We are back! Sorry for missing last week. We play catch up on lots of news. Dirac Live ART is now available for Denon & Marantz Receivers. Harman, a Samsung Company, fully owns Sound United now, and they announced their plans. Xbox Game Pass gets new tier names and a big price hike. Apple drops the “plus” from the name of its streaming service.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Apologies for missing last week.

00:03:13 – Personal Updates

Tom has been making lots of progress on his new house. Rob’s been dealing with illnesses, both his own and other family members.

00:17:05 – What Happened to World News?

We’ll only comment on world news headlines we absolutely cannot avoid mentioning from now on.

00:19:27 – What We Watched

Rob watched Whiplash. Tom watched Secret Level

00:35:51 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Timothy for his PayPal donation, plus our 127 Patreon Patrons, including John, Ahmad, and James, as well as Dan for offering to make Tom some AVRant-branded drink coasters, and Greg and Curt for sending Movies Anywhere codes.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Raf, Daniel, Gurinder, Nathan, Karl, John, Greg, Dan, Tim, Nate, Jack, Ahmad, and James. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:42:38 – News: Dirac Live ART for Denon & Marantz

Active Room Treatment can now be purchased as an add-on to compatible Denon & Marantz Receivers and Pre-Pros: https://www.dirac.com/live/dirac-live-active-room-treatment/

00:47:03 – News: Harman’s Plans for Sound United

Harman, a Samsung Company, fully owns Sound United now, and they’ve announced their plans for the many audio brands: https://tinyurl.com/eke77exk

00:55:22 – News: Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes

The tiers get new names, and the price for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is very high now: https://tinyurl.com/3at8hsz6

01:00:48 – News: Apple Drops the Plus

Apple’s hardware, app, and streaming service all have the exact same name now, for some reason: https://tinyurl.com/39k6xchd

Comments:

01:01:54 – Comment: Raf – Thick Panel Success

He found a deal on a bunch of 8″ thick absorption panels, and mounting them all on his front wall turned out great!

01:03:41 – Comment: Infinite Gary – LG OLED Timer & Cassettes

You can set a sleep timer on LG OLEDs if you’re worried about accidentally leaving them on with a paused image. And he thinks the very best consumer audio cassettes can be genuinely Hi-Fi.

QUESTIONS:

01:07:54 – Infinite Gary: SoundBar as Furniture

Remember the old CRT TVs that were built into large, decorative cabinets? Could a similar idea work for SoundBars today?

– https://www.soundandvision.com/content/tv-technology-and-prices-then-and-now

01:16:22 – David: Audyssey Dips & Church Speakers

He was able to improve some big 100 Hz dips by repositioning his speakers. But Audyssey’s EQ correction is still so large that it’s causing audible speaker distortion. We discuss some further ideas that might help, including the use of the Front L/R Bypass setting. Also, his church might need some new gear for their audio system.

– https://avgadgets.com/proper-microphone-positions-for-home-theater-measurements/

01:32:28 – John: Missing This Whole Time?

A new SVS sub has revealed how much bass he’s been missing. Does that mean he’s still missing out on a whole bunch more potential performance? We discuss what his next upgrades should be, and how to escape the grips of FOMO.

– https://avgadgets.com/setting-up-dual-subwoofers/

– https://avgadgets.com/why-is-my-subwoofer-so-quiet/

– https://avgadgets.com/are-two-subwoofers-quieter-than-one/

– https://avgadgets.com/does-decoupling-a-subwoofer-make-it-quieter/

01:54:03 – Greg: Dirac Live ART Headroom Reduction?

Will Rob be getting ART? And if it utilizes more speakers for every sound that’s played, does that mean overall system headroom gets reduced?

02:01:18 – Henry: Will Ultra HD Blu-ray Players Become Retro?

CD players have made a bit of a comeback. So if we just wait long enough, will the same happen to Ultra HD Blu-ray players?

02:05:24 – Leighton: From Emotiva to Buckeye?

His 1st generation Emotiva XPA amp is having problems. It would be worth investigating the cost of a repair. But if he switches to Class-D, which model should he buy from Buckeye?

– Hypex NC502MP 4-ch: https://tinyurl.com/49d32uhb

– PuriFi Eigentakt 1ET 6525SA 3-ch: https://tinyurl.com/yc2cenbv

– Hypex NCx500 3-ch: https://tinyurl.com/2fzdr86c

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!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS