LATEST ADDITIONS

Headphone Reviews
Focal Bathys Wireless Headphones Review
Mark Henninger  |  Mar 01, 2023

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $699

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Exceptional sound quality
Impeccable build
USB DAC
Unique style
Minus
Noise canceling lags Sony & Bose
Non-folding design

THE VERDICT
Both an engineering achievement and a work of industrial art, the Bathys are full-size, over-ear wireless ANC headphones designed to please picky listeners on the go. They offer owners a refined blend of style and substance.

Bathys, Focal’s first adaptive noise-canceling headphones, are instantly recognizable due to the company’s unique design sensibility. They come from a multi-year in-house development effort and incorporate the company’s signature M-shaped, 40mm aluminum-magnesium alloy drivers that are made by the company in France. Because the sound quality is so good, owning them is a fun experience that makes the higher price worthwhile.

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Survey: Content Discovery Is the Key Drawback in the Age of Streaming
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 01, 2023
Figuring out what to watch and how to watch it is the No. 1 “pain point” among an American/Canadian public that watches 4.4 hours of television a day. That’s just one of the many findings of TiVo’s biannual Video Trends Report.
Continue Reading »
SmartStream
HBO Max, Disney, and Paramount Shift Strategies to Keep Streaming Alive
Barb Gonzalez  |  Mar 01, 2023
This past year has been a wake-up call for streaming studios. As post-pandemic churn set in, these services started to report huge losses. The strategy to offer as many original titles to their users was a losing proposition, resulting in mergers, restructuring, and a reduction in new production.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video NewsNew Products
Klipsch Launches High-Performance Subwoofer Line to Match Flagship Reference Speakers
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 01, 2023
Klipsch is bringing its decades of experience in speaker design to bear on a new line of high-performance subwoofers built to match the power and performance of its flagship Reference Premiere speakers.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Sony Claims Two Wins in 2023 Headphone Shootout
Bob Ankosko  |  Feb 28, 2023
Value Electronics, the Scarsdale, NY-based AV retailer that made a name for itself hosting annual TV Shootouts, has announced the winners of its first Headphone Shootout, held yesterday in New York City. Sony grabbed a win in the over-ear and in-ear categories and was joined by winning models from Bowers & Wilkins, Focal, and Sennheiser.
Continue Reading »
A/V Veteran
Lost in YouTube
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 28, 2023
For years I ignored YouTube because I thought it was filled with cat videos and not much else. When I finally discovered its endless range of absorbing content last year, however, I posted a blog on it. But YouTube's depth of information on almost any topic is so vast that an occasional revisit is worthwhile. Video quality, then and now, ranges from very good to nearly unwatchable, but thankfully most of it is at least good enough for acceptable viewing.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video NewsNew Products
LG Announces Pricing and Availability for 2023 OLED Lineup
Bob Ankosko  |  Feb 28, 2023
LG today announced pricing and availability for the 2023 OLED 4K TVs it previewed last month at CES 2023.
Continue Reading »
Vote
S&V Poll: Do You Stream Movies or Watch on Disc?
SV Staff  |  Feb 27, 2023
Do you stream? Of course, you do! Everybody streams movies and music these days, even our elderly grandparents. Though the quality of streaming has improved considerably in recent years, it still doesn’t always match the audio and video quality you can get on disc. All of which brings us to the question, do you prefer streaming movies or watching them on 4K Blu-ray Disc? Or maybe it’s a mix of the two. Check the answer that comes closest to describing your situation — and leave a comment to explain your choice.
S&V Poll: Do You Stream Movies or Watch on Disc?
I love watching movies on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc and do so all or most of the time.
24% (238 votes)
I love streaming movies and do so all or most of the time.
20% (195 votes)
I prefer watching movies on 4K Blu-ray and do so more than half of the time.
14% (140 votes)
I prefer streaming movies and do so more than half of the time.
4% (43 votes)
My movie-watching time is about evenly split between streaming and watching movies on 4K Blu-ray.
19% (187 votes)
I prefer watching movies on 4K Blu-ray and stream less than half of the time.
10% (95 votes)
I prefer streaming movies and watch movies on 4K Blu-ray less than half of the time.
10% (102 votes)
Total votes: 1000
Continue Reading »
Signals
Medium Over Message: Are You Afflicted?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Feb 27, 2023
As Marshall McLuhan famously noted, “The medium is the message.” I don’t know if Mr. McLuhan was an audio/video enthusiast, but that pronouncement, I think, perfectly describes a peculiar affliction that is all too common among us enthusiasts. Perhaps, just maybe, he was talking about you.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video NewsNew Products
CanJam NYC 2023: Headphone Heaven
Mark Henninger  |  Feb 26, 2023
Yesterday, I took a day trip to New York City and checked out CanJam 2023, a personal audio showcase touted as the foremost audio event for headphones. CanJam is actually a series of events that take place in various cities across the world, and the one in New York City is the easiest for me to attend. The two-day event, held on February 25th and 26th, took place at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

During the visit I took the opportunity to capture and create several short videos, they are featured here.

Continue Reading »

Pages

X