Tom Norton

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Power Amplifier ReviewsSurround Processor Reviews
Command Central: Marantz’s AV 20 and AMP 20 Japan-Built AV Separates Review
Tom Norton  |  Jun 28, 2025  |  Published: Jun 25, 2025

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE
AV 20 Preamplifier: $6,000
AMP 20 Power Amplifier: $6,000

AT A GLANCE
AMP 20 power amplifier
- 200 watts of power per channel
- Bi Amp and Bridging options
- AV 20 Preamplifier
- Incredibly Flexible Setup Options
- Audyssey and (extra cost) Dirac room correction
- HEOS multi room/streaming

THE VERDICT
A do-it-all preamp + 12 channel amp combo (available and usable separately) that can accommodate virtually any system and desired setup. But using it to its fullest capabilities does entail a significant learning curve.

Home theater separates don't always get the attention they deserve. Two channel only audiophiles rarely give them a glance, much less serious consideration.

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A/V Veteran
Life and Death On The Nile
Tom Norton  |  May 06, 2025
There haven't been tons of movies made about ancient Egypt, which is odd, given the fact that ancient Egyptian history spans eras that began at the dawn of written western civilization as we know it (around 3000 BC) and ended when Egypt (as an independent entity) became a Roman province (around 30 BC). The Egypt-centered films we do have tend to be centered in the middle of that epoch, or around 1300–1500 BC. But this is no coincidence; that time period was one of conflict, conquest, and vast royal wealth, making it ideal for lavish historical epics.
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A/V Veteran
Coming Soon to a Theater Near You!
Tom Norton  |  Mar 28, 2025
It happens every year at this time. The internet is flooded with announcements trumpeting the new films expected to launch in late spring or early summer. The timing is vital. If the scheduled release date is earlier, such as from mid-March to early May, it's likely that the market for the movie has been judged dubious at best. The studio involved won't waste time and money trying to squeeze it into the vital and crowded mid-May to late July window. To soften their likely losses it's thrown to the wolves early to get whatever pennies the filmmakers think they can scratch from it. But there are always exceptions; one can't entirely ignore the possibility of an early season surprise hit.
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A/V Veteran
Music On YouTube
Tom Norton  |  Mar 10, 2025
Up until the last hundred years or so, music—and the musicians who performed it—were nearly always both heard and seen. Perhaps it was a local (or traveling) minstrel attracting a curious crowd in the town square, or it might have been the upper crust gathered in a concert hall. In either case, the music was heard, and the musicians were seen. The experience was always savored; music at the time was rarely an everyday event.
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A/V Veteran
LEDs, OLEDs, and Micro LEDs
Tom Norton  |  Feb 13, 2025
This blog will be old-hat for many veteran Sound & Vision readers, but there are always newbies flummoxed by this whole LED vs OLED vs Micro LED business.

The oldest and most basic form of a flat screen television is the LCD, or Liquid Crystal Display. A layer of liquid crystals is sandwiched between two layers of polarizing filters. When an electric signal is applied to those filters (that signal being the source to be displayed) the liquid crystals align in changing patterns to produce the moving and (where needed) color image.

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Subwoofer Reviews
KEF KC92 Subwoofer Review
Tom Norton  |  Aug 28, 2024

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE: $2,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Tight, clean, deep bass
Small size
Minus
Pricey
No app

THE VERDICT
The KEF KC92 is ideal in a situation where space is a serious consideration but deep, impactful bass is a must. While it will be best suited to modestly-sized home theater spaces, it can also offer impressive performance in larger rooms, even at challenging output levels.

Most audiophiles today are familiar with the KEF brand. It's one of the most widely recognized names in loudspeakers, offering products ranging from the relatively affordable to the high-end. Established in the U.K. in 1961 by Raymond Cook, the company's name was derived from its original location, the Kent Engineering and Foundry. The Hong Kong-based Gold Peak Group acquired KEF in 1992. All of its products are currently designed and engineered in the U.K., but today most of them (including the KC92 subwoofer), are manufactured in China. One major exception to this are the KEF Blades, the company's highest-end loudspeakers that are still built in Kent.

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Home Theater Systems ReviewsTower Speaker Reviews
SVS Ultra Evolution Titan Surround Loudspeaker System Review
Tom Norton  |  Jul 10, 2024

Performance
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $6,000 (system as tested)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Dynamic, powerful sound
Tight, well-defined bass
Crisp detail
Minus
Best with subwoofers

THE VERDICT
SVS has earned a formidable reputation for producing loudspeakers and subwoofers that outperform their reasonable price points. With the new Ultra Evolution range, they’ve more than upheld their past record. While the Ultra Evolution speakers are the company’s priciest offerings to date, most home theater enthusiasts don’t need to win the lottery or take out a second mortgage to at least consider them.

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that SVS first entered the audio scene. But time does fly.

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A/V Veteran
Dune Week
Tom Norton  |  Feb 27, 2024
Just in case you've been living under a rock somewhere, you need to know that the film Dune: Part Two will arrive at a theater near you this coming Friday, March 1, 2024. That would place its story about 10,000 years into a future envisioned by writer Frank Herbert in his famous 1965 science fiction novel, directed in this latest film incarnation, by Denis Villeneuve.
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4K TV ReviewsTV Reviews
Sony Bravia X93L Mini-LED 4K Google TV Review
Tom Norton  |  Nov 08, 2023

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $1,800

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Black levels
Superb color
Affordability
Minus
Menu ergonomics
Remote control

THE VERDICT
Even before calibration, this Sony produced superb images. But calibration truly brought out the best from it in both HDR to SDR. Our samples offered slightly less luminance in HDR than expected, but that was quickly forgotten once the lights dimmed and the viewing began.

For several years now OLED has been king of the HDTV hill, offering the best available HDTV performance. This isn't to say that it has been free of issues; no technology is perfect.

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4K TV ReviewsLCD TV ReviewsTV Reviews
TCL 85" QM8 Mini LED QLED 4K TV Review
Tom Norton  |  Sep 05, 2023

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $2,800

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Screen size
Black levels
Price
Minus
Limited off-center viewing
Cluttered remote

THE VERDICT
The TCL 85QM8 has a few annoying ergonomic issues, and like most LED/LCD sets its off-center viewing won't challenge an OLED. But its performance is impressive, and its price unexpectedly affordable. Properly adjusted, and on source material ranging from the routine to the awesomely difficult, its performance was consistently irresistible.

One significant difference between building a home theater around a video projector or a conventional flat-screen television has been image size. Projector fans will point to the immersion that big-screen projection offers, with the screen size limited mainly by your available space, imagination, and budget. Until recently, however, TVs bigger than 65-inches were priced beyond the means of most consumers.

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