Tom is away unexpectedly. So Lee Overstreet is pinch-hitting on short notice! We rant right away, and loved the things we watched this week. 78th Emmy Awards. iPhone Duo. AirPods 5. tvOS 27. Genuinely Wireless Sonos Surrounds. Panasonic Ultra HD Blu-ray Player price increases. And Valve’s Steam Frame VR.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjD54nV

00:00:00 – Intro

Tom is unexpectedly away this week, so Lee Overstreet is here to guest co-host. We rant a bit to start the show.

– Lee on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/leeoversky.bsky.social

– Canada invited to be an “associate member” of the EU: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/eu-canada-associate-member-9.7345827

00:07:55 – Catching Up with Lee

Lee had quite the antique find during his sunroom renovation. And a minor A/V story from Rob, too, thanks to one of his aunts.

00:18:16 – What We Watched

Lee watched: Battle of the Sexes, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, and some old TV recordings on Betamax. Rob watched Hokum.

00:45:45 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 119 Patreon Patrons.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: John, Karl, and Nathan. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:46:54 – News: 78th Emmys

Shows on subscription streaming services dominated the awards: https://tinyurl.com/7u42c5hy

00:48:45 – News: iPhone Duo

Apple’s first folding phone looks very familiar if you’ve seen Samsung’s latest model: https://tinyurl.com/2r4vyr56

00:52:10 – News: AirPods 5

More features for less?! In this economy?! https://tinyurl.com/4t27u4tc

00:53:43 – News: tvOS 27 Adds Hi-Res Lossless

The easiest way to play maximum quality Apple Music on your full audio system has arrived: https://tinyurl.com/4jnxppd4

00:55:17 – News: Sonos Fully Wireless Surrounds

Play and Move 2 portable Sonos speakers can now act as Surrounds for S2 Series SoundBars: https://tinyurl.com/2wytwydf

00:57:13 – News: Panasonic UHD Blu-ray Price Hikes

All of Panasonic’s Ultra HD Blu-ray players are more expensive now: https://tinyurl.com/5f4aa9xf

00:59:05 – News: Valve Steam Frame

Valve’s newest VR headset isn’t particularly impressive in terms of hardware, and the price is high. But comfort and Valve’s privacy policy might make it worth it: https://tinyurl.com/486d47ck

Comments:

01:06:30 – Comment: Joe – Kaleidescape Fear

We find out what would be printed on Joe’s and Lee’s home theater grave stones. And Joe explains how he affords Kaleidescape Servers and uses them to abate any fears.

01:09:10 – Comment: Kevin – Kaleidescape Rentals

Perhaps the most compelling reason to get a Strato Player.

01:11:25 – Comment: Allen – Recliner Purchase

Some advice was ignored, some was followed, but a reasonable purchase decision was made that limits the risks, wait time, and cost.

– https://www.htmarket.com/addisonmicrofiber.html

QUESTIONS:

01:15:56 – Dazz: HT Would You Rather

We play a game given Dazz’ hypothetical scenarios. And should he buy a used Harmony Elite?

01:29:30 – John: Heat and Power

Does his Denon need more cooling? Can he get rid of his TCL TV’s pop-ups about power consumption? And does he still need his step-down power transformer?

01:36:48 – Infinite Gary: Enhancement Settings

He actually liked how setting Sharpness to Max and Super Resolution to High looked for one particular baseball game.

01:41:11 – Rob S: TV as Computer Monitor

Our recommendations for TVs under 50″ that could make for an excellent computer monitor, even with fears about burn-in.

– LG 48″ C6 OLED: https://tinyurl.com/5n84pd2v

– Samsung 48″ S90H OLED w/ matte screen: https://tinyurl.com/k8wu5z7w

– Sony 50″ Bravia 7 II: https://tinyurl.com/2s3zh76h

01:48:21 – Nathan: Kaleidescape vs. Apple Movies

Rob has compared La La Land’s opening across Kaleidescape, Netflix, and Apple Movies now. What’s the verdict?

01:56:33 – Jim: Missing Bass

Adding a Center speaker to his 2.0 setup has somehow resulted in diminished bass. We speculate what could fix it.

02:00:50 – Trevor: Alternative Plate Amp

Rather than front panel or app controls, what if he just wants simple knobs and very few adjustments?

– Speaker Power SP1-700-HT: https://tinyurl.com/4k2rrxyw

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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