John Sciacca

At some point, CES ceased having much of anything to do with the home theater experience, and became primarily about TV makers launching the latest, biggest, and thinnest TVs. Oh, and there are also a couple of floors of stratospherically expensive high-end audio gear, and now headphones.

Q I have a Sonos system for playing music throughout the house. I've recorded my 700-CD collection and like to listen to the songs randomly but Sonos does not access the whole collection — only about 4,000 of the 6,000 available songs. Can you recommend a solution, or do you know of an app that can safely randomize files? —Clive Fox, Richmond, VA

Q After several decades of renting and townhome ownership, I’m finally at a point where I’m looking to buy a single-family home. When I look at houses, I’m trying to find an area that will eventually become a dedicated home theater. What factors should I be looking at? What sizes and shapes of rooms are best? Should I be considering what materials the walls (and maybe the floor?) are made from? Are there modifications that are best done before we move in for sound isolation purposes or to improve the acoustics of a room? —Michael Brown