LATEST ADDITIONS

Premiere Design
Arc De Triomphe
Bob Ankosko  |  Oct 07, 2014
Samsung 105-Inch UN105S9W Ultra HD TV

Hailed as “the world’s largest UHD display,” Samsung’s 105-inch flagship is a sight to behold, standing nearly 5-feet tall and 8-feet wide on its sleek, minimalist arc of a frame. We were eager to learn about the company’s vision for this $120,000 statement piece so we asked Dave Das, vice president of home entertainment to take us behind the scenes.

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Signals
Oh No! Not This Again!
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Oct 07, 2014
We loved them. We cherished them. We truly believed that we had purchased the last TV we would ever need to purchase. That's because picture quality could never get any better. Plasma was awesome! Wow! Look at those black levels.

Then, as they say, time marched on. Technology improved. Market sentiment shifted; people wanted something newer and cooler. Much like the dinosaurs, plasma TVs looked up in the sky and wondered—what's the deal with that huge flaming mass of asteroid hurtling down at me?

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Audio Video News
GoldenEar to Demo Flagship Triton One Speaker at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
SV Staff  |  Oct 06, 2014
GoldenEar Technology will demonstrate its flagship Triton One tower speaker at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF), the company announced. The showing marks the first time GoldenEar has exhibited at RMAF, which begins Friday, October 10 at the Marriott Tech Center in Denver, CO and runs through Sunday, October 12.

A showcase of GoldenEar’s most advanced technologies, the $5,000-a-pair Triton One is a Sound&Vision 2014 Top Pick, which received accolades for its remarkably open and balanced sound quality and performance-price ratio.

Demonstrations will be ongoing in Room 8021.

Tech2
Bose @ 50: A Look at The Legacy, and What’s Next
Lauren Dragan  |  Oct 03, 2014
This week, at a massive loft space in NYC, the people of Bose constructed a temporary museum of sorts: an impressive array of both consumer technology and fascinating prototypes, chronicling the company’s history. Bose is celebrating its50th anniversary, an accomplishment for any company, but especially in technology, a field where so many businesses launch with great fanfare only to sink into obscurity. Built on the shoulders of engineer, MIT professor, inventor, and entrepreneur Dr. Amar Bose, the Bose corporation began with a single product, the pod-looking Bose 2201. The 2201 screams 1960s design aesthetic. With its burlap-esque fabric and wooden housing, it’s fun to imagine what stereophiles thought of this unique and bizarre design in a sea of rectangle and square speakers.
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Ears On
A Soundbar Bill of Rights
Mark Fleischmann  |  Oct 03, 2014
Should there be a Soundbar Bill of Rights? Consumer rights are trivial compared to the majesty of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights—for example, the right to freedom of speech (Fourth Article) or the right to a speedy and public trial (Ninth Article). Even so, the question is provocative enough for one little blog.

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Audio Video News
More Dolby Atmos Blu-ray Movies on the Way
SV Staff  |  Oct 03, 2014
Dolby Releases Atmos Testimonial Video

Three Blu-ray titles featuring Dolby Atmos soundtracks were announced this week. Paramount Pictures will release Hercules on November 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on December 16. Lionsgate announced the November 4 release of Step Up All In on Blu-ray.

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Ask S&V
How Do I Arrange Seating For a Dual Screen Setup?
Al Griffin  |  Oct 02, 2014  |  First Published: Sep 30, 2014
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I’ve seen a couple of instances in Sound & Vision magazine of installations with a flat-panel TV for normal viewing and a projector and large screen for special viewings. If the screen comes down in front of the flat panel, how do you arrange room seating to accommodate both screen sizes? A 60-inch flat panel and a 100-inch projection screen for instance?—W. Ladd Romans, Jr. / via e-mail

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Music Reviews
Pink Floyd: The Division Bell--20th Anniversary Edition Box Set
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 02, 2014
Performance
Sound
Which one’s Pink? It’s a debate that’s polarized fans ever since Pink Floyd principals David Gilmour and Roger Waters split up their creative partnership in the mid-’80s. Waters went on to build an unprecedented solo live Wall of epic visual and auditory proportions, while Gilmour retained the rights to the band name and constructed two diverse, divergent studio albums and subsequent tours with his other two Floydmates in tow, keyboardist Richard Wright and drummer Nick Mason. The latter of those two LPs, 1994’s admittedly divisive The Division Bell, now comes back to life with a 20th anniversary deluxe celebration in box set form, and thanks to a brilliantly stunning surround sound mix, material initially perceived as B-level reveals itself to have been A all the way.
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Accessory Reviews
Affordable New Home Automation Systems Put the Smart in Your Home
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 02, 2014
It’s disappointing to note that, already well into the second decade of the 21st century, the smartest component of most people’s homes is a programmable thermostat—and chances are, it hasn’t been programmed since it was installed (if at all). But you can’t really blame homeowners for not rushing in droves to embrace home automation or, as it’s more often called, the “smart home.” Neither the high cost of reliable systems nor the low reliability of cheap systems has been all that enticing.
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Accessory Reviews
SmartThings Hub Home Automation Controller
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 02, 2014

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $99

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Z-Wave and ZigBee radios built in
In-app live chat support
Supports multiple third-party devices and services
Minus
Doesn’t support Insteon
No tablet-specific app layout

THE VERDICT
The SmartThings Hub offers an impressive range of support, its app is powerful and smartly designed, and it’s a great value.

As with all up-and-coming DIY home automation systems, the SmartThings Hub is intended to make your life a living nirvana, bringing peace, love, and, yes, even rock ’n’ roll (grunge or otherwise) into your smart home. The $99 price—with a free app and no monthly subscription fees—is certainly a tasty enticement for someone with a sweet tooth for home automation on the cheap. But the big question is whether there’s enough meaty substance to the SmartThings system to satisfy a homeowner’s long-term automation hunger. Or does SmartThings give nothing more than a sugar high that inevitably leads to a disappointing crash later on?

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