AV Rant #526: Wascally Wabbits
Our Listeners of the Week are: Justin for his donation, Karl R. for letting Oppo know he heard about their UDP-203 Ultra HD Blu-ray player from us, and John S. for mentioning us to RBH Sound when he ordered a pair of R5Bi bookshelf speakers.
Tom is away this week, so we welcome back Lee Overstreet and James Bujold as our guest co-hosts.
In the news, a new reference design specification for HDBaseT now supports HDMI 2.0 with 18 GBps bandwidth. And Nathan D. and Nathan W. both pointed us to a Marantz UK FAQ response regarding Dolby Vision and HLG HDR signal pass-through that says a firmware update will be necessary, and only the latest Receiver and Pre-Pro models will get it.
Mark O. wants three new Front speakers for under $1,000. Ascend Acoustics CMT-340SE, RBH Impression Series, and Paradigm Monitor Series top our recommendations. We also discuss NHT Media Series upward-firing Atmos-enabled speakers, and speculate about Emotiva Airmotiv speakers based on their design. Abby S. is helping her workplace find a woven acoustically transparent screen. Since they can build their own DIY screen frame, we highly recommend SeymourAV DIY Center Stage UF or SnapAV Dragonfly Ultra AcoustiWeave screen fabric. And Will T. wants a 5.1.4 Receiver with a large front display for under $800. The Denon AVR-X4200W from Accessories4Less fits the bill.
Jonathan F. asks us why we still go out to movie theaters when we have nice home theaters. Jason P. wants the settings for getting the best quality audio out of an AppleTV 4. Mitch R. asks if he should rearrange his acoustic panels to accommodate the size of screen he wants, and he also asks if the JVC DLA-X770R is really worth the large price increase over the DLA-X570R. And Charlie H. listened to AVRant with his wife, and it killed his dreams! Now he wants to know how to convince her he still needs new speakers, so we point out Aperion Audio and SVS free 2-way shipping.
Hector has a Dayton Audio DTA-120 amplifier but wants higher output capability. We mention the Lepai LP7498E, and Crown XLi 800 amps for higher wattage, or the Topping VX1 with USB. We also discuss phantom Center channels and three identical Front speakers, coaxial and concentric drivers, and AVRant’s release schedule. Ted M. wonders if he should buy a projector or a Receiver first, we suggest a SeymourAV Center Stage UF screen for his close seating distance, and we talk a bit about Dirac Unison. And Damian D. is recalibrating his projector, so we mention optimized PS3 settings, Receiver pass-through settings, and suggest the THX Tune-up App.
Karl R. asks about less expensive 4K HDR-compatible projectors, so we mention the Epson HC 5040UB and JVC DLA-X550R. We compare those to some other models, and also explain DLP-Link 3D glasses. Informal Gadget on Twitter asks about a Receiver upgrade. And Nick B. asks about optimizing his Atmos speaker placement and bass management and potentially having two different room correction configurations.
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Note on this podcast – The Marantz SR6010 does not have an information screen when the front panel is open.
Regarding Dirac Unison: Rob, you said that this active noise cancellation capability will “never” appear in a consumer AVR. I don’t think you’re giving technology enough credit. In fact, I predict that not only will this technology filter to the consumer level, I predict that it will include a wireless microphone that the listener(s) attaches to their lapel or hangs around their neck, and the active noise correction routine will adjust “on the fly” as the listener moves around the room. Sort of like those Revols earphones, but in real time. In fact, this sort of tech would be a logical companion to the emerging virtual reality technology.
@Russ
Actually, they weren’t Revols — I can’t remember what the brand name was that you mentioned.