Our Listeners of the Week are Jason for donating, and Jordan for both donating and mentioning us for Accessories4Less when he bought his Focal Bird speakers based on our recommendation.

In the news, John M. let us know about the new THX Streaming Certification Program.

James B. and Nathan W. both shared some great advice about in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. Christian S. thinks the number of returns is a big factor in which brands Best Buy employees recommend. Nathan D. noted a new official Oppo UDP-203 firmware update. Mark shared his advice for facing Dolby Digital Plus playback issues. And Kris I. is going with Tom’s idea for his bar, because Rob is just so, so wrong.

Gabe M. wants to find a way to share one speaker setup for both regular 5.1 and Ambiophonics. Srini R. wants to know what restrictions his HDMI 1.3a Receiver will place on his new 4K OLED TV. And Neil S. wants dual subwoofers, but he’d like to know if he can spend less on the second one.

Infinite Gary asks about: DTS:X firmware updates for his Receiver, concerns over factory refurbished products, our picks for speaker wire and banana plugs (Belden bulk speaker wire, Sewell Banana Plugs, Blue Jeans Cable), Audyssey microphone positioning, TCL P-Series 4K TVs with Dolby Vision, and color volume vs HDR accuracy. Dave asks why Blu-rays with Dolby Atmos don’t always include Atmos when you rent them from Netflix. And Mark K. gets our recommendations for a new AV Receiver, whether to buy external amplification, how much to worry about future-proofing, and adjustments he can make to his existing layout.

Jim B. wants more discussion about CNET vs. Rtings TV reviews. Buddy L. is finally getting his dream speakers and asks for advice about a Pre-amp to drive them (Denon AVR-X3300W), Class A equipment, replacing some of the parts in his dream speakers, getting a bigger, better subwoofer, as well as our thoughts on Legacy Audio and our own dream speakers. And Bob N. wants to know if he should use a 2nd order or 4th order crossover slope.

Justin B. wants our thoughts on setting up a projector in a very small room, how small is too small, and what headphones to buy for a child (Sony ZX310 or Sennheiser HD 206). Andrew N. asks about gray screens vs. white screens and high gain vs. low gain. And Christian S. needs to replace his AV Receiver’s remote and his Media Center Edition remote, so we recommend a Harmony Companion or Harmony 650.

Troy H. asks about older SVS subwoofer models and how the version of YPAO in his Receiver will handle dual subwoofers. Joe S. gets our recommendation for a calibrated UMIK-1 measurement microphone from Cross-Spectrum Labs. And an anonymous Listener wants to know what makes the JTR Triple 12 speakers sound so real, why other speakers don’t sound as real, and what he can read to learn more, such as the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook.

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Our Listeners of the Week are Neil for his donation, and Gary for letting Accessories4Less know his Marantz SR6011 purchase was an AVRant recommendation.

In the news, full details of the Nintendo Switch were revealed. It will launch March 3rd for $299.

John P. informed us that Dirac Live does set distances and speaker trim levels. Zach R. decided to spring for a Denon AVR-X4300H. Fred R. found a fun DIY Tractor Beam project using sound wave levitation. Ted M. wants us to interview someone from Legacy Audio to explain why he loves their speakers so much. And Chris D. plugged his employer, James Loudspeaker, as a source for in-wall speakers, plus their cool stand-alone Mod-Theater.

Nathan D. gets some clarification on an Anandtech HDMI 2.1 article, and thinks the HD Guru HDMI 2.1, ATSC 3.0, and HDR formats article is a good summary. Jack H. found pictures of a large DIY Center speaker and wants to know what’s inside. And Kris I. needs speakers for his bar, and Tom and Rob disagree about the best solution and placement. Tom prefers SVS Prime Elevation speakers, and Rob prefers a KEF HTF8003 SpeakerBar.

Carl M. doesn’t want to bother his neighbors. If he gets new subwoofers, we think SVS PC-2000 cylinders are the right choice, but a Smyth Realiser A16 plus high-end headphones from the likes of Audeze, Oppo, or Sennheiser might be the ultimate Immersive Audio solution. Robert G. wants to know why more people don’t use regular satellite speakers as in-ceiling speakers since we always recommend backer boxes. And Joe S. gets our thoughts on viewing 4K HDR content using an HTPC, as well as combining a Dayton Audio iMM-6 Microphone with an Android phone and the Bofinit AudioTool App for basic measurements.

