LATEST ADDITIONS

Integrated Amp ReviewsStreaming Device Reviews
NAD C 399 Integrated Amplifier Review
Howard Kneller  |  Apr 27, 2022

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $2,548 (as tested)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Stellar performance
Powerful internal amplifier
Modular design accommodates updates and additional features
Minus
Modestly built chassis
Small front-panel display
Uninspired remote control

THE VERDICT
The C 399 delivers great performance, impressive features and flexibility, and high value in a modest, yet handsome package.

While waiting on the arrival of NAD's C 399 integrated amplifier for review, I checked it out on the company's website. What I saw there was a minimally adorned exemplar of the black-box design school, with steel chassis panels of ordinary fabrication and a small display showing mostly monochrome text. Yawn. Well, a funny thing happened when the C 399 finally arrived, and I unboxed it. I took a shine to its no-frills, understatedly handsome looks. Sure, there are more striking-looking components out there with more robust build quality, but they'll cost you.

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New Products
Sony Launches Trio of Native 4K Laser Projectors
Al Griffin  |  Apr 26, 2022
Sony is stepping up its home theater projector game with the launch of three models, all packing native 4K SXRD (LCOS) display chips driven by a laser phosphor light engine. The new additions to the company’s projector lineup range in price from $6,000 to $28,000 and start shipping in May.
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A/V Veteran
Subwoofer Setup Steps
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 26, 2022
Audiophiles have an inherent advantage over home theater enthusiasts: when it comes to setting up their systems, they need only make room for two loudspeakers plus a convenient location for the sources and amplifiers needed to drive them. For a home theater we need to find space for more, often much more. Those multiple speakers must also support the screen, and often there isn't much flexibility in where to put the latter—be it a TV or a projector with a separate screen. In any home theater setup the locations for the center, surrounds, and perhaps overhead speakers are then usually fixed by the placement of those front speakers and the main listener/viewer positions, with little room for deviations in a proper setup.

But positioning one or more subwoofers for the best results is a chore that takes time and patience. Subwoofers are relatively rare in 2-channel systems, which is unfortunate because they can achieve soul-satisfying bass while limiting the need for hulking, and expensive, front left and right loudspeakers.

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
SVS Offers Sensibly Priced Optical & Balanced Cables
Bob Ankosko  |  Apr 25, 2022
The letters SVS immediately conjure images of subwoofers and home theater speakers but the Ohio-based company also offers a growing line of SoundPath accessories that has been expanded yet again, this time to include sensibly priced optical digital and balanced XLR audio cables.
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Signals
This Is Your Captain Speaking
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 25, 2022
If you happened to be at cruising altitude last Monday, your pilot probably got on the comms and made an unexpected announcement. Effective immediately, the mask mandate had been vacated. What??? Oh no!!! Fortunately, you were wearing your Dyson headphone.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Godfather Trilogy
Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 22, 2022
The Godfather, 175 mins.
Picture
Sound
Extras
The Godfather: Part II, 201 mins.
Picture
Sound
Extras
The Godfather: Coda, 158 mins.
Picture
Sound
Extras

The Godfather still kills. At a recent theatrical re-release marking the 50th anniversary of the first film in the series adapted from Mario Puzo's bestseller, I witnessed the audience hanging on every emotional nuance set forth by director Francis Ford Coppola. Once the highest-grossing film of all time, this operatic tale of the Corleone crime family boasts bigger-than-life characters doing despicable things, spouting irresistible dialogue, and backing it up with copious violence. Part II is both prequel and sequel, with characters new and old seen through a fresh lens in another grand story: the "origin" of Don Vito Corleone, interwoven with son Michael's attempted business expansion into pre-Castro Cuba. Part III was reimagined and recut as Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone in 2020. While improved over past versions, it's by far the weakest of the lot, an outlier and a vain attempt to recapture past glory.

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Spatial Audio File
It’s Spatial Audio O’Clock, Yeah
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 22, 2022
British indie-rock sensations Wet Leg made quite a splash with their deadpan and earnestly quirky June 2021 debut hit single “Chaise Longue.” Now a key component of this dynamic duo’s full-length, self-titled April 2022 debut album, “Chaise Longue” gets to stretch its compositional legs that much more in Atmos.
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Vintage Gear
Another Side of KLH: The Model Nineteen
Bob Ankosko  |  Apr 21, 2022
KLH is well known for the amazing acoustic-suspension speakers it sold in the 1950s and ’60s, but did you know audio legend and company co-founder Henry Kloss also designed a series of music systems?
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SmartStream
HBO Max and Discovery Plus to Merge Into One Service
Barb Gonzalez  |  Apr 21, 2022
The WarnerMedia and Discovery merger has been finalized. The new company, dubbed Warner Bros. Discovery, will bring significant changes to HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming and will likely affect the CNN+ streaming app. It’s expected that all the content will be aggregated into one streaming service, but it won’t happen immediately.
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Subwoofer Reviews
Monolith by Monoprice 13-Inch THX Ultra Certified Subwoofer Review
Daniel Kumin  |  Apr 20, 2022

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $1,700

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Reference-level extension and output
Exceptionally flat, controlled response through crossover octaves
THX Ultra Certified
Minus
No auto-EQ/correction or remote control
Very big and heavy
No pass-through outputs

THE VERDICT
Monolith by Monoprice's 13THX is huge, heavy, and lacks the convenience of app-controlled on-board automated EQ and curve-selection. But if you have more-than-generous space and budget, it's all the subwoofer you or anyone else will ever need.

Got bass? I do. Boy, do I ever: Monolith by Monoprice's newest THX Ultra Certified 13-inch behemoth. You might think that a "13-inch" sub would be just a bit bigger than a typical 12-inch job, maybe 15 or 16 inches wide, and perhaps as heavy as 70 or 80 pounds. Think again.

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