Scott Wilkinson

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Premiere Design
Wilson Audio Thor's Hammer Passive Subwoofer
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 15, 2010
With his magical hammer Mjöllnir, the Norse god Thor is said to have produced thunder. So there is no more appropriate name than Thor's Hammer for the ultimate subwoofer from Wilson Audio. In fact, this monster might have put Thor himself to shame, since it can reproduce frequencies even lower than natural thunder.
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Ask S&V
Projection Screens, 3D AVRs, HDMI Cables
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 14, 2010
Diamonds Are a Light's Best Friend
I am installing a new home theater, starting with a Panasonic PT-AE4000U projector, and I wonder about which screen to use. I would like a 16:9 or 2.35:1 screen. The room has some ambient light, but it can be made totally dark. What do you think of the Screen Innovations Black Diamond II? I have seen some YouTube videos about it, and it really looks great, but I wonder if it's worth the high price?
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Premiere Design
Magico Ultimate II Speaker
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 14, 2010

When I ran across the Ultimate II speaker from Magico, I knew I had to profile it here - hey, the name says it all! This 5-way, horn-loaded monster stands 7.5 feet tall and weighs 800 pounds, and from all reports I've read, it sounds just as impressive as it looks.

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Premiere Design
Wavac SE-833 Monoblock Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 14, 2010

As I was looking for products to profile in this blog, I came across something astonishing - a tube-based monoblock power amp that costs $350,000/pair! Hand-built by Japanese boutique maker Wavac Audio Lab, the SH-833 isn't new - it was reviewed in Stereophile in 2004 - but when I saw that price tag, I knew I had to include it here.

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Sony 3D Launch
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 14, 2010
Traffic on the San Diego Freeway and surrounding surface streets was among the worst I've seen in many years as Tom Norton and I slowly made our way to Sony's big 3D launch event yesterday at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. We finally got past the accident—after a medevac helicopter landed right next to us on the freeway—and arrived shortly before Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer said, "Thanks for coming!"
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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 26: Michael Fremer
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 13, 2010  |  Published: Jul 14, 2010
The inimitable Michael Fremer, senior contributing editor for Stereophile and contrinbuting editor for Home Theater, waxes rhapsodic about the value of vinyl records, his work as soundtrack supervisor on the original Tron movie, answers to listener questions, and more.

Run Time: 56:04

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Premiere Design
True Stereo: Forget 5.1--How About 304.8?
Scott Wilkinson,  |  Jul 13, 2010
Most consumers would probably apply the word "stereo" exclusively to 2-channel audio systems. So you might be surprised to learn that "stereo" has nothing to do with the number 2 per se—it derives from the Greek word for "solid." The word was applied to 2-channel sound systems when they first became available because those systems rendered a much more "solid" sonic image with more specific placement of individual elements (instruments, voices, etc.) than the monaural systems that had preceded them. Similarly, 5.1 surround systems are far more "stereo" than 2-channel systems.
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Premiere Design
JL Audio Gotham g213 Powered Subwoofer
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 13, 2010

Everyone knows that subwoofers are an essential part of just about any home theater in order to rattle your bones with explosions, rocket launches, and dinosaur roars. But they must also be capable of reproducing—and differentiating—the lowest musical notes in the movie's score. Among the most well-regarded practitioners of both tasks is JL Audio, especially its flagship Gotham g213.

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Premiere Design
Red Dragon Leviathan Signature Monoblock Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 12, 2010

Founded in 2005, Utah-based Red Dragon Audio is dedicated to class-D power-amp technology. It's flagship product is the Leviathan Signature monoblock, which is designed to look—and feel—as good as it sounds.

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3D Tech
Sony 3D Projector
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 09, 2010

At last week's Sony press event, the company's ES A/V receivers weren't the only things on display. (For more on these feature-packed AVRs, see my report here.) Tucked away at one end of the room was a mysterious shape tightly draped in a black shroud standing several feet from a projection screen. What could it be?

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