Our Listeners of the week are Marty and Karl for their donations, our 62 Patreon Patrons, and Toby H. for telling Accessories4Less that his Integra DTR-40.4 and Yamaha RX-V583 Receiver purchases were because of us.

In the news, Onkyo announced three new RZ Series AV Receivers that all have nine amplifiers built-in. Byron S. let us know about the new miniDSP Wi-DG WiFi to USB adapter. Karl R. sent us a heads up about Redbox now renting some Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, and we remind everyone about Rent4K.com if you want Ultra HD Blu-ray rentals by mail. Steve from Next Gen Home Theater ponders if DTS:X is in trouble. And THX shared the original sheet music for the Deep Note logo theme.

Tom shared a list of vinyl record accessories. And Chris T. says he has now listened to every available episode of AVRant.

0:20:13 Marc N. sparks a discussion about using Plex on an NVidia Shield.

0:26:06 Brian R. finds out what kind of microphone stands we use for AV Receiver auto-setup. Rob uses a Yorkville Tripod Base with a Boom, and Tom recommends whatever is least expensive on Amazon.

0:30:05 Jonathan T. finds out what gear is on Tom’s shopping list if he were to move into a new house.

0:36:37 Ted M. has reached the end of his attempts to improve the imaging of his on-wall Legacy Silhouette speakers. And we suggest the HSU VTF-1 MK3 and RSL SpeedWoofer 10S as good performing, inexpensive, compact subwoofers.

0:46:29 Cesar wants to pressurize his small room with bass for under $1,000, so we recommend dual SVS PB-1000 or dual Monoprice Monolith 10″, or possibly dual SVS SB-1000 if those are physically too large.

0:51:48 Jordan gets our tips for compensating for stronger reflections on one side of his room than the other. And in what becomes a running theme for this episode, we recommend replacing his current subwoofer with two new ones.

1:00:27 John B. gets us to choose the Xbox One S as the highest value out of the three Xbox One console models.

1:04:40 Clara wants a 7.2.4 pre-pro, so we suggest the Marantz AV7703 for maximum features at the lowest price. But we also have full confidence that a Denon AVR-X4400H could handle powering just the Surround Back and two pairs of overhead speakers while an Emotiva BasX A-5175 powers the Fronts and Surrounds. We also discuss RCA to XLR conversion and checking to see if an amp with no RCA inputs probably has 1/4″ TS inputs instead. We talk about switching to very high efficiency speakers. And we touch upon the future of AVRant.

1:22:31 Joel N. is worried that the tweeters in his speakers are degrading over time. We go over his Audyssey measurement results, talk about the popular advice that says EQ should only be applied to bass frequencies, and suggest one reason why his high frequencies might be rolling off more steeply than when his speakers were new that he probably shouldn’t check (but we say it anyway).

1:34:15 Infinite Gary got some Dynaudio Focus 20XD self-powered speakers that have a DAC and volume control built-in. We go over the best connection methods and player output settings. And we discuss the latest advancements of LG’s rollable OLED displays.

1:47:48 Mauricio G. gets our pick of the HSU VTF-2 MK5 as the top  subwoofer value choice for a medium-sized room, although the SVS PC-2000 cylinder might be worth the price for its form factor.

1:51:07 Jeremy W. gives us an easy choice between Ultra HD Blu-ray discs with HDR10 and lossless audio or streaming movies with Dolby Vision and lossy audio.

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Our Listeners of the Week are Dale for his donation, and our 61 Patreon Patrons. We also want to correct ourselves from last week by thanking Grant A. and Amar S. for donating during our pledge drive. We’re sorry for mixing up your names, and we greatly appreciate your support!

0:07:37 We briefly mention the new $200 Fluance Ai40 Bluetooth bookshelf speakers.

In the news, Yamaha announced their new Aventage Receiver lineup. Nathan D. let us know that Oppo is now completely out of stock of their Ultra HD Blu-ray players, but there will be “last batches” of their UDP-203 and UDP-205 later this year. And yes, we weigh in on laurel vs. yanny and brainstorm vs. green needle.

0:14:11 Roger J. shared a graph of the Fletch Munson Equal Loudness Contours (image below). Infinite Gary bought a pair of the new Revel Performa Be Series bookshelf speakers, and he shares his impressions. And David F. tried an HD Fury Vertex, but discovered that it only scales between 1080p and 4K, and does not keep its output locked at all times, so his JVC projector still has long HDMI handshake renegotiations.

0:22:06 Francis A. gets us to double check his Audyssey subwoofer level and crossover settings, and we further explain Dynamic EQ.

0:27:24 Chad B. gets our input on Surround and Atmos speaker placement, we mention flat speaker wireoptions from Parts-Express and Axiom Audio, and we discuss acoustic panel placement.

0:41:13 Nelson S. wants to maximize his HDMI connection path, making sure his Oppo UDP-203 is put to its best possible use.

0:46:40 Abhue F. wants to know what we think of the Xbox One Plex app now that it supports HDR.

0:51:20 Greg L. wants to speculate about Epson 5040UB projector price drops and whether an HD Fury device would let him use 4K60 sources with that projector and his older AV Receiver.

