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A/V Veteran
It Costs How Much?
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 15, 2018
Every year there’s a major high-end audio show in Munich, Germany, held in a large convention-center type facility. By all reports it’s the biggest such event in the world, though it began as a modest hotel show in Frankfurt (also Germany, not Kentucky). I actually attended two of those 80s shows when I was stationed in Germany in the Air Force, an hour’s drive from Frankfurt.

But this isn’t about audio shows, though from what I’ve heard about the Munich event it’s more about viewing than serious auditioning. And since home theater isn’t nearly as significant in Europe as it is in the U.S., Munich is mainly about 2-channel audio. I have no issue with that; I’m a fan myself. But the high-end 2-channel market isn’t doing itself any favors with the current trend toward crazy pricing. While a new, $250,000 pair of monoblock amplifiers from an industry icon may be an outlier, it’s symptomatic...

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Signals
Why Are Music Album Sales Tanking?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  May 15, 2018
"I live my life a quarter mile at a time."

Who uttered that famous declaration? Was it: a) Confucius, b) Friedrich Nietzsche, c) Vin Diesel, d) Dominic Toretto? Of course, that is a trick question because both “c” and “d” are correct. The movie was The Fast and the Furious , a cinematic masterpiece about street racing and skid marks.

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Audio Video News
Home Builder Makes Voice Automation Standard
SV Staff  |  May 15, 2018
Lennar, one of the nation’s largest home builders, has announced that voice-controlled home automation is now one of several standard tech features included in its “Wi-Fi Certified” new homes.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Yamaha Launches AI-Infused RX-A 80 Receiver Series
SV Staff  |  May 14, 2018
Yamaha today announced the ninth generation of its enthusiast-focused Aventage Series of AV receivers.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
NAD Updates Popular C 316 BEE V2 Amp, Ships First Wireless Headphones
SV Staff  |  May 14, 2018
NAD has announced an update to one of its most popular integrated amplifiers ever: the C 316 BEE V2, the last of five classic amplifiers to be updated over the past two years. The company also announced that it is now shipping the Viso HP70 wireless headphones it previewed at CES in January.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Kanto Ships All-In-One SYD Music System
SV Staff  |  May 14, 2018
Kanto has announced that the SYD music system it previewed at CES in January is now available.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
It
David Vaughn  |  May 11, 2018
Picture
Sound
Extras
In the late 1980s in the town of Derry, Maine, a young boy goes out to test a paper boat during a torrential rainstorm. Braving the elements, he places the boat in the gutter and runs alongside to watch its progress. Unfortunately, he’s too slow and watches it descend into the storm drain. He bends down to see if it’s lost forever and is surprised to see a clown staring back at him. Startled, he quickly jumps back.
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The Connected Life
Working with a Custom Installer: Fundamentals Never Change
John Sciacca  |  May 11, 2018
As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, prior to becoming a custom installer I was a golf professional at a club in California’s Bay Area. I bring this up because we recently started receiving Golf magazine in the mail. (Bizarrely we’re also suddenly getting The New Yorker and Money, none of which we subscribed to.) As I flipped through a recent issue of Golf, I was reminded of really how little has changed in the golf world since I left.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Focal Expands Flagship Utopia Speaker Lineup
SV Staff  |  May 11, 2018
Focal, the French maker of high-end speakers, is expanding the flagship Utopia III speaker line it introduced a decade ago with two new three-way models and updates to the Grande Utopia EM Evo and Stella Utopia EM Evo models.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Polk Taps Google Assistant for First Smart Speaker
SV Staff  |  May 11, 2018
Polk Audio has entered the smart speaker race with a compact Google-powered speaker that supports voice control and wireless audio streaming.
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