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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition
David Vaughn  |  Oct 10, 2011
Roald Dahl's classic story tells the tale of five kids who find a golden ticket that entitles them to visit the secretive Wonka Chocolate factory, where one worthy child will win a lifetime supply of chocolate. Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), a poor kid who lives with his mother and two sets of grandparents in the shadow of the factory, is one of the lucky five. The others—well, let's just say they are the result of bad parenting and poor choices.

As a child, I never really connected with this film, but I've have grown to enjoy it as a parent. The behavior of the four "bad" kids provides extreme examples of what we often see in children today, and watching the film with my kids was a great way to teach them how not to behave. Charlie is a model child, and his virtuous behavior is a parent's dream. I think we all wish our children could be so respectful.

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Curtain Call
Something to Crow About
Michael J. Nelson  |  Oct 10, 2011
The following shocking true story of how my old, forgotten stereo system saved my life contains themes of sex and violence. OK, not sex. And the violence is against birds, but once you get the whole story, I’m sure you’ll come to believe that they deserved even worse.

It used to be such a nice place to live, my house. A modest home in a neat, modest neighborhood with nice, quiet neighbors. And then they moved in. The crows.

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Ask S&V
Coby Soundbar vs. TV Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 10, 2011
Would you recommend using the Coby CSMP88 soundbar instead of the TV speakers in my LG plasma?

Nick Andrade

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Tech2
Vivitek Qumi Pocket Projector
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Oct 09, 2011

It's amusing to think that just a few years ago, a projector like this would have been 10x the size and 20x the price.

Actually, a projector like this couldn't have existed a few years ago, as it's got LEDs, which only recently have been bright enough for projector use.

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Vote
Do Audio Measurements Correlate With Sound Quality?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 07, 2011
Last week in his Audiophiliac blog, Steve Guttenberg mused about how audio measurements relate to sound quality. He concluded that objective measurements do not correlate with subjective evaluations, primarily because well-defined test tones have little to do with real musical signals.

Here at HomeTheater.com, we've certainly observed that poor measurements do not necessarily mean poor subjective performance, and that good measurements do not necessarily reflect good performance. On the other hand, in our experience, measurements sometimes support—and even explain—a reviewer's subjective observations, which are always conducted before the measurements.

Do you think that objective audio measurements using test tones correlate with subjective sound quality playing music? If so, is it a strong or weak correlation? In the comments, I'd love to know how much weight you give the measurements found in our reviews compared with the reviewer's subjective assessment.

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

Do Audio Measurements Correlate With Sound Quality?
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Giveaway: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Michael Berk  |  Oct 07, 2011

We've been following the progress of 7.1 audio pretty closely, and this week saw the release of Transformers: Dark of the Moon on Blu-ray, complete with a new, home theater-specific Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Giveaway: Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction
Michael Berk  |  Oct 07, 2011

Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction are both out this week in brand-new Blu-ray releases, approved by the director, and we've gotten some copies to give away, courtesy of Lionsgate/Miramax.

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Ask S&V
LED vs. Plasma
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 07, 2011
I'm moving into a new home, so I have the chance to start from scratch building a small home theater. My room has no problem with reflections, and all my flat-panel TVs up to now have been plasma. I want to get a 60- or 65-inch screen, and I'm trying to decide between a plasma and LED-illuminated LCD TV by Samsung. My seating will be about 10-12 feet from the screen, but I am very critical of the picture. I watch a lot of old movies and TV so I want to get the best bang for the buck. Will a top-of-the-line LED be as good as a top-of-the-line plasma? I'm worried about the heat that a plasma will generate compared to the LED, since the new home is in South Carolina, which is hot enough as it is.

Jeff Stern

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Custom Installation Equipment Reviews
Lutron RadioRA 2 Home Control System
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Oct 07, 2011

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $17,000 as tested At A Glance: Control one to 200 devices • No new wires for easy retrofits • Saves electricity and lengthens bulb life

Unless you’re one of the enlightened, you probably use the same simple lighting-control system that most everyone else in the electrified world uses—your finger. Sometimes it’s the side of your hand, or when your hands are full, a nudge with your elbow or shoulder. While the electrical hardware is reliable, this type of system is prone to user error (forgetfulness), doesn’t react quickly to changing circumstances (daytime/nighttime), and is often just damned inconvenient (you’re here, but the switch is over there). On top of all that, gangs of three, four, or more switches on the wall, no matter how fancy the wall plate, are unsightly and not especially intuitive to use when it comes to flipping the right switch to turn on the right light—especially in the dark.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fast Five
David Vaughn  |  Oct 07, 2011
Former cop Brian O'Copnner (Paul Walker) and his girlfriend Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) hookup with her fugitive brother Dom (Vin Diesel) and head to South America to elude the authorities. Tired of running, they assemble an elite team of top racers to help pull off one last job in order to secure enough cash for retirement, but when a hard-nosed federal agent (Dwayne Johnson) shows up in Rio de Janeiro, their job goes from hard to nearly impossible to complete.

Generally speaking, sequels tend to pale in comparison to the original, but here's a case where the fifth film in the series is actually the best. It all boils down to the screenplay, which has more of an Ocean's 11 tone than a racing-centric plot found in the previous films. Regardless, it's a lot of fun to watch and the spectacular audio and video help keep you on the edge of your seat.

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