UPCOMING INTERVIEW: We’ll be talking with Alan Hutchinson, the owner of HTMarket.com on Feb. 19. Our focus will be their HT Design Home Theater Seating, but feel free to ask anything HTMarket-related.

Our Listeners of the Week are Ezekiel for his donation, our 106 Patreon Patrons, including Dan, as well as Victor D. for talking us up to Blue Jeans Cable, and Andrew L. for telling Denon, NVidia, LG, and SVS that he has a “home theater by AV Rant.”

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmLkcTEY

In the news:

– Check out https://joeyesposito.com/ for awesome independent comics and merch by Joey Esposito who first brought to our attention that…

– Netflix added the option to turn off auto-play previews and next episodes: https://is.gd/eEVieT

– Netflix is switching to the AV1 codec on Android mobile devices: https://is.gd/uVgXOy

– Disney will make Hulu available outside the USA in 2021: https://is.gd/36rhlk

– ViacomCBS wants to combine its TV and movie divisions into a single streaming service: https://is.gd/XvMTvq

Comments:

– Carl and Brian let us know that “Suspiria” and “Carnival Row” both offer Atmos audio on Amazon Prime Video.

John P. thinks the Emotiva Airmotiv A1 AirSpace upward-firing Atmos-Enabled Modules are worth a try: https://is.gd/djRQHi

– Dan describes hiring a professional ISF/THX calibrator as an educational experience, in addition to improving his picture quality.

– Damien D. turned a box spring into a seating riser.

0:21:09 Daryl A. asks if he should buy an Anthem pre-pro or AV Receiver, and if it’s ok to mix Klipsch Surrounds with SVS Ultra Fronts.

0:28:45 Michael R. wants to know which Canadian streaming services offer the best audio quality.

0:31:22 Geoff wants to know if anything can be done to improve his OLED TV’s dark vertical banding.

0:34:24 Monty N. asks if he should buy a flat panel and a 5.2 speaker setup so that he can more easily move things around in his room before ultimately buying a projector and 11 speakers.

0:38:40 Infinite Gary wants clarification about what Yamaha’s Compressed Music Enhancer does, whether Atmos soundtracks utilize Front Wide speakers, what Front Wides add to the experience, how best to make sounds come out of Front Wides, and where all the Receivers that support Front Wides are.

0:49:08 Ryan asks about projector nit levels, what “100% of DCI-P3 color” means, what we think of grey screens, whether he should buy a $300 Receiver, how devices other than an Apple TV 4K handle the Apple TV App, and which services have the highest bitrate.

0:58:59 Ted M. wants to get Qobuz music streaming working from his iPhone to his Denon Receiver.

1:03:19 Steve R. asks about orienting and wiring his new Media Room and Bonus Room construction.

1:11:09 Tim C. asks if you need a “4K” projection screen for 4K content, and what happens if you use the 7.1 analogue audio outputs on a disc player.

1:17:38 Michael A. wants settings for a Panasonic UB420 connected to a Samsung JS8500 SUHD TV.

1:20:42 Jefferson G. needs new in-ceiling Atmos speakers to match his Atlantic Technology setup.
– Aperion in-ceilings: https://is.gd/34S8J1

1:22:51 Daniel C. wants to compare the LG B9 and C9 OLEDs, plus the Samsung Q90R QLED.

1:26:00 Dan wants to compare the BenQ HT3550 with the Epson Home Cinema 3800.

1:27:57 Josh S. has new mockups of his basement home theater that get us to revisit his orientation and seating options.

1:38:24 Nick B. wonders what the new LG 88-inch, 8K ZX OLED will cost.

1:39:48 J.R. asks about OLED burn-in concerns, HDMI 2.1, and QLED off-axis viewing. He also asks about putting absorption behind “omnipolar” Mirage speakers, and what he needs to measure and understand “flat response”.
– Calibrated UMIK-1 from Cross-Spectrum Labs: https://is.gd/R4xQMb
– Small Mixing & Mastering Room video demonstrating measurements: https://youtu.be/dB8H0HFMylo
– GiK Acoustics REW Tutorial: https://is.gd/qxoi7U

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