1:00:08 David S. tried manually level matching his subwoofers with diagonally opposite corner placement and achieved better uniformity. And he asks about noise and banding in the near-black levels of his LG EG9100 OLED TV.

1:06:14 Jack R. asks for ways to inexpensively clean used vinyl records.

1:08:57 Antoine wonders if he should even consider trying to pressurize his 8,200 cubic foot basement with bass output.

1:12:02 Everett L. wants to manually adjust his speaker trim levels, but he had a bit of difficulty finding them in his Denon X4400H settings menus.

1:14:04 Richard gets clarification about the best way to goose his subwoofer output levels without setting his trim levels too high.

1:16:27 Alex P. shares his before and after theater results, which turned out so good that he can’t stand his Living Room SoundBar anymore. We think the Sony HT-X9000F or HT-Z9F with SA-Z9R wireless Surroundsmight be worth a try in his case.

1:26:016 Andrew T. gets our input on his speaker positioning and settings. We also talk about DIY acoustic panels and placement. And we suggest Ideal Lume bias lighting, GiK Tri-Trap and Acoustimac corner bass traps, and HT Market recliners as potential further upgrades.

1:39:51 Christian S. had his AV Receiver turn on at maximum volume. We discuss possible causes and setting max output and initial turn on volume limits.

1:44:37 Justin B. gets our setup suggestions and recommendation for a 92″ Silver Ticket screen in his small, dedicated theater room.

1:50:43 Travis D. has questions about PC sound cards regarding sampling frequency output, HDMI vs. TOSLink, and overall relevance these days.

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Thank you! Our donation match pledge drive was a success! We have a lot of Listeners of the Week to thank, so here…we…go…

First, big thanks to Anonymous, James C., and Dipan for matching $100 each and getting this whole pledge drive going!

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Special Announcement: This week, May 7 – 14, is our Pledge Drive!

If you would like to Support AV Rant, May 7 – 14 is the time to do it! If we receive $100 in donations, Anonymous will match that, dollar for dollar. If we receive $200 in donations, James C. will kick in another $100. And if we get $300 in donations, Dipan will be our third $100 match donor! Thank you!

Our Listeners of the Week are Miguel and Chris for their donations, our 59 Patreon Patrons, Aidan for letting Rythmik know his second FV15HP subwoofer purchase was because of us, and Miguel for talking us up to Accessories4Less and Oppo.

In the news, the Onkyo TX-NR787 AV Receiver packs 9 amplifiers and DTS Play-Fi support into a $799 price point, but there are no speaker pre-outs, so 5.2.4 or 7.2.2 is the maximum configuration.

Nathan D. wrote to Dolby directly to ask if the Dolby Surround Upmixer might ever use Front Wide speakers. Lee V. suggests checking the RunPee app since there’s no pause button at movie theaters. And Robert L. approves of the Vanatoo Transparent One $500/pair self-powered speakers.

0:17:26 Earle B. asks which surge protector we recommend for subwoofers, so we mention the APC P8V, and we talk a bit about subwoofer “break in”.

0:21:05 Nick B. gets us to weigh in on his choice between having an equipment closet at the back of the room, or putting his gear in shelves at the front of his room below his screen.

0:24:04 Mark H. gets an explanation about HDR to SDR conversion and why 100 nits in SDR isn’t necessarily exactly the same thing as 100 nits in HDR. Plus we discuss HDR shadow detail.

0:33:25 Infinite Gary wants to know the ideal speaker placement for 6.1 soundtracks, and he also wants to know what tweeter breakup modes are and whether that spec is important.

0:41:56 Alvin C. achieved nearly uniform bass across his couch, but his wife would prefer her seat to have quieter bass, so we discuss the idea of intentionally creating non-uniform volume from seat to seat.

0:50:37 David S. is finding that he can localize one of his subwoofers in his new, smaller room, so we talk about what might be causing that and suggest a potential way to fix it.

0:56:37 Stefan V. recommended SVS to a colleague, but the SB-1000 subwoofer he bought rumbles faintly, even when nothing but power is plugged in. SVS customer support said it’s considered to be a normal noise floor, but we disagree.

1:01:33 Aidan C. wants to know if “ideal” mid-wall placement of his subwoofers is worth covering his equipment closet door. He also asks about putting subwoofers right up against walls. And we suggest SVS PC12-Plus, HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP, Rythmik FVX15, or Power Sound Audio 15V subwoofers for his larger Living Room.

1:07:57 Jeff K. didn’t wire his projector for battery backup, so we suggest the APC Back-UPS Pro 500 Lithium Ion as a compact unit he could mount to his ceiling. We warn him never to run a power extension cord inside wall conduit, as that is against code. And we let him know to look for HDMI High Speed Premium and 18 Gbps.

1:14:20 Shane T. asks if it would be better to install lights and HVAC in a soffit rather than putting any holes in his double drywall ceiling. We discuss full motion TV wall mounts and their impact on audio. And we make amplifier recommendations for his 11 speaker setup.

1:24:36 Dave B. is getting video drop outs, and we highly suspect it’s just a loose plug.

