AV Rant #659: Ignore at Your Peril
Our Listeners of the Week are our 86 Patreon Patrons, as well as Carlton B. for helping Tom and Clint with our website bandwidth issues, and Terry G. for talking us up to SVS when he bought a PC-2000 from their outlet store.
Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGFUKm3
Lee Overstreet is our guest co-host this week.
In the news:
– Via Nick B. & Karl R. – Dolby has withdrawn their upmixer restriction: https://www.audioholics.com/audio-technologies/dolby-widthdraws-from-restricting-non-native-upmixing-a-win-for-consumers
– Via Nick B. – Ascend launched the Sierra Luna Duo speaker: https://is.gd/nazIaz
– Via Gary, Karl R. & Jay A. – Filmmaker Mode is coming to UHD Alliance TVs: https://is.gd/AAFL3Z
OLED TV news:
– LG Display’s OLED factory in China is complete: https://is.gd/GFY3rQ– Vizio set to launch OLED in 2020: https://is.gd/wnggmj– Samsung factories transitioning from LCD to QD-OLED in South Korea: https://is.gd/WULGcY
Comments:
– David F. refuses to get an Apple TV 4K, so he shares his HTPC upgrades.
– 0:27:48 Adam P. shares photos of his theater where we said to fix most of his issues by installing a smaller screen.
Questions:
0:30:04 Andrew L. asks about Atmos vs. DTS:X, why a demo he heard sounded different depending on the codec, and why Surround speakers in theaters are mounted so much higher than at home.
0:40:48 Damien D. gets Receiver and speaker suggestions for his huge, open Living Room, and subwoofer speaker, and drop-tile ceiling advice for his basement. We also discuss MTM speaker design.
– Yamaha RX-V685: https://is.gd/2kshXj
– Yamaha RX-A880: https://is.gd/r8P5tD
– US Audio Mart: https://www.usaudiomart.com/
– AudiogoN: https://www.audiogon.com/
– HSU HC-1 MK2: http://hsuresearch.com/products/hc-1.html
– Ascend CMT-340SE: http://ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340m.html
– RBH R-515E: https://rbhsound.com/r515e.php
– RBH Suspended Ceiling Bracket: https://rbhsound.com/mtb65.php
– RBH Back Can: https://rbhsound.com/bc6r.php
– RBH shallow Back Can: https://rbhsound.com/bc6rs.php
1:08:07 Marty S. gets our take on Ohm Walsh speakers, “live end, dead end” room treatment, and tube amplifiers.
1:20:00 Jason H. requests inexpensive acoustically transparent screen options.
– SeymourAV DIY material: http://www.seymourav.com/screensDIY.asp– Silver Ticket: https://is.gd/UcmPBj
– Elite Screen AcousticPro UHD: https://is.gd/xWatT6
– Screen Science by AVS: https://avscience.com/screen-science-by-avs/
1:23:21 Paul T. has placement and aesthetic restrictions. We discuss expanding to four overhead speakers, and the best way to optimize his dual subs.
– PSB Imagine XA: http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/imagine/Imagine-XA
– SVS Prime Elevation: https://www.svsound.com/products/prime-elevation
– Multi-Sub Optimizer Software: https://www.andyc.diy-audio-engineering.org/mso/html/index.html
– 12 Step Guide to Setting up Dual Subwoofers: https://avrant.com/a-12-step-guide-to-setting-up-dual-subwoofers/
1:32:42 Eddie asks if he should buy a Marantz SR8012 or an Arcam AVR850.- miniDSP 8-channel Dirac: https://www.minidsp.com/products/dirac-series/ddrc-88a
1:37:25 bncphd asks if we agree with KEF’s method of calculating proper TV height.
– Viewing Distance Calculator: https://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html
– Riser Height Calculator: http://www.diymovierooms.com/Content/RiserHeight
1:41:47 Infinite Gary gets Lee’s advice regarding archiving recordings off an SD DVR.
– Lee’s episode (AV Rant #623: Converting Analogue Videotapes to Digital): https://avrant.com/vhs/
– Diamond VC500: https://is.gd/SjqQFR
1:47:06 Dan C. needs a slim Center speaker.
– JBL Stage A135C: https://is.gd/9D4vbW
1:49:29 Zach R. gets suggestions for reasonably-priced 75-inch TVs.
– Sony XBR-75X940E: https://is.gd/HfaOyD
– TCL 75R615: https://is.gd/qAQnYY
– Vizio P75-F1: https://is.gd/19nK70
– Vizio P75-G1: https://is.gd/5ViLX9
– Vizio PX75-G1: https://is.gd/6hLeC0
– Sony XBR-75X900F: https://is.gd/zxQK0Y
1:57:09 Francis A. wants a quiet projector that can do 3D for under $1,500.
– Epson Clearance HC4000: https://is.gd/FsVu96
– Sony VPL-HW45ES: https://is.gd/p5v44z
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After Rob’s comments on the Ohm Walsh I’m wondering what he and Tom think of the review of an older model of the speaker by Don Keele in issue 29 of Peter Aczel’s The Audio Critic.
Please find it here:
http://www.biline.ca/audio_critic/audio_critic_down.htm
Alan
Any reason why you guys dont ever recommend the nVidia Shield? despite its age, it still one of the best streaming boxes on the market and its the most versatile compared to other streaming boxes. So I wanted to here Robs opinions on the Shield, for people who dont want to touch that Apple ecosystem with a 20ft pole, I usually recommend the shield over say the Roku.
@Kaze
“Don’t ever”?
My goodness, we have suggested the NVidia Shield many, many times. I own and use one. But where I recommend it most often is for Plex, because it is the only stand-alone box with a version of Plex that passes through full TrueHD + Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio + DTS:X bitstreams, plus it’s an excellent Plex Server, which is unique for any stand alone box.
But it does not support Dolby Vision, and some of its frame rate switching to 24p and back doesn’t work perfectly with every streaming service. For Plex, it’s in a class of its own, and I recommend it on the podcast frequently for that purpose.
But when someone is asking for the best overall streaming service solution, the Apple TV 4K is simply the best hardware available right now. If a service supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos streaming, the Apple TV 4K does it. Switching frame rate to 24p and back, and switching between HDR and SDR works correctly on every service. So it’s as simple as that.
That’s why I use both an Apple TV 4K and an NVidia Shield. Of course, the crazy thing is that NEITHER of them is a great solution for YouTube. Neither supports HDR from YouTube. The Shield supports 5.1 Dolby Digital from YouTube, the Apple TV 4K doesn’t. So to get it all from YouTube, I have to use the apps built into my LG OLED and Sony Z9D :p
The Shield is great. I love mine. Saying we “don’t ever” recommend the NVidia Shield is just flat out, factually not true, as we have recommended it many, many times. But for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vudu, and some other services, it simply doesn’t support all the same output capabilities as the Apple TV 4K. So if someone is asking for the best solution, I’m going to give them the best recommendation I can offer. If you hate Apple so much that you don’t want the currently best hardware option, there isn’t much I can do about that.
Yeah, Rob. And why don’t you ever recommend Ascend speakers?