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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 101: The Chat Room
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 06, 2012
With a last-minute guest cancellation, I spend a pleasant hour answering questions from the chat room, including how I got my start in home theater, what it might take for an Apple television to be successful, tips for speaker placement, what to consider when converting a basement to a home theater, where the best seat in a commercial theater is, motion blur on LCD TVs, video processors, RF universal remotes, HDMI Audio Return Channel, whether or not 3D is a passing fad, using two identical projectors to display 3D, and much more.

Run Time: 1:05:07

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
A Masterful Game of Thrones on Blu-ray
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 06, 2012

“Winter is coming.” That ominous mantra hangs heavy over the full arc of the inaugural 10-episode season of Game of Thrones, one of the best-looking and best-sounding shows on broadcast cable TV. And it’s even more fulfilling on Blu-ray — yet another high-water mark for HBO, undisputed kings of desirable packaging, high-def visual presentation, and fully engaging surround soundtracks.

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Audio Video News
Samsung 2012 TV Briefing
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 06, 2012
Today, Samsung revealed more details about its 2012 TV lineup at a press conference in New York. Seeing as how Tom Norton and I are based in Los Angeles, the company was kind enough to bring us up to speed at its QA Lab before the NY event, placing the info under embargo until now.

Actually, most of the info is not new—it was first presented at CES in January. But there was one bit of real news not available at CES—pricing and availability.

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Music Reviews
Bruce Springsteen Revitalizes the Promised Land with Wrecking Ball
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 06, 2012

Bruce Springsteen has always been a preacher at heart. Ever since he greeted us from Asbury Park back in ’73, he’s been spreading the good word of the healing power of rock & roll far and wide, testifying many a time and many an hour across the live planks, guitar slung back over his shoulder as he stomps, kneels, prays, pleads, and ultimately cajoles the enraptured to follow him down the open road.

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Tech2
The Schroeder Frequency: A Show and Tell, Part 1
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 05, 2012
Even if you live in a studio apartment, you have at least two listening rooms. Well, in a sense. Every listening room is, in essence, two listening rooms when you look at it from the perspective of sound.
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Ask S&V
Really Big Plasma
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 05, 2012
We are in the process of completing the home theater. It is located in the basement, and I have complete control of the lighting. It was designed to use a projector or flat panel, but unfortunately, it seems a flat panel may be the only option.

I have discovered it is relatively easy to find LCD flat panels in sizes up to 80 inches or more, but I would prefer a plasma rather than an LCD. However, no one makes an 80-inch plasma for under $6000. Panasonic makes the TH-85PF12U and TH-85VX200U, but those are roughly $20,000 and $30,000, respectively! Does anyone make an 80- or 85-inch plasma for under $6000, and if not, why? I can't believe there is no market for this in the HT world.

Vincent A.

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Vote
Do You Use Your Audio System More for Movies or Music?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 02, 2012
Last year, Steve Guttenberg wrote a great article for Home Theater called "How to Choose a Home Theater for Movies or Music" based on the premise that the system requirements for movies and music are quite different. Music is mostly 2-channel, while movies are mostly 5.1 or 7.1. Movies often have lots of non-pitched, extremely low bass and a wider dynamic range than most music recordings. And yet most of us must make do with one system for both types of content, compromising in one way or another to balance its performance toward movies or music depending on which is more important to us.

Do you use your audio system more for movies (and TV) or music? How have you balanced the system's performance as a result? For example, if you mostly listen to music, did you get full-range front left and right speakers to use without a subwoofer? Or are you lucky enough to have two separate systems, one for movies and TV and the other for music?

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

Do You Use Your Audio System More for Movies or Music?
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Ask S&V
HDMI Audio Return Channel Conundrum
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 02, 2012
I have a Panasonic TC-P50GT30 plasma TV and Pioneer VSX-1121 A/V receiver, both of which support HDMI version 1.4 with Audio Return Channel (ARC). The AVR's HDMI output is connected to the TV's HDMI input 1, which is the only input with ARC capability. I also have a PS3 connected to one of the TV's other HDMI inputs. When I play a Blu-ray disc on the PS3 and listen to the audio through my AVR, all I see on the AVR display is Stereo. However if I connect the PS3 to the AVR directly, I see Dolby Digital (or whatever the audio format is) on the AVR display. Does the Panasonic plasma not pass the advanced Blu-ray audio formats, such as Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD, to my AVR via HDMI ARC?

Dan

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Win Puss in Boots on Blu-ray
Michael Berk  |  Mar 02, 2012

As we've been saying for a while now, 7.1's coming of age - and, with increasing frequency and utility, it's coming to home theaters.

With a growing list of releases taking advantage of those extra channels, why not take a chance with us and get yourself a copy of Puss in Boots on Blu-ray.

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Tech2
Review: Julia Nunes' Settle Down
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 02, 2012

Julia Nunes is the future. A future where talented artists bypass traditional music publishing conglomerates and make their income directly from fans.

Settle Down was bankrolled by fans, for fans. That it's a great album is almost secondary to its importance as a tangible example of what this next generation of professional musician can accomplish.

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