Check out our video version on the AV Rant Podcast YouTube Page. This episode’s video includes a comedy of errors at the beginning that you won’t find anywhere else!

In the news, Moanis and Antoine both sent a link to an announcement of the Optoma UHZ65 and 4K500 projectors that continue Optoma’s recent trend on aggressive prices, this time for a laser light engine and extremely high light output, respectively. Denon and Marantz announced their 2017 AV Receiver lineup in Europe, and it’s worth checking out AVCesar coverage (in French) since there was confusion regarding future 2018 models with 13-channel processing. And Klipsch Reference Premiere Architectural speakers expand that series with in-wall and in-ceiling models that feature their new SecureFit mounting system.

Jason P. helped clarify that the Tivo Roamio OTA does not have any monthly fee. Kris I. says the Spotify app for Amazon Fire TV is the best out of the various streaming boxes available. And Kris P. has suggestions for making sure lossless bitstream audio works on your Xbox One, reminds us that an Xbox One controller can make for a pretty good wireless headphone adapter, and wants us to consider more than just features when recommending AV Receivers.

Casey P. wants to hear our opinions on DIY speakers and the DIY Sound Group Fusion-8 Alchemy in particular. Earle B. bought some new McIntosh gear, and the amplifier includes an impedance switch that seems different from the usual speaker impedance setting found in many AV Receivers. He also asks which XLR cables to buy, so Tom recommends Monoprice Premier Series, and Rob recommends Emotiva XLR Snake, or Blue Jeans Cable if you want broadcast grade. And Justin B. is looking into “audiophile” smartphones, such as the LG V20 or upcoming LG G6+, but he also wants to know more about MQA, Tidal, and which device in his signal chain needs to handle the digital to analogue conversion. He also asks about hi-res network audio players that can be controlled directly on the player itself, such as the HiFiBerry project using a Raspberry Pi 3.

Marc N. gets some clarification on a few audio terms so he can avoid a repeat of referring to “slap echo” as “pickle slap”. Nick B. has a new basement plan that he really likes, but he has concerns about HVAC, as well as what he should use for Atmos speakers, where we recommend either the Focal Little Bird or RBH in-ceiling speakers. And Rob W. asks about soundproofing, HVAC, and distribution amplifiers, and also gets our recommendation for Monoprice Optical HDMI Cable for a distance greater than 35 feet.

Nathan W. wants to know if the dual subwoofer outputs on Marantz SlimLine AV Receivers are independent. Damon P. has a new, dedicated theater room, so we make some suggestions for a new JVC HDR DLA-X570R projector, Marantz Pre-Pro or Receiver, Sony UBP-X800 Ultra HD Blu-ray player, and dual subwoofers rather than a single SVS sub. And Infinite Gary has noticed some differences between DTS Neural:X upmixing and Dolby Surround upmixing, and he’d like to know if our experience has been the same.

Earle B. felt we gave Justin some bad advice regarding vinyl record playback, so he shares his setup and experiences for our discussion. David B. compared for himself, and settled on a new Vizio E-Series display. It doesn’t have a TV tuner, so we recommend a Mohu Antenna and HDHomeRun network tuner, with the TiVo Roamio OTA, Tablo, Hauppauge TV Tuner for Xbox One, and Channel Master as alternatives. He also wants to make one of his subwoofers wireless, so we suggest the Outlaw Audio OAW4 Wireless Audio Kit. And John W. has a Denon DBT-1713UD Universal Disc Player that no longer supports YouTube, and he wants to know who’s to blame.

Nick B. is agonizing over the layout of his basement home theater, so we discuss dealing with a support pole, seating arrangements, door placement, soundproofing, and HVAC. Vince H. has dual SVS PB-2000 subwoofers, but a large enough room that he’s not getting full pressurization. We talk about walls and doors in terms of air pressure vs. soundproofing, as well as simply getting higher output subwoofers. And Dan N. asks for our opinions on Proficient Audio speakers.

