LATEST ADDITIONS

Projection Screen Reviews
Screen Innovations Black Diamond G2 4K Projection Screen
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 13, 2013

Performance
Setup
Value
Price: $2,899 At A Glance: viewable with ambient lighting • Works best with carefully planned lighting • Image dims significantly from center screen to the side

The best projection quality has always required a completely darkened room. This takes the edge off that Super Bowl party, with guests stumbling around in the dark spilling their buttered popcorn and drinks in your lap.

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Tech2
Review: Torque Audio t103z tunable in-ear headphone Page 2
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 12, 2013

When testing headphones with multiple listeners-our standard practice at S+V-I've learned that perceptions of a headphone's tonal balance can differ among listeners. Of course, individual taste in sound varies, too.

One solution to this problem is a headphone that can be tuned to the user's taste, a feature we've encountered on in-ear monitors from AKG and Phonak. Both have interchangeable filters that can alter the headphone's tonal balance. But the former costs $1,299, and the latter uses extremely tiny filters that require a special tool to change.

A new company named Torque Audio has what looks like a more practical approach.

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This Week
This Week in Movies and TV, March 12th 2013: Hitchcock, Lang, & Buñuel
Josef Krebs  |  Mar 12, 2013

Life of Pi 3D

What do you do when you find yourself adrift alone in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with just the company of an orangutan, a hyena, a zebra, and a majestic but fearsome, nay terrifying 450-pound male Bengal tiger? This is the sticky situation Pi Patel must deal with while trying to survive the elements and discover the meaning of life.

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Headphone Reviews
Torque Audio t103z tunable in-ear headphone
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 12, 2013
When testing headphones with multiple listeners—our standard practice at S+V—I've learned that perceptions of a headphone's tonal balance can differ among listeners. Of course, individual taste in sound varies, too.
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A/V Veteran
Beware the Demo
Tom Norton  |  Mar 12, 2013
In my review of Samsung’s flagship UN75ES9000, 75-inch LCD-LED HDTV, I remark that potential buyers should beware of bad demos of this very expensive set ($9000). Such a demo could make it very difficult to justify the expense.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Chris Chiarella  |  Mar 12, 2013
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
Within the first few minutes of E.T., old-timers like me who remember seeing it on the big screen 30 years ago can’t help but recall why this movie was a bona fide cultural event, the likes of which we seldom see anymore. Oft copied, never equaled, it is an exquisitely crafted piece of cinema by a virtuoso at the top of his game. E.T. tells the tale of a lost, lonely visitor and his equally lonely host, an ordinary boy named Elliott. It celebrates the universal childhood fantasy of a secret best friend…and that other one about the flying bicycles. Rough around the edges though it may seem by today’s standards, this 1982 original version remains one of the most profoundly moving films most people will ever see.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ed Wood
Shane Buettner  |  Mar 12, 2013
Picture
Sound
Extras
It’s more than a little ironic that Tim Burton’s best film as a director, from top to bottom, is about one of the most notorious bad filmmakers who ever lived. Actually, Edward D. Wood Jr. (Johnny Depp) is known for two things: spectacularly bad sci-fi/horror movies that are ridiculously fun to watch, and being a cross-dresser before it was cool. Both traits are given full attention in Burton’s 1994 love letter to offbeat movies and their makers, Ed Wood.
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Vote
What's your next A/V entertainment upgrade?
HT Staff  |  Mar 12, 2013
Many of us know all too well that new gear is what keeps our A/V worlds going round. With that in mind, here’s our question for this week’s HT Poll. If we missed something you’re planning to add to your A/V rig, tell us about it in Comments.
What's your next A/V entertainment upgrade?
1080p HDTV
4% (62 votes)
1080p smart HDTV with Internet connectivity
7% (93 votes)
1080p projector with a jumbo screen
11% (153 votes)
4K/Ultra HD TV
12% (166 votes)
I'm waiting for 4K/OLED TVs to come out
14% (198 votes)
Blu-ray player
3% (37 votes)
Blu-ray/universal disc player so I can spin SACDs and DVD-Audio discs
5% (69 votes)
Network media player
3% (43 votes)
Wireless audio system
2% (27 votes)
Surround-sound speaker system
9% (129 votes)
Bigger, badder subwoofer
11% (153 votes)
A good set of headphones
2% (34 votes)
Too many choices—I can’t make up my mind!
7% (97 votes)
Nothing—my rig is perfect as is!
11% (150 votes)
Total votes: 1411
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This Week
This Week in Music, March 12, 2013: David Bowie doesn’t let us down Page 2
Ken Richardson  |  Mar 12, 2013

David Bowie: The Next Day

New release (ISO/Columbia)
Photo by Jimmy King

This is the best David Bowie album since . . . I’m not gonna go there. Mostly because everyone seems to disagree on just which old album should be put there. But make no mistake: The Next Day, Bowie’s first release in 10 years, is an excellent comeback.

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This Week
This Week in Music, March 12, 2013: David Bowie doesn't let us down
Ken Richardson  |  Mar 12, 2013

David Bowie: The Next Day

New release (ISO/Columbia)
Photo by Jimmy King

This is the best David Bowie album since . . . I'm not gonna go there. Mostly because everyone seems to disagree on just which old album should be put there. But make no mistake: The Next Day, Bowie's first release in 10 years, is an excellent comeback.

Continue Reading »

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