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AV Rant #431: Who Needs a Voice?

May 11th, 2015 Comments off

Special thanks this week to James B., Efrain M., Richard W., and Kris “I don’t live in a McMansion” I. for their generous donations! We also thank E. Don and Lior M. for helping out the podcast, as well as Alexander S. and Alan C. for letting some online retailers know they made purchases thanks to AV Rant (LINK and LINK)! And last but not least, we thank Paul MacDonald once again for our awesome AV Rant car decals…oh, and for staying up for 27+ hours straight to watch all 11 Marvel movies with Rob! (LINK and LINK). If you want to know more about the Etymotic earplugs we mentioned, here’s the (LINK).

Jay A. sent us a new tag line suggestion. Let us know what you think and feel free to send in your own!

This week, Windows 10 means the end of Windows Media Center (LINK and LINK).

Paul B. wants our take on the new Axiom Audio Aeris wireless speakers (LINK). Cesar D. is getting an Emotiva XMC-1, but wants to know what happened to all the alternatives (LINK). And Adrian A. asks if Front Height speakers are worth his effort.

Jay A. noticed the very similar-looking “four pack” tweeters on the XTZ Cinema Series speakers (LINK) and Kreisel Sound speakers (LINK).

Fred R. praises Herb from Cross-Spectrum Labs where he’s buying a calibrated UMIK-1 (LINK). Fred has lots of measurement questions, so we try to help him out with helps files (LINK), a tutorial video (LINK), and an example of what to look for (LINK).

Bill W. is building a new theater (LINK). He also has a games room and wants to know how to share sources (LINK).

Kyle G. is also building a new theater. He needs some inexpensive soundproofing methods (LINK, LINK, and LINK). He planned on acoustic panels from 4seating (LINK), but we like GiK better (LINK). And he planned on Premier Acoustic speakers, but we suggest alternatives (LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK) plus a subwoofer option (LINK).

Jonathan F. has “solved” music in his life. Sammy C. shows us that tubes are alive and well at the Lone Star Audio Fest (LINK), and Bill R. needs some help figuring out the listening modes on his Integra AV Receiver.

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AV Rant #430: Electrostatic Immersion

May 2nd, 2015 Comments off

Special thanks to Jason for the reminder and Cesar and Lior for the support! This week, Tim needs help with subwoofer placement, Cesar and Eliezer give differing opinions on Martin Logan speakers, and John found a funky subwoofer cable he wants explained. Rob updates his recommendation for a portable DAC for Thomas (LINK), Jonathan sent us the worlds weirdest book review (LINK), and Nikhil wants to know what color to paint his media room (LINK). Listener Jeff tried out Kodi and loves it for its gapless streaming of multi-channel audio (LINK), Jason reviews the Sennheiser RS180 headphones (LINK), and Jack has DVD-A problems. Infinite Gary weighs in on using three center channels as your front three speakers idea, Jay and Byron send us down the “Immersive Audio” rabbit hole (LINK and LINK), and Marvin is loving Jared’s theater. Speaking of Jared, he wrote in to help out Lior with his 50Hz null and Lior wrote in to tell us how our advice has helped. Alan let us know how his theater is coming, that he hates sheetrock, and that he found a portable speaker that isn’t half bad (LINK). Lastly Allen wrote in to thank us for the MiniDSP tutorial and Jose let us know what he thinks of Rythmik’s customer service.

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AV Rant #429: Broke

April 24th, 2015 Comments off

Special thanks to Thomas for not taking our advice and still managing to become listener of the week. SVS must be tired of hearing our name by now! There were some trailers released this week (LINK and LINK) and Tom and Rob react. Lior has a big dip in his frequency response and wants to know how to fix it (LINK). Joel did a LOT of trouble shooting to verify that there is definitely something wrong with his receiver and not the SPL meter app on his phone (LINK). Rob found Alan a way to measure his seven speakers individually (LINK), Jeb had a weird experience with egg cartons, and a lot of people liked the picture we posted on Facebook this week (LINK). Jay thinks that Rob is ready for DTS:X, Joel has a question about audio settings and PS4s or Xbox Ones, and Alexandre shared a video of a space shuttle launch (LINK). Tom likes drones – especially if they are speaker drones, Kris needs a new receiver, and Alan needs help placing his subs. Mike is looking for an app to let him hear outside sounds through his headphones (LINK and LINK), Thomas wants a portable DAC/Amp (LINK and LINK), and Jose and John have broken gear.

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AV Rant #428: DTS Meh

April 15th, 2015 Comments off

This week we thank Lior for the donation and Paul for enabling Rob’s addiction. Thanks! DTS announced their object-based surround format this week and we were underwhelmed at the amount of information (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK). Hopefully we’ll know more soon. Barney has some questions about the future of OLED, Augustine needs help shopping for electrostatic speakers (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK), and Allen has a weird problem with his center channel output on his Denon receiver. Justin needs a “foolproof” system for a friend (LINK and LINK), Nick is having issues with his HTPC, and Aaron is looking for a mate for his ATI amp (LINK). Barney is wondering if analog connections are better than HDMI (as he’s read), Efrain and Richard have a few comments on tubes (LINK and LINK), and Alan needs subwoofer help. We get updates from Bryon about his Sharp TV, Adrian about his experiences with Beats! headphones, and Jason on vintage gear (complete with pros and cons). Infinite Gary has some more questions about the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard (LINK and LINK), John is looking for speaker wire, and Anonymous wants to know about where to shop online in Canada (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, and LINK).

 

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AV Rant #427: Tube Tones

April 8th, 2015 Comments off

Our listeners of the week are Gary and Alan for their donations, Russell for talking us up to SVS, and John for the suggestion. Thanks guys! Ashley is looking for inexpensive soundproofing suggestions (LINK), Nate is worried that his receiver is underpowered, and Lee let us know that you can put fires out with sound (LINK). Jeremy loves his Dayton Audio Sub (LINK and LINK), Henry is looking for a $500 receiver (LINK and LINK), and David needs stands for his massive bookshelves (LINK). Ryan and Joel need receiver setup help (LINK), Mark wants a new Oppo and has some questions, Nick wants some speakers to match his Sierra-2s, and Infinite Gary, Austen, John, and John (different one) all have updates for us. Mark is concerned about b-stock or refurb items, Art added GRAMMA pad and now his sub sounds different, and Buddy is looking for a receiver (LINK).

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