LATEST ADDITIONS

Leslie Shapiro  |  Dec 26, 2016
2016 is wrapping up and it was a tough year for music. We lost so many influential musicians: David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell, Merle Haggard and most recently, George Michael. Throughout the year, though, we’ve also had some wonderful musical moments that remind us of why we love music. It makes us laugh, it inspires us, it brings us together. Thankfully, most of my favorite musical moments of the year were captured on YouTube videos, so continuing in the spirit of Christmas, I give you my Top 4 Musical Moments of 2016. Enjoy!

Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 23, 2016
Picture
3D-ness
Sound
Extras
I’d heard of Angry Birds but completely missed their first flight of fame in an immensely popular game for smartphones. Subsequently, they went bird-flu viral with follow-up games, an animated TV series, and more. A movie launch was inevitable. It features hotheaded Red and other (non-flighted!) feathered citizens of Bird Island. Sentenced to take an anger management course, Red meets a few similarly explosive (sometimes literally!) souls.
Josef Krebs  |  Dec 23, 2016
Picture
Sound
Extras
When a CIA operative is killed by a team of anarchists, invaluable information is lost—or is it? Not now that a scientist has developed an experimental procedure for transferring memories from a dead man into another man’s brain. The scientist’s name, of course, is Doctor Franks. Not Frankenstein or Frahnkensteeen, but close. The concept’s made all the more unlikely by the choice of recipient—an imprisoned psychopathic murderer called Jericho.
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Dec 23, 2016  |  First Published: Dec 22, 2016
A few weeks ago I waxed ecstatic about Creeper World 3, one of the most clever and addicting games I’ve ever played.

Particle Fleet: Emergence is a similar game set in the same universe. The big difference is instead of being on the ground building a base, you’re in space with a fleet. Even cooler, you can build your own ships.

Here’s how it is.

Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 23, 2016

Duetto
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value

Solo
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $299 (Solo), $399 (Duetto)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Versatile
Solid build quality
Streaming via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
Impressive sound
Intuitive app plus traditional remote
Minus
Wish it was battery-powered

THE VERDICT
Como Audio's Solo and Duetto look good, sound great, and are loaded with features.

Don’t be fooled by the clock-radio appearance of the Solo or Duetto. Yes, there is a clock with dual alarms and, yes, there is an FM radio—but these extras barely scratch the surface of what these mini marvels can do. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a compact music system that’s as versatile or sounds as good as the Duetto or Solo from Como Audio.

SV Staff  |  Dec 23, 2016
JVC has announced that its new flagship 4K/Ultra HD D-ILA projector is the first 4K projector to receive THX certification.
SV Staff  |  Dec 22, 2016
Register to win a Marantz SR7011 9.2 Channel Full 4K Ultra HD AV Receiver ($2,199.00 Retail Value) we are giving away.

According to the company:

"Experience the top of the line Marantz AV Receiver range with the new SR7011. Surround yourself in thrilling 3D surround sound with the most complete immersive format including Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Auro 3D (via paid upgrade January 5th 2017). All three codecs are able to drive overhead speakers for a true 3D sound experience."

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

Rob Sabin  |  Dec 22, 2016
2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $1,700

AT A GLANCE
Plus
HDR10 plus Dolby Vision HDR
Great color
Wide viewing window
Minus
Middling black levels
Backlight artifacts

THE VERDICT
LG’s midpriced 65UH8500 delivers good image quality with a super-wide viewing window, and it’s one of the few sets around that plays both predominant types of HDR content.

A year ago, I tested the LG 65UF9500, an LCD Ultra HDTV that retailed for $2,999, and I criticized it for offering no future-readiness for soon-to-emerge high dynamic range (HDR) content. Since then, Ultra HD Blu-ray has come to market, bringing HDR along with it, and there’s a growing library of HDR movies available for streaming. To LG’s credit, their line of so-called Super UHD LCD TVs for this holiday season, including the midline 65-inch 65UH8500 tested here ($1,700), recognizes both predominant types of HDR—namely, HDR10 (used currently on Ultra HD Blu-rays) and Dolby Vision (still only available via web streams). LG is one of only two TV makers to support both formats on a single chassis (in both their LCD and OLED models), the other being Vizio, which updated their Dolby Vision sets for HDR10 in mid-2016. So how does this wellfeatured, attractively priced set perform? Let’s have a look.

Daniel Kumin  |  Dec 22, 2016
From time to time, in these pages—err, screens—and elsewhere, you’ll see references to amplifier “class”: Class A, Class D, and so on. What’s it mean?
SV Staff  |  Dec 22, 2016
When the romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail opened in theaters 18 years ago this week, the Internet was crossing over into the mainstream—as evidenced by the movie’s title, borrowed from AOL’s iconic email notification “voice.”

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