Robert G. wants further clarification about any potential dangers with plugging an amplifier into a voltage regulator. Devon G. wants two pairs of better headphones and would prefer wireless, so we suggest the Sennheiser RS 175, or Sony MDR7506 with a Samson QH4 Headphone Amp and the Outlaw Audio OAW4. And Dave has an indoor pool with a 5.0 moisture resistant surround sound system. He’d like stronger bass, so we suggest marine subwoofer drivers.

Michael M. would like the ability to use Bluetooth headphones as well as HEOS with his Denon AV Receiver, so we go over why he’ll need to send a stereo audio signal from any sources he’d like to use. We also comment on how many speakers to use for an Auro-3D “Voice of God” channel. Kevin A. wants an extremely high output Center speaker, and we think the Power Sound Audio MTM-210C would be an excellent choice. And Damon P. wants a good projector with a quiet fan for gaming, and for his $2,000 budget, we think the Sony VPL-HW45ES is the top choice.

Troy T. upgraded his Living Room speakers to Ascend Acoustics Sierra-2, and now he wants better speakers for his theater, though not quite as expensive. He’s already considering RBH Impression and ELAC Debut, so we add suggestions for Ascend SE Series, Aperion Intimus, NHT Super Series, and KEF Q Series. We also reveal why we’re using Tower or very large stand-mount speakers ourselves. John B. is concerned about future discs or streaming services exclusively using Dolby Vision for HDR and abandoning HDR10. And Jim B. wants greater convenience using some vintage Technics gear with old school bouncing lights. We think a cheap headphone amp and a power strip with master and slave outlets are just what he needs.

Lance H. had an Xbox One audio problem that mysteriously solved itself, but he still has a question about his Marantz SR6010 front display, as well as wanting to know some of our favorite demo discs. Mike wants to add subwoofers to his sound system for the first time, but he wants to use external EQ, so we go over a couple of different connection paths. And Nathan D. has been disappointed by the experience of visiting several high end audio shops. We speculate about why they don’t want to move equipment around, why A-B comparisons are made difficult, and some potential tactics he could use to hopefully improve his next visit.

Roberto C. reluctantly rewired his sound system, and doing so fixed his Receiver’s “protection mode” issues. Larry L. gives a shout out to our Producer Austen for his tireless work on our AVRant YouTube Videos. And our occasional guest host, James Bujold, shares some photos of his new TV room.

Mark H. asks if ceiling mounting a projector is superior to a shelf on the back wall, and how he can keep absorption panels behind his speakers if he mounts them on shelves or uses VideoSecu Side Clamping Speaker Brackets. Nathan D. asks if a cable box plugged into a HEOS-capable AV Receiver can deliver its sound to other HEOS speakers, and we mention buffer latency and TV Sound Grouping as points of interest. And Michael V. is getting into whole house audio in an open concept home. We strongly recommend to him: RBH in-ceiling speakers and RBH in-ceiling LCR, Power Sound Audio Sealed subwoofers for price and size concerns, a Monoprice Monolith amplifier for his most demanding rooms, and Dayton Audio Multi-Zone amplifiers everywhere else.

Aqun wants to know if the Oppo UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player will let him play Ultra HD Blu-rays on his non-HDCP 2.2, non-HDR projector, mainly so he can enjoy the immersive audio. Jonathan F. gets clarification about “7 channel stereo” vs. “Multi channel stereo” listening modes, and he read an interesting novella called “The Invisibility Cloak” about an audiophile installer in China. And Ty W. clarifies his room’s layout for us, and asks about potentially using a “hush box” over a rear shelf mounted projector.

Adam P. uses an HD Fury Integral to send signals to his HDCP 2.2 projector, non-HDCP 2.2 AV Receiver, and optical-audio-only Sonos Playbar, but he needs more HDMI inputs, so we recommend the Sewell SwitchDeck 4K 5×1. Nick B. wonders about “studio accurate” headphones, whether projectors will ever support Dolby Vision, and how HDR projectors look dimmer than HDR flat panels, although proper JVC UHD HDR settings can help with that last part if you’re using one of their projectors. And Infinite Gary questions some of the wording in Oppo’s manuals, asks what happens to Atmos and Audyssey if you use 7.1 analogue audio connections, and wants to know why 2-channel content doesn’t make his subwoofer play unless he sets it to “LFE+Mains”.

