We are back! Happy Thanksgiving!

We spill the beans about why we don’t have a full Sofabaton X2 review for you just yet, but we still have updates and insights to share.

We both bought big ticket items over Black Friday. And Tom watched multiple movies!

Google and Disney have made up. Netflix has killed off Casting support. And Kaleidescape released the Mini Terra Prime. Plus a smaller-than-expected bunch of Comments and Questions from the past 2 weeks.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

00:03:10 – Personal Updates

00:06:39 – Sofabaton X2 Updates But Not Review

Rob ran into a big snag with his pre-production review unit. So we have plenty of new impressions and thoughts to share, but not a complete review just yet: https://www.sofabaton.com/product/x2/

00:32:44 – We Bought Things!

Both of us made some big, exciting purchases, and now you get to hear all about them.

00:48:30 – What We Watched

Rob watched Sorry, Baby. Tom watched Ip Man, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, The Naked Gun (2025), and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

01:05:39 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Dan for his PayPal donation, plus our 122 Patreon Patrons, including Peter.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Rohan, Christian, Dev, Peter, and Gurinder. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

01:08:11 – News: Google and Disney Made Up

Disney-owned TV channels have returned to YouTube TV. Disney & Fox movies have returned to the Google Movie Store. And Google has returned to participating in Movies Anywhere: https://tinyurl.com/3env456c

01:10:23 – News: Netflix Ends Casting Support

You can no longer start watching Netflix on your mobile device and then Cast it to your TV or streaming box, because Netflix wants that sweet, sweet ad data: https://tinyurl.com/yc2wjjmv

01:12:38 – News: Kaleidescape Mini Terra Prime

The physically smallest, and least expensive, Kaleidescape server is here in all its 8 TB glory: https://www.kaleidescape.com/mini-terra-prime-movie-server/

Comments:

01:15:56 – Comment: Rohan – Onkyo RZ30 Happiness

After our discussion about Dirac last week, Rohan has settled on a stable setup that’s won his whole household’s approval.

01:17:09 – Comment: Chris – Amphony Model 1700

He wound up running physical wires, but our recommendation for the Amphony Model 1700 came in handy for his nephew: https://tinyurl.com/42z8e7k2

QUESTIONS:

01:18:06 – Brian: Supporting Local Audio Stores

He feels like he got genuine value from browsing the products, in-person, at a local audio store. But there’s no denying the considerably lower price he found online. What are his moral obligations here?

01:33:36 – Infinite Gary: Tropes, Resonance, Expensive SoundBars, and Top 10 Movies

We discuss an overused Hollywood ending trope. Why did his ZVOX Z-Base sound amazing while his dedicated home theater sounded wimpy playing the same thing? Focal & Naim Mu-so Hekla SoundBar. And our Top 10 movie lists for 2025.

– Focal Powered by Naim Mu-so Hekla Announcement: https://tinyurl.com/4pb7zkb2

01:54:20 – Dev: Frequency Dips Follow-up

Dev returns with more information about his room and setup, so we further discuss what might be causing the audible frequency response dips from his Front speakers. And we talk about why we think he should hold off on buying a new Receiver, since he might need that money for different speakers.

02:09:26 – Gurinder: Gaming Headsets

Which gaming headsets can we recommend for around $100 CAD?

– HyperX Cloud III:

– Wired: https://tinyurl.com/4x5yurar

– Wireless: https://tinyurl.com/4dwyjw72

– S Wireless: https://tinyurl.com/y3yhjzcz

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

• Check out the AV Rant YouTube channel to watch our show videos.
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