LATEST ADDITIONS

Music Reviews
Moondance Deluxe Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 25, 2013
Performance
Sound
How do you make a perfect album even more perfect? In the case of Van Morrison’s seminal 1970 neo-rock Caledonian masterpiece Moondance, you compile a 70-track deluxe edition that includes three discs of sessions, outtakes, and alternate mixes, in addition to a separate Blu-ray Audio disc with a long-lost surround sound mix done by one of the album’s original engineers. Yes, as any good Van the Man fan knows, it’s too late to stop now.
Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
Plasma Screens Bigger Than 65 Inches?
Al Griffin  |  Nov 25, 2013
Q Why at this time of near-perfect plasma TVs are there no sets available in the 65-to-85-inch range? I would like to consider one of the new Panasonic or Samsung models for my home theater but require a set with a screen size larger than 65 inches.—Steve Stolte / Cedar Rapids, IA
Continue Reading »
Grace NotesAudio Video News
Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone:” An Ever-Changing Interactive Experience
Leslie Shapiro  |  Nov 25, 2013
48 years after its release in 1965, Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” finally has an official music video. Well, actually, it has an infinite number of videos. The digital media company Interlude Studios has created a totally unique interactive video for Dylan’s classic that turns channel-surfing into a mind-blowing experience.

Continue Reading »
LCD TV ReviewsTV Reviews
Samsung UN60F8000 3D LCD HDTV
Al Griffin  |  Nov 22, 2013

2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $2,300 (updated 2/2/16)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Excellent picture quality for an LCD HDTV Innovative remote control
Minus
Overly wide Arc Stand base

THE VERDICT
Samsung’s F8000 Series represents an evolutionary leap in the company’s LCD TV offerings.

My last experience with a Samsung TV (aside from the company’s KN55S9C OLED, reviewed in the November issue) was a memorable one. The company had just endowed its Smart Hub interface with voice control, and, consequently, it was the first TV I ever found myself talking at. Or screaming at, rather, since that feature proved useless in practice. Another reason was its performance: The Samsung was one of the best sets I’d tested in recent memory.

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Vizio to Add Full-Array LED Backlighting to 2014 TVs
Bob Ankosko  |  Nov 22, 2013
Stepping up its TV game in 2014 by putting a “big emphasis on picture quality,” Vizio announced yesterday that it will add full-array LED backlighting with local dimming to its 2014 E Series line of LCD TVs. The line will include a 55-inch model that will sell in the “mid $700” range, according to a spokesman.
Continue Reading »
Tech2
Invisible Cities: The Seamless Meeting of Art and Technology
Lauren Dragan  |  Nov 22, 2013
Have you ever listened to a pair of headphones and thought that it seems as though the music was being performed right in front of you? Or maybe you’re in a public place, listening to music as you walk, and all the day to day mundanity around you takes on a more profound glow? Or sometimes, if you pay attention, it seems as though events are lining up to the rhythm: someone is walking to the beat, or speaking at just the right moment? Now imagine that all of those things were happening at the same time and you’ll have a small idea of what it was like to attend Invisible Cities, an opera composed for headphones and performed live at a functioning, bustling train station.

Continue Reading »
SmartStream
Google Play Music iPhone App (Still) Better Than iTunes Radio
Barb Gonzalez  |  Nov 21, 2013
Google Play Music is now available as an iPhone app. See how it compares to the Android version and to iTunes Radio
Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
Can I Use an AV Receiver with Electrostatic Speakers?
Al Griffin  |  Nov 21, 2013
Q I have been reading A/V magazines for years, as well as conducting my own research, and am still a little confused about how to select the right amplifier to use with MartinLogan electrostatic speakers. The literature I’ve read clearly indicates that the ohm rating of a receiver is just as important, or more so, than its wattage per channel when considering an A/V receiver to pair with speakers. Does the ohm rating of MartinLogan electrostatic speakers make them incompatible with typical AVRs?
Continue Reading »
Surround Sound System ReviewsBookshelf Speaker ReviewsSubwoofer Reviews
Gallo Acoustics Nucleus Micro SE Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 21, 2013

Nucleus Micro SE Speak
Performance
Build Quality
Value
TR-1D Subwoofer
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $1,614

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Highly compact steel sphere enclosures
Transparent sound quality
Big soundstage with no restrictive sweet spot
Minus
On-wall or near-wall placement well advised
Tricky subwoofer mating
Likes a lot of power

THE VERDICT
A sub/sat system whose great strengths are its midrange clarity, wide dispersion, and décor-friendly form factor.

The interaction between speaker manufacturers and the public they serve has changed markedly since the days when I was a longhaired college kid buying my first speakers. Back then, design ideas flowed in one direction, from the top down, from the drawing board to the sales floor—and if you bought a speaker, you nearly always bought a box speaker. Now speaker-design imperatives flow in both directions. With a greater variety of beckoning form factors, speaker buyers influence the design process simply by choosing the products that fit into our lives.

Continue Reading »
Home Movie Theaters
A Movie Buff’s DIY
Kim Wilson  |  Nov 21, 2013
Inspired by his grandmother’s architectural and interior designs, Rudy Brown set out to surprise his family with a home theater that he built from the ground up. Beyond inspiration was the sheer desire to build a dedicated theater space. Rudy knew drywall, framing, and painting, but he got the rest of his knowledge from frequenting the DIY section of AVSforum.com and reading Home Theater magazine.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X