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Searching for an AVR
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 09, 2012
I'm upgrading my home-theater system with a Panasonic TC-P65VT30 plasma TV and Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player. I also want to replace my Yamaha RX-V793 A/V receiver, but I'm not sure what make and model would be best. I plan to keep my Paradigm Cinema Phantom tower speakers (front left and right), CC-170 center speaker, Atoms (left and right surrounds), and PDR-12 subwoofer.

I'm willing to pay for an AVR that will provide video performance to take full advantage of the TV and Blu-ray player. Likewise with sound performance; I see no point in paying for a higher performing AVR than my existing speakers can handle.

BTW, my room is 18x12 feet, and the TV will be located on one long wall with the sofa along the opposite wall. Also, I have carte blanche from my wife to get what I want in designing the media room.

Darren Benjamin

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Wide Angle
Up Close and Personal with the Samsung Smart TV Lineup
Al Griffin  |  Mar 09, 2012

Though we got a good peek at them at the recent CES, Samsung’s 3/6 event in NYC gave Sound+Vision a chance to get even more up close and personal with the company’s new LCD and plasma Smart TVs.

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Headphone Reviews
Review: AKG K 490 NC and K 495 NC Noise-Canceling Headphones
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 09, 2012

I love the form factor of on-ear, or "supra-aural" headphones — the kind where the ear pads press against your ears’ pinnae instead of surrounding them —  because they usually fit easily into my laptop computer case. But I’ve had a problem finding a model comfortable enough to wear for more than an hour. What’s more, I’ve found no on-ears whose performance compares to that of a good over-ear (or circumaural) headphone — until now.

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Soundbar Reviews
Vizio VHT215 Soundbar
Lawrence E. Ullman  |  Mar 08, 2012
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $320 At A Glance: 2.1 channels with effective virtual surround • Wireless subwoofer • HDMI 1.4a connectors • Easy to set up and install

If Star Trek's Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott was handed one of today's ultra-thin flat-panel HDTVs and warned, "You have eight minutes to get decent sound quality out this thing or the Enterprise is going to burn up in the atmosphere!," he might take one look at it and once again utter those immortal words: "I canna change the laws of physics!"

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New Products
New Gear: Harman's Dock+Go Personalized Dashboard
Leslie Shapiro  |  Mar 08, 2012

Who says Switzerland is known only for chocolates, cheese, and watches? There's plenty of exciting news coming from the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Town: Ultimate Collector's Edition
David Vaughn  |  Mar 07, 2012

When The Town came out on Blu-ray in December 2010, I was blown away by the presentation. It was one of my favorite films of the year due to the non-stop action, believable characters, and some of the most realistic bank heists ever to hit the silver screen. In this Ultimate Collector's Edition, the reference-quality audio and video from the original release are still present with fabulous detail, surround envelopment, and dynamics, plus the alternate ending gives better closure to the story.
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Signals
Would You Like a Rolex With That?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Mar 07, 2012

Michael Jackson is back in the news, and as usual, not in a good way. This time, at least, it’s no fault of his own. Rather, it’s his employer, Sony, who assumes the blame. It was imprudently careless with the keys to Jackson’s bank vault.

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Subwoofer Reviews
Review: Velodyne EQ-Max 8 Subwoofer
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 07, 2012

Some home theater enthusiasts see automatic equalization as a sonic savior. They believe it guarantees great sound. But it doesn’t.

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Tech2
The Schroeder Frequency: A Show and Tell, Part 2
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 07, 2012

In part 1 of this article, we discussed the Schroeder frequency — a frequency above which your listening room works primarily as a sound reflector and diffuser, and below which your room works primarily as a resonator.

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 101: The Chat Room
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 06, 2012
With a last-minute guest cancellation, I spend a pleasant hour answering questions from the chat room, including how I got my start in home theater, what it might take for an Apple television to be successful, tips for speaker placement, what to consider when converting a basement to a home theater, where the best seat in a commercial theater is, motion blur on LCD TVs, video processors, RF universal remotes, HDMI Audio Return Channel, whether or not 3D is a passing fad, using two identical projectors to display 3D, and much more.

Run Time: 1:05:07

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