Al Griffin

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Are You Ready for Some HDTV?
Al Griffin  |  Dec 06, 2001  |  0 comments

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Ask the Expert: November 2010
Al Griffin  |  Oct 22, 2010  |  0 comments

Question: I’m in the market for a Blu-ray player and A/V receiver, but I’d like the system to play 96-kHz/24-bit high-rez music downloads as well. The info I’ve found on manufacturer Web sites simply indicates whether or not the equipment supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, but not if the DACs support 96/24 decoding. Since many players and AVRs have a USB port, can this be used as an input for sending 96/24 files from my PC?
Joe Massey, Exeter, NH

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Audica CS-System 3 Speakers
Al Griffin  |  Aug 02, 2006  |  0 comments

Just how slim can speakers get? It's a question I find myself pondering these days as wave after wave of skinny speakers arrives on my doorstep for testing. Looking over the elegant, metal-clad CS-System 3 speakers from British newcomer Audica - a company of audio veterans who previously did time at established UK speaker outfits like Mission - the answer is: remarkably slim.

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Axiom Audio A1400-8
Al Griffin  |  Dec 13, 2009  |  0 comments
Key Features
$3,850 Axiomaudio.com
 
 
• 8-channel amplifier • 350 watts per-channel (1 channel into 8 ohms) • 200 watts perchannel (7 channels driven, all impedances) • 4 x 18 x 17[1/2] in; 54 lb

Power amplifiers have traditionall

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Axiom Epic 80/500 Home Theater Speaker System
Al Griffin  |  Nov 04, 2007  |  0 comments
Any apprehension I may have had about buying speakers off the Internet faded a few years back when I scored some great-sounding bookshelf speakers from a Web-only audio company. Those remain in use today, and I'd be game to match them up performance-wise against any current model in their price range.
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B&O’s New TVs Offer Ultra HD Resolution, Wood
CEDIA 2016
Al Griffin  |  Sep 16, 2016  |  0 comments
The BeoVision 14, a new Series of Ultra HDTVs unveiled by Danish manufacturer Bang & Olufsen today at its CEDIA press event, up the ante on the aesthetics front by providing an element not often seen in modern TV design: wood.
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B&W XT Series Home Theater Speaker System
Al Griffin  |  May 03, 2006  |  0 comments
What We Think
A gorgeous system that delivers great sound - but you'll pay for the pleasure.
When TVs made the transition from bulky, oversize boxes to a slimmer, wall-friendl
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Balanced vs. Unbalanced Cables
ASK S&V
Al Griffin  |  Nov 06, 2013  |  3 comments
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com.

Q I have a legacy AV receiver (Integra DTR-7) and am considering replacing it with a separate preamp/processor and amplifier. I’ve noticed that some preamps only have RCA outputs, while other, more expensive preamps also have balanced XLR outputs. Is there a noticeable difference in the sound quality when using balanced XLR cables versus unbalanced cables? The length of the cables needed to connect the two units would only be 1 meter. —Ed Mendelson / via e-mail

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Bang & Olufsen Makes Wireless Audio Essential
CES 2014
Al Griffin  |  Jan 09, 2014  |  0 comments
Bang & Olufsen’s CES press event was held in a comfortable, stylishly decorated room that drove home the company’s message of merging good sound with good design.
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Battle of the Sub-$300 Blu-ray Players
OTHER TECH
Al Griffin  |  Jul 30, 2009  |  0 comments

When the Blu-ray Disc format was first announced, a feature that industry execs liked to pimp in their PowerPoint presentations was BD-Live. With your player plugged into a home network, we were told, a BD-Live-enabled disc could access all manner of wonders by way of the Internet -things like games and extra scenes and commentaries not included on the original disc.

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