LATEST ADDITIONS

The S&V Interview
Deep Purple Drummer Ian Paice Celebrates the Legacy of Late DP Keyboardist Jon Lord
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 08, 2014
Photo by Neil Lupin
“Souls, having touched, are forever entwined.” It’s a lyric penned by vocalist Ian Gillan in honor of his dear friend and late bandmate Jon Lord, the original keyboardist for Deep Purple who pioneered merging rock music with classical themes. Jon Lord, Deep Purple & Friends: Celebrating Jon Lord (earMusic/Eagle Rock), recorded at The Royal Albert Hall this past April 4, showcases the breadth of Lord as both composer (“All Those Years Ago,” “Pictured Within”) and rock legend (“Soldier of Fortune,” “Perfect Strangers,” “Hush”). Here, Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, 66, and I discuss the challenges of getting great sound in such a storied venue, how he adapts to working with different bass players, and what the future might hold for Deep Purple. After listening to and watching all that went into Celebrating Jon Lord, there’s one word in the Purple canon that one absolutely cannot use to describe Paice’s energy and tireless work ethic: “Lazy.”
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AV Receiver Reviews
Pioneer VSX-1124 AV Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Oct 08, 2014

Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $600

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Outstanding sonics for the price
HDMI 2.0 interface
Roku Ready via MHL
Minus
HDCP 2.2 DRM not included
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi cost extra

THE VERDICT
The Pioneer VSX-1124 delivers sterling sound, though with a slightly reduced feature set, at a highly competitive price point.

The phrase “believe in miracles” is a powerful one in pop music. It turns up in songs by the Bee Gees, Jefferson Starship, Pearl Jam, Slade, and others. It appears prominently in the Hot Chocolate hit “You Sexy Thing,” covered by everyone from David Bowie to Barry White. Perhaps the most poignant use of the phrase is in “I Believe in Miracles” by the Ramones: “I used to be on an endless run/Believe in miracles ’cause I’m one.” One of the ongoing miracles in my life, besides the fact that I’m still walking around, is the audio/video receiver.

Let me remind you that the AV receiver—especially at the $600 price point—is one of the great miracles of consumer electronics...

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Audio Video News
Classé Launches Sigma Series
SV Staff  |  Oct 07, 2014
Classé has announced the availability of its new Sigma Series, featuring the Sigma SSP 7.1-channel surround sound preamp/processor ($5,000) and a pair of amplifiers, the AMP2 ($3,000) and AMP5 ($5,000), rated at 2 x 200 watts and 5 x 200 watts into 8 ohms, respectively.
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Remotely Possible
CEDiA Expo 2014 Wrap-Up
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 07, 2014
CEDiA 2014 is over and done, but its effects will linger on in the form of first impressions, developing trends, and new technologies. By the numbers, it was a great convention with more than 480 exhibitors and well over 18,000 attendees who made the trek to Denver from 82 countries around the world. But those are the dry statistics. What’s much more exciting was the stuff we saw and heard, as well as the trends we noticed and how they’re going to affect the industry. (By the way, CEDIA didn’t officially change the organization’s name. I did, but I’ll get to that later.)

Dolby Atmos was still too new to have been everywhere on the Expo floor. In those booths where it was being demonstrated, though, it was...

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Premiere Design
Arc De Triomphe
Bob Ankosko  |  Oct 07, 2014
Samsung 105-Inch UN105S9W Ultra HD TV

Hailed as “the world’s largest UHD display,” Samsung’s 105-inch flagship is a sight to behold, standing nearly 5-feet tall and 8-feet wide on its sleek, minimalist arc of a frame. We were eager to learn about the company’s vision for this $120,000 statement piece so we asked Dave Das, vice president of home entertainment to take us behind the scenes.

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Signals
Oh No! Not This Again!
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Oct 07, 2014
We loved them. We cherished them. We truly believed that we had purchased the last TV we would ever need to purchase. That's because picture quality could never get any better. Plasma was awesome! Wow! Look at those black levels.

Then, as they say, time marched on. Technology improved. Market sentiment shifted; people wanted something newer and cooler. Much like the dinosaurs, plasma TVs looked up in the sky and wondered—what's the deal with that huge flaming mass of asteroid hurtling down at me?

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Audio Video News
GoldenEar to Demo Flagship Triton One Speaker at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
SV Staff  |  Oct 06, 2014
GoldenEar Technology will demonstrate its flagship Triton One tower speaker at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF), the company announced. The showing marks the first time GoldenEar has exhibited at RMAF, which begins Friday, October 10 at the Marriott Tech Center in Denver, CO and runs through Sunday, October 12.

A showcase of GoldenEar’s most advanced technologies, the $5,000-a-pair Triton One is a Sound&Vision 2014 Top Pick, which received accolades for its remarkably open and balanced sound quality and performance-price ratio.

Demonstrations will be ongoing in Room 8021.

Tech2
Bose @ 50: A Look at The Legacy, and What’s Next
Lauren Dragan  |  Oct 03, 2014
This week, at a massive loft space in NYC, the people of Bose constructed a temporary museum of sorts: an impressive array of both consumer technology and fascinating prototypes, chronicling the company’s history. Bose is celebrating its50th anniversary, an accomplishment for any company, but especially in technology, a field where so many businesses launch with great fanfare only to sink into obscurity. Built on the shoulders of engineer, MIT professor, inventor, and entrepreneur Dr. Amar Bose, the Bose corporation began with a single product, the pod-looking Bose 2201. The 2201 screams 1960s design aesthetic. With its burlap-esque fabric and wooden housing, it’s fun to imagine what stereophiles thought of this unique and bizarre design in a sea of rectangle and square speakers.
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Ears On
A Soundbar Bill of Rights
Mark Fleischmann  |  Oct 03, 2014
Should there be a Soundbar Bill of Rights? Consumer rights are trivial compared to the majesty of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights—for example, the right to freedom of speech (Fourth Article) or the right to a speedy and public trial (Ninth Article). Even so, the question is provocative enough for one little blog.

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Audio Video News
More Dolby Atmos Blu-ray Movies on the Way
SV Staff  |  Oct 03, 2014
Dolby Releases Atmos Testimonial Video

Three Blu-ray titles featuring Dolby Atmos soundtracks were announced this week. Paramount Pictures will release Hercules on November 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on December 16. Lionsgate announced the November 4 release of Step Up All In on Blu-ray.

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