LATEST ADDITIONS

Blu-ray Movie Reviews
A Hard Day’s Night
Fred Kaplan  |  Sep 18, 2014
Picture
Sound
Extras
I saw A Hard Day’s Night in a theater in 1964, when it first came out and I was 10 years old. I saw it three times, and it was pure joy. I felt the same sensation watching this fantastic Blu-ray transfer. Was it at least in part nostalgia? Probably, though it’s worth noting that the movie—which came out in August, six months after The Beatles’ appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show—is what won over our parents to the Fab Four: so smart, witty, and talented after all (traits that we kids had long appreciated). And my own kids, born two decades later, love the movie and the group too.
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New Products
September 2014 New Gear
SV Staff  |  Sep 18, 2014
A new 4K/Ultra HD TV, killer outdoor speakers, Bluetooth speakers from Bose, and more.
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SmartStream
Roku: 10 Million Players Sold Since 2008
Barb Gonzalez  |  Sep 17, 2014
Roku's success is a tale of how streaming media players have progressed in the past 6 years.
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Headphone Reviews
MrSpeakers Alpha Dog Headphone
Steve Guttenberg  |  Sep 17, 2014

Performance
Features
Comfort
Value
PRICE $599

AT A GLANCE
Plus
3D-printed headphone
Big, highly dynamic sound
Dig those ear pads
Minus
Lacks mike and phone controls

THE VERDICT
MrSpeakers dared to go where no headphone manufacturer went before and used 3D printing technology to make a better-sounding headphone.

While MrSpeakers’ Alpha Dog may be the first high-end headphone to fully exploit 3D printing technology, the original intention was to speed the development process, and then make injection-molded plastic ear cups. But as MrSpeakers owner Dan Clark revised and refined the design, he realized it would be more cost effective to 3D-print his production headphones’ double-walled ear cups and added an intricate lattice to the printing process to increase the ear cups’ rigidity. He took the next step and bought enough 3D printers to keep quality control in-house. After the ear cups are printed, they’re chemically polished, hand sanded, sealed, primed, and finished with automotive-grade paint.

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Custom Installation Equipment ReviewsCustom Installation How-To
Vicoustic Takes the Hocus Pocus Out of Room Treatment
Kris Deering  |  Sep 17, 2014
No matter how much you pore over the layout of your home theater and its dimensions, you’re going to need acoustic treatments if you want to experience your system’s full potential. Chair and speaker placements only do so much to counteract natural obstacles such as standing waves, modal peaks/nulls, and reflections. Even the best audio equipment and speakers can’t fully compensate for them; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Bad room acoustics can make the very best gear sound horrible.
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Audio Video News
Meridian to Demo DSP Speakers at Live Events
SV Staff  |  Sep 17, 2014
Marking the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the world’s first digital loudspeaker, Meridian will demonstrate its Special Edition DSP Digital Active Loudspeakers at live events in Torrance, CA and Memphis, TN. The details are as follows:
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A/V VeteranCEDIA 2014
CEDIA Expo 2014---It's a Wrap
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 16, 2014
The big Blue Bear, the “mascot” for the Denver Convention Center, is sad. Another cycle of CEDIA Expos in Denver has ended; next year we head to Big D A double L AS (that spells Dallas, my, oh yes).

But this latest two-year run in in Denver ended with a bang. It was...

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Signals
JBL Charge 2: Is Two Better than One?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Sep 16, 2014
When I reviewed the original Charge last year, I wrote, “Long playback time, decent sound quality, compact size, and last but not least – the ability to keep your phone charged - the Charge does it all. Amid a sea of small speakers, this one merits a look and a listen.” Apparently millions of people, well, thousands, or perhaps hundreds, or at least more than a handful, agreed. That prompted JBL to capitalize on the success of the original to bring out a successor, the Charge 2. JBL is of the opinion that it is new and improved. I agree that it is new, but is it improved?

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CEDIA 2014
Core Brands Talks SpeakerCraft, ELAN, Niles, Panamax, and Sunfire Introductions
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 15, 2014
There’s a good chance that you’ve never hear of Core Brands. On the other hand, there’s an even better chance that you know of at least one - if not most - of the brands that are part of the Core Brands group: SpeakerCraft, ELAN, Furman, Panamax, Xantech, Sunfire, and Niles. Although the press conference began almost 25 minutes late and it was difficult to hear the presentation due to all of the commotion on the show floor, several interesting announcements were made...
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CEDIA 2014
Lutron’s Apple Watch App, Smart Bridge Pro, and Slider-less Dimmers
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Sep 15, 2014
Lutron’s President, Michael Pessina, began the company’s CEDIA EXPO 2014 press conference by noting that this was Lutron’s 21st CEDIA attendance. Twenty years ago, lighting control mostly consisted of “lot of products hand-wired together.” Today, of course, the overwhelming trend in lighting control and home automation is to use digital, wireless products. To maintain the company’s prominence in the lighting control industry, Pessina said that Lutron spends approximately ten-percent of its sales on research and development. Almost all of that R&D, Pessina added, was in the areas of digital control and wireless connectivity. It’s one reason why there will be a Lutron Caseta Wireless lighting control app available for the Apple Watch when it becomes available in early 2015. (Lutron was even part of the Apple Watch announcement during the Keynote.)

Moving on to...

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