Tom bows out for a week, so it’s just Liz and Rob today. There’s a peek at what it’s like when Tom’s not here to guide us after the music at the end 😉 It was rough this past week. Actor Paul Walker was killed in a car crash. And Nelson Mandela passed away at the age of 95. Our condolences and best wishes go out to their families and loved ones. Returning to lighter matters: DRONES! The internet immediately poked fun, but Rob’s on board, and Liz is indifferent. We tackle some questions about technical aspects of Xbox One, setting speaker “trim” levels, and using a bias light with colored walls. We also talk subs: infinite baffle subs, updates on purchased subs, and subs that are causing trouble…in the bedroom. Listener David linked us to the most noise-free room ever. And Tom (no, not Tom Andry) is our Listener of the Week! Finally, we bring back the Deep Dive segment to talk all about the multitude of dynamic EQ and volume levelling formats, and just what the heck Reference Volume is all about! Rob recommends some places to get perfectly neutral Munsell Gray Paint or at least something very close. And Liz recommends having a drink to celebrate the anniversary of the end of prohibition! Sorry, no Google Hangout On Air video this week. But who wants to see us without Tom’s pretty face, anyway? 😉
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Liz is MIA as she was stuck in traffic and couldn’t make the podcast. This week Rob tells us about his new XBox One. We tackle listener questions about Bitstreaming versus PCM, bookshelf speakers in bookshelves, 12 volt triggers, subwoofer crawl, Winamp, LG spying on you, Redbox rage, and what subwoofers to buy on a $1k budget. UPP price fixing – what is it and how does it affect you? Rob recommends some D65 bias lights and Tom recommends the Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS as a stocking stuffer. Have a great Thanksgiving.
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This week we have a second attempt at YouTube – this time with our names displayed (in case you forgot). We also tried a hangout afterward with some of our listeners which we still haven’t gotten the hang of. We’re getting better. This week, Rob gives us his impressions of the PS4. We address listener questions about choosing a receiver over separates (or vice versa), bi-amping a speaker, bitstream vs. PCM and why, and what is the deal with $22,000 speaker wire. Toby sent us this bass sweep YouTube video and Joe reminded us that this happened. We’re tracking Black Friday deals here. BatKid, SimAudio, and other news sneaks in there as well. Tom recommends the GiK Acoustics FlexRange panels, Rob suggests www.fatwallet.com, and Liz wants you to remember Small Business Saturday…which Tom already forgot.
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Against everyone’s wishes, Tom records the video of this podcasting session and puts in on YouTube. You can enjoy that here. It’s the same thing as the podcast but with worse audio but you get to see us. So, a bit of a tradeoff. This week – the MPAA gets into your schools – or at least they want to. A bunch of listener questions where Rob says something about marbles. Marvel and Netflix bring you shows featuring a bunch of heroes you may have never heard of, Star Wars episode VII gets a date, Amazon delivers on Sunday, and Blockbuster finally dies. Tom’s a huge geek and he had to look one of them up. Lastly, Rob has had a chance to set up and listen to his 11.2 channel room and reports while Tom gives his impressions of the SVS PC12-NSD subs. Tom recommends this video about how to tie your shoes and this one that will break your room (it did Tom’s). Liz recommends the Tune In app while Rob has a suggestion about how to calibrate each speaker separately.
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Guess what our deep dive topic is this week? Yep, speaker placement for up to 11 speakers (not including subwoofers). Next week we’ll be recording at around 9pm EST and we’ll be using Google Hangouts. The video will be posted shortly after though we may make it open for listeners to interact during the show. More details to come though you probably want to follow Tom on G+ at the link below. This week, Panasonic plasmas are truly dead, Netflix testing 4k streaming, Plex Cloud Sync, and news on the XBox One and the PS4. A bit on this video from Martin Logan and a video that we won’t link up because it is too horrible. Listener questions from Michael and Gary and a bit of validation from Herb. Rob recommends the RAVPower RP-WD01 and Tom recommends this video.
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