This week Tom is on vacation so the kids are running wild. Rob and Liz talk about new Pioneer offerings (an AV Receiver with HDBaseT, a new Andrew Jones Sound bar), new separates offerings from Yamaha, and the politics and complications of royalty checks from Internet-based radio. Is Pandora the bad guy? Listen in for Rob and Liz’s take on a songwriter’s complaint. Rob answers a listener question about room acoustics and room correction — good to see that different experts mostly agree. The Guardian has a useful, hands-on review of Google Glass and finally Liz asks for your political opinions — should Channel 4 broadcast the Muslim call to prayer during Ramadan? Should it interrupt regular programming to do so? What do you think about Wikileaks becoming an official political party in Australia?
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Holy crap, Tom completely flaked out on this podcast. The reason – he was painting his home theater to get it ready for carpet so that, you know, he could actually start using it. So, you forgive him, right? This week, Liz wants to talk about giving away your content (specifically music). Tom previews his Cambridge Audio Minx M5 review. Rob has more to say on Oculus Rift. Is shocking your brain to get a higher headshot count on a FPS a good idea? Two out of three hosts would give it a go. Mini Magnapans – if you have the money, Rob recommends them. Lag and your display – how to measure it. Microsoft did an about face. What does it mean? Liz wants to put your brain in a robot. Rob things you were meant to die.
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This week, there is a lot to talk about (the Xbox One turnaround hadn’t happened yet – we’ll get to that next week). Google Loon – a project just so crazy…well, it’s just so crazy. But BALLOONS! Yea! Who doesn’t like them? What is Oculus Rift? Would it make a good name for a child? Tom thinks so. Which is why Tom is not allowed to name children. ESPN 3D falls down, goes BOOM! To the surprise of, well, no one, really. Though if 3D was going to take off, sports seemed to be the best bet. The new VIZIO 80″ M-Series display is out. And it is less that $4000 (a penny less, but that’s less). Ford is taking a step back while Apple takes a step forward. This week in Netflix – is original content the way of the future or not? We discuss this (and this) article from listener Jonathan. Tom says a very special thank you to all that have donated. We often talk about running wires behind baseboards and molding. But how does that work exactly? Tom tells all.
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Yes, it is E3 time and the new consoles are all the talk right now. Tom, Rob, and Liz break down the PS4, the Xbox One, and…well, that’s about it because no one cares about the Wii U. For more information, follow the links above. Tom has completed reviews of the Wicked Audio Evac and the Audio-Technica ATH-CP700 headphones. A discussion. Liz is looking at the Phillips SHL5905BK/10 CitiScape Uptown headphones. The were the most impressive she heard. Any thoughts? Oh yeah, and Apple had a few announcements as well. We run those down for you too. Vudu Disc to Digital service – making (some) of your discs available for streaming. A breakdown.
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Liz is very busy and can’t make the podcast this week. Rob gets unfired for one more week and steps in. Rob is dying to talk to Tom about his new home theater screen and the proper size. Check out Seymour AV for their screen types and offerings. Here is the one that Tom was talking about with the manual masking system. There is a price tag on the new IMAX home theater. If you aren’t already on the waiting list, you’ll have to spend your $2 million on something else. Rob has a few comments on the Joe Kane interview over at the Home Theater Geeks podcast which leads into a discussion of why our displays still don’t match what they are using for movies. CNET is now listing Lag as a statistic. An important thing to know if you are buying a display primarily to be used for gaming. Is the Atari ET game landfill a reality or an urban legend? We’re about to find out.
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