We thank Shannon as our listener of the week. Thanks! Everyone welcome Austen as the official AV Rant Producer! Welcome aboard Austen – now get to work! Jim and Josh felt like we were unfair to them and we address the issue. In the news – UK’s BT TV will be offering the first broadcast 4K UHD TV channel (LINK and LINK), AT&T buys DirecTV (LINK), and Vizio goes public (LINK). Barney has some questions about the “Surfer Girl” SACD, OLED HDR monitors (LINK), the Sony FMP-X10 4K movie server (LINK), and Carl Tatz’s comments on making small rooms sound like million-dollar studios (LINK). Jonathan found an article for us about the Grateful Dead’s wall of sound (LINK), experience with the Sony MDRZX110NC headphones (LINK), found a new use for records (LINK), and is going to see/hear a performance of “I am Sitting in a Room” (LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK). John is loving his new Denon AVR-X4000 and wants to know what were the last 3 movies we watched in our theaters, Vince used to service TV’s and has a warning about surge protectors, and Stephen wants to know if a Yamaha CX-A5000 processor would be a vast improvement over his Yamaha RX-A2040. Ryan has a question about NOT using surround speakers, Kyle has questions about the future of receivers and how to get rid of his old one (LINK and LINK), and Greg has a couple of new products for us to check out (LINK and LINK). Art wants to know more about HDbaseT, Andy is having a problem with audio delay over HDMI, and Joseph needs help positioning his subwoofers. Bob has a question about multiple subs and phase, Dev has a Dayton Sub-1200 and has a couple of questions about positioning, and Michael has a nook for his center and wants to know how he can make sure the nook isn’t messing up his sound.
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This week we thank Stephen and Jordan for their donations and Sushmit for letting SVS know he bought his sub because of us. In the news: Klipsch gets Atmos (LINK), HDR updates (LINK and LINK), and VR controllers (LINK). Jack is looking for over-ear headphones and maybe an amp to drive them (LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK), Jim is wondering about speaker wire and resistance, and Scott needs help placing his speakers in his living room along with some speaker recommendations (LINK, LINK, and LINK). Aaron is worried he doesn’t have enough power for his speakers (LINK, LINK, and LINK), Michael is looking for a streaming service with high quality audio, Jim has a small space for a dedicated theater and needs help with speaker placement (LINK and LINK), and Jason needs subwoofer placement help. Scott needs help choosing between either high quality Audyssey or room treatments, James got a measurement microphone and wants advice on how to use it and introduces us to the Kii 3 speakers (LINK), Josh wants us to clarify what the BBE Sonic Maximizer does (LINK), and Mike lets us know that he ended up getting PowerAmp for his Android device as he couldn’t find anything he liked better (LINK). Infinite Gary has a few questions about the SimAudio Moon 400M amp (LINK, LINK, and LINK), calibrated displays, center channels (LINK), imaging, finding a mate for his infinite baffle sub (LINK), and ELAC speakers (LINK). Lastly, Joshua has a question for Infinite Gary ane everyone else – what makes the bass bump in your house (LINK)?
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This week we thank Ray and Lee for their support with a special thanks to Dipan for his donation. Thanks guys! In the news: Comic Con 2015 (LINK) and an interesting bookshelf shootout (LINK). Tom (a listener) is looking to replace his Snell speakers and needs some advice (LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK), Jordan is thinking of a $60 sub and wants our opinion (LINK), and Ashley has some questions on satellite speakers and his Sony PS 3D monitor (LINK). Everett has questions about his TV settings and a sub setting on his Denon AVR-X4000, Diego is on the prowl for a new receiver (this LINK will surprise roughly no one) and needs some speaker placement advice, and Bobby wants to know if there are any 4K UHD TVs that will make regular DVDs look good. Roch would simply like to know our favorite ever 2-channel setup that we’ve heard so far in our lives, Ted (the creator of our Outro music!) would like to know our opinions on coaxial/concentric-driver speakers, and Jason wanted to confirm that Monoprice HDMI switches can work perfectly well with Harmony Remotes (LINK) but wonders why his “Standard Speed” HDMI cables didn’t work properly. Dipan has a pair of Revel Ultima2 Salon2 speakers and wants to know if he can use them for 2-channel in his custom theater, John found a pair of Martin Logan SL3 speakers at a good price (LINK) and wants to know if he should buy, and Lee is looking for a screen for his new Epson 3500 projector. Michael just got a Power Sound Audio XV15 subwoofer and wants to know if he should continue to use his Polk Audio PSW-505 subwoofer, Scott is interested in the Intel NUC that Tom just built as he needs a new HTPC (LINK), and Bruce disagrees with us about some of the things we’ve said about high resolution audio.
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This week we thank Rohan as our listener of the week! Thanks for your donation. Some news about Atmos and Game of Thrones (LINK), a nice roundup of all the new receivers coming (LINK), and Rob is for some reason really concerned about bubble wrap (LINK). We tackle Infinite Gary’s wall of questions about HDR and “vivid” modes, high resolution audio (LINK), speaker measurements in reviews (LINK), the importance of speaker quality versus room design, DTS 5.1 96/24 (LINK), the definition of “smooth”, and some info about Rives audio (LINK). Don let us know about an interesting Kickstarter project (LINK), while Barney is curious about our opinion of the state of receivers, the divide between the consumer and the high end receiver offerings, and some comments from Andrew Jones (LINK). Sushmit sent some feedback (LINK) but wonders about the performance of SVS cylinder subs versus their box subs, Jay wants an easy way to calculate standing waves in a room (LINK), and Andy was dismayed to learn how the mixing is done for movies (LINK). Nathan had a suggestion for Matt, Ken is interested in the Audiokinesis Swarm Subwoofer System (LINK) and has a question about bass in car audio, and Scott is shopping for a projector and a screen (LINK).
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This week we thank Michael, Kyle, and Sushmit for their donations along with Scott (LINK), Ceasar, and Paul. Tom briefly mentions some news from Onkyo (LINK), OLED (LINK), HDR (LINK), and the Hoover Dam (LINK). Cliff has placement questions for his subwoofers (one that is in-floor) in his temporary home theater, Greg needs help aiming his surround speakers, and Michael wants to know about the new Denon receivers and how much they’ll cost in Canada (LINK). Quintin is interested GoldenEar speakers, Jack wants a DAC to make his Shure flagship SE846 headphones sound the best (LINK and LINK), and Josh wants our thoughts on the BBE Sonic Maximizer (LINK and LINK). Kyle wants to know if his plans to get his preferred speakers up front (LINK) and the cheapest possible option (LINK) for the surrounds are a good idea. Any other options? (LINK and LINK) Barney was wondering why someone would calibrate displays for 35 (rather than 30) foot lamberts for a display shootout, Jay noticed us on a list of AV podcasts to listen to (LINK), and Tim is having some HDMI switch issues (LINK). Mike wants to know what the “Loudness” setting does (LINK), treble and bass controls, recommendations for sub-$100 portable DACs with bass controls (LINK and LINK), music players for Android (LINK), and custom earmolds for in-ear monitors. Lastly, Sushmit wants to know how to get the best possible sound from Netflix, why his speakers don’t sound like Magnepans, and what subwoofer to buy.
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