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3D Blu-ray Player Reviews
Cambridge Audio Azur 752BD 3D Blu-ray Player
Kris Deering  |  Apr 26, 2013

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $1,299 At A Glance: Reference audio and video • HDMI and digital audio inputs • Built-in 192 kHz audio upsampling

They say that imitation is the ultimate form of flattery; I say if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. In the last few years, we’ve seen a few high-end Blu-ray players use the popular Oppo Digtal Blu-ray player as the core of their design, with at least one manufacturer having even taken it as far as dropping a complete Oppo BDP-83SE chassis into a different cabinet with a new faceplate and charging $3,000 more for it (only to be exposed later).

With the Azur 752BD, Cambridge Audio utilizes only the core video components and transport, which adds its own analog audio section and execution.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Lawrence Of Arabia
Fred Kaplan  |  Apr 26, 2013
Picture
Sound
Extras
Lawrence of Arabia may be the last extravagant blockbuster that was also a great film. It’s nearly four hours long, much of it consisting of men galloping on camels through the desert, shot on location with a cast of hundreds, no sex, almost no women—yet this is riveting, heart-pounding stuff, and witty, to boot. It’s based on the true story of T.E. Lawrence, the romantic British officer who led a gaggle of bedouin armies against Turkish strongholds in World War I, helped bring down the Ottoman Empire, came to believe his own myths and see himself as a demigod—and thus became a delusional monster. The film has the feel of a grand epic and an intimate psychodrama. It’s an adventure, a clash of cultures, and a tragedy.
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Tech2
BAFX OBD II Bluetooth Adapter and Torque App
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Apr 25, 2013

With no small amount of irony, about a week after I installed the ultra-high-tech Parrot Asteroid Smart, my SVT lit its engine warning light.

I know the sound and feel of my car really well, and it sounded and felt fine. Since a dealer would want $75 just to tell me what's wrong, I figured it was time to invest in an OBD II scanner. This device plugs into the OBD II port that every post-1996 car has, and gives you a code to tell you what's wrong (along with a lot of other data).

But wait! Now you can get a "scanner" that talks to your tablet or smartphone via Bluetooth! Now that's some app awesomeness.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Brave
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 25, 2013
Picture
3D-ness
Sound
Extras
Young Merida may be a princess in the misty highlands of Scotland, but she isn’t happy with her lot. She wants only to practice her horsemanship, archery, and all other manner of un-princess-like behavior. Her father is delighted, but her mother is beside herself and arranges for the neighboring clans to vie for Merida’s hand in marriage. Our heroine, however, isn’t all that thrilled by the idea—and even less by the suitors. Fleeing into the woods, Merida stumbles upon a witch and has her cast a spell to make her mother change. Her mother does change, but unfortunately not exactly as Merida intended.
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Track One
Steely Dan's Planet D'Sound Quality
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 25, 2013

With a score of dates set to go now onsale tomorrow today (4/26) for Steely Dan's Mood Swings 2013: 8 Miles to Pancake Day summer/fall tour, I thought it only appropriate to revisit the time I've spent over the years with our favorite audiophile-

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Track One
Steely Dan’s Planet D’Sound Quality Page 2
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 25, 2013

With a score of dates set to go now onsale tomorrow today (4/26) for Steely Dan’s Mood Swings 2013: 8 Miles to Pancake Day summer/fall tour, I thought it only appropriate to revisit the time I’ve spent over the years with our favorite audiophile-

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SmartStream
PLAiR Plays Online Videos From the Web on a TV
Barb Gonzalez  |  Apr 24, 2013
The PLAiR is now shipping. Find out how this small device can stream online videos from your computers, smartphone, or tablet.
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New Products
Sony's new 2013 home audio products
SV Staff  |  Apr 24, 2013

Even though Sony's one of the top brands in several audio categories, the company hasn't made much of a push with its audio products in the last few years. That all changed at an event today in Los Angeles, where Sony showed off a new A/V receiver and a new soundbar, and also announced new HTiB (home theater in a box) systems.

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Editor's Eye
Saving the World From Bad Sound One Earful At a Time…
Rob Sabin  |  Apr 24, 2013
Hold your index finger up to the air for a moment. Can you feel that? It’s the fresh breeze of good sound wafting ever so gently across the horizon.

After years of living in a desert of low-res MP3s, crappy white ear buds, wafer-thin flat-panel TV speakers pointed away from the listener (come on!), and increasingly anemic AVRs, there is a revolution afoot.

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Audio Video News
Kaleidescape's Hollywood-Friendly Download Store Worth a Look
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 24, 2013  |  First Published: Apr 16, 2013
Want to download movies onto the world’s coolest media server with the potential for Blu-ray-quality” video and lossless surround? Welcome to the Kaleidescape download store.
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