Welcome back, Tom. He tells us all about his big family reunion, which was great! Our thanks to Lee Overstreet for guest co-hosting last week. We both watched something we enjoyed this week. And the founders of the Alamo Drafthouse aren’t retiring just yet; they’re opening the Metro Private Cinema in New York to provide high-end, dinner and a movie experiences.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCmD4Z

00:00:00 – Intro

Thank you to Lee Overstreet for co-hosting with Rob last week. And Tom returns to tell us all about his big family reunion.

00:16:48 – What We Watched

Rob watched Sinners. Tom watched Invincible S.2 & 3.

00:34:20 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are James and Matthew for their PayPal donations, plus our 130 Patreon Patrons, as well as Sasi for having his Apollon Audio Eigentakt amplifiers shipped to Rob before it makes its way to Sasi so that Rob can review it.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Jason, Anonymous, Jack, and Sasi. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:43:03 – News: Metro Private Cinema

Via Karl – After selling the Alamo Drafthouse franchise to Sony Pictures, the founders are now opening the Metro Private Cinema in New York: https://tinyurl.com/bd6r5hap

Comments:

00:47:33 – Comment: Anonymous – Finding LibreDrive Sellers

Rob linked to a UK seller of optical drives that are ready to go for MakeMKV. But their website is closed right now. Are they gone? Is there an alternative?

– https://shop.uhdfriendlydrives.co.uk/

00:50:04 – Comment: Jack – Shokz OpenSwim Pro

Tom’s cousin, an avid swimmer, backs up our recommendation for these particular bone conduction headphones.

– https://shokz.com/products/openswimpro

00:52:08 – Comment: Sasi – BlueSound PowerNode 2025

Another mini AVR option that could be hidden behind a TV while powering 3 Front speakers.

– https://www.bluesound.com/usa/powernode

QUESTIONS:

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Lee Overstreet guest co-hosts while Tom is away. Amazon Prime Day sales bring big discounts to TCL’s newest QM7K and QM8K TVs, including the 98″ models being $1,000 off. And Rob and Lee mildly disagree about removing film grain and then artificially adding it back.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Crazy technical issues and improvised fixes. And what’s been going on in Lee’s neck of the woods?

00:13:45 – What We Watched

Lee watched The Eternaut, and Into the Night, both on Netflix. Rob watched Finch, and Severance S.2, both on Apple TV+.

00:33:00 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 129 Patreon Patrons, as well as Dan for reaching out to Adam to offer an inexpensive Emotiva XMC-2 Pre-Pro.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Jack, Greg, Vince, Joe, Ilango, Karl, and David. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:38:51 – News: Top Prime Day Deals

We’re sharing AV Nirvana’s Top 10 picks for home theater Prime Day deals, and highlighting the newest TCL QM7K & QM8K models being on sale: https://tinyurl.com/4jfkk9d7

QUESTIONS:

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HSU has released their MFL-6 speaker model at a slightly lower price than expected. HDMI has made version 2.2 official, along with Ultra96 cables, and LIP. The world’s largest Samsung Onyx micro-LED Cinema display has come to Texas. And Tom tells his origin story.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCk1px

00:00:00 – Intro

00:04:23 – What We Watched

Rob watched Squid Game S.3, and Companion. Tom watched Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and Captain America: Brave New World.

00:34:39 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Gurinder for his PayPal donation, plus our 131 Patreon Patrons, as well as Rohan for sending some Movies Anywhere codes.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Henry, Joe, Greg, Andrew, Rohan, James, Stefan, and Sasi. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:37:10 – News: HSU MFL-6 Speakers

HSU’s newest Multi-Function Loudspeaker has officially been released: https://tinyurl.com/236wnp9j

00:40:58 – News: HDMI 2.2 & Ultra96

The newest HDMI spec is official now, and new Ultra96 certified cables and ports should be arriving later this year: https://tinyurl.com/ycke2e56

00:45:27 – News: World’s Largest Micro-LED Cinema

Via Karl: The 46′ wide Samsung Onyx p3.3 micro-LED Cinema Display has come to Texas: https://tinyurl.com/2ud9a76x

Comments:

00:46:18 – Comment: Infinite Gary – Digital Trends v Caleb Denison

Gary tracked down the publicly available legal filings: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/58131009/Designtechnica_Corporation_v_Denison

00:47:08 – Comment: Nathan – Kaleidescape Disc-to-Digital

It isn’t officially supported, but scanning Ultra HD Blu-ray discs into Kaleidescape mostly works.

00:48:28 – Comment: Greg – TCL Sent Him a Cheque

His 98″ QM851G is making noises that it shouldn’t, and TCL’s fix is to simply give his money back.

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Since there was no other news going on in the world this past weekend (right?), Rob talks about the Calder Cup final. Not much can be shared publicly about Caleb Denison’s legal battle with Digital Trends, but it sounds bad. We discuss ideal screen height. And Tom watched something!

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCj8Dj

00:00:00 – Intro

Nothing of note happened in world news this past weekend, right? So Rob talks about the Calder Cup final that everyone was surely watching.

00:16:20 – What We Watched

Tom started watching Nobody Wants This. Rob watched Mickey 17, Creature Commandos, and Adolescence.

00:43:26 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 131 Patreon Patrons, as well as Infinite Gary for sending a Fandango at Home redemption code to test.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: John, Ryan, Jack, Miguel, and Zeke. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:46:43 – News: Caleb Denison v Digital Trends

No details, but the legal battle over Denison’s CalebRated YouTube channel sounds bad: https://youtu.be/IGnj9JHQHIk

Comments:

00:56:21 – Comment: Andrew L – More on Paradigm

Sasi credited Rob for his early take on the Paradigm Founder Series, but Andrew made his thoughts known early on as well: https://avgadgets.com/paradigm-premier-200b-and-600c-review/

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Technical difficulties forced us to start late and use Microsoft Teams this week. Nintendo Switch 2’s HDR on TVs requires adjustment, and Vincent Teoh from HDTV Test figured it all out for us. You’ll never believe how many clicks it takes. HSU detailed how to add their SuperCharger to their D15-Chimera subwoofer.

Pictures show in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCipf2

00:00:00 – Intro

House hunting updates from Tom. A family get together with three Switch 2’s for Rob.

00:16:15 – What We Watched

Rob watched Novocaine, and binged all of Season 2 of Squid Game.

00:27:23 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Mark and Herb for their PayPal donations, plus our 131 Patreon Patrons.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Leighton, Matt, Henry, and Julian. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:29:14 – News: Nintendo Switch 2 HDR Adjustment

Vincent Teoh from HDTV Test figured out exactly how many clicks it takes to correctly adjust Switch 2’s HDR settings. You’ll never guess how many: https://youtu.be/X84e14oe6gs

00:37:12 – News: Adding HSU D15-Chimera’s SuperCharger

HSU made a video detailing exactly how to add their SuperCharger to their new D15-Chimera subwoofer to turn it from a sealed sub into a quad-ported beast: https://youtu.be/-SsKicktigk

– HSU D15-Chimera SC: https://tinyurl.com/bdzcmnf8

Comments:

00:39:32 – Comment: Sasi – Sofabaton X2 Update

The release date for the Sofabaton X2 keeps getting pushed back, and Sasi is starting to lose confidence.

00:45:08 – Comment: Infinite Gary – Panasonic UB9000 Longevity

If his older Blu-ray players are anything to go by, he expects it to last a couple of decades at least.

00:45:51 – Comment: Gurinder – Panasonic UB420 Modded Firmware

Manually loading modded firmware can unlock regions, add additional settings, and remove unwanted apps.

QUESTIONS:

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