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Seeking Guidance on Vintage Amps and Receivers
Al Griffin  |  Feb 18, 2016
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I’m on a vinyl kick. I recently purchased an Audio-Technica LP120 USB turntable and am converting a few of my old LPs. I have it connected to a Sony AVR and am listening through my Klipsch Reference RB-5II bookshelf speakers. Now I’m thinking about searching for a vintage amp or receiver. I’ve read good things about the Marantz 1060 integrated amp (circa 1975), which is rated at 30 watts per channel. I also hear good things about some of the old Pioneer gear. I want to crank old classic rock, and I know the RB-5IIs can handle it. Any suggestions on what I should set my sights on? — Lew Collins/Via e-mail

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Soundbar Reviews
Definitive Technology W Studio Micro Soundbar System Review
John Sciacca  |  Feb 17, 2016

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $899

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Ultra-thin form factor
Triple-threat with movies, music, and wholehouse audio
Great sound
Minus
Awkward handling of network media

THE VERDICT
The W Studio Micro’s strong performance and tons of streaming music features make it an easy recommendation.

The soundbar is one of the fastest-growing market segments in recent years, and that’s no surprise. As consumer demand grows for ultra-thin TVs with virtually zero bezel, display manufacturers are in the quandary of where to put the built-in speakers. The answer for most has been placing shallow speakers behind the screen, firing away from listeners. Obviously, these sonic compromises make it increasingly difficult to understand dialogue— let alone actually enjoy the wider dynamics of movies or music— and the simple solution is adding a soundbar.

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Audio Video News
Get Ready for the Age of Eternal Data Archiving
SV Staff  |  Feb 17, 2016
‘Superman Memory Crystal’ 5D Discs Can Store Data for Billions of Years

Scientists at the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) have made a major step forward in the development of digital data storage that is capable of surviving for billions of years.

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Audio Video News
Is the TV-Centric Living Room a Myth?
SV Staff  |  Feb 17, 2016
Television has been a fixture of the living room for well over half a century but a new report out of the UK is challenging the notion that TV is still the focal point of activity there.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Tut
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 16, 2016
Picture
Sound
Extras
Egyptian history is astonishingly long by modern standards. The pharaoh Tutankhamun lived roughly 13 centuries after the pyramids were built, and another 13 centuries would pass before Cleopatra friended an asp.

The plot of this two-disc, 4.5-hour miniseries is centered on the limited facts we know about Tut. He was the son of Akhenaten, whose worship of the sun god Aton and rejection of Egypt’s traditional deities nearly tore the country apart. Tut became pharaoh around age nine and eventually restored the old gods and stabilized the kingdom. But by the time of his death at a young 19, he had failed to produce an heir by his wife and half-sister Ankhesenamun.

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New ProductsPremiere Design
Audio Synthesis: Trinnov Altitude32 AV Processor
Bob Ankosko  |  Feb 16, 2016
When JBL fired up the latest iteration of its state-of-the-art Synthesis system at 2015 CEDIA Expo, more than a few jaws dropped (ours included). The system mated a mind-blowing array of 32 speakers with a 17-foot-wide screen and a battery of amplifiers that delivered 10-plus kilowatts of power to the (eight) subwoofers alone. Talk about visceral.
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Audio Video News
Vizio Expands Roll-Out of D-Series UHD TVs
SV Staff  |  Feb 16, 2016
Vizio today announced that the roll-out of its D-Series Ultra HD (UHD) TVs has been expanded and will now include Walmart, Best Buy, Sam's Club, Target, BJs Wholesale Club, Amazon, and Vizio.com.
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Audio Video News
Sprint Takes Wi-Fi on the Road with Ride-Fi
SV Staff  |  Feb 16, 2016
Plug Sprint’s Ride-Fi dongle into your car’s 12-volt power socket (formerly known as the cigarette lighter) and you create a Wi-Fi hotspot that’ll connect up to eight devices at a time while you’re cruising down the highway.
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Signals
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Vinyl
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Feb 16, 2016
Which of the following statements is false? 1. The sun rises in the east. 2. The hands of a clock go clockwise. 3. New technology is always better than old technology. This last statement, of course, isn’t quite as gospel as the others. Sometimes old technology has advantages that cause it to linger longer than we’d expect, or in rare cases, even make a comeback.
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Bluetooth Speaker ReviewsGrace Notes
Nyne Rock Review: The Boombox Is Back
Leslie Shapiro  |  Feb 15, 2016
They say that size matters. With audio products, it is often the case: bigger speakers, bigger amplifiers, and bigger batteries can often translate into better sound and added convenience. The Nyne Rock boombox is one of the biggest and most powerful portable Bluetooth speakers we’ve seen in a long time. Let’s see if bigger truly is better.

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