Scott Wilkinson

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Premiere Design
NBS Universal Power Amplifier
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 18, 2010

<A href="http://www.nbscables.com">NBS</A> is perhaps best known for high-end cables&#151;its URL is nbscables.com, after all&#151;but this American boutique audio company also makes a few unusual speakers and electronic components. I'm especially intrigued by the Universal Power Amplifier (UPA), a unique monoblock that is truly universal in design and operation.

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Premiere Design
Ne Plus Ultra
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 30, 2009

<I>Ne plus ultra</I>&#151;Latin meaning "no more beyond," often used to describe anything that is truly ultimate. I can think of no better way to describe the Ultimate speaker system from Swedish boutique manufacturer <A href="http://www.transmissionaudio.com">Transmission Audio</A>. This massive, hand-made system is exactly what its name implies, at least in terms of cost&#151;a million bucks per channel, making it the most expensive speaker system in the world as far as I know.

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Premiere Design
Neodio NR22 CD Player & NR600 Integrated Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Nov 01, 2010
Another company showing its wares at this year's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest was French Neodio, which demonstrated its NR22 CD player and NR600 integrated amp. Both are distributed in the US by TMH Audio and offer some impressive specs—and prices.
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Audio Video NewsThe Big Picture
Netflix Measures ISP Speeds
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 01, 2011
Last Thursday, Ken Florance, Director of Content Delivery at Netflix, posted the results of a very interesting study on the Netflix Tech Blog. The company measured the effective throughput speed of its HD streams as delivered by many ISPs in the US and Canada from the first of October to the middle of January. The US results are shown above, while the Canadian results are shown below.
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Premiere Design
Neuromonics Tinnitus Breakthrough?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 11, 2010

Among the maladies to which music lovers are especially susceptible, hearing damage caused by prolonged exposure to loud sounds is perhaps the most pernicious. When you're young, you normally don't think about the consequences of cranking up the volume, but if you do that routinely, you are sure to suffer some form of hearing deficit in your later&#151;or, in some cases, not so later&#151;years.

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Audio Video NewsThe Big Picture
New 3D Programming from Discovery, Imax, Sony
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 14, 2010
Sony, Imax, and the Discovery Channel have announced new 3D programming for 2011, with three new series, two specials, and the broadcast debut of Open Season in 3D, the first feature-length animated movie from Sony Pictures Animation. The specials include Imax's Space Station narrated by Tom Cruise and a 3D episode of Discovery's Ghost Lab.
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Ask S&V
New AVR, Old Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 10, 2011
I just got the new Onkyo TX-NR809 receiver, and I'm wondering how inadequate my speaker setup is. I have a pair of DCM KX-12 Series Twos for the front left and right, DCM KX Center, DCM SW10 sub, and a pair of DCM KX-6 Series Two for the surround channels. I know these speakers were primarily built for loud "party" music, and they are about 12 years old. Am I going to miss out on the quality and features of the Onkyo with this setup? If I were to upgrade the speakers, what do you recommend in the $2000-ish range?

Jason

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Ask S&V
New BDP, Old AVR
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 23, 2011
I read HT's review of the Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player, which was very helpful. I have an older AVR (Pioneer Elite VSX-43TX, 96/24 capable, but no HDMI or DTS/Dolby HD decoders), so if I get the BDP-93, the review suggests that I connect HDMI from the Oppo to my new Panasonic TC-P65VT30 plasma and use analog outputs to the AVR. But what about using either coax or optical out from the BDP-93 to the AVR? At least that would cut down on the cabling and clutter. Also, will I hear the benefits of Dolby or DTS HD audio via analog or digital audio from the Oppo, since the Elite is 96/24 capable?

Peter Kukiel

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Audio Video News
New Blu-ray Formats Introduced
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 06, 2010

No matter how much data storage is available in any medium, people always want more. Take Blu-ray, for example&#151;one might think that 25 or 50GB would be plenty for just about any storage requirement, but some applications need even more. To address this insatiable demand, the Blu-ray Disc Association this week announced a new high-capacity recordable format called BDXL as well as a new hybrid format called IH-BD.

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Audio Video News
New Meridian Projector Announced
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 30, 2008

If you thought 1080p is as good as it gets, think again. Long known for its reference-quality audio products, Meridian has announced a new video projector with <I>five times</I> the resolution of 1080p. Dubbed the 810 Reference Video Projector, this 140-pound behemoth uses three D-ILA panels, each with a resolution of 4096x2400 for a total of nearly 10 megapixels.

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