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Archiving the Work of John Saxon
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 20, 2011
My husband is John Saxon, and we have many of his movies on commercial VHS and DVD, while others and some of the TV shows he has appeared on are recorded on a DirecTV DVR. We'd like to make DVD copies of the tapes and DVDs as well as archive the TV programs from the DVR. What would you suggest for a DVD recorder?

Gloria Saxon

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Subwoofer Reviews
REL T5 Subwoofer
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 20, 2011
Price: $599 At A Glance: Compact cube houses 8-inch long-throw woofer • 125-watt class A/B amplifier • Simultaneous high-level and LFE inputs with independent level controls

Small Acorn, Big Tree

In a 1970s television commercial, storm clouds brewed and thunder rolled ominously after an embarrassed Mother Nature tasted Chiffon margarine and pronounced it butter. “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature,” admonished the announcer, Mason (“with a name like Smucker’s”) Adams.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hall Pass (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 20, 2011
Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) have both been married for a long time and even though they love their wives, they just can't help checking out every hot woman in their view. Fed up with their rubber-necking, their wives take a different approach to revitalize their marriages by giving them a "hall pass": one week of freedom to do whatever they want with no questions asked. Be careful what you wish for guys.

While I was never a huge fan of Something About Mary, at least I found its humor to be somewhat amusing and I can see why it was a hit. Unfortunately, Farrelly brother's formula hasn't worked as well since then. I thought the premise had potential but unfortunately it's another stinker filled with sophomoric humor by middle-aged men who think they're still in high school.

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Audio Video News
Meet Sony's PlayStation TV
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 20, 2011
Sony makes TVs. Sony makes PlayStations. So why shouldn't Sony make a PlayStation TV?

Announced at the recent E3 gaming show, the 24-inch 1080p set will be 3D capable and packaged with 3D glasses, HDMI cable, and a Blu-ray copy of the game Resistance 3.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Unknown—Warner Bros.
Kris Deering  |  Jun 18, 2011
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5
Liam Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris, who awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that his wife suddenly doesn't recognize him and another man has assumed his identity. Ignored by disbelieving authorities and hunted by mysterious assassins, he finds himself alone, tired and on the run. Aided by an unlikely ally, Harris plunges into a deadly mystery forcing him to question his sanity, his identity and just how far he's willing to go to uncover the truth.
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Audio Video News
Cutting (most of) the cords
Michael Berk  |  Jun 17, 2011

Seems like everybody's trying to cut down on your desktop clutter these days, paring down the collection of cables it takes to run all of your gear - and introducing new standards in the process.

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Other Tech
The Missing Link: Streaming Connections
Rob Sabin  |  Jun 17, 2011
Successful streaming is about making the right connection.

If you’ve just read “Streaming for the Masses”, you’ve got some idea of the range of hardware that lets you stream video and music from the Internet to your home entertainment system. The primary options include HDTVs, Blu-ray players, A/V receivers, game consoles, and various DVRs and dedicated streaming appliances. To some extent, it does matter which you choose, both in terms of the content you can access and your ability to connect it for the best picture or sound quality.

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Vote
What Type of Surround Speakers Do You Use?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 17, 2011
Back in March, I asked what is your main speaker configuration, and 52 percent of respondents picked 5.1, with another 28 percent saying 7.1. So now I wonder what type of surround speakers you use—bipole, dipole, and/or monopole.

What's the difference? Bipole and dipole surround speakers include two sets of drivers that fire more or less in opposite directions—with bipoles, the drivers are in phase, while a dipole's drivers are out of phase, creating a null region along the central axis between the drivers. Monopoles are simply conventional direct-radiating speakers with a single set of drivers that many prefer for multichannel music, but they don't create a diffuse surround soundfield that benefits most movie soundtracks.

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice, especially if you use a combination in a 7.1 system. What combo do you use, and why?

What Type of Surround Speakers Do You Use?
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Ask S&V
Dream Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 17, 2011
What gear would you get if you were building your dream home theater? Let's say you had an unlimited budget for video and $100,000 for audio. What speakers, amp, preamp, projector, and screen would you get? Also what would your surround configuration be? 7.1, 9.2, 11.4? Where would you put the speakers? Would you utilize the back surrounds or front height and width channels?

Spencer Torgan

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Unknown (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 17, 2011
Arriving in Berlin for a technology conference, Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) must make a mad dash back to the airport in order to find his left-behind briefcase that contains some valuable information and his passport. In his haste, he leaves his wife (January Jones) at the hotel check-in and doesn't tell her where he's headed. After a horrific accident, he awakens in a hospital four days later and is troubled to learn that no one has come looking for him. He tracks down his wife at the conference and discovers that she doesn't recognize him, and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Is he going mad?

With his starring role in Taken, Neeson showed he had the chops to handle the action genre and he delivers another solid performance here. The pacing is fantastic and the story keeps you on the edge of your seat until the tidy and disappointing ending.

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