I did everything I could. But now I see that I have failed. People like the Amazon Echo Dot. They like it a lot.

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