Welcome back, Tom! We get to hear about his family vacation, and watching movies on a plane. Netflix eliminated the Basic Tier in Canada. Can other countries be far behind? Xbox Series X will go up in price outside of the US. Xbox Game Pass also gets a price hike, including in the US. And Warner Bros Discovery is selling off music licenses and sending HBO content to Netflix.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAKkq1

00:00:00 – Intro & Tom’s Trip

00:08:43 – What We Watched

Rob finished season 1 of Nathan for You, and The Rehearsal. And was impressed by The Black Phone. Tom hated Fall, watched Tenet just the way Christopher Nolan would have wanted, rewatched She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, saw the first season of Batwoman, and American Born Chinese.

00:25:52 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 138 Patreon Patrons, as well as Dale for talking us up at his local Sherwin-Williams.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Terry, Vince, Jay, and Paul. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:29:34 – News: Netflix Eliminates Basic Tier

Starting in Canada, it’s now a big price gap between ads or no ads: https://tinyurl.com/yc334ey4

00:32:46 – News: Xbox Price Increases

Outside the US, Xbox Series X consoles go up in price. And Xbox Game Pass gets a price hike, including in the US: https://tinyurl.com/pfy7knhx

00:34:47 – News: Next Xbox in 2028

It’ll be an 8-year life cycle, but somehow doesn’t feel that long: https://tinyurl.com/3ak79dxc

00:35:58 – News: Warner Bros Discovery Selling Assets

Almost half their Movie & TV music library is up for sale. And they’re trying to license HBO shows to Netflix.

– https://tinyurl.com/3acfzjvc

– https://tinyurl.com/4725cxuf

QUESTIONS:

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Welcome back Lee Overstreet, pinch-hitting once again! JVC dropped the price of their NP5 4K projector by $1,000. PS5 cloud game streaming might give Project Q a reason to exist. A couple corrections & clarifications for us. And plenty of home theater questions answered!

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAJy9T

00:00:00 – Intro & Welcome Back, Lee

00:06:34 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Joe for his PayPal donation, with another shout out to https://avscience.com/ , plus our 138 Patreon Patrons, including Dale, as well as Vince for sending Rob an Amazon gift card, Terry for talking us up to Audio Advice, and Brannon for talking us up to Accessories4Less.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Gurinder, Nick, Vince, Adam, Terry, Brannon, Dale, Karl, and Toke. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

00:14:52 – What We Watched

Rob watched Morbius, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and some episodes of The Rehearsal from the creator of Nathan For You.

Lee completed his fun project of listening to the top music hits year-by-year, took in a live Duran Duran concert, and spent a bunch of time fighting with his new computer.

In the news:

00:31:57 – News: JVC DLA-NP5 Price Drop

Via Clara – JVC’s least expensive, genuine 4K resolution projector still uses a lamp, but now costs $1,000 less: https://tinyurl.com/296deunt

00:35:31 – News: Sony PS5 Cloud Game Streaming

Sony is testing streaming PS5 games from the cloud. Could that be the real reason for their Project Q handheld? https://tinyurl.com/ymetarmd

Comments:

00:38:56 – Correction! Colin – Sonos, Apple Music & A-Lady

Turns out, Amazon’s voice assistant won’t play Apple Music on Sonos speakers, after all.

00:41:21 – Comment: Joe K – Look at That Viewership!

00:41:55 – Clarification: Erin’s Audio Corner

Erin kindly responded to our comments from last week, so he helps us clarify his approach in his own words.

QUESTIONS:

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Welcome Curt G, another new guest co-host this week, with a leg up on Rob since he’s actually met Tom in person! We chat about Curt’s home theater setup and being an enthusiast. Then we dive into news about specs for Apple Vision Pro’s displays, Samsung adding an 83″ WOLED TV to their S90C Series, and Perlisten’s S7T Limited Edition Towers. Plus lots of questions, of course. Another fun episode!

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

00:00:00 – Intro & Introducing Curt G

00:05:48 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Joe, for his PayPal donation, and with a shout out to https://avscience.com/ for their top-notch service, plus our 137 Patreon Patrons, including Niels and Curt!

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Nick, Jay, and Niels. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

00:09:26 – What’s in Curt’s Theater

A list of Curt’s gear, and some talk about sources.

00:17:39 – What We Watched

Curt watched the finale of Ted Lasso, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, High Desert, and Tetris. Rob watched M3GAN.

