LATEST ADDITIONS

Ask S&V
Flat Panel Over the Fireplace
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 09, 2012
In my family room, the only place I can mount my TV is above a brick fireplace. The ceiling height is 9 feet, and the fireplace is 57 inches tall, giving me 51 inches above the fireplace with a width of 69 inches. The sofa is 12 feet from the fireplace. I get the sense that the TV would be too high, and I would like your thoughts on the height and distance.

barecomp

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Tech2
Review: DVDO Air Wireless for HDMI Connection System
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Apr 09, 2012

For most people, running a 1-meter HDMI cable to their TV is the only connection they need to make to experience a glorious 1080p picture. But mount that TV on a wall, or decide to go with projection, and you have a problem: the wires. Sure you can run HDMI cables through your walls or ceiling (or down to your basement), but sometimes that's just not easy - or possible.

As Daniel Kumin found in his recent "Something in the Air" article, sending HD signals wirelessly is not only possible, it's now practical, and even affordable.

New on the scene is DVDO's Air, one of the more interesting-looking products in this category. Curious how well it stacks up? How convenient. Me too.

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Vote
Have You Cut the Cord?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 06, 2012
In today's SmartStream blog, Barb Gonzalez talks about her experience cutting the cord to cable TV while retaining broadband Internet access from her cable company and what might be in store for others wanting to do the same thing. And from what I can tell, their numbers are growing fast as more and more people—especially youngsters—turn to the Internet for their television programming because of its inherently on-demand nature and often much lower cost (though download overage charges can certainly mitigate that advantage).

How about you? Have you cut the cord to cable and/or satellite service in favor of online delivery (and perhaps free over-the-air terrestrial broadcasts for local channels)? Or does cable/satellite still provide something you can't get online? What led you to the decision you've made in this regard?

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

Have You Cut the Cord?
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SmartStream
Scrambled Basic Cable, Anyone?
Barb Gonzalez  |  Apr 06, 2012
I recently cut the cord and canceled my cable TV subscription but kept cable-delivered broadband Internet access. Unfortunately, dropping cable TV didn't work for me because my antenna reception is spotty, so I was glad when someone told me that I could connect my TV to the cable jack and get my local channels. Little did I know that I was being "illicit" and that my circumstances were part of a bigger controversy.
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Out Of The Blu
Cinema Verite, Corman's World, Torchwood: Miracle Day
Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 06, 2012
Hello, and welcome to my first Blu-ray blog for HomeTheater.com wherein we take a look at a few interesting discs that you might have missed among the weekly cascade of blockbusters and otherwise more heavily advertised releases. In this installment, we check out HBO's Cinema Verite, Anchor Bay's Corman's World, and BBC's Torchwood: Miracle Day.
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Ask S&V
Pioneer Speakers with Marantz SR7005 AVR
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 06, 2012
Can you advise me on the choice between the Pioneer S-31B-LR-K, SP-BS41-LR, and SP-BS21-LR bookshelf speakers? The 41 and 21 have the Andrew Jones design going for them, but by proxy, so does the 31, being derived from the EX range. However the 31 is slightly smaller and more expensive!

Reading your review of the SP-BS41-LR system prompted me to finally replace an old Bose Lifestyle 28 system (something I regretted buying shortly after getting it). I already got the Panasonic DMP-BDT210 Blu-ray player (awesome!); next, the speakers, then the Marantz SR7005 AVR as the heart of the system. The sub will be last; don’t know which one yet.

Declan McGlinchey

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Tech2
Urbanears Plattan and House of Marley Positive Vibration: The $59 Headphone Roundup, Part 3
Brent Butterworth  |  Apr 06, 2012

So far, Sound+Vision’s search for a great $59 headphone has come up with a couple of models we can conditionally recommend, but nothing we would just tell our friends and family members to go buy. Fortunately, we’ve saved the best for last.

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The S&V Interview
Steven Wilson: Getting Surrounded With Music
Steve Guttenberg  |  Apr 05, 2012
Steven Wilson is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter of the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, but he’s becoming the go-to man for remixing classic rock recordings into 5.1 surround for DVD and Blu-ray. His recent solo album, Grace for Drowning, proves he’s just as adept in creating new music that fully exploits the surround soundscape.
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Grace Notes
Review: iFrogz Boost
Leslie Shapiro  |  Apr 05, 2012

The iFrogz Boost is a small, very portable speaker that claims to magically boost the sound from an iPhone, or any smartphone or other device with an external speaker. I have to be skeptical of any product that uses the word "magical" on their packaging - unless it's a "As Seen on TV" product, which everyone knows are all magical.

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Signals
Is Neil Young off his Rocker?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 05, 2012

Neil Young likes to criticize things: war, environmental abuses, indifference to homelessness, the plight of small farmers, Presidents of the United States, etc.  Name an activist topic, and you can probably find several well-crafted lyrics, ranging from subtle to confrontational, on the issue. Neil Young is also critical of sound quality. Highly critical.

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