AV Rant Listener Jason L. —

is trying to figure out which projector to buy. One of the most important things with a front projection setup is making sure that it is able to create the image size you want within the distance you have available one the projector is in place!

It’s important to remember that the figures quoted are for the distance between the lens of the projector and the screen. So you have to consider the physical length of the body of the projector!

A great resource for figuring out those lens to screen distances, though, is Projector Central’s Throw Distance Calculator:

Select your projector brand and model and you can use the sliders to figure out how far away your projector can be for a given screen size…

http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm

AV Rant Listener Jason L. —

is also looking for a screen to go along with his new projector.

There are a ton of projection screen brands, but we figured that most folks are probably looking for the best performance at the lowest price. So here is a shortlist of affordable, high quality screen brands to consider:

1) VApex Screens: http://www.visualapex.com/Projector-Screens/VisualApex-Projector-Screens.asp

Visual Apex is a popular online retailer for front projectors, and they have their own brand of very affordable screens.

2) Elite Screens: elitescreens dot com (Facebook won’t allow the link for some reason)

Probably the most ubiquitous affordable screen brand.

3) Carada: http://www.carada.com/

Great screens that compete with the bigger, more expensive brands at very reasonable prices

4) EluneVision: http://www.elunevision.com/

Based in Canada, EluneVision’s big claim to fame are their acoustically transparent screens. But they have low cost standard screens, too.

5) Seymour AV: http://www.seymourav.com/screens.asp

Acoustically transparent screens are a big part of Seymour AV’s offerings, too. But what makes them really stand out are their manual screen masking options. Small, powerful magnets can hold screen masks in place so that you can use one screen with multiple aspect ratios.

AV Rant Listener Jonathan M. —

wanted to buy some new headphones for around $150. Here’s a list of some great options of all different styles and sizes:

1) Shure SE215: http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SE215-K-Earphones-CBL-M–Remote/dp/B00E8QI4AK/

2) Audio Technica ATH-M50: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50-Professional-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B000ULAP4U/

2a) Audio Technica ATH-M50x: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50x-Professional-Headphones/dp/B00HVLUR86/

3) Audio Technica ATH-A700X: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-A700X-Headphones/dp/B000E9VKUQ/

4) AKG K240: http://www.amazon.com/AKG-240-Stereo-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0016MNBAM/

5) Sony MDR7506: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AJIF4E

6) Sennheiser HD 558: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-504631-HD-558-Headphones/dp/B004FEEY9A/

7) Sennheiser Momentum On-Ears: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-Momentum-On-Ear-Headphone-Black/dp/B00DKPXU9A/

AV Rant Listener Jonathan F. —

found a shootout comparing various music streaming services. Rob and Tom think the sample size needs to be a lot bigger before we can really spot any patterns, but it’s interesting to see the differences in this particular case:

http://www.marcurselli.com/2014/03/03/the-truth-about-music-streaming-services-and-the-ultimate-audio-quality-shootout-test-beats-vs-mog-vs-play-music-by-google-vs-rdio-vs-spotify/

AV Rant Listener Bill R. —

is interested in auditioning some Ascend Acoustics Sierra-2 bookshelf speakers.

Since they’re not available in stores, one way to hear them in person is to use Ascend’s forum and ask if there are any owners in your local area who might let you hear them. Owners on the forum tend to be very friendly and willing to help out 🙂 :

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/