Home > Podcast > AV Rant #970: Sacrificing to HDMI

AV Rant #970: Sacrificing to HDMI

June 5th, 2025

Rob has watched all the 2025 Oscars Best Picture nominees, and now he ranks them. Sony resumes projector sales in Europe. TCL officially releases the QM8K Series of quantum dot, mini-LED TVs with new WHVA LCD panels.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCgBP7

00:00:00 – Intro

Personal updates on the eve of Rob lining up to buy a Switch 2.

00:17:27 – What We Watched

Rob watched Emilia Pérez, and with that, he’s seen all 10 of the 2025 Oscars Best Picture nominees. So he has a little fun ranking them this week.

00:37:54 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 130 Patreon Patrons, including Nelson.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Mario, Ian, Nelson, and Henry. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:43:44 – News: Sony Resumes Projector Sales in Europe

Amendments to import regulations now allow Sony to sell Home Cinema projectors in Europe again: https://tinyurl.com/yh4dw3vp

00:45:20 – News: TCL Launches QM8K TVs

We knew they’d be coming, but now the TCL QM8K Series TVs have officially been released: https://tinyurl.com/7zpnarwv

Comments:

00:51:40 – Comment: Karl – K Scape Owners’ Forum

If you’re looking for used Kaleidescape players, this is the place to go: https://www.kscapeowners.com/XF/

00:53:14 – Comment: Infinite Gary – A Little Bit Dolby

Gary does have a single-seat, dedicated home theater, so maybe Dolby’s diagrams make sense for him.

– https://avgadgets.com/everything-wrong-with-dolby-speaker-layout-diagrams/

QUESTIONS:

00:57:15 – Mario: HDMI-eARC & CEC Problem

He was controlling his AVR’s volume from his TV via HDMI-CEC just fine. Then it suddenly stopped working. So we go over the troubleshooting process, and reveal the surprising culprit.

01:14:25 – Eddie: Primare SP25 eARC

We describe using an HDMI 2.1 source and TV with the Primare SP25 Pre-Pro, which only has HDMI 2.0. Then we discuss why we’d recommend getting a different Processor instead.

01:23:59 – Joe: Ranking 98″ TVs

Are the top-selling brands in TVs overall still the best choice at the 98″ screen size? Or does TCL rise to the top?

01:27:20 – Ian: Speakers Off, SoundBar Options

Anybody else ever run their speaker system with some of the speakers accidentally turned off? And our suggestions for self-powered speakers or SoundBars under $1,000 AUD.

– https://avgadgets.com/why-your-center-channel-speaker-isnt-important/

– Fluance Ri71: https://tinyurl.com/3j49axkz

– Kanto REN: https://tinyurl.com/4bepjcec

– JBL BAR 500: https://tinyurl.com/bdexm2kp

– JBL BAR 1000: https://tinyurl.com/42my25fx

01:38:14 – Nelson: Lithium Ion APC UPS

Nelson loves the way the APC SMTL1500RM3 battery backup UPS looks. And it uses a lithium ion battery instead of lead-acid. But does that justify its high asking price?

01:40:30 – David: Headphone Amp Dongle

David got some Hifiman Edition XS headphones that genuinely benefit from more amplifier power than his iPhone can supply. So we suggest some amp dongles he can buy in Japan.

– WireCutter picks: https://tinyurl.com/2utn4bn6

– Fosi DS2 (or DS1 if you can find it): https://tinyurl.com/bdf9pmx5

– EarFun UA100: https://tinyurl.com/3bzsp976

– Sanling UA2: https://tinyurl.com/4jzhdssz

01:47:01 – Henry: Kaleidescape Decision

Was the store demo he experienced truly representative, or would having a Strato E at home be a lot different?

01:54:46 – Ryan (Part 1): Dual Sub Distance Hack?

We tackle the first section of Ryan’s questions about dual subwoofer setup. We’ll finish the rest next week! This time, we tackle a “Distance Hack” suggestion, whether to use both subwoofer pre-outs on your AV Receiver, and Audyssey Dynamic EQ.

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