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Aperion Audio Verus II Grand Speaker System Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 10, 2017

Verus II Grand Speaker System
Performance
Build Quality
Value

Bravus II 12D Subwoofer
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $5,005 as reviewed

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Tight, detailed bass
Excellent tonal balance
Spacious, cohesive soundstage
Minus
Sub has limitations in very large rooms
Narrow tower can be unstable on carpet

THE VERDICT
With modest but significant improvements to their flagship speaker line, Aperion Audio has again hit the jackpot in offering the sort of value that’s rare in today’s increasingly pricey audio marketplace.

Six years ago, I reviewed the first version of Aperion Audio’s then new Verus Grand speaker line. While this was a considerable step up from the internet-direct manufacturer’s previous, well-regarded budget-priced models, it still offered incredible value. As I concluded at the time: “If [the Verus Grand] impresses you as much as [it] impressed me, you’ll ultimately be a winner.”

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SmartStream
Hands On: Facebook Video App for Apple TV
Barb Gonzalez  |  Mar 10, 2017
It would be easy to dismiss the Facebook Video app as unnecessary and just another way to waste time. The new app,recently launched for Samsung TVs and the fourth generation Apple TV, is a lot better than I had expected. And oddly, I find that I’m spending less time using it.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Our Kind of Traitor
Josef Krebs  |  Mar 10, 2017
Picture
Sound
Extras
This elegant, suspenseful adaptation of John le Carré’s novel, Our Kind of Traitor, makes for a marvelous companion piece to the recent excellent TV miniseries adaptation of the writer’s The Night Manager. Here, a bored and lost university poetry professor whose marriage is in crisis—one of le Carré’s endless supply of honorable and principled innocent civilians who, seeking purpose and redemption, allow themselves to become involved in international intrigue—is seduced into helping Dima, a charismatic money launderer for the Russian mafia desperate to defect to England and save his family.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Legend of Tarzan
Corey Gunnestad  |  Mar 10, 2017
Picture
Sound
Extras
The Legend of Tarzan nearly functions as a sequel of sorts, picking up where most other Tarzan movies leave off. It’s 1890 and the man formerly known as Tarzan, John Clayton III the Earl of Greystoke, and his beautiful wife Jane are happily married and living as aristocrats in England.
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Audio Video News
Sling Offers Cloud DVR to Amazon Fire TV Users
SV Staff  |  Mar 10, 2017
Sling TV owners who use Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, or Fire tablet devices are being offered an “exclusive” opportunity to buy into Sling’s Cloud DVR service under the company’s First Look “early access” program.
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Audio Video News
RadioShack Files for Bankruptcy, Will Close 200 Stores
SV Staff  |  Mar 10, 2017
RadioShack, the 96-year-old retail chain that for decades was the go-to store for electronics hobbyists, filed for bankruptcy this week, marking the second time in just over two years that it has sought protection under bankruptcy laws.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Fluance Introduces $300 Flagship Subwoofer
SV Staff  |  Mar 10, 2017
Fluance, the internet-based Canadian speaker company that offers a lifetime warranty on its products, has introduced a new flagship subwoofer that sells for $300.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Sanus Unveils Swiveling TV Base for Sonos Playbase
SV Staff  |  Mar 09, 2017
Sanus has announced a swiveling TV mount/stand for the Playbase TV sound system Sonos recently introduced.
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Ask S&V
Why Do 2.1-Channel Soundbars Decode Surround Sound?
Al Griffin  |  Mar 09, 2017
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I am planning to buy a 2.1-channel soundbar and have noticed many are only capable of decoding standard Dolby Digital soundtracks. However, one 2.1-channel model I looked at, Sony's HT-NT5, supports Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, DTS ES, and DTS 96/24. What is the advantage of a 2.1 channel soundbar being able to decode multiple multichannel audio formats? —Joe Pop

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The S&V InterviewAudio Video News
Ridding the World of Bad Sound
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 09, 2017

15 Minutes with Dirac Founder Mathias Johansson

Mathias Johansson, CEO and co-founder of Sweden’s Dirac Research, has devoted his professional life to developing technologies that improve sound quality—whether that sound is music heard over headphones or car speakers, or an intricate Dolby Atmos soundtrack played over a high-end home theater system. “Our passion is to invent new sound technologies that offer a better sound experience regardless of the sound system,” he says. “We want to be a quality seal for good sound, and we want to achieve this through scientific methods.” If the accolades the Dirac Live room-correction system has garnered among enthusiasts is any measure, Johansson is not only on the right path to elevating sound quality but making tangible progress.
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