AV Rant #583: Sniffle-cast
Our Listeners of the Week are Terry for his donation, along with our 54 Patreon Patrons, as well as Ash for making some cool AVRant artwork and displaying it in Gran Turismo for the PS4, Joe K. for talking us up to SVS when he contacted them for an amplifier replacement, and Terry for telling SVS his SB-2000 subwoofer purchase was because of us.
In news and comments, the TCL 6-Series Dolby Vision, Roku TVs have a May 1st release date. Infinite Gary let us know that the Revel Performa Beryllium Series speakers have price points of $4,000/pair and $10,000/pair for the bookshelf and tower, respectively. And Ted M. spoke on the phone with Bill Dudleston from Legacy Audio who offered one more suggestion to hopefully improve the imaging of Ted’s speakers.
0:15:35 Terry G. wants a small, cheap monitor for selecting music tracks or queuing up movies without having to turn on his projector. We recommend the Dell S2418HN, or connecting a DVI computer monitor to his Receiver’s Zone 2 HDMI output.
0:19:20 Byron S. asks if 1.85:1 aspect ratio movies are “supposed” to be taller than 2.35:1 aspect ratio movies. We also discuss less expensive alternatives to a screen with motorized 4-way masking, such as: the SeymourAV Proscenium motorized 2-way masking frame combined with motorized drapes; or, using two screens; one being “TV-sized” with some ambient light, and the other being a constant image width screenfor CinemaScope and IMAX. Lastly, we talk about whether it’s better to put diffusion or absorption on your ceiling.
0:31:29 Nick B. wants to know if EluneVision’s claims about their 4K AudioWeave screen material are too good to be true, and how Elite Screen’s AcousticPro UHD material stacks up.
0:35:46 Peter S. wants to know if any $1,000 sealed subwoofers can match the performance of his SVS SB16-Ultra. And we discuss why he’s having difficulty getting even bass at more than only one seat with his single subwoofer.
0:43:42 Nelson invested in an Audyssey Pro calibration kit, and he wants us to double check his before and after graphs to offer any suggestions for further improvement.
0:49:23 Infinite Gary asks for clarification about Walter Murch’s proposal for binaural sound in movie theaters. We talk about soundstage width, the optimal number of Atmos speakers, and Sony’s professional PVM-X550 55″ OLED monitor. We go over the naming of Denon’s new X8500H Receiver, the vocal imaging of a commentary track for Murder on the Orient Express, and why Kevin Voecks from Revel says a speaker’s enclosure is its single largest expense.
1:09:43 Christian S. thought he’d add more RBH Impression Series speakers, but the new 2nd generation are more expensive and don’t come in Red Burl. We suggest upgrading only his Surround speakers with Focal Little Birds or NHT SuperZeros, or considering the new ELAC Debut 2.0 Series if he really wants Towers. We recommend the Denon AVR-X3300W Receiver. And we get an update on his subwoofer cable hum.
1:16:37 Brent W. has a new basement and wants all new toys. We go over configuration and placement options, suggest going with a pair of high output subwoofers from either HSU or Power Sound Audio, recommend he audition Aperion Audio, Ascend Acoustics, ELAC, KEF, and SVS speakers, and recommend a JVC DLA-X590 projector.
1:30:41 Terry Q. wants to know more about backing up Ultra HD Blu-rays.
1:34:21 John B. gets our input on his mix of Sonus Faber, Klipsch, and Martin Logan speakers. We talk about the importance of damping under his subwoofer. We discuss some crossover settings and setting speakers to large vs. small. And we go over his acoustic panel plans.
1:47:03 Joel N. asks about confirming the trim levels set by a Receiver’s auto-setup program. And we talk about ways to make his semi-dipole Surrounds and Top Middle speakers sound less diffuse.
1:51:52 Adriano M. asks about recessed in-ceiling projection screens, whether tab-tensioning is vital, what we thnk of the new $1,500 4K DLP projectors, how to extract HDMI audio while still being able to pass through full 18 Gbps signals, which we say can be done with a combination of a Sewell SwitchDeck and an Avantree Audio Extractor, and we suggest Monoprice DynamicView Active HDMI Cables for any HDMI cable runs between 25 and 50 feet.
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