Ask S&V

Q The Rec. 2020 color gamut is the future of TV—the standard was set years ago and has been included in the specification for Ultra HD Blu-ray. Even so, UHDTVs have been around for a few years yet none can display the Rec. 2020 color gamut. Why? Are we one day going to see Rec. 2020-capable LCD and OLED TVs, or is it true that only laser projectors are capable of reproducing that gamut? —Karim Genio / Algeria, North Africa

Q I own a Roku streamer plus a Blu-ray player and TV with streaming apps. I'm also aware of websites for downloading "Hi-Res" audio to computers and portable players. Here’s my question: Which of these sources support surround sound music?

If you put together the thousands of SACD releases, plus releases on the DVD-Audio and Blu-Ray Audio formats, you’d think somebody should be offering streaming surround by now. I sent a question to Roku support and the answer I got was that basically "all" Roku apps support surround sound. But that sounds like a“technical capability” answer; I haven't found any content yet. —Wayne Erfling

Q I am switching over from a 5.1 speaker system to a soundbar but would still like to use my current Paradigm PW 2500 subwoofer with it. Are there any new soundbars that can be used with an existing powered sub? —John Rothery / Tacoma, WA

Q Is there an add-on processor, either available now or forthcoming, that will add Dolby Atmos decoding capability to an existing preamp/processor or receiver? —D. Lockett

Q I want to optimize Tidal music streaming so I get the best sound quality. But I’m a million miles away from being an audiophile and find the whole thing really confusing. Right now I stream Tidal using either my iPhone or iPad, and have a pair of Bose QC headphones. I looked into buying a headphone amp, but am unsure if such devices improve the quality of streamed music. Can you point me in the right direction? —Lee Cooper

Q I’m planning to replace my 20-year-old receiver and would like to hook up older components including a laserdisc player, cassette deck, VCR, and turntable. I like Yamaha and Denon receivers, but I’m confused about the connection options. My newer gear consists of a Samsung HDTV, Oppo Blu-ray player, Roku 3 media streamer, and Verizon Fios HD set-top box. —Dan White / via e-mail

Q Most multichannel speaker configurations I see advertised have large L/R tower speakers combined with smaller center and surround speakers. It seems to me, however, that money invested in large (mostly full-range) L/R towers would be wasted if you care more about multichannel movie soundtracks than two-channel stereo music. Given the conventional wisdom that movie soundtracks rely heavily on the center channel for dialogue reproduction, shouldn’t you buy a higher-performing center speaker instead of big front towers? —Rick James Boettger / via e-mail