Brandon G. wants good surge protection, but has concerns about voltage regulation with subwoofers and amplifiers, so we recommend the APC J35B with its six battery backup outlets and two surge-only outlets. Raul R. has a large room, a limited budget, and a list of available subwoofers in Mexico that prompts some advice that might be a bit tough to accept. And Rob W. has to combine his billiards room and home theater, so we discuss his layout and speaker configuration, recommend the LeEco uMax85 or 80″ Vizio M-Series, talk about door options, and recommend Outdoor Speaker Depot MK650 in-ceiling speakers or Monoprice Caliber in-ceiling speakers along with the previously mentioned Dayton Audio Multi-Zone amplifier or Emotiva A-800 for affordable distributed audio in the rest of his basement.

Bill C. and Daniel M. both jumped on our advice from last week and bought themselves Harmony Hub-based remotes.

Dan S. wants excellent 2.0 desktop sound from small, affordable, USB speakers, so we suggest the AudioEngine A2+. He’s also looking for a 1080p Ultra Short Throw projector, so we recommend the NEC U312H (or ceiling mounting a regular home theater projector). Wesley M. likes BrickWall surge protectors and wants to know why we don’t talk about them. And Henry asks about SPL Meter readings and subwoofer trim level settings.

Luke has a small room, and he wonders how important it is to have a subwoofer that can play down to 20Hz strictly for music. He wants smaller, more affordable subwoofer options, so we suggest the HSU VTF-1 Mk3, RSL Speedwoofer 10S, and Emotiva BasX S12. Ty W. has his basement room stripped down to the studs and wants our recommendation for which Atmos speaker layout will be best for him. And Infinite Gary asks about upmixing content when you have an Atmos setup, as well as our thoughts on IsoAcoustics isolation stands.

Topher H. has a row house and wants speaker and subwoofer suggestions. We suggest Ascend Acoustics HTM-200SE or NHT Super Series speakers with either an SVS PC-2000 cylinder subwoofer or Dual SVS SB-2000. Christopher M. wants to upgrade to Ascend Acoustics speakers. Tom thinks he should start with a Front pair, while Rob thinks he should get L/C/R Sierra-1 with the option to get Sierra-2 Upgrade Kits later. And Tara B. is replacing a small speaker package in stages at a time. For under $500/pair speaker we suggest: RBH Impression R5Bi, Focal Bird, KEF Q300, Ascend CBM-170SE, SVS Prime, Aperion Audio Intimus, or NHT SuperOne 2.1. And we also discuss layout and acoustic treatments for her room.

Justin B. wonders why his vinyl isn’t sounding as good as he remembers in his new setup. He asks about closed-back planar headphones, where we agree the Audeze EL-8 Closed- Back are a top choice. We mention Tom’s favorite company name for headphone amps like the Schiit Audio Magni 2 or Schiit Lyr 2. And we give out a ton of under $1,000/pair speaker suggestions, including: SVS Ultra, Aperion Verus II Grand, KEF R100, Focal Aria 905, Emotiva Airmotiv T1, Paradigm Monitor, PSB Imagine, Energy Veritas, Salk Song, Mission, Dali, Linn, and Monitor Audio. Jonathan F. asks about the Legacy Audio Wavelet and some of the exotic speaker designs at AXPONA. And Earle B. wants a flagship Receiver with a “7 channel stereo” listening mode, so we suggest the Yamaha RX-A3070.

Cesar D. has a question about pronouncing “timbre”. Jefferson G. is getting noise and interference in his audio and video that seems to be coming from his motorized projector screen. And Ted M. gets our thoughts on the SUBPAC wearable tactile transducer.

Marc N. is going from maximum lumens to maximum performance in a 1080p projector, so we recommend the Epson 5030UB. Mahi has an acoustically transparent screen and wants to know if he should use three Tower speakers or two Towers and a horizontal Center. And Neil F. has an LG plasma TV and wants to know how to deactivate its overscan.