LATEST ADDITIONS

SmartStream
Scrambled Basic Cable, Anyone?
Barb Gonzalez  |  Apr 06, 2012
I recently cut the cord and canceled my cable TV subscription but kept cable-delivered broadband Internet access. Unfortunately, dropping cable TV didn't work for me because my antenna reception is spotty, so I was glad when someone told me that I could connect my TV to the cable jack and get my local channels. Little did I know that I was being "illicit" and that my circumstances were part of a bigger controversy.
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Out Of The Blu
Cinema Verite, Corman's World, Torchwood: Miracle Day
Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 06, 2012
Hello, and welcome to my first Blu-ray blog for HomeTheater.com wherein we take a look at a few interesting discs that you might have missed among the weekly cascade of blockbusters and otherwise more heavily advertised releases. In this installment, we check out HBO's Cinema Verite, Anchor Bay's Corman's World, and BBC's Torchwood: Miracle Day.
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Ask S&V
Pioneer Speakers with Marantz SR7005 AVR
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 06, 2012
Can you advise me on the choice between the Pioneer S-31B-LR-K, SP-BS41-LR, and SP-BS21-LR bookshelf speakers? The 41 and 21 have the Andrew Jones design going for them, but by proxy, so does the 31, being derived from the EX range. However the 31 is slightly smaller and more expensive!

Reading your review of the SP-BS41-LR system prompted me to finally replace an old Bose Lifestyle 28 system (something I regretted buying shortly after getting it). I already got the Panasonic DMP-BDT210 Blu-ray player (awesome!); next, the speakers, then the Marantz SR7005 AVR as the heart of the system. The sub will be last; don’t know which one yet.

Declan McGlinchey

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Tech2
Urbanears Plattan and House of Marley Positive Vibration: The $59 Headphone Roundup, Part 3
Brent Butterworth  |  Apr 06, 2012

So far, Sound+Vision’s search for a great $59 headphone has come up with a couple of models we can conditionally recommend, but nothing we would just tell our friends and family members to go buy. Fortunately, we’ve saved the best for last.

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The S&V Interview
Steven Wilson: Getting Surrounded With Music
Steve Guttenberg  |  Apr 05, 2012
Steven Wilson is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter of the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, but he’s becoming the go-to man for remixing classic rock recordings into 5.1 surround for DVD and Blu-ray. His recent solo album, Grace for Drowning, proves he’s just as adept in creating new music that fully exploits the surround soundscape.
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Grace Notes
Review: iFrogz Boost
Leslie Shapiro  |  Apr 05, 2012

The iFrogz Boost is a small, very portable speaker that claims to magically boost the sound from an iPhone, or any smartphone or other device with an external speaker. I have to be skeptical of any product that uses the word "magical" on their packaging - unless it's a "As Seen on TV" product, which everyone knows are all magical.

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Signals
Is Neil Young off his Rocker?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 05, 2012

Neil Young likes to criticize things: war, environmental abuses, indifference to homelessness, the plight of small farmers, Presidents of the United States, etc.  Name an activist topic, and you can probably find several well-crafted lyrics, ranging from subtle to confrontational, on the issue. Neil Young is also critical of sound quality. Highly critical.

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Track One
Live Review: Bruce Springsteen Reaches Higher Ground
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 04, 2012

“Church.”

That was how a musician friend responded shortly after I told him via iPhone chatter that it was 10 minutes before Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band hit the stage last night in the first of two dates at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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Projector Reviews
Vivitek H1085 DLP Projector
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 04, 2012
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $1,499 At A Glance: Poor blacks & shadow detail • Good color • Good detail with 1080p content • Very limited placement options

In my ongoing quest for low-cost projectors that perform well, I came across the H1085 from Vivitek. Unlike most such projectors, this one is available only through custom installers. How does it perform? Let's find out.

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Tech2
Philips CitiScape Metro and the Audio-Technica ATH-RE70: The $59 Headphone Roundup, Part 2
Brent Butterworth  |  Apr 04, 2012

On Monday, we began Sound+Vision’s quest for a great $59 headphone by looking at the Skullcandy Hesh 2.0 and the Beyerdynamic DTX 300 p. Today, we’ll be auditioning the Philips CitiScape Metro and the AudioTechnica ATH-RE70 Retro-Face. On Friday, we’ll wrap up with the Urbanears Plattan and the House of Marley Positive Vibration.

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