LATEST ADDITIONS

Tech2
The Schroeder Frequency: A Show and Tell, Part 1
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 05, 2012
Even if you live in a studio apartment, you have at least two listening rooms. Well, in a sense. Every listening room is, in essence, two listening rooms when you look at it from the perspective of sound.

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Ask S&V
Really Big Plasma
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 05, 2012
We are in the process of completing the home theater. It is located in the basement, and I have complete control of the lighting. It was designed to use a projector or flat panel, but unfortunately, it seems a flat panel may be the only option.

I have discovered it is relatively easy to find LCD flat panels in sizes up to 80 inches or more, but I would prefer a plasma rather than an LCD. However, no one makes an 80-inch plasma for under $6000. Panasonic makes the TH-85PF12U and TH-85VX200U, but those are roughly $20,000 and $30,000, respectively! Does anyone make an 80- or 85-inch plasma for under $6000, and if not, why? I can't believe there is no market for this in the HT world.

Vincent A.

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Vote
Do You Use Your Audio System More for Movies or Music?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 02, 2012
Last year, Steve Guttenberg wrote a great article for Home Theater called "How to Choose a Home Theater for Movies or Music" based on the premise that the system requirements for movies and music are quite different. Music is mostly 2-channel, while movies are mostly 5.1 or 7.1. Movies often have lots of non-pitched, extremely low bass and a wider dynamic range than most music recordings. And yet most of us must make do with one system for both types of content, compromising in one way or another to balance its performance toward movies or music depending on which is more important to us.

Do you use your audio system more for movies (and TV) or music? How have you balanced the system's performance as a result? For example, if you mostly listen to music, did you get full-range front left and right speakers to use without a subwoofer? Or are you lucky enough to have two separate systems, one for movies and TV and the other for music?

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

Do You Use Your Audio System More for Movies or Music?
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Ask S&V
HDMI Audio Return Channel Conundrum
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 02, 2012
I have a Panasonic TC-P50GT30 plasma TV and Pioneer VSX-1121 A/V receiver, both of which support HDMI version 1.4 with Audio Return Channel (ARC). The AVR's HDMI output is connected to the TV's HDMI input 1, which is the only input with ARC capability. I also have a PS3 connected to one of the TV's other HDMI inputs. When I play a Blu-ray disc on the PS3 and listen to the audio through my AVR, all I see on the AVR display is Stereo. However if I connect the PS3 to the AVR directly, I see Dolby Digital (or whatever the audio format is) on the AVR display. Does the Panasonic plasma not pass the advanced Blu-ray audio formats, such as Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD, to my AVR via HDMI ARC?

Dan

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Win Puss in Boots on Blu-ray
Michael Berk  |  Mar 02, 2012

As we've been saying for a while now, 7.1's coming of age - and, with increasing frequency and utility, it's coming to home theaters.

With a growing list of releases taking advantage of those extra channels, why not take a chance with us and get yourself a copy of Puss in Boots on Blu-ray.

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Tech2
Review: Julia Nunes' Settle Down
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 02, 2012

Julia Nunes is the future. A future where talented artists bypass traditional music publishing conglomerates and make their income directly from fans.

Settle Down was bankrolled by fans, for fans. That it's a great album is almost secondary to its importance as a tangible example of what this next generation of professional musician can accomplish.

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The S&V Interview
The S+V Interview: Mass Effect 3 Audio Lead Rob Blake
Timothy J. Seppala  |  Mar 01, 2012

The Reapers are upon us. Mass Effect 3 is out next Tuesday, and with it Commander Shepard's story is coming to a close. I took the opportunity to chat with the series' audio lead, Rob Blake about his team's work in defining the Mass Effect franchise. Over the course of his career he's worked on everything from feature films to Spongebob Squarepants games, but counts his efforts at developer BioWare as the most challenging gigs he's encountered.

"What we do here dwarfs anything I've done before," he told me.

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Streaming Device Reviews
Review: Boxee Live TV
Michael Berk  |  Feb 29, 2012

If you're a Boxee Box owner, you probably noticed the revamped and streamlined main menu in the latest iteration of the OS, Boxee 1.5. The company's new USB stick goes that one better, adding live TV to the do-it-all streamer's ever-expanding repertoire.

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Tech2
Review: Fun. Some Nights
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 29, 2012

Fun. is something of a supergroup, in as much as each band member had been in other reasonably successful bands prior to this one.

Some Nights, their second album, finds the trio doing what they do best: Crafting anthemic rock songs with catchy melodies and excellent musicianship.

It's a fantastic album that above all else is a great bit of (n): something that provides mirth or amusement.

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Signals
Car Tunes
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Feb 29, 2012

8-track tape, cassette, MiniDisc, DAT. They all have two things in common. You don’t find them in new cars anymore. And, like lots of other technologies that have come and gone, car radios have easily outlasted them. Actually, add CD to that list. Within a few years, that’ll be gone. But is AM/FM radio on the endangered species list too?

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