AV Rant #548: Clockwork Dolby
Our Listeners of the Week are Marc and Anand for their donations. Thank you!
In the news, Paramount announced plans to support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos across their Ultra HD Blu-ray and streaming releases. And Scott Wilkinson from AVS Forum contacted many manufacturers to compile a comprehensive list of Dolby Vision compatible productsthat includes some hopeful news for AV Receiver owners.
Josh A. shared some photos of his theater that was heavily influenced by our recommendations. He says we saved him a lot of money.
Fred R. has a new layout for his theater room, so he asks about: screen size, position, and type, for which we recommend an Elite Saker Tab-Tensioned AcousticPro UHD; Atmos configuration and also powering Zone2, for which we recommend a 5-channel Outlaw Audio Model 5000 amplifier; and in-ceiling speakers to match his EMP Tek Towers, for which we recommend the RBH A-600. Brandon G. wants satellite speakers to match his Ascend Sierra-1 Fronts, and he’s considering the Aperion Audio 4B, so we add Ascend HTM-200SE, NHT SuperZero 2.1, and Focal Little Birds as contenders. And Neil F. wants us to compare the Polk Monitor 60 Towers against the KEF Q300 bookshelf speakers and give them each a number value, so we attempt to oblige.
Wesley M. has a non-functioning Denon AVR-X4200W that we try to troubleshoot, think is worth repairing, but would replace with a Denon AVR-X3300W if it comes to that. Jason P. gets our thoughts on using a car subwoofer drive in a DIY cabinet for home theater use. And Marc N. wants to know if there’s a reasonably affordable product that can process more than 11 or 13 speaker channels just as Emotiva prepares to demonstrate their $5,000 16-channel RMC-1.
Anonymous managed to blow some tweeters, even though he sits fairly close to his speakers, so we discuss what could cause such damage and dig into some of the numbers that were provided by a manufacturer. Robert G. is curious about scenarios where it would make sense to set speakers to Large or Full Range. And Anand gets some clarification about which settings need to be applied when using upward-firing Dolby Atmos-enabled Modules.
Jonathan F. asks for our opinions on Dolby’s experiments to gather biometric data from movie-watching volunteers. Bobby M. wants a pair of subwoofers, but he doesn’t want to overspend, so he asks if dual SVS PB-1000 are his best option. And Aric S. wants us to rank and describe the sound quality of his top three speaker candidates from HSU, Ascend, and Aperion.
Ted M. bought a Sony UBP-X800 Ultra HD Blu-ray player, but it’s image is blurry no matter what he tries, and its streaming service support seems lacking. We discuss, but are at a bit of a loss to explain. And we also tackle Ted’s subwoofer isolation platform experiments. Nick B. wants more details about how to handle a Center channel speaker setup with the new, modular “Micro-LED” Cinema Displays. We also discuss drop tile ceilings in regard to soundproofing. And Tony K. wants a large display in a 12 foot long room for a low price, so we suggest the BenQ HT2050, BenQ HT2150ST, or BenQ HT1070 while explaining their capabilities and limitations.
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!
- Download Tom's NEWEST book, Touch of Pain from Amazon now!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS