AV Rant #508: Ted’s Gambit
Amazing! We are awestruck by the outpouring of support from our MANY Listeners of the Week. Ya ready?
Terry G., Richard C., Nathan D., Brandon W., Peter M., Fabrizio F., Stefan B., Eric B., Mahidhar, Jay C., Pieter, Tom K., Ian, Karl R., Carl M., James D., James O., Joshua L., Frederick R., Antoine C., Bryon S., Jeffrey B., Miles W., Jayson W., Vincent H., John S., Lee V., Ilango, William C., Keith M., Wade E., Tom T., Sean M., Gabe M., Geoffrey D., Chad T., Matthew F., Gavin B., Jason S., and Ronald G. who also told A4L that his Marantz AV8802A purchase was thanks to AV Rant!
And a huge thank you to Ted M. who inspired all of these donations with his generous offer to match them dollar-for-dollar! This is far beyond our wildest expectations.
Our official YouTube Page – https://www.youtube.com/c/AVRant/ – features Tom as a logo for the entire podcast this week thanks to technical difficulties. We’re working on it!
Rob gives his first impressions of the PlayStation VR. And Infinite Gary sent us breaking news that Razer bought THX.
Tom K. says our advice to replace a pre-pro with an AV Receiver worked out well. Kris I. says a pair of SVS PC12-Plus subwoofers in a 10,000 cubic foot space is 80% satisfying. And Kevin N., our 500th Episode SVS Giveaway winner has received his SVS Prime Satellite 5.1 Speaker Package! Congrats!
Byron S. has a new house and a new dedicated theater room. We discuss screen sizes, seating distances, and speaker layout ideas. Bob wants to make sure Ascend Acoustics speakers that use RAAL ribbon tweeters can hit full Reference Volume, and we suggest the Ascend Pedestal Stands. And Infinite Gary asks if an acoustically reflective room benefits from speakers with narrow dispersion, how to tell what kind of dispersion a speaker will have, whether playing up to 40 kHz is useful, and what type of insulation we prefer for DIY absorption panels.
Bill C. is moving to a much larger house with an existing sound system. We suggest a Pro Amplifier to power the passive subwoofers, and a Distribution Amplifier to power his whole house audio system. Fab F. is disappointed after adding an SVS PC12-Plus to his PB-1000 in an open concept living room. We talk about placement and dual subwoofer considerations. And Terry G. gets our input on his updated theater plans. We discuss false walls, dual subs that are different brands, and Logitech Harmony Remotes vs. Control4.
Karl R. asks, is Apple’s Lightning headphone jack digital or analogue? Ken S. wants to know if AV Receivers need anything special to support Dolby Vision. And Fred R. is renovating his room to focus on the fireplace. We recommend Dynamic Mounting or MantelMount to put his flatscreen above it.
Nick B. wants to know how much louder four subs will be in a room vs. outdoors, and he also wants to know why Ascend Acoustics doesn’t show distortion measurements. Michael R. wants to swap his Tower Front speakers for Bookshelf speakers, but his choices are limited in Canada. And Casey P. wonders if he can repurpose an old Receiver as an amplifier for Atmos speakers.
Aidan has a left speaker channel problem that we are convinced is being caused by a bad speaker wire connection. Josh Pollard is upgrading his TV, and we think a 55-inch Vizio M-Series is the perfect choice. And Jim O. wants to know if Front Wide speakers are really a thing of the past.
Thanks for listening. Now, don't forget to:
- Check out the AV Rant YouTube channel to watch our show videos.
- Download Tom’s FREE superhero-themed ebook Bob Moore: No Hero.
- If you like it, you can purchase the two full-length follow-ups - Bob Moore: Desperate Times and Bob Moore: Hostile Territory.
- Check out AVGadgets.com where Tom is the new Editor-in-Chief!
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Congratulations, AVRant team! I sort of wish you would release the amount you actually raised because it’s very impressive. But I can understand why you wouldn’t. I’m so impressed by the AVRant community. Tom, Rob, and Austen deserve it for the 10+ years they have dedicated to this passion project which has helped so many of us spend less money and enjoy our AV more. Thank you, guys.
Just a note about the person asking about bookshelf speakers and your idea of trying an Internet direct company, probably the largest Internet direct company in Canada is Axiom Audio (http://www.axiomaudio.com/). They manufacture/sell a full line of speakers and some electronics. Shipping is free but customer pays for the return. There are of course many speaker manufacturers in Canada. For some reason, Canada generally has a disproportionately high number of AV companies considering the size of its population.