Oh boy did we have lots of technical problems this week! No video of either of us. And a slightly awkward edit near the beginning. But we’re still here to answer your home theater questions!

SAG-AFTRA has a tentative agreement, ending the actors’ strike. The Abyss: Special Edition has been remastered in 4K and will be shown in theaters for one night only. 3D movies showed up in the Apple TV App with a Vision Pro logo. Creative Aurvana Ace wireless earphones use xMEMS solid state drivers for the treble. And Warner Bros’ “Coyote vs Acme” was shelved by David Zaslav for a tax write-off, but still might see the light of day somewhere.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB3m6n

00:00:00 – Intro

00:07:04 – What We Watched

Rob finished Loki S.2. Tom rewatched Spider-Man: Far From Home, and went out to see Hollywood’s Golden Age by the Florida Orchestra. And we both saw The Marvels!

00:32:54 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Tyler for his PayPal donation, plus our 134 Patreon Patrons, including Jared and Bertrand, as well as Casey for talking us up to SVS.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Geoff, Jay, Julian, Jared, Casey, and Bertrand. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:36:22 – News: SAG-AFTRA Reaches Tentative Agreement

The actors’ strike has ended, but a new 3-year contract still needs to be ratified: https://tinyurl.com/hdk3mtac

00:39:02 – News: The Abyss: Special Edition

Remastered in 4K, and coming to theaters for one night only: https://tinyurl.com/47ej8wua

00:40:58 – News: 3D Movies for Apple Vision Pro

19 3D movie titles showed up in the Apple TV App with a Vision Pro logo: https://tinyurl.com/c9kyy3fu

00:43:29 – News: Creative Aurvana Ace MEMS Earphones

Creative Aurvana Ace and Ace 2 wireless earphones use xMEMS solid state drivers for the treble: https://tinyurl.com/mr8hptpt

00:49:12 – News: Coyote vs. Acme Shelved and Shopped

Warner Bros. Discovery was going to completely shelve their Looney Toons movie for a tax write-off. But now they might license it out: https://tinyurl.com/5y299jry

Comments:

00:54:22 – Comment: Casey – SVS Above and Beyond

Out of warranty, but SVS sent a replacement amp anyway.

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

SVS is running a Black Friday sale, and this year, it includes most of their current speakers and subwoofers. Amazon, Peacock, Max, YouTube, and Apple TV+ are all increasing prices and/or inserting more ads. And Disney fully owns Hulu now. Also, sorry for the multiple dog barks and unplanned interruptions this week!

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB2xQx

00:00:00 – Intro

Check out Rob’s appearance during DJ’s 24 Hours of Home Theater marathon live stream: https://www.youtube.com/live/L33l-OxBxpA?si=Er-oGbdOtof2F4fs&t=13497

00:04:56 – What We Watched

Rob is enjoying this rather unusual NHL hockey season, finished Star Trek: Lower Decks S.4, and is keeping up with Loki S.2.

Tom rewatched Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and is making his way through Welcome to Wrexham.

00:23:45 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 134 Patreon Patrons.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Chad, Jared, Craig, Mike, and Rohan. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:26:44 – News: SVS Black Friday Sale

For the first time, most of SVS’s current speaker and subwoofer models are on sale: https://www.svsound.com/collections/black-friday-sale

00:32:10 – News: Streaming Price Hike Roundup

– Amazon Prime Video introducing ads: https://tinyurl.com/y9c8x2tt

– 4K Netflix is $23 now: https://tinyurl.com/bdf94psy

– Peacock, Max & Hulu show ads when you pause: https://tinyurl.com/3pdt2epw

– YouTube hates ad-blockers: https://tinyurl.com/4krvse7r

– YouTube Premium costs more: https://tinyurl.com/3y27xj9u

– Max has new tiers: https://tinyurl.com/kuu7v5yd

– Apple TV+ is $10 now: https://tinyurl.com/5bf4chsm

– Disney fully owns Hulu: https://tinyurl.com/a93j9hz6

Comments:

00:41:43 – Comment: Craig – Rhino Quadio in DTS

A correction that Rhino Records’ Quad albums are in DTS-HD MA.

00:47:42 – Comment: Will – View Bitrates on Apple TV

Jaremy over at Techthusiasm explains how to use a Mac with XCode to unlock Apple TV’s Developer menu: https://youtu.be/mIcJmPIInjQ

00:51:45 – Comment: Chris – Simply Speakers Fix

A DIY foam surround replacement kit came with excellent instructions: https://www.simplyspeakers.com/

00:57:10 – Comment: Rohan – Harmony Activity Glitch

A strange audio dropout seems to all be the fault of a Harmony Activity command.