1:28:00 Tim D. gets a quick description of where passive radiator subs fall within the ported vs. sealed spectrum. Then we recommend the HSU ULS-15 MK2 or Power Sound Audio S1500, since he wants fairly compact cabinet dimensions, but if he can afford them, we like the cylinder SVS PC12-Plus even more.

1:34:15 Karl R. gives us a great laugh as we stroll down memory lane to learn about Leonard Nimoy’s Magnavision.

1:38:05 AJ gets us to weigh in on the TCL 6 Series vs. the Vizio P Series vs. the Sony X900E Series TVs, particularly for gaming.

1:40:41 Jonathan F. asks for our speculation about what sort of playback system Blu-ray audio mixing and mastering is anticipating. And we talk about the $180 Aftermaster Pro dynamic range compression and EQ device.

1:47:15 Chris T. completed installing his friend’s theater system. She’s very happy with the end results, but he found the AcousticPro UHD screen from Elite Screens to be a real pain to assemble and install. And back in his own theater, we make Atmos speaker placement suggestions, and tell him to get grey paint from the Sherwin Williams Gray Screen palette.

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Special Announcement: Pledge Drive Update!

If you donate to Support AV Rant during the week of May 7 – 14, an anonymous donor has agreed to match all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $100. And now, James C. has said he would like to match an additional $100! So if we receive a total of $200 (or more) in donations, anonymous will give us $100, and James C. will give us $100, bringing the total to $400 (or more). Thank you!

Our Listeners of the Week are Joshua for his donation, our 58 Patreon Patrons, Damien for selecting the AVRant chechmark box when he registered his dual SVS SB12-NSD subwoofers, Karl M. and John S. for helping Tom’s son with his PC build, and Felipe for letting Monoprice know we recommended them when he pounced on a B stock Monolith 7 amplifier purchase.

In the news, via James Bujold, the first North American installation of a Samsung Cinema LED screen has been completed, bringing with it new mastering and planning considerations. SVS introduced their $90 SoundPath Wireless Audio Adapter. And via Jay C., Emotiva is closing out their BasX Series speakers at half price.

0:16:00 Justin B. wants to complete his dedicated theater gear list in his spare bedroom, so we recommend the RBH Impression R-515 Center speaker, a Denon AVR-S530BT or Yamaha RX-V383 AV Receiver, aBenQ HT2050 projector, a Silver Ticket screen, and removing the door of his closet.

0:30:28 Bill L. is installing 5.1.2 Atmos, so we discuss the best placement for his overhead speakers.

0:33:37 Adriano M. asks about the best way to goose his bass output a bit, and why his subwoofer doesn’t seem to make any sound when he uses Stereo listening mode.

0:41:43 Jonathan F. heard a particularly convincing panning effect in The Shape of Water that not only moved side to side, but also down, so he asks how we think that was achieved.

0:47:36 Jeremy W. wants to do a subwoofer crawl, so we point him to Audiocheck.net to get bass sweeps, and let him know that Audyssey should be off while doing the subwoofer crawl.

0:48:38 Brandon N. wants to know if his TV will be limited to HDR10 and 4K at 30 fps if he connects his Epson HC 4000 projector to the same Receiver, and how important 60 fps is for 4K anyway. He also asks if room correction will remove a speaker’s intentional coloration, and whether Seymour AV’s screens are worth the money over Elite Screens.

0:57:43 Robert F. asks about using an NVidia Shield in Australia, as well as how well it works with NAS storage, and whether it will get Atmos output from Netflix, and Dolby Vision support.

1:03:48 Alvin C. asks what we think about Paul McGowan’s take on internal speaker wire.

1:09:08 Chris T. wants to know how to fix a very small misalignment of his projector and screen, and whether his APC J25B battery backup should ever be turned off.

1:12:38 Damien D. gets some ideas on how to raise the height of his Tower speakers, we mention some demo material for panning and circling effects, and we suggest a way to reattach the cardboard port tube inside his Pioneer subwoofer.

1:18:53 Josh L. wants a recessed, in-ceiling, acoustically transparent screen, so our top advice is to build a soffit over a regular screen case if his joists aren’t running the correct direction, or to consider EluneVision AudioWeave 4K In-ceiling. We recommend the JVC DLA-X590R projector mounted close to his back wall. And we assure him that using different external amp channels for two different systems is fine.

1:26:02 Nathan D. found information indicating that some Atmos soundtracks treat all sounds as if they were channels, meaning no speakers beyond 7.1.4 ever make sound, even if you have them installed, so he gets our thoughts on that.

1:31:24 Will A. has an open theater area, but we still think an SVS PC-2000 subwoofer makes sense. We suggest starting with one and possibly adding a second later. And we recommend adding Front Heights to his Top Middle speakers and avoiding a costly in-ceiling speaker upgrade.

1:41:04 Jaremy P. wants to know if we think he should completely replace his all in-wall and in-ceiling 7.2.4 setup with just one pair of full range Towers.

1:53:24 Rob W. gets some demo material suggestions for experiencing full pressurization of a room with bass.

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