AV Rant #941: Lee Knows VHS

November 14th, 2024 Comments off

Lee is here to co-host again. And he digs into some of the finer details of converting VHS tapes to digital. 83″ QD-OLEDs are coming in 2025 according to Samsung Displays parts lists. And LG Display has a prototype micro-LED display that can stretch.

Here is our PayPal link. Anything donated via this link goes directly to Tom and his family: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5A2CNKZ8DY396

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBRw7z

00:00:00 – Intro

Tom has a shipping address! Updates on Lee’s and Rob’s family members.

00:09:52 – Rob Set Up a Small TV & Sofabaton X1S

The misadventures of setting up an Insignia TV with Amazon Fire TV built-in for Rob’s aunt, and a Sofabaton X1S universal Hub-based remote for AVRant Listener Paul.

00:23:17 – Thanks Again to Anker

Thanks, once again, to https://www.anker.com/ for providing Tom with a Solix Portable Power Station, GaN Prime Power Banks, and other helpful items following the two hurricanes.

00:26:15 – What We Watched

Lee watched the first half of Oppenheimer. Rob watched The Penguin season finale, and Oddity, thanks to David’s recommendation.

00:39:15 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are: Allen, Donald, and Adriano for their PayPal donations, plus our 132 Patreon Patrons, as well as: Tony for offering Tom a Def Tech CS-9080 Center speaker; and, Nathan for offering Tom a pair of Triad Bronze in-wall speakers with backer boxes.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Dazz, Kris, Gurinder, Joe, Tony, Brandon, Jorge, Vince, Sasi, Andrew, and Ilango. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:44:44 – News: 83″ Samsung QD-OLED in 2025

Listings in Samsung’s parts database revealed that 83″ QD-OLED TV models are coming in 2025. You’ll want to check the model number to make sure you’re not getting a WOLED panel by mistake: https://tinyurl.com/3vxp22nd

00:49:01 – News: Micro-LED Display That Can Stretch

LD Display has a prototype micro-LED display that can stretch and release from 12 inches to 18 inches and back over 10,000 times: https://tinyurl.com/2ev7262h

Comments:

00:50:48 – Comment: Karl – The Equipment Room

A converted hotel space in Austin, Texas has amazing acoustics and a selection of hi-end stereo gear: https://equipmentroom.com/

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AV Rant #940: Cassettes Every Week

November 6th, 2024 Comments off

Lee Overstreet is back. Thanks to Joe Klusnick for guest co-hosting last week. Rob & Lee both appeared on DJ’s Bright Side Home Theater Podcast 25 Hours of Home Theater marathon to raise funds for Movember. RBH added a 555-iw/r on-wall speaker model to their Impression Series. And Netflix is removing almost all of their Interactive Specials.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBQS6a

00:00:00 – Intro & 25 Hours of Home Theater

DJ’s Bright Side 25 Hours of Home Theater to raise funds for Movember Podcast:

Rob’s appearance: https://tinyurl.com/3pvc9yrx

Lee’s appearance: https://tinyurl.com/4dm84msa

And our continued gratitude to https://www.anker.com/ for helping Tom after the two hurricanes. They sent him a Solix Portable Power Station, GaN Prime Power Banks, various cables & adapters, and whatever else he asked for. So thank you, Anker!

00:14:18 – What We Watched

Lee didn’t watch anything of note, but he does prompt a quick discussion about OLED burn-in.

Rob watched The Penguin Ep. 7, The Substance, and Drive-Away Dolls.

00:36:08 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Jason S, Richard B, Karl R, Andrew H, and Gregory H for their PayPal donations that are all going to help Tom and his family. Also, our 132 Patreon Patrons, as well as John T & Infinite Gary for sending movie codes to Tom, Aaron for sending a movie code to Rob, John O for offering several items to Tom, and Nathan for offering a pair of Triad Bronze speakers to Tom.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: John T, Mike H, Sasi, Gurinder, J. Karl, Kevin, Karl, Aaron, Paul, and Nelson. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

– That rock climbing gym bathroom Karl mentioned to us. Be warned: you cannot unsee what you’ll see if you click: https://tinyurl.com/zpjywxj5

In the news:

00:43:06 – News: RBH Impression 555-iw/r On-Walls

Via Sasi – The newest and largest RBH Impression Series On-wall speaker has been added, and it can act as two speakers in one: https://tinyurl.com/mr42sref

00:46:56 – News: Netflix Removing Interactive Specials

Only 4 of Netflix’ choose-your-own-adventure-style Interactive Specials will remain after Dec 1: https://tinyurl.com/469p7h45

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #939: Joe’s Spooky Season (Tom Update 2)

October 30th, 2024 Comments off

Joe Klusnick co-hosts with Rob H this week. He’s been catching up on spooky movies. And he tells the tale of how he acquired his latest high-end home theater goody! Tom provides a second update on how he and his family are doing. It’s some good news, and some bad news. And the Pathé Palace in Paris converted six of its seven theatres to MicroLED.

Here is our PayPal link. Anything donated via this link goes directly to Tom and his family: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5A2CNKZ8DY396

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBPXfs

00:00:00 – Intro

Welcome back, Joe Klusnick. We’re changing up the order of our segments a little bit this week.

00:02:34 – Tom’s 2nd Update

Find out how Tom and his family are doing. There’s been some good news. There’s been some bad news.

