Fewer recording disruptions and a little extra episode length today to make up for last week! Kef released new R-Series Meta speakers. Sonos has new Era Series Smart Speakers coming in March, and the big one has Atmos. Samsung’s European QD-OLED prices were announced. And we use our favorite word a lot when discussing what’s really responsible for audible differences.

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

00:00:00 – Intro & What We Watched

Rob watched Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Tom watched The Witcher, Top Gun, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

00:13:24 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 140 Patreon Patrons, including James.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Gurinder, Greg, James, Brian, Eddie, and Jorge. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:20:57 – News: KEF R-Series Meta

KEF has brought metamaterial backwave absorption to their R-Series of speakers: https://avgadgets.com/kef-announces-the-r-meta-series-with-mat/

00:24:15 – News: Sonos Era Smart Speakers

Sonos Era 100 looks to replace the Sonos One while adding Bluetooth. Sonos Era 300 adds an upward-firing Atmos driver: https://bit.ly/3IJeNvw

00:26:37 – News: Samsung QD-OLED Pricing

Samsung Europe released prices (in Euro) for all S95C & S90C models: https://bit.ly/3ILm3Hc

Comments:

00:28:26 – Comment: Larry – Happy with Q Acoustics

Changed from Paradigm Monitor SE speakers to Q Acoustics and thinks they sound way better.

00:32:26 – Comment: Ian – Power from Amps to Speakers

Can’t help but cringe when words like “pushed”, “pulled”, “requested” or “drawn” are used, so we try a new analogy.

QUESTIONS:

00:38:35 – Julian: Make A/V Less Disposable

Why can’t an old AV Receiver still be great? Why can’t we keep using the good parts while upgrading what needs to be replaced?

00:49:48 – Dan: Where Differences Really Come From

We discuss multiple examples of misattributing differences that were heard to a given component, or an entire brand, when, really, there are other – often multiple – variables at play.

01:07:27 – Joe & Karl: Double Bass Array at Home?

Trinnov’s Active Acoustics Double Bass Array is intriguing, but does it actually make sense in our homes?

01:16:19 – Dazz: Adding More Speakers

We kind of shoot down several ideas for adding more speakers.

– Fosi TDA7498: https://amzn.to/3IL7hjJ

01:26:21 – Henry: Dialogue Intelligibility Issues

We puzzle our way through multiple reasons why a good Center speaker in a room with acoustic treatments still isn’t producing clear dialogue.

01:35:51 – Infinite Gary: Anthem Logic – Music

What this listening mode does to expand your soundstage, even with Mono.

01:37:11 – Christian: Good-Looking Surrounds

He liked Legacy Audio’s Phantom HD. But they’re too wide. What else can we suggest?

– Legacy Deco: https://bit.ly/3SnQqXp

– Axiom QS8: https://bit.ly/3Ir7xmy

– Focal Chora: https://bit.ly/3XV1pZM

– Focal Surround Be: https://bit.ly/3Sotjw3

– Revel S16: https://bit.ly/3XVnbfI

– Martin Logan Motion FX: https://bit.ly/3Zd37Xj

– Martin Logan MP10: https://bit.ly/3IJ8yYK

– SVS Ultra: https://bit.ly/3InBWT4

– Aperion Theatrus TC65: https://bit.ly/3IJDdVS

01:42:43 – Greg: Directional Bass

Is bass actually omnidirectional? How does Dirac ART work if it is? Why do people claim to hear directional bass?

01:55:43 – Jonathan: Built-in TV Apps

Any reason to prefer a TV’s built-in apps over a streaming box?

02:00:09 – James: Amazon Echo Connections & Atmos

Is there a way to make Alexa’s voice only come from the built-in Echo speaker? And can you play Amazon’s Atmos Music on an AV Receiver?

– Amazon Atmos Music Devices: https://bit.ly/3Et3rsY

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