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Ask S&V
Nixing "Made in China" for North American-made Audio Gear
Al Griffin  |  Oct 24, 2013
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com.

Q I am looking to buy an amplifier and speakers manufactured someplace other than China. Can you recommend some options? My budget is $2,000 total for both amp and speakers (tower or bookshelf). —Gopal Venkat / via email

I cut the political content from your question because I don’t feel that this column is the best forum to discuss those issues. That said, I’m happy to help you find gear in your price range that’s made someplace other than China.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsThis Week
This Week in Movies & TV, October 22, 2013: Pure Talent—19 Movies in 3 Gift Sets
Josef Krebs  |  Oct 23, 2013
Three super collections on Blu-ray—John Cassavetes: Five Films, The Vincent Price Collection, Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection
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The S&V Interview
Bass Maestro Tony Levin
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 23, 2013
How low can you go? If you’re Tony Levin, vaunted bassist and Chapman Stick pluckmaster known for adventurous, innovative low-end work with heavy hitters like Peter Gabriel and King Crimson, it’s also a question of how far. Even with such a storied pedigree, Levin, 67, has always been one to constantly seek new challenges, and he’s met that creative hunger head on with his current collaboration, Levin Minnemann Rudess, a progressive trio that also consists of drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, UKZ) and keyboardist extraordinaire Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment).
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Audio Video News
Poll Results: Soundbars Have Their Place....Just Not in My AV Setup
SV Staff  |  Oct 23, 2013
Soundbars may be one of the top selling categories in consumer electronics today, offering a simple and inexpensive path to (faux) surround sound, but many hardcore enthusiasts who read Sound & Vision wouldn’t dream of using one for their main AV setup, according to the findings of our soundbar poll. We asked “do you own a soundbar" and offered several yes/no choices, but the vote wasn’t as overwhelming against soundbars as you might think. Although half of the respondents “would never consider a soundbar,” four in ten acknowledged using one for different reasons. Here’s the breakdown…
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Music ReviewsThis Week
This Week in Music, October 22, 2013: Woody Guthrie, “American Radical Patriot”
Ken Richardson  |  Oct 22, 2013
Also: Van Morrison’s Moondance in 5.1 on Blu-ray, Santana’s third album on audiophile vinyl, and ’80s tunes revamped by The Big Bright. Plus, let’s see…oh, yeah, Katy Perry.

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Remotely Possible
Cheap Home Automation or Just Cheap Crap?
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 22, 2013
Maybe I’m still suffering the aftereffects of installation overstimulation at CEDIA last month, but it seems that everywhere I turn someone’s talking up home automation. Yesterday, for example, Control4 issued a press release touting – and rightly so – the many benefits of integrating home security systems with home automation systems. While that’s definitely awesome, the more interesting buzz that I’ve noticed lately isn’t about Home Automation, where the cost of the hardware, installation, and programming is often discussed in terms of a percentage of the cost of the home it’s installed in. No, the chatter du jour is about home automation “for the rest of us” (to borrow a term from Apple that originally had nothing to do with price, nor does it now). Once again, there’s a push to bring home automation to the masses – or at least to the smaller masses who would be willing to spend a couple hundred bucks for it.

But what kind of home automation can you get for $200 or maybe, if you’re willing to splurge, $300?

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Music Reviews
Two Ways to Digital
Bob Ankosko  |  Oct 22, 2013
Hands on with Walmart’s Vudu In-Home Disc to Digital Service and Disney’s Digital Copy+

Walmart’s Vudu To Go app (Digital Vudu Revisited), a follow-up to the Disc to Digital service launched last year that lets you unlock digital copies of DVD and Blu-ray movies you buy or purchase digital rights to discs you already own, is now up and running (in beta form as of this writing). Unlike the original service, which required you to bring discs to Walmart (UltraViolet: Building a Movie Library in the Cloud,), the app lets you convert discs from a Mac or Windows-based PC in your home and store them in the cloud so they can be accessed for streaming or downloading on multiple devices.

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Projector Reviews
Panamorph CineVista Anamorphic Lens
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Oct 21, 2013
Performance
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $1,795

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Includes lens and projector attachment mount
Accommodates 8- to 18-foot focal distance
Minus
Some loss of horizontal resolution
Finicky setup/installation process

THE VERDICT
The CineVista lens provides a brighter and more detailed-looking image for ultra-wide movies on a 2.35:1 projection screen.

High-def televisions and projectors have an aspect ratio of 16:9. And all native HDTV content comes in that same format, which is also known as 1.78:1. It’s a different situation, however, for movies. Many blockbuster releases from the 1950s onward have a much wider aspect ratio of 2.25:1 or 2.40:1 (often called CinemaScope). When you watch these on your TV, the result of the mismatch is black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

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Headphone Reviews
Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H6 Headphone
Steve Guttenberg  |  Oct 21, 2013

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $399

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Euro design
Real lambskin ear pads
Oodles of detail and resolution
Minus
Not vegan friendly

THE VERDICT
A beautifully balanced headphone that’s beautiful to look at.

Bang & Olufsen isn’t just another high-end audio company. Far from it. The Danish firm started making TVs in 1952, and their 1970s turntables were the best looking of the era. I’m not alone in admiring the industrial design; the Museum of Modern Art in NYC has 18 B&O products in its permanent collection. B&O is no Johnny come lately to headphones, either; they’ve been making outstanding ones as far back as the late 1970s!

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4K TV ReviewsTV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
LG 84LM9600 LCD Ultra HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 21, 2013
2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $20,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Extensive color control
Sparkling 3D
Minus
Black level could be better

THE VERDICT
A good overall performer and a solid first 4K effort from LG.

It’s rabbit season at the Sound & Vision ranch. The bunnies are reproducing at a torrid rate, and you can barely take aim at one before another dozen pop up.

We’re not talking cottontails here, but rather HDTVs. Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the new sets arrive en masse in anticipation of the upcoming end-of-year holiday season. The hot tickets this year are 4K (more precisely, 3840 x 2160) or, as it has been dubbed by the industry, Ultra HD, and OLED. On the 4K front, two new LG sets, at 55 and 65 inches, recently hopped into view to fill out a 4K lineup that began with the big 84LM9600—the latter our subject here.

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