LATEST ADDITIONS

Director's IntentThe S&V Interview
Elton John: Farewell Yellow Brick Road
Matt Hurwitz  |  Apr 20, 2023  |  0 comments
How do you close a 50+ year career in America, one which has brought music and magic to millions of fans, to celebrate with them? Well, if you’re Elton John, by returning to the city where it started—Los Angeles—and to one of the locations which symbolizes his incredible success, Dodger Stadium, where he famously played in 1975.
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Audio Video News
Red’s Last Mail Drop
Michael Antonoff  |  Apr 19, 2023  |  6 comments
The Netflix red envelope that defined the era between video cassettes and streaming will soon be a relic of the past. Subscribers to the disc-by-mail service were informed by email on Tuesday (April 18) that the company will ship its last disc on September 29, 2023.
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SmartStream
Amazon Uses AI to Boost Dialogue On Some Prime Video Originals
Barb Gonzalez  |  Apr 19, 2023  |  1 comments
If you've found yourself cranking up the volume while streaming movies and TV series or turning on the closed captions to understand everything that's being said, you're not alone. Amazon is addressing the issue by using artificial intelligence to boost the dialogue on some of its Amazon Originals.
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Accessory Reviews
Sofabaton X1 Programmable Universal Remote Review
Barb Gonzalez  |  Apr 19, 2023  |  0 comments
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $190

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Bluetooth, Infrared (IR), and WiFi control
Easy to find devices with model number
Control up to 50 devices
Works with Sonos
Attractive remote
Minus
Confusing setup
Must create workarounds for input switching
Newest game consoles not in database
Inconsistent and occasionally doesn’t work

Verdict
There was hope that the Sofabaton X1 Hub and Remote could replace the now-discontinued Logitech Harmony Hub. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold a candle to Harmony's ease of use, compatibility, and design.

When Logitech stopped making the Harmony remote controls in 2021, there were few options to take their place. The Sofabaton sounded promising with its vast database of codes for TVs and other devices.

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
xMEMS Labs Demonstrates Tiny Silicon Chip Speakers
Howard Kneller  |  Apr 18, 2023  |  1 comments
It is not every day I get an opportunity to audition a completely new type of speaker. So, it was with a fair amount of excitement that I attended a press event in New York City hosted by Silicon Valley startup xMEMS Labs.
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Editor's Eye
The Future Is Bright for 4K UHD TVs
Mark Henninger  |  Apr 18, 2023  |  7 comments
If there is one dominant trend in 2023, it is the remarkable increase in brightness of TVs. Whether it’s OLED or mini-LED FALD LCDs, the luminance improvements are substantial. The OLED category, in particular, has seen significant gains, with LG claiming a 70% gain and peak brightness levels now easily surpassing 1,000 nits, which is sufficient to display most HDR content without requiring tone mapping.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Wrap-Up: Audio Expo North America 2023
Brian Stout  |  Apr 17, 2023  |  3 comments
The halls were alive with the sound of music at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel this weekend for AXPONA 2023. Here’s a little taste of what we saw…and heard.
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Audio Video News
Calquhoun Labs Acquires FM King Magnum Dynalab
Bob Ankosko  |  Apr 17, 2023  |  5 comments
Fans of radio who relish pulling in distant signals from eclectic stations on the fringe, will be pleased to know that Canada’s Magnum Dynalab, maker of world-class FM tuners, is in good hands with its new owner, fellow Canadian company Colquhoun Audio Laboratories Limited.
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Signals
Ω: The Story of Ohm's Law
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 17, 2023  |  2 comments
Ohm's law describes the essential, bedrock principle upon which rests all things electrical. Consider the technological world around you. Everything that has electricity running through it owes its existence to this principle. And Georg Ohm was the guy who mathematically described it. Ohm's law. Pure genius. His contemporaries despised him.

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Tower Speaker Reviews
Definitive Technology DM70 Bipolar Tower Speakers Review
Mark Henninger  |  Apr 14, 2023  |  1 comments

Performance
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $4,000/pair

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Excellent soundstage and imaging
Powerful and adjustable bass output
Disappears when the lights are out
Integrated Atmos module support

Minus
Each speaker requires a power outlet
Cloth grill is not removable
Can't be placed up against a wall

THE VERDICT
The Verdict: A tall, powerful speaker that dazzles with its superb soundstage and imaging, delights with its visceral bass output, and stuns with its starkly minimalist aesthetic.

The new Dymension DM70 Tower speaker is an evolution of a design that's signature Definitive Technology: An adjustable bipolar array combined with a 10-inch powered subwoofer that's integrated into the cabinet. It is not your typical 2-way or 3-way cone-and-dome tower speaker, it has a distinct sound that's larger than life.

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