Al Griffin

CES 2020
Konka Prepares to Conquer the Western TV World
Al Griffin  |  Jan 09, 2020  |  0 comments
Chinese manufacturer Konka has been a regular exhibitor at CES for years. What’s different about the company’s presence at this particular CES is they are showing a number of new TVs destined for sale in the U.S. and Canada in 2020.
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CES 2020
TCL Adds Mini-LED to Budget 6-Series Sets
Al Griffin  |  Jan 09, 2020  |  0 comments
A highlight of Thomas J. Norton’s recent review of TCL’s 75-inch 8-Series LCD UHDTV was that set’s “class-leading local dimming.” The deep blacks and punchy HDR performance delivered by the 8-Series model was made possible by its mini-LED backlight, a feature found only in the company’s 8-Series TVs for 2019. In 2020, TCL plans to expand mini-LED backlights to its 6-Series, a more valued-oriented line that also features the same built-in Roku streaming platform found in the 8-Series.
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CES 2020
Sennheiser Debuts Affordable BT and Noise-Canceling Headphones
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2020  |  0 comments
Sennheiser headphones are known for having great sound, but they’re also known for being pricey. With a flood of new Bluetooth/Noise-Canceling headphones hitting the market over the past year, the company decided to release new models aimed at the mobile audiophile on a budget.
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CES 2020
NAD Aims for Streaming Perfection With M33 Amp
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2020  |  1 comments
A star of NAD’s 2019 CES exhibit was its compact Masters Series M10 BluOS streaming amplifier. At this CES, the company has taken that concept to a new level — and to a full chassis size — with its M33 BluOS streaming amplifier.
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CES 2020
PSB’s Compact Alpha Series Speakers Gain Power
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2020  |  0 comments
PSB is showing an active version of its compact, Top Pick-winning Alpha series speakers at CES. Slated to arrive sometime in the first half of 2020, the Alpha AM5 and AM3 powered bookshelf speakers will feature DSP control and EQ, along with aptX Bluetooth for streaming.
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CES 2020
Samsung’s Q950TS Series 8K TVs Ditch the Bezel
Al Griffin  |  Jan 07, 2020  |  1 comments
One of the more intriguing items in our earlier Samsung CES TV overview was the company’s new Q950TS Series 8K sets, which feature a “virtually-no-bezel” design. If you thought we were kidding, take a look at the picture above—seriously, these TVs have virtually no bezel.
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CES 2020
LG’s New 48-Inch OLED TV’s Got Game
Al Griffin  |  Jan 07, 2020  |  0 comments
LG’s massive OLED TV rollout at CES 2020 includes the company’s smallest OLED yet: the 48-inch CX series model. And while the new baby OLED is packed with all the other features found in other models from the company, including 4K resolution, a9 Gen 3 AI processor, Dolby Vision HDR, and HDMI 2.1 connectivity, its gaming features are what the company chose to highlight in its CES booth.
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CES 2020
Up Close with the Hisense 4K ULED 65XD9G
Al Griffin  |  Jan 07, 2020  |  2 comments
Sound & Vision’s earlier post on Hisense’s CES product lineup included detailed info on the company’s 65XD9G 65-inch 4K LCD TV. What’s most notable about that model, shown above, is a dual-cell design that uses a 2K black-and-white panel as a backlight for a 4K full-color LCD panel, effectively giving the display two million local dimming zones.
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Top Picks
2019 Top Picks of the Year
Al Griffin  |  Jan 03, 2020  |  31 comments
Now that 2019 is done, it's time to take stock of the year by reviewing the list of products that received Sound & Vision Top Pick awards. It's also time to single out some trends.

A key trend is that OLED and LCD TVs have become available in substantially larger screen sizes—the 70-plus-inch category is where the action is at for set makers. Not surprisingly, high-end models in general are also getting less pricey. While at $3,800 our 2019 TV Top Pick of the Year at isn't any cheaper than last year's winner, it's notable that the list includes a full-featured $1,000 LCD Ultra HDTV with a full-array LED backlight. Projectors, too, are part of the downward pricing spiral, with good-quality 4K-capable models now selling for under $1,500, and great ones selling for under $3,000.

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Ask S&V
WTF! Why Don’t All Streams Have Gapless Playback?
Al Griffin  |  Dec 20, 2019  |  0 comments
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I just finished listening to the new Giles Martin remaster of The Beatles’ Abbey Road via a 24-bit/96kHz stream from Qobuz. For the first few tracks I felt like I was listening to the original album, but on a much better stereo system. Then the bad news came when I got to the medley on “side two” starting with “You Never Give Me Your Money.” Instead of a seamless flow between songs, I heard distinct gaps between the tracks. It really ruined the experience. Why can’t streams of album tracks that are supposed to segue do so without annoying, and at times jarring, gaps in the sound? There are lots of iconic recordings with the same issue. —Thomas E. Moore, Fairfax, VA

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