Lee Overstreet co-hosts this week. Our thanks to Joe Klusnick for being here last week. We’re all hoping Tom and his family will be ok through Hurricane Milton.

AVRant Listeners Sasi found out the rough launch date and price for the Sofabaton X2 Remote. Fasetto Audio Cu sends audio signals over household power lines. Panasonic UB450 is available in the USA.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

We share us much as we know about Tom’s situation just prior to Hurricane Milton, which we’re afraid isn’t much. And we catch up with Lee Overstreet, who’s doing ok, and is here to co-host with Rob for the foreseeable future.

Our thanks to Joe Klusnick for being here last week.

And if you’d like to help Tom, and have experience setting up a GoFundMe, get in touch with Rob, and we’ll try to organize a single fundraising link.

00:12:56 – What We Watched

Lee watched football in “Enhanced 720p”, and has thoughts on videos being shot in HDR. Rob continues to love The Penguin, and watched Smile.

00:29:33 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are: Ilango, Jeff, James, Graeme, Raf, Daniel, Peter, Kevin, Charles, and Graham who all sent donations to Tom via PayPal.

We also thank our 133 Patreon Patrons, including Sherwyn, and Daniel, as well as Henry for offering to send Tom a Panasonic UB420, and Jim for sending a movie code.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Sherwyn, Jonathan, Stan, Henry, James, Ilango, Henry, Karl, Infinite Gary, Graham, David A, David B, and Donald. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:35:09 – News: Sofabaton X2 Rough Date & Price

Via Sasi: Sofabaton plans to launch their X2 touchscreen, Hub-based universal remote in April 2025 for under $300: https://tinyurl.com/2s4fndkk

Richard alerted us to the Matter logo. So there’s some hope the X2 will be better than the X1 at home automation control and integration.

00:37:50 – News: Fasetto Audio Cu

A system for sending audio signals over household power lines is now certified for Dolby Atmos: https://www.fasetto.com/audiocu-consumer

Comments:

00:44:25 – Comment: Josh – Panasonic UB450 in the USA

Rob was wrong. The Panasonic UB450 Ultra HD Blu-ray player is fully available in the USA: https://tinyurl.com/2s3h2mbr

QUESTIONS:

00:50:19 – Manuel: Sub Control for HT & DJ’ing

He wants to leave his home theater subwoofer setup untouched, but be able to use the same subwoofers for home DJ’ing and mixing.

– miniDSP Flex: https://tinyurl.com/d8cppf9y

01:00:28 – Mike: Frame TV & HDBaseT

Mike’s wife wants a Samsung The Frame TV. Mike doesn’t. What’s the compromise? And HDBaseT options that carry a lot more than just HDMI.

– Hisense CanvasTV: https://tinyurl.com/jxvuevs2

– TCL NXTFRAME: https://tinyurl.com/ykf6tnu8

– OREI 18Gbps UHD-EXB132AR: https://tinyurl.com/fze585bv

– OREI 18 Gbps UHD-EXB330AUR: https://tinyurl.com/35vjxfbn

– OREI 40 Gbps BK-EXB330EAU: https://tinyurl.com/582twuff

– Monoprice Blackbird HDBaseT options: https://tinyurl.com/2v777w4d

01:15:47 – Jonathan: Upgrading a JVC NP5

He wants brighter HDR highlights, so we discuss figuring out what to get by process of elimination.

– PixelHT AT Screen Gain Measurements: https://tinyurl.com/52s7ayxw

01:29:04 – Stefan: New HDMI Cables & Subs

Our recommended HDMI cables in Belgium. And long distance subwoofer cable solutions.

– RUIPRO HDMI Cables: https://tinyurl.com/d7wctchn

01:38:44 – Adriano: More Australian Acoustic Panels

Are denser absorption panels better, even if they’re thinner?

– Selby Acoustic Panels: https://tinyurl.com/y3j2wmjz

01:42:08 – Brad: Upside-Down Surround Speakers

Should he flip his in-wall Surround speakers upside-down so the tweeter is a bit closer to ear level?

01:45:16 – John: Closing in on Lip Sync

His MadVR Envy was the culprit in his Apple TV 4K’s signal chain. But removing it degrades image quality. What to do?

01:50:49 – Mike: Which OLED to Get

He wants a 77-inch OLED. Panasonic only goes up to 65″ this year. Should he wait? Or get an LG or a Sony?

– Perlesmith Universal TV Stands: https://tinyurl.com/4hd6y3xj

01:56:52 – Henry: Actually Sit and Watch?

Henry realized he’s probably spent a lot more time upgrading and tweaking his home theater than actually using it. Is he alone?

02:04:50 – David B: Favorite 2-Channel Amp

Wanna expand from 9 speakers to 11? What’s our go-to amp?

– Fosi TDA7498E: https://tinyurl.com/32axw9h2

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