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Bluetooth Speaker ReviewsWireless Multiroom Speaker Reviews
Oppo Sonica Wireless Speaker
Bob Ankosko  |  Nov 17, 2016

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $299

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Elegant styling
Top-notch build quality
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi streaming up to 192 kHz/24 bit
Remarkably full sound from a compact speaker
Minus
Can sound a tad bright
Not battery-powered
Rudimentary app

THE VERDICT
Oppo’s Sonica is an elegant and versatile wireless speaker whose superb sound belies its small footprint.

As I waited in anticipation for Sonica to arrive, I was reminded of an old ad slogan: “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” It’s kinda that way with Oppo. Over the past 12 years, the Silicon Valley–based company has built a stellar reputation with its best-in-class Blu-ray players and Top Pick–designated headphones and amp/DACs. I couldn’t wait to see if Oppo had extended its golden touch to wireless speakers—a category with more than its fair share of duds. My expectations were high.

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Ask S&V
Can I Transfer ALAC Files from iTunes to a Portable Player?
Al Griffin  |  Nov 17, 2016
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q For years, I used iTunes to rip my CDs in the Apple Lossless Audio Compression (ALAC) format and load them onto a 160-gigabyte iPod classic. Now that iPods are no more, I would like to switch to one of the new hi-res-capable portable players but want to avoid having to rip all of my CDs again. Do any of the new players support ALAC so I can continue using iTunes? Also, is there some way to use iTunes to load files from my computer to a new portable player? —Mark Hoornstra / Maryland

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Audio Video News
CES 2017 Tech Trends to Watch
SV Staff  |  Nov 17, 2016
At a recent CES Unveiled press event in New York, Shawn DuBravac, chief economist for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), singled out five tech trends to keep an eye on at the upcoming CES 2017 show, which opens in Las Vegas on January 5.
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Throwback Thursday
Flashback 1982: Apple Approaches McIntosh Labs
SV Staff  |  Nov 17, 2016
Thirty-four years ago this week, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs asks McIntosh Labs for rights to use “Macintosh” as the brand name of a computer it was developing, a year after settling a trademark infringement suit brought by The Beatles’ holding company Apple Corps.
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Audio Video News
James Unveils Unique Modular Home Theater
SV Staff  |  Nov 16, 2016
The speaker specialists at Napa, CA-based James Loudspeaker have come up with an innovative way to deliver surround sound to any environment in a high-performance, fully custom freestanding form factor.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Teac Turntable Combines Best of Old and New
SV Staff  |  Nov 16, 2016
Teac says its new TN-400S turntable ($400) offers “everything you loved about classic, old-school turntables, along with the advantages of digital technology and attractive, contemporary design.”

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Audio Video News
McIntosh Releases DTS:X, Auro-3D Update
SV Staff  |  Nov 16, 2016
McIntosh has announced that a firmware update that adds DTS:X and Auro-3D decoding is now available for its MX122 AV processor.
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The Connected Life
Survey: What People Would Pay to Watch First-Run Movies at Home
John Sciacca  |  Nov 16, 2016
Last month I wrote a blog titled, Day and Date: How Much Would You Pay? which pondered how much avid home theater owners like Sound & Vision readers might be willing to pay for the privilege of viewing first-run Hollywood films at home. To give this some perspective, it’s important to point out that the only system capable of doing this is the stratospherically priced PRIMA Cinema, with hardware selling for $35,000 and a $500 per film rental charge.
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A/V Veteran
Why A/B Testing Is Harder Than You Think
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 15, 2016
While popular among readers, direct A/B tests comparing one audio or video component with a competing model are far more difficult to do properly than you might imagine. I’ve conducted or participated in numerous such tests over the years, going back to speaker shootouts when I wrote exclusively for Stereophile back in the ‘90s. I also set up or participated in several shootouts of video displays for Home Theater.
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4K TV ReviewsTV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Sony XBR-65Z9D LCD Ultra HDTV Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 15, 2016

2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $5,500

AT A GLANCE
Plus
State-of-the-art local dimming
Class-leading HDR brightness
Above average off-center viewing
Minus
Price

THE VERDICT
With the top manufacturers jostling for a view from the top of the Ultra HD pyramid, Sony has taken an express elevator and is racing fast for the checkered flag. But enough with the mixed metaphors. If this TV isn’t today’s best LCD UHD/HDR set (and perhaps the best of any type), it’s not for lack of trying. Sony has given us their best technology here, and it shows.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2016, Sony demonstrated a prototype of a future LCD TV design incorporating what the company called Backlight Master Drive. We found it dazzling, as did most of the show-goers with whom we spoke. Nevertheless, we all looked at it as a “show car”—something that might appear in a store near you in a couple of years, if ever.

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