00:48:39 – Tom Answers Tony’s Question!

We figured we can start to ease Tom back into answering home theater & AV questions, right? So last week, Tony wanted to know how Tom feels about Sony’s room correction and 360 Spatial Sound Mapping. And now we can hear it straight from Tom!

01:03:17 – Back to Joe & Rob

Thanks, once again, to https://www.anker.com/ for providing Tom with a Solix Portable Power Station, GaN Prime Power Banks, and other helpful items following the two hurricanes.

01:04:52 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Steven B, Kerry, and Chris H for their PayPal donations, plus our 133 Patreon Patrons, as well as Greg for offer to send Tom an Emotiva BasX A2m Stereo Flex Amp and/or a Fosi ZA3 amp; and, Infinite Gary for sending Tom a couple more movie codes.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Gurinder, Greg, Robert, Miguel, and Karl. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

01:11:49 – News: Pathé Palace Converts to MicroLED

Six out of the seven historic theatres now feature Samsung Onyx MicroLED displays after a 5-year renovation project: https://tinyurl.com/26ved7br

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AV Rant #938: Don’t Gaslight ’em

October 24th, 2024 Comments off

Lee Overstreet co-hosts, and he watched four movies this week! Alien: Romulus will get a VHS Limited Edition release. Sonos announced their Arc Ultra SoundBar and Sub 4. And the generosity of our AV Rant Listeners has been on full display.

Here is our PayPal link. Anything donated via this link goes directly to Tom and his family: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5A2CNKZ8DY396

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBPcWh

00:00:00 – Intro & Thanks to Anker

We extend our continued gratitude to https://www.anker.com/ for so generously supplying Tom and his family with a Solix Portable Power Station, GaN Prime USB chargers, and whatever else Tom requested and needed in the way of power and charging products following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

00:08:32 – What We Watched

Lee watched: the documentaries Apollo 13: Survival, and Wham! He also watched the 1950’s sci-fi Destination Moon. And then he watched something more recent: Barbie.

Rob continued watching The Penguin, and absolutely loved Inside Out 2.

00:32:30 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are: Thomas T, Thomas P, John, Gurinder, Steven, Julian, Raf, and Cameron for their PayPal donations, plus our 133 Patreon Patrons, as well as: Infinite Gary for sending Tom a movie code, Raj for sending Tom an Audio-Technica 2100 USB mic + desk arm, Stefan for talking us up to RUIPRO, and Dan for offering to send Tom a whole bunch of items, including a laptop, NAD Receiver, and KEF Q-Series speakers!

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Infinite Gary, Stefan, Mark, J. Karl, Aras, Bob, Karl, Jefferson, Raj, Tim, Greg, Julian, Tony, and Paul. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:40:09 – News: Alien: Romulus on VHS

To celebrate the 45th anniversary of Alien, the latest movie in the franchise will get a Limited Edition VHS release in December: https://tinyurl.com/mry7mwf4

00:42:33 – News: Sonos Arc Ultra & Sub 4

A direct replacement for the Sub (Gen 3), and a new flagship Atmos SoundBar from Sonos.

– https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/sub-4

– https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/arc-ultra

Comments:

00:49:20 – Comment: Kevin, Julian & Rob H

We all weigh in with additional ideas for solving Manuel’s DJ Controller setup where he wants to be able to share his SVS subwoofers for mixing and home theater.

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AV Rant #937: Update From Tom!

October 16th, 2024 Comments off

Tom is here! Not for the whole podcast, of course. But he lets us know he’s safe, and everything he and his family have been dealing with post-two-hurricanes.

Lee Overstreet co-hosts with Rob H. Sound & Vision and Home Cinema Choice both end their print editions and go online-only. The FTC has updated their Amplifier Rule. And ADTH announced their NextGen TV USB dongle that adds an ATSC 3.0 tuner to Google TV and Fire TV boxes.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBN9ZP

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:55 – It’s Tom!

First and foremost, Tom and his family are all physically ok and safe. But they’ve been dealing with…a lot. More than Rob was aware of. So Tom wanted to provide an update for everyone, and to express his gratitude for all of the support.

You’ll have to excuse the noise in the background; the house where Tom and his family have been staying also suffered some hurricane damage and was under repair as we recorded!

00:42:45 – Back to Rob & Lee

00:45:18 – Thank You, Anker!

The folks at Anker came in clutch, sending Tom a Solix Portable Power Station, a few GaN Prime Power Banks, a USB Hub, power adapters, charging cables, and anything else Tom requested.

So we cannot thank them enough. We already loved a ton of their products anyway. And this just shows what a stand-up group they are: https://www.anker.com/

00:51:54 – What We Watched

Some updates from Lee. Rob watched The Penguin Ep. 3, and Longlegs.

01:04:45 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are: Richard, Karl, Jayson, and Niels for their PayPal donations, plus our 133 Patreon Patrons, as well as Jefferson for talking us up to Value Electronics, and Vince for sending Rob an Amazon gift card for Canadian Thanksgiving, with a promise to send one to Tom for American Thanksgiving next month.

Thanks also to Stefan for giving Tom permission to use his photos on: https://avgadgets.com/

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Tony, J. Karl, Donald, Karl, Jonathan, Stefan, Joe, Manuel, Vince, Gurinder, Mark, and Tim. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

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