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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 09, 2011

Performance
Value
Build Quality
Price: $528 At A Glance: Substantial and good-sounding monitors and center • Sub of modest size and power • Jaw-droppingly value packed for the price

Andrew Jones for All

Isn’t it preposterous for the Pioneer Corporation to assert itself as a loudspeaker manufacturer? After all, the company is best known in the home theater sphere as a maker of audio/video receivers. Those with just slightly longer memories recall Pioneer’s world-class KURO plasmas as some of the best HDTVs ever made. There was a time when the Laserdisc format, which Pioneer championed, was the signal source of choice among videophiles. Pioneer was also one of the Japanese audio brands that established the stereo receiver as a staple of dorm rooms (including mine) during the 1970s. But who thinks of Pioneer in connection with speakers?

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Music Reviews
CD Review: Ronnie Dunn
Billy Altman  |  Jun 09, 2011

It’s a well-known story: A little over 2 decades ago, a Nashville record executive familiar with aspiring singer/songwriters Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn suggested that the two team up and see what might happen — and the rest was, indeed, history.

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Music Reviews
CD Review: Battles
Rob O'Connor  |  Jun 09, 2011

Battles turned quite a few heads with 2007’s Mirrored. Like Tortoise, the band took experimental prog rock and made it cool for the lo-fi/postpunk set.

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Audio Video News
Panasonic Adopts Quick Chip
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 09, 2011

The convergence train has long since left the station and one of the results is that TVs are adopting more and more computerized functions. And we all want our computers to run fast, so it's good news that Panasonic has adopted a faster UniPhier processor for its Viera TVs and Blu-ray players.

The Cortex-A9 is a 1.4GHz dual-core chip. Panasonic says it can muster "two TV broadcasting channels [we're guessing that means streams], as well as Internet-based content and applications in high-resolution at the same time. In addition, the new chip is able to reduce power consumption of and the number of components used in smart TVs, which will help drive smart TVs to spread in the global market."

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 68: Jeff Murray
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 08, 2011
Jeff Murray, president of SpectraCal, discusses the importance of setting a TV's basic picture controls and grayscale calibration, the advantages and pitfalls of color-management systems, the company's VideoForge test-pattern generator and VideoEQ processor, automatic calibration using CalMan software with some of Panasonic's 2011 TVs, where to get educated about video calibration, calibrating 3D TVs, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 58:43

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Ask S&V
TV Disappointment, Vizio 3D, Closed Captioning
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 08, 2011
I'm unhappy with the LCD TV I bought, any suggestions? What do you think of the Vizio XVT3D650SV? Is there a TV that displays closed captions when you mute the volume?
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Ask S&V
3D On Any TV
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 08, 2011
Back in the late 1980s, Sega released the Sega Master System, a competitor to Nintendo's NES. This system could be purchased with 3D shutter glasses that plugged into the system. These glasses worked basically the same way as today's glasses, but because they sync'd to the game system, they worked with the TV you already had. Why doesn't someone make a 3D Blu-ray player with glasses that sync to it so that any TV could display 3D? This would lower the barrier of entry and maybe sell more 3D movies.

Robert Johnson

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Blu-ray Review: Another Year, and more
Sol Louis Siegel  |  Jun 08, 2011

Another Year (Sony)

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Desktop Speaker Reviews
Tivoli Audio NetWorks Internet Radio
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 08, 2011
Price: $300 At A Glance: Internet radio in attractive wood-veneer box • Also accesses music from PC or USB device • Wi-Fi or wired connection

Net Radio in a Box

This review needn’t be complicated. The product certainly isn’t. Tivoli Audio’s NetWorks Internet Radio is a little wooden box that plays Internet radio. Aside from the remote, it has only one visible control, a wheel on top. If you never deviate from a favorite station, you’ll rarely even think about the other controls.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Robin of Sherwood (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 08, 2011
Shot entirely on location in England's castles and countryside, this modernization of the classic Robin Hood tale combines elements of history, myth, and magic with plenty of action thrown into the mix. The ensemble cast includes Michael Praed as Robin of Loxley, Ray Winstone as Will Scarlet, and Nickolas Grace as the conniving Sheriff of Nottingham.

Broadcast on PBS and Showtime in the 1980s, this British series certainly shows its age with the outdated music, 1.33:1 framed image, and campy production value. The series has a cult-like following and I don't mean to insult the fans, but I don't get it. My wife and I did our best to get through all 13 episodes, but couldn't make it to the end.

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