Alan C. wants to know why the front row seats in movie theaters are even legal. Tom K. gets our thoughts on adjusting the positioning of his Surround and Surround Back speakers for Atmos. And Mike wants to know more about region coding on Blu-rays and potentially playing back out-of-region discs on his PS3.

Steve W. wants battery backup power protection for his projector. We recommend APC and their J35B, J25B, Back-UPS BE750, or Back-UPS Pro BG500. Pieter J. wants to nail down the positions of his in-ceiling speakers for Atmos in the living room and whole-house audio in his other rooms. And Casey P. gets our recommendations for the BenQ HT2050, HT4050, Epson Home Cinema 3020, and Home Cinema 3700 projectors, as well as HSU HIW-1, Aperion Audio Intimus L6-IW, Monoprice in-wall, and Dayton Audio in-wall speakers, and NHT SuperZero satellite speakers.

Mike M. has enjoyed his Paradigm Monitor Series speakers for several years, but he wants to expand his experience and upgrade his sound quality. We offer some advice. Troy has a Yamaha Aventage Receiver that stops showing the volume on-screen when he activates its video processing. And Stephen M. wants to figure out the best way to proceed now that its clear that no 2017 flat panel TVs will include 3D capability. He might opt for a DLP projector, in which case, the BenQ W7500 or Optoma HD91+ would fit his needs.

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Our Listeners of the Week are Robert and Vincent for their donations, as well as Hector F. for telling Silver Ticket he heard about their projection screens from AVRant, and Steve W. for letting HSU know his VTF-3 Mk5 subwoofer purchase was an AVRant recommendation.

Tom and Rob joined Austen to talk about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on the We Watch Movies Podcast.

In the news, we cover some of the interesting topics from CES 2017:

OLED – Sony Bravia XBR-A1E screen is also the speaker. Panasonic EZ1000 forgoes Dolby Vision and a North American release. LG has five 2017 OLED Series, including the W7 “Wallpaper” OLED. And Samsung QLED with “metallic” quantum dots are still LCD TVs, just with a better backlight.

Dolby Vision – Sony, TCL, and Philips TVs, plus LG and Philips Ultra HD Blu-ray players all get Dolby Vision. Sony Z9D flagship LCDs will get a Dolby Vision firmware update. And Dolby Vision Ultra HD Blu-rays are on the way from Lionsgate, Universal, and Warner Bros.

HDMI 2.1 was announced with 48 Gbps bandwidth, new cables required, eARC, VRR, and Dynamic HDR.

Projectors – Optoma 4K UST, Sony VPL-VZ1000ES, and Hisense H10D Ultra Short Throw Laser Projectors are all still expensive, but less than half the price of previous models. And JVC refreshed their e-Shift4 projector lineup.

NVidia Shield TV Gen.2 added Amazon Prime Video. And Andrew Jones unveiled his high-end ELAC Adante speakers. Plus, we mention some things that were conspicuously absent.

Josh C. took our advice to buy a cylinder subwoofer, and he loves it. Nathan D. let us know the Oppo UDP-203 Beta Firmware Update resolves HDCP 2.2 issues. And Ted M. had the same Audyssey settings memory glitch as Bill.

Russel K. wants to know if a split, dual infinite baffle subwoofer is the right solution for his loft. Nathan D. asks about some of the new HDR standards and marketing that were seen at CES 2017. And Ted M. wants to know for sure if he bought “too much sub”, so we point him to Cross-Spectrum Labs and Room EQ Wizard for measurement equipment. We also suggest Fusion Collection Seating or Palliser Seating for theater recliners, talk a bit about room correction, and suggest a Dayton Distribution Amplifier and 8-inch in-ceiling speakers to fill a large space with even sound.

