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Audio Video News
Rock Icon Joe Perry to Collaborate with Monster
SV Staff  |  Jul 06, 2016
Monster has announced a collaborative deal with Aerosmith co-founder and guitarist Joe Perry that builds on a decades long “personal and music industry relationship” Monster founder Noel Lee has with the rock icon.
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Editor's EyeAudio Video News
50 Years Later, B&W Reinvents Its Flagship
Rob Sabin  |  Jul 05, 2016
Last September, Bowers & Wilkins officially introduced the bulk of its new 800 Series Diamond speaker line, but held back the crown jewel flagship model. Now, in the summer of B&W's 50th anniversary year, and with the backdrop of its recent acquisition by a well-funded Silicon Valley start-up, the company has introduced the 800 D3 tower, the total embodiment of three-and-a-half years of intense R&D leading to what is said to be it's most advanced and best speaker ever.

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A/V Veteran
Emperor: A Hidden Treasure?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 05, 2016
How can one distinguish between a guilty pleasure and a hidden treasure? Many movies fall into a gap somewhere between the two. They’re not so good to be called classics, but impressive or different enough to click with the right audience.

Emperor tells an important yet little known story. In the immediate aftermath of the Japanese surrender in World War II, General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan with his staff to lead the occupation. But before the rebuilding of the country and its government could begin, the issue of what to do with the Japanese military and political leadership had to be dealt with—most importantly Emperor Hirohito. Many in Washington, and in the U.S. public as well, wanted him tried and executed as a war criminal...

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Panasonic UHD Blu-ray Player Due in September
SV Staff  |  Jul 05, 2016
Panasonic will join Samsung and Philips to become the third company to offer an Ultra HD Blu-ray player in September when it ships the DMP-UB900.
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Audio Video News
Being There: Live vs. Live Streaming
Michael Antonoff  |  Jul 05, 2016
It's hard to miss the variety and depth of live entertainment streaming into the home, some you pay for, some you don't. On the last night of June I paid $9.99 to "attend" She Loves Me, an as-slick-as-they come Broadway musical performed by the Roundabout Theatre Company at Studio 54. Minutes before the 8 p.m. curtain I typed my credit card info into BroadwayHD.com and ended up having a rip-roaring time. Put in the form of a pull quote: "The best musical I ever saw in my underwear!"
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Audio Video NewsTop Picks
June 2016 Top Picks at a Glance
SV Staff  |  Jul 02, 2016  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2016
As we head into a long, lazy July 4th Weekend, we’ve encapsulated a formidable list of recent Top Picks. Half of our Picks are devoted to an eclectic mix of wireless speakers, including one built for use outdoors. The other half includes what may be the world’s best TV, a couple of high-end headphones, a bad-ass budget subwoofer, a crazy cool micro tube amp, and an awesome AVR. Enjoy the holiday…and the gear.
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Tech2
Even In-Ear 'Phones Adapt to Your Hearing
Lauren Dragan  |  Jul 02, 2016  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2016
The way the team at Even describe it, their debut in-ear headphones evaluate your hearing in each ear and adapt the EQ of your music’s playback to compensate, much in the way a pair of prescription reading glasses adjust your vision. It’s a novel idea; one that makes a certain amount of sense. But does Even’s process really work, or is it all a gimmick? The only way to find out was to meet Sarah.
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3D Blu-ray Movie ReviewsBlu-ray Movie Reviews
The Good Dinosaur
Chris Chiarella  |  Jul 01, 2016
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Ever wonder what would happen if the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs missed Earth instead, enabling our prehistoric pals to evolve into the dominant animals on the planet, rather than man? Regardless of your answer, here’s The Good Dinosaur, a rare misfire from the esteemed Pixar gang. While we on the sofa are still wrestling with the ramifications of this bizarre setup, we’re introduced to a family of dino farmers: no, seriously, a pack of apatosauruses that harvests corn and plows the field with their blunt heads.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Creed
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Jul 01, 2016
Picture
Sound
Extras
With Creed, director Ryan Coogler (Frutivale Station) reboots the long-running Rocky franchise for a new generation of fans. Like The Force Awakens, Creed, from a screenplay by Aaron Covington and Coogler, plays it safe, never deviating far from the fundamentals that made the original film such a success.
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Ears On
Loving LPs Is Easy, Storing Them Hard
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 01, 2016
When it comes to my music library, sometimes I'm like a little kid. Buy now, think about the consequences later. My apartment was already groaning under the load of LPs, CDs, other media, and gear a year or two back when I suddenly went on an accelerated vinyl-collecting binge. When my workday was over, I'd sit in my armchair with a tablet, making one Ebay buy after another. On weekends I was off to Academy Records on West 18th Street in Manhattan to look for classical treasures (because classical vinyl is still cheap and cheap is what it's all about). Vinyl started overflowing from the shelves to the floor. Those LP-size BD/DVD-A/CD box sets made matters worse. Soon, and not for the first time in my life, I was in the throes of a full-blown LP storage crisis.

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