In the news:

00:27:59 – News: Apple Vision Pro Display Specs

Via David – Refresh rates, resolution, nit output, and three different manufacturing partners: https://tinyurl.com/3yd8tx77

00:33:08 – News: 83-inch Samsung S90C OLED TV

We knew Samsung would start using LG Display WOLED panels. We didn’t know it would be this year and joining an existing QD-OLED Series: https://tinyurl.com/43j8rnk3

00:37:01 – News: Perlisten S7T Limited Edition Towers

Only 50 pairs being made, $30,000 per pair: https://tinyurl.com/yc32tj7s

Comments:

00:42:34 – Comment: Colin – Sonos, Alexa, and Apple Music

Colin initially wrote in to say that Sonos speakers can use Alexa to play Apple Music…for the most part. But Colin actually wrote back after we had recorded to say that functionality seems to have been removed now! “Hey, Sonos” still works, though.

QUESTIONS:

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Say hello to Joe K. He’s a long-time AV Rant Listener, a CEDIA member, and a new guest co-host for us this week. We dig into the recently announced mixed reality headsets: Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3. We introduce Joe, dive deep on a bunch of home theater questions, and get some insight from the professional installation side of the industry.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAGT5b

00:00:00 – Intro & Contact Info

00:02:35 – Introducing Joe K.

00:05:13 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Kevin for his PayPal donation, plus our 138 Patreon Patrons.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Gurinder, Jay, Kris, Julian, Jack, Shawn, Toke, and Rohan. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

00:08:32 – Chatting About Joe’s Professional Background

00:12:43 – Joe’s CEDIA Certification Experience

– https://cediaexpo.com/

00:16:37 – How to Join CEDIA

– https://cedia.net/

– CEDIA Podast: https://bit.ly/3quqnEn

– https://www.cepro.com/podcast/

00:18:11 – What We Watched

Rob watched Devs, and John Wick: Chapter 4. Joe watched Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

In the news:

00:26:35 – News: Apple Vision Pro

The long-rumored “Spatial Computing” headset will arrive in 2024 for $3,500: https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/

00:36:25 – News: Meta Quest 3

Trickle down features from Quest Pro come to Meta’s new $500 headset: https://rb.gy/wjh2k

00:41:38 – News: ADTH NextGen TV Box

Via Vince – Atlanta DTH has the 1st fully certified, external ATSC 3.0 tuner up for pre-order: https://rb.gy/9gfs5

Comments:

00:45:57 – Comment: Mike – Blackened American Whiskey

Their BLACK NOISE marketing might be funny, but the whiskey itself is good!

QUESTIONS:

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Spears & Munsil released a new UHD Benchmark Test Disc. HSU Research celebrates their 30th anniversary. Sony announced the mysterious Project Q for PS5. Netflix brings their crackdown on password sharing to the USA. The new Max app broke HBO Max buttons and Apple TV functionality. And we wish Tom and his family happy travels on their vacation!

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

00:00:00 – Intro

00:02:16 – What We Watched

Rob watched the series finale of Barry, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and as much of The Princess as Disney+ would allow. Tom watched The Mother.

00:16:58 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Raf for his PayPal donation, plus our 139 Patreon Patrons, including Kris, as well as a big thank you to James for all his help planning Tom’s family’s transportation around Europe.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Kris, Kevin, and Julian. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:20:33 – News: Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark Test Disc

A new edition for 2023 includes over 5,000 test patterns: https://is.gd/U2Q8oO

And if you own the previous edition, you can upgrade at a discounted price: https://is.gd/EOZc4f

00:24:33 – News: HSU Research’s 30th Anniversary

Get $100 off any order over $1,000 while they celebrate: https://hsuresearch.com/

00:25:55 – News: Sony Project Q for PS5

It’s a Wii U GamePad: https://is.gd/nsGfWU

00:28:38 – News: Netflix Cracks Down on US Sharing

Welcome to the single household party, America: https://is.gd/HjPaHr

00:30:01 – News: Max App Launch Breaks Stuff

Dedicated HBO Max remote buttons stopped working: https://is.gd/LaVOdn

And Apple TV frame rate and dynamic range matching no longer work: https://is.gd/EE0IDC

Comments:

00:31:57 – Comment: Kevin – Seating Riser Bass Trap

It’s expensive. It can’t be easily removed. But you can build a seating riser that is both an effective bass trap and inert!

QUESTIONS:

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