Ed A. noticed a hum and an indicator light that never turns off on his SVS sub. We suggest some settings changes. We also recommend the Yamaha YSP-5600 Atmos and DTS:X Sound Projector, but think he might prefer a new AV Receiver. Eric C. could probably use some Auralex Diffusion Products to combat his slap echo, while we confirm the rest of his setup. Lars M. finds out which speaker configuration is compatible with all Immersive Audio formats, including Auro-3D. And Infinite Gary has three Revel speakers, and he wants to expand to Atmos. We suggest the Revel Concerta2 M16 for his Surrounds, and the Klipsch RP-140SA Dolby Atmos-enabled Add-on Modules as the best upward-firing choice. We mention Dolby Atmos Speaker Setup Guidelines, suggest some Atmos AV Receivers, discuss upmixing, and say to get a Dolby Vision-capable Ultra HD Blu-ray player.

Nick B. learns more about object-based audio vs. channel-based signals, gets our thoughts on the THX Achromatic Audio Amplifier AHB2 from Benchmark, finds out what Tom would do to get Spotify in the kitchen, and shares a story about curved TVs. Karl R. bemoans the lack of 4K video content on iTunes. Jordan B. needs to read everything over at Soundproofing Company for his attic theater, and gets our suggestions for NHT SuperZero, Ascend Acoustics HTM-200SE, and Focal Bird Series wall-mountable speakers. And Steve W. gets Rob to narrow down his Center speaker choices to the Pioneer Elite SP-EC73 for use in his TV cabinet.

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Our Listeners of the Week are: Herb, Randy, and Joshua for their donations; as well as, Alan C. for letting SpoonFlower know we recommended their printed fabrics, Jackson L. for letting Accessories4Less know his Denon AVR-X3300W purchase was AVRant’s suggestion, and Troy T. and J for letting Ascend Acoustics know their respective Sierra-2 and HTM-200SE speaker purchases were thanks to AVRant.

In the news (which we put together before CES 2017 began, so it’s already old): the Samsung M9500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player promises to make HDR TV settings automatically, although it lacks Dolby Vision support. And Emotiva BasX Speakers and new Emotiva Airmotiv speaker models expand their product lineup.

Josh Pollard from The Digital Media Zone has a few minor quibbles about his Vizio M-Series TV, but overall, he loves it. And Nathan D. found an explanation for Lee’s issue where Comcast is converting 1080i channels to 720p from last week, while John M. noticed the same thing and was given a signal amplifier that greatly improved his picture quality.

Jefferson G. bought an Oppo UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player, which is plugged into his HDMI 2.0a/HDCP 2.2 Marantz Pre-Pro, which is then plugged into his 1080p projector. And that’s giving him HDCP errors. We discuss a work around. Robert G. wants to know if he can use an external amplifier strictly for his overhead Atmos speakers, or if he should follow the common advice of using the external amp to power his Fronts. And Travelling IT Guy moved his Denon Receiver for a Christmas party, and it started shutting down. You might be able to guess what we tell him to check.

Jeremy K. wants a pair of bookshelf speakers for around $100. We like the Pioneer Andrew Jones SP-BS22-LR, EMP Tek E3b, and Focal Little Bird. Zach R. was getting sibilance with some Dolby Digital Plus streams on his Pioneer SC-05 Receiver, but a cheap Onkyo had no such issues. We speculate why. Then we mention the Marantz SR6010 and Denon AVR-X4200W as less expensive 5.2.4 Receivers, and the Marantz SR6011 as the least expensive 7.2.4 model. And Bill R. has a Denon AVR-X6300H that is forgetting its settings. We make some suggestions. Bill also asks about how to describe a subwoofer’s exact placement, whether projectors can get burn-in, and why we get excited about lasers when JVC projectors still look the best. And lastly, he shares some pictures of his completed theater, and recommends Origin Acoustics for in-ceiling speakers.

Frederick V. owns a Samsung UBD-K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player and asks if he should upgrade to the Oppo UDP-203. Mark H. asks why we (really only Rob, to be fair) prefer CNET’s TV reviews, and why we sometimes disagree with Rtings conclusions. Alan C. asks about acoustically transparent fabric, insulation thickness and air gaps, the best design for acoustic panel frames, and what matters most when it comes to bass traps. Spencer P. asks for the best way to set up dual subwoofers using a miniDSP with Dirac Live. And J. asks for some clarification about aiming Atmos ceiling speakers and how a room correction program like Audyssey will affect off-axis response.

