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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Extended Editions—Warner Bros./New Line Cinema
Kris Deering  |  Jun 30, 2011
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 5/5
"Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring" - With the help of a courageous fellowship of friends and allies, Frodo embarks on a perilous mission to destroy the legendary One Ring. "Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers" - In the middle chapter of this historic movie trilogy, the Fellowship is broken but its quest to destroy the One Ring continues. "Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King" - The final battle for Middle-earth begins. Frodo and Sam, led by Gollum, continue their dangerous mission toward the fires of Mount Doom in order to destroy the One Ring.
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Ask S&V
Compact Home-Theater Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 30, 2011
I read in a recent Ask Scott post ("Building a System") that you thought full-range speakers in the system under discussion would be overkill for watching movies. One of the reasons for using bookshelf or compact speakers for the front left/right channels—tonal matching—was also highlighted as an appealing quality in Home Theater's review of B&W 805 compact speaker system (seen here).

I am looking to set up a surround system for the sole purpose of watching movies (no music) in a 12x12 room. As a general rule, do you recommend a system with matching front and surround speakers over a system with full-range fronts and compact surrounds, knowing there will be a sub either way? Most of the systems I see reviewed in magazines as well as all the recommended systems at my favorite local hi-fi store match large floorstanding front speakers with small surrounds, but your advice seems to contradict this.

Johann Dutton

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Premiere Design
Estelon Model XA Speaker
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 30, 2011
Who would have thought that Estonia, a tiny republic on the Baltic Sea in the far northeast corner of the European continent, is home to a high-end speaker maker? Estelon was founded in 2006 to bring the vision of designer Alfred Vassllkov to life. His first product—the Model XA—is still the company's flagship.
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Audio Video News
Consumers High on Passive 3D, Says LG
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 30, 2011
A study sponsored by LG Electronics has found that an overwhelming percentage of consumers prefer passive 3D technology over the active kind.

Miraculously, passive 3D happens to be the very kind LG is selling, versus the kind with active-shutter glasses being marketed by the likes of Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony. What are the chances of that happening?

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Ask S&V
AVR Surround Modes
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
I have a Harman Kardon AVR 146 5.1 receiver. Which surround mode (Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, DTS Neo:6, or Logic 7) will provide the most enveloping sound without cranking up the surround speakers? I'm currently using Dolby Digital, and while the rear speakers are supposed to provide ambient sound, I find them lacking. I use a sound meter to set the Channel Adjust levels and a tape measure to determine the distance to the sweet spot for the Delay Adjust settings.

Brian Porter

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Ask S&V
HDMI Audio Return Channel
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
I have all my source devices (TiVo, Roku, Blu-ray player) connected to my Denon AVR-791 via HDMI 1.4a cables, and a single HDMI cable goes to my Panasonic TC-P50VT25 television. If I use the Internet apps on the TV, I cannot hear any sound. How should I set up the AVR and cables to get sound from the TV to my speakers? I have the onboard speakers disabled, of course, and if I turn them on, the sound does work. I don't know if the AVR can take audio back over the HDMI cable through the HDMI output port.

I ask because the Netflix app on the TV is pretty good. I thought the same version would be on the matching Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player, but it's not. Right now, we use the version on the TiVo or Roku.

Paul Wurster

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 70: Chris Connaker
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
Chris Connaker, founder of ComputerAudiophile.com, talks about the basics of high-resolution computer-audio files, including file formats and compression, adaptive and asynchronous USB DACs, ripping physical discs, online sources for high-res music files, the Simple Design Sonore Linux-based music-server appliance, cloud-based systems, using a preamp/processor with high-res music servers, local-area network streaming, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 57:01

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Audio Video News
Biggest production rear-projection 3D TV?
Michael Berk  |  Jun 29, 2011

...who knows? It'll change next week, I'm sure. I'm not going to get into that question again.

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Soundbar Reviews
Polk SurroundBar 6000 Soundbar Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 29, 2011
Price: $500 At A Glance: Self-contained soundbar with wireless sub • Proprietary Polk SDA and Digital Logic processing • Relatively few user controls

Mellow Bar

As I’ve noted so many times in the recent past, soundbars are a viable step up from horrific built-in HDTV speakers, which have only gotten worse as flatpanel HDTVs have gotten flatter. Soundbars are especially suitable for people who don’t like component audio systems, with their speaker-placement requirements, cabling, and—perhaps the ultimate deal breaker for the flat-panel-owning Luddite—the need to be mated with one of those scary man-eating A/V receivers. But what if there’s a second deal breaker lurking in the bushes?

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Audio Video News
Net Neutrality Comes to Europe
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 29, 2011

Net neutrality has become a political and regulatory football in the United States, with internet service providers squaring off against electronic libertarians, and the feds uneasily caught in the middle. But in one European nation, for the first time, it may be about to become law.

In the Netherlands, the parliament is weighing a net neutrality bill designed to prevent the dominant (and newly privatized) telco from discriminating against certain kinds of net traffic.

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