Rob H. is joined by Austen Pond, Ray Coronado, and Lee Overstreet for AV Rant’s first ever four-man panel! This week, we thank John M. for telling Herb over at Cross-Spectrum Labs that he heard about their calibrated measurement microphones on AV Rant. E3 took place last week (LINK), Fox announced some HDR movies that will only play on Samsung TVs (LINK), and Yamaha revealed their newest Aventage AV Receivers (LINK). Jordan B. seeks our recommendations for a $400 2.1 sound system (LINK, LINK, and LINK), and he also wants outdoor cinema speakers (LINK). Corey B. needs AV Receiver advice for his friend in Canada. And Byron S. sent us a quiz to test “How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?” (LINK, LINK, and LINK). James B. continues to help out folks with theaters under construction, this time with an in-wall wiring guide (LINK) and an editorial on surge protection (LINK). James also wants some outdoor speakers, and we suggest Yamaha (LINK) or “Rock Speakers” (LINK & LINK). Terry Q. loves his new Marantz AV8801. And wants to backup his HD DVD collection (LINK). Bryce H. is being forced to downsize his theater, and our panel delivers a lengthy discussion on bass issues, screen size, projector choices, seating, speaker placement, and even paint! We also offer some ideas for his living room setup. Jim M. shares his experience with Atmos. Infinite Gary asks us to make a hypothetical speaker comparison (LINK vs. LINK). And Eliezer M. comments on some of the things we mentioned last week, recommends a good place to search for used gear (LINK), and asks which sampling rate is most practical. Barney wants to know what separates a “good” speaker from a “great” speaker. Scott S. plans to let us all watch his theater being built (LINK). And Matt I. has a completely digital sound system that might need to be completely replaced, although four $23 converters might be worth a try first (LINK).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
This week we thank Adam for his donation. Thanks buddy! John has a few tagline suggestions, Denon and Marantz announce an impressive receiver lineup (LINK, LINK, and LINK), and Oculus Rift has some consumer-level gear (LINK, LINK, and LINK). Jonathan found an interesting article about guitar amps (LINK), Sean has a question about hush boxes (LINK), and Kevin needs help calibrating his planned four subwoofers. Joshua is beginning to believe that CD quality is good enough (LINK), Brian needs a new subwoofer for under $200, and Gary has a slew of questions about jaggies, lip sync, LED color drift, projector calibration, and the new ELAC speakers (LINK). Adam is liking his AudioEngine A5’s more than his Marantz/Verus Grand Bookshelves and want to know why. Jim needs subwoofer placement help, Kris needs a new surge projector (LINK and LINK), and Michael has converted to Android and wants to stream to his home theater (LINK). Barney found an article on converting Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms to 5.1 (LINK) and wants to know about how UltraHD will work (LINK), while Bob is wondering how to pronounce Oppo.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
This week we thank Terry, Eric, and Scott for supporting the podcast. Thanks guys!. We receive more feedback on sponsorship from Jonathan, John, Joshua, and Byron. In the news, AV Rant is on Stitcher (LINK), Quantum Dots and HDR (LINK), Harmony remotes and the PS4 (LINK), and an interview with THX about immersive audio (LINK). Andrew has a question about setting up multiple subwoofers, Tue one about group delay, and Mike needs some new in-ear monitors (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, and Tom’s suggestions LINK and LINK). Andy has a bone to pick with Dolby, Barney is having a weird dialogue problem with his B&W soundbar, and Eric wants our recommendations for a display and three speakers for the front of his room (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK). Alan is loving his Denon AVR-X4000 but has a video connection question, James has some suggestions for some of our listeners, and Greg recommends the Roomie App which he uses with his iWatch (LINK). Steve has some additional suggestions for listeners building a dedicated home theater (LINK), Terry is looking to upgrade his processor, and Steve asks, “If we had $10,000 to spend on a pair of speakers, which would we buy?” (LINK, LINK, and waiting for Rob to provide LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
This week we thank Scott, Alan, Tim, and Eric for talking us up to the companies they bought from and for Gary for catching a YouTube problem. Thanks guys! In the news, the first DTS:X Blu-ray is announced (LINK) and ELAC puts out a new sub that is sure it get it some attention (LINK). Nikhil wants to know if he should put a sub on the ceiling, Niklas asks about mixing corner traps and subs, and Alan has some advice about DIY backer boxes for in-wall speakers (LINK). Barney is confused by something he saw on AVS, Ashley is still having issues with his Tint setting (LINK), and Kevin wants to know if he should hire a professional calibrator and how (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK). Karl wants to add an Over the Air tuner to his projector (LINK, LINK, and LINK), Greg has a screen (LINK) and a remote question (LINK), and David has a son to be proud of. Sean is creating a basement home theater and has some planning questions regarding wire runs and subwoofer placement (LINK), Infinite Gary has some information on why he doesn’t use his Infinite Baffle subwoofer for music and some more questions about his processor settings (LINK), John has a ReplayGain question (LINK), and Mike has a subwoofer cable question.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
This week we thank Jim for donating and our Facebook community for helping Tom save his marriage. We get new taglines from Joshua and Paul, some HDMI 2.2 news from Yamaha and Denon (LINK and LINK), and a new service called Vidity that Rob is interested in (LINK and LINK). James has some comments on vintage gear, Dev has a high-def audio/computer question, and Nick has a sealed versus ported subwoofer question. Jay has a question about speaker cable length (LINK and LINK), Sim is trying to help his friend that is having a home theater installed, Infinite Gary has some questions about his Denon DVD-A1UDCI and other settings in his theater (LINK and LINK), and we finally figure out what Buddy has been asking all along and give him the only (and best) answer. Jim was looking at the Wave Crest Audio HVL-1 bookshelf speakers but then came across the Chane Audio A1rx-c bookshelf speakers. Which would we recommend and do we have any alternatives (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK)? Toby wanted to know if we pay attention to trolls (LINK), Jordan has a soundbar question, and Eliezer has some comments on previous episodes including earplugs (LINK), fancy boomboxes (LINK), tweeters (LINK), Kef high-end speakers (LINK), and SACD players (LINK – though we aren’t sure this is actually an SACD player).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