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Happy Holidays! Tom is away, so Rob H. is joined by Lee Overstreet, and making his AV Rant debut, James Bujold from Rainy Lake Audio and Dynamic Technologies. Rob is a terrible host and somehow forgot to give Producer Austen all of his usual mentions! Honestly, we add one new face and Rob loses all competence. For shame. Sorry, Austen!

Our Listener of the Week is Vince H. who sprang for three Ascend Acoustics Sierra-2 speakers plus a Sierra Luna pre-order, as well as an Oppo UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player and Marantz SR6011 from Accessories4Less. Vince let all of those companies know he heard about them on AV Rant.

We mourn the passing of Carrie Fisher (1956-2016). As per her wishes, let it be forever remembered that “Carrie Fisher drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.” May the Force be with you, Princess. Always.

In the news, Antoine gave us the heads up about the Emotiva RMC-1 7.3.6 Atmos Pre-Pro being shown at CES 2017. And Samsung can’t wait to use the name “QLED”, so much so that they’re rebranding SUHD and will have to come up with another name when genuine QLED displays eventually come to market.

In Comments, Kris P. says the new Vudu app on Xbox One already supports Atmos bitstream audio output for members of the Insider Preview program. Jim W. discovered the joys of a seamless timbre match with his new BIC America speakers. Lee is angry at Comcast downscaling lots of channels to 720p in his area. And Sean F. has nearly completed his home theater build, and he shares a few tips about riser height and IR control.

Justin B. measured a dip in his frequency response, so we discuss potential causes and fixes. He’s also considering new speakers, such as: Ascend Acoustics Sierra Horizon RAAL, or Legacy Audio Studio HD bookshelf and Silverscreen HD Center. He also asks about pressurizing his room and potentially using three subs and Andy C.’s Multi-Sub Optimizer software. Then he asks about 4K and HDR content on computers and upconverting existing 1080p content. Finally, Justin asks about Manual Pull-Down projection screens, Motorized Roll-Down screens, L-Brackets for wall mounting, and lastly, LeEco’s 85-inch uMax TV.

Jim W. wants to upgrade his projector for $500. The Wirecutter Best Cheap Projector pick is ok, but we suggest the Epson HC2030 instead. Jim also asks about Denon’s less expensive S-Series Receivers. Rick G. has a large great room and wants to upgrade his subwoofers, but his budget is limited. We suggest the HSU VTF-3 Mk5 HP, but for lower prices, the Outlaw Audio Ultra-X12 or SVS PB-1000 could suffice. And Adriano has a friend who wants a simple 2-speaker setup. We talk about ways to connect all his sources and compare powered monitors to stand-alone Bluetooth speakers.

We spend some time getting to know our guest co-host James, who shares some advice from the perspective of a professional installer. And Lee goes into a few details about his quest to convert all of his old analogue media to digital. He suggests visiting The Digital FAQ and the HDML-Cloner Box Pro from cloner-alliance.

Infinite Gary wonders if the lack of Ultra HD Blu-ray titles available from Netflix’ disc-by-mail service signals doom for the format. Jonathan F. wanted to point and laugh at the RokBlok record player, which sure does remind us of the 35+ year-old VW Soundwagon. And Timothy B. read Mark Henninger’s “Why Quantum Dot HDR TVs are Great for Gaming” article, and it made him question his OLED advocacy.

Brian A. clarified what his front wall will look like in his great room, which doesn’t change our in-wall speaker recommendations, but it does get us to suggest the GoldenEar SuperCinema 3D Array and KEF HTF8003 Speaker Bar as potential alternatives. We also dish out some hard facts about single subwoofer placement. Pete G. gets our list of excellent subwoofers under $1,000, which include: HSU VTF-3 Mk5 HP, HSU VTF-15H Mk2 (when it’s on sale), and Power Sound Audio 15V for huge output and size; SVS PC-2000 Cylinder for small footprint; HSU ULS-15 Mk2 and Power Sound Audio 15S for high output sealed; and SVS SB-2000 and Rythmik F12 for smallest size. James (our guest co-host) hit us up for a list of projector resources, including: Visual Apex, Projector People, HT Market, B&H Photo, Projector Central, and Projector Reviews. And Jack H. gets our thoughts on what really makes a difference when it comes to music sound quality, and why we think he should spend his money on good recordings, good speakers, and good setup while pretty much ignoring everything else.

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