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The transition to UHD television broadcasts is going slowly, but France intends to make it happen by 2029. MEMS are solid state devices that are manufactured like semiconductor chips and vibrate in response to an electrical current, and they’re here to transform our earphones and cooling fans.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB1z5r

00:00:00 – Intro

00:05:26 – What We Watched

Rob watched The Mummy (2017), and Amsterdam. Tom takes a tangent to update us on his house repairs, and then talks about having finished Star Wars Rebels.

00:31:11 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Tyler for his PayPal donation, plus our 136 Patreon Patrons, as well as Zach for telling SVS we recommended them, Michael for talking us up to the owner of RSL Speakers, and Vince and Jonathan for alerting us when there was a problem with our audio-only version last week.

Thanks also to Julian for giving Tom permission to use his photos on https://avgadgets.com/

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Tyler, Zach, Michael, Julian, and Parker. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:38:32 – News: France’s 2029 UHD TV Broadcast Transition

The 2024 Olympics will be broadcast in UHD, and by 2029, France intends to turn off the HD versions: https://tinyurl.com/3w3fed9p

00:41:48 – News: MEMS for Earphones & Cooling Fans

Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems are solid state and manufactured like semiconductor chips, but they can vibrate the air, and that means exciting new advancements for:

– Solid State Earphones: https://tinyurl.com/yckwtzut

– Solid State Frore AirJet Cooling Chips: https://tinyurl.com/36dfyhmb

Comments:

00:56:02 – Comment: Tyler – Free-Standing Projection Screen

Great success using clothing rack poles and pole-mounted VESA brackets.

00:59:29 – Comment: Julian: Fewer Speakers, Better Outcome

Following our advice worked out! Repositioned Surround speakers and a speaker removal improved immersion.

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Rebranded Zappiti products have magically appeared under the new brand name R_volution. The Matter 1.2 specification adds nine new smart home product categories to its interoperability standard. And Lee and his wife visited Tom in Florida, and you’ll never guess what happened right after they left.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

00:11:48 – What We Watched

Rob watched The Pope’s Exorcist, started Only Murders in the Building S.3, and continued with Loki S.2.

Tom has started watching Combat Juggling, and has nearly finished Star Wars Rebels.

00:29:53 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Kevin for his PayPal donation, plus our 136 Patreon Patrons, as well as Eddie for sending a movie code to Tom to check out.

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

In the news:

00:32:16 – News: Zappiti becomes R_volution

Rebranded Zappiti products have appeared under the new brand https://www.rvolution.com/ shortly after Zappiti’s announcement that they’re closing down for good:

Shane Lee got the scoop that existing Zappiti products might be able to use R_volution’s software, for a fee: https://youtu.be/sI86wnbUqG4

00:37:49 – News: Matter 1.2 Spec Released

Nine new Smart Home product categories have been added to the interconnectivity standard: https://tinyurl.com/b3fs5zzw

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

PS5 consoles get a slimmed down redesign with a modular disc drive. Best Buy is abandoning DVDs and Blu-rays. Microsoft officially owns Activision Blizzard now. And McIntosh’s $3,000 Graphic EQ majorly misses the mark.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

00:06:35 – What We Watched

Rob watched the start of the NHL Hockey season, continued Loki S.2, caught up on Star Trek: Lower Decks,and adored Pearl. Tom continued with Star Wars Rebels, did his best to enjoy Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark, and revisited Star Trek TOS.

00:22:58 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Tyler for his PayPal donation, plus our 136 Patreon Patrons.

Thanks also to Kris for giving Tom permission to use his photos on https://avgadgets.com/

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Dan, Kris, Mike, Luke, Stan, Greg, Julian, Michael, and Ilango. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:27:48 – News: PS5 Slim

Sony has redesigned their PS5 consoles to be smaller with a modular disc drive: https://tinyurl.com/44dhrtbn

00:32:02 – News: Best Buy Ditches DVDs

No more DVDs or Blu-rays, even online: https://tinyurl.com/2nv69hd4

00:39:07 – News: Xbox Owns Activision Blizzard

More than 20 months of legal battles and almost $69 billion finally results in Microsoft’s acquisition: https://tinyurl.com/3xyv4zfz

Comments:

00:45:35 – Comment: Infinite Gary – Cheap Sony Headphones

MDR-ZX110, which we’ve actually mentioned before: https://tinyurl.com/3habf47t

00:47:26 – Comment: Greg – WiiM Pro AirPlay 2 Transmitter

WiiM Pro has a trick up its sleeve: https://tinyurl.com/mrxpjf53

00:48:51 – Comment: Nathan – How To Build a False Wall

Link to instructions from an AVS Forum member: https://tinyurl.com/4cbjfucw

00:50:02 – Comment: Julian – Calvin, Hobbes & Dual HDMI

We reminded him of a comic strip, and splitting audio & video signals worked, but with a drawback.

00:52:41 – Comment: Ryan – Marantz Customer Service

A little slow, but ultimately satisfying.

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS