Sofabaton was forced to push back the release of their X2 Smart Remote by two weeks. Electronic Arts (EA) agreed to a $55 billion buyout that will take them private. President Trump said all movies made outside the USA will be subject to a 100% tariff. And Tom watched two whole movies in his new home theater!

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCvN4Y

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:42 – World News Headlines

Rob’s about ready to give up on providing context each week. But there was one amazing announcement of successful Huntington’s Disease treatment worth celebrating: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cevz13xkxpro

00:04:40 – Personal Updates

Some sad news on Rob’s side of things. And Tom remains very, very busy with his new house.

00:12:56 – What We Watched

Rob watched The Naked Gun. Tom watched KPop Demon Hunters, and Thunderbolts*.

00:25:21 – Contact Info & Comments Section

Rob explains why comments are closed on YouTube again, sadly.

00:27:39 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Raf for sending another PayPal donation, plus our 128 Patreon Patrons.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Jack, Karl, Alex, Infinite Gary, Raf, Jason S, Jason E, and Gurinder. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:29:36 – News: Sofabaton X2 Delayed

Unforeseen circumstances have led to a 2 week delay in shipping and launch. We’ll wait until we actually have them in hand before talking about the X2 Remote again.

00:31:11 – News: EA Sells for $55 Billion

A massive leveraged buyout by private equity will take Electronic Arts private about a year from now: https://tinyurl.com/3fdjd7ee

00:36:42 – News: 100% Tariff on Non-US Movies

Nobody seems to know how it will be calculated, or enforced, or why it’s a threat to national security, but President Trump announced that any movies made outside the USA will be subject to a 100% tariff: https://tinyurl.com/yem5zemp

QUESTIONS:

00:43:59 – Alex: New Computer Monitor

What are our picks for a 27-inch, color accurate monitor that will also be nice for gaming?

– Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM: https://tinyurl.com/2743haaf

– Dell Alienware AW2725Q: https://tinyurl.com/3ub5c5va

– Asus ROG Strix XG27AQDMG: https://tinyurl.com/yw5atr2k

00:52:12 – Mohsen: New UST & Speaker Once Over

What will be the best combination of source device output and projector picture mode settings to create a set-and-forget configuration? And what do we think about his current speaker placement?

01:09:09 – Jack: 50-inch, Non-Spying TV

Which 50-inch TV should he buy for his home office? And are there any that won’t track all of his usage data?

– LG 48″ B5 OLED: https://tinyurl.com/3727tvk2

– Sony Bravia 3: https://tinyurl.com/26r9ya67

– TCL QM5K: https://tinyurl.com/3crm6cej

01:17:51 – Raf: Covering Whole Front Wall

We said narrow, 4-inch thick bass traps in his two front corners wouldn’t be enough. What about covering his whole front wall with 8-inch thick insulation? And does the fabric covering the insulation need to be fully acoustically transparent?

01:28:56 – Infinite Gary: Cassette Comeback?

Our stories of user error. And our thoughts on Revox and National Audio Company building a new cassette tape manufacturing line: https://tinyurl.com/rf25bjtf

01:35:50 – Jason S: ToneWinner Fully Variable Phase

The text on ToneWinner’s website only mentions a 0 or 180 polarity switch on their subwoofers. Can they really do fully variable phase?

01:43:46 – Nathan: Directivity vs. Dispersion

We get a little pedantic with this one. OK, a lot pedantic. But it’s a good clarification. And some common adjectives that often go along with these words do a lot of heavy lifting.

01:52:40 – Jason E: Family Room SoundBar

With many, many compromises and restrictions, which $500 SoundBar do we recommend as an upgrade over a small Roku unit?

– https://avgadgets.com/fluance-ai41-powered-bookshelf-speakers-review-soundbar-killer/

– Fluance Ai61 Powered Bookshelf Speakers: https://tinyurl.com/3npzatju

– Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 SoundBar: https://tinyurl.com/2jduz3fr

Thanks for listening. Now, don't forget to:

• Check out the AV Rant YouTube channel to watch our show videos.
• Download Tom’s FREE superhero-themed ebook Bob Moore: No Hero.
• If you like it, you can purchase the two full-length follow-ups -  Bob Moore: Desperate Times and Bob Moore: Hostile Territory.
• Check out AVGadgets.com where Tom is the new Editor-in-Chief!
• Download Tom's NEWEST book, Touch of Pain from Amazon now!

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