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Audio Video News
Survey Shows Most Unwanted Phones, Tablets, and MP3 Players Are Not Recycled
SV Staff  |  Apr 27, 2014
Americans are well educated on the benefits of recycling bottles, cans, and paper but when it comes to electronics devices all bets are off. The proliferation of cell phones and tablets has led to a growing glut of "e-waste" piling up in people's homes, as well as a lack of understanding about what to do with broken, unwanted, or outdated devices.
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Headphone Amp/DAC ReviewsMedia Server ReviewsOther Source Component Reviews
Sony HAP-S1 High-Resolution Audio Player
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 25, 2014

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $999

AT A GLANCE
Plus
500-GB hard drive
DSD capable
Serious fun to use
Minus
No live streaming from network devices
Lightweight amp

THE VERDICT
This handsome DSD-capable audio player with built-in storage takes the pesky computer out of computer audio—and it’s way more fun to use.

Sony made waves when they announced their intention to market three high-resolution audio (HRA) products built around the company’s DSD file format. True, there was a nascent HRA movement before Sony made the move, with loads of network audio players and USB DACs flooding the market. But somehow the Sony announcement provided the extra momentum that finally made HRA seem not just promising but inevitable. That the Consumer Electronics Association has also launched an HRA initiative is icing on the cake.

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Headphone ReviewsTech2
Review: Jabra Wants You to Rox Your Next Workout
Lauren Dragan  |  Apr 24, 2014
If you’re like me, you can’t get any kind of workout done without music. A driving beat helps to regulate breathing, encourages you to keep up the pace, and energizes you when you’re ready to call it quits. But sometimes the toughest part of working out isn’t my burning muscles, it’s getting the right pair of headphones that sound good, stay put, and deliver my tunes. There’s a lot out of offerings there these days, and Jabra is entering the fray with their first Bluetooth sport headphone, the Rox. But do they have the fortitude to go the distance?
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Audio Video News
Sony Focuses on High-Rez Audio with New Line of Affordable AV Receivers and Speakers
SV Staff  |  Apr 24, 2014
Sony is aiming to make high-resolution music available to a broader audience with the introduction of high-rez-capable AV receivers, a Blu-ray-based home theater system, and a series of speakers, all due out in May. Two of four new receivers and the Blu-ray system are equipped to handle a variety of audio formats from FLAC to Sony's own Direct Stream Digital (DSD), originally developed for Super Audio CD.
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New Products
New Gear
SV Staff  |  Apr 24, 2014
An inexpensive cleaner for your TV screen, GoldenEar's latest tower speaker, an NFC/Bluetooth adapter, and more.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Cat People
Josef Krebs  |  Apr 24, 2014
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
Slightly campy, with oodles of gratuitous nudity and violence, writer-director Paul Schrader’s remake of the 1942 Val Lawton classic tells of Irena (Nastassja Kinski), a beautiful young woman who goes to New Orleans to stay with her sinister minister brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell). Irena represses her sexuality, fearing that animal lust will loose the beast and transform her—into a panther. When she falls in love, though, her desire makes her gradually embrace her nature.
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Gadget Gary
Should I Override My Audyssey Auto-setup?
Al Griffin  |  Apr 24, 2014
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I have an Integra DHC-80.3 preamp/processor with Audyssey MultEQ XT32. Reading the manual, I learned that I should set the speaker crossover to 80 Hz because “Audyssey recommends that speakers are ALWAYS set to Small when there is a subwoofer in the system.” This apparently allows for proper bass management and more headroom in the receiver or amplifier.  

So here are my questions. My speaker system is based around full-range B&W CM10 towers (powered by 250-watt mono amps) and includes a single subwoofer. Do I still need to choose an 80 Hz crossover point for my setup? Also, is there a point in upgrading to speakers with more powerful bass if I do cross them over at 80 Hz? —Bill Wong / via email

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3D Projector ReviewsProjector Reviews
JVC DLA-X700R 3D D-ILA Projector
Kris Deering  |  Apr 23, 2014

2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $8,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Raises the bar for contrast
Excellent dynamic iris
performance
Minus
HDMI slow to lock on to signals

THE VERDICT
With the introduction of its first dynamic iris system, JVC has set a new standard for black level and contrast.

My dad worked on helicopters when I was growing up. In our garage was a picture of the latest Army Chinook, with the tag line “Only the Silhouette Remains the Same.” When I started my review of the DLA-X700R, JVC’s latest 3D LCOS projector, that phrase came back to mind. The projector looks exactly like my reference DLA-X75R—but on the inside, almost everything is new. After about a month of extensive use, I’ve discovered that JVC has achieved a massive step up in performance, making their new line of projectors the best they’ve delivered yet.

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Music Reviews
Marillion: Sounds that Can’t Be Made — Special Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 23, 2014
Performance
Sound
Some bands sputter and wither after major personnel changes, and then there’s Marillion. The British neo-progressive collective’s first incarnation crested with 1985’s concept-driven Misplaced Childhood, which featured original mercurial lead singer Fish and the hit guitar-driven lament, “Kayleigh.” Act II commenced with 1989’s transitional Seasons End, featuring new vocalist Steve Hogarth (a.k.a. “h”), who has since helped fuel the band to greater compositional heights over the last two decades.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Butler
David Vaughn  |  Apr 23, 2014
Picture
Sound
Extras
White House butler Cecil Gaines has a front-row seat to the inner workings of the people’s house as the Civil Rights era begins. Raised in Georgia as the son of a sharecropper, he’s turned into a house servant when his father is murdered and ventures out on his own into the cruel world as a teenager. Though he makes several stops along the way, he eventually ends up in the White House serving a string of presidents starting with Eisenhower and ending with Reagan.
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