We mention Jimmy Kimmel and tariffs. Will that get us indefinitely suspended? TCL announced its 2026 flagship TVs in China. X11L will get Super Quantum Dots and WHVA panels. QM9/Q9M & QM10/Q10M will get RGB mini-LEDs. Microsoft is raising Xbox console prices for the second time this year. And if you want to learn more about AoIP, AES67 & Dante, Storm Audio made a webinar to explain.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCv9RD

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:45 – World News Headlines

Context for what’s been on our minds besides home theater this past week. A little longer this time, because, yes, we had to talk about Jimmy Kimmel.

– The Vergecast “Brendan Carr is a Dummy Special Update”: https://youtu.be/NSymehINBgY

00:15:09 – Personal Updates

Tom’s been very hard at work getting moved into his new house. Rob wound up helping Jason Steele from FilmCow identify an earworm:

– Jason mentioning the “mystery music” that was stuck in his head from the day before: https://www.youtube.com/live/ZtA-xRbIYIA?feature=shared&t=485

– It stirred something in Rob’s head, too, and he got it! https://www.youtube.com/live/ZtA-xRbIYIA?feature=shared&t=5932

00:26:03 – What We Watched

Rob watched KPop Demon Hunters.

00:39:50 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Dan and Raf for their PayPal donations, plus our 128 Patreon Patrons.

Thank you to Joe for giving Tom permission to use his photos on https://avgadgets.com/

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Aras, Jason, Mark, Ilango, Joe, Adam, Raf, Henry, John, and Mohsen. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:44:27 – News: TCL 2026 Flagship TVs

TCL held an event in China to announce their new TV tech coming in 2026. X11L with Super Quantum Dots. And QM9/Q9M & QM10/Q10M with RGB mini-LEDs: https://tinyurl.com/56h67z87

00:49:48 – News: More Xbox Price Increases

5 years into this console generation, and a top-end Xbox Series X will now cost you $800: https://tinyurl.com/32atps3u

Comments:

00:53:49 – Comment: Jason – JVC ECO Mode IR

Jason heard about Julian’s remote control issues, and he thinks JVC’s ECO Mode might be to blame.

00:56:16 – Comment: Joe – Introduction to AoIP

Want to learn more about Audio Over IP, AES67, and Dante? Storm Audio has a webinar: https://tinyurl.com/vazpx2b4

QUESTIONS:

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Welcome back, Tom! And recording from his new house, no less! Our thanks to Lee Overstreet and Joe Klusnick for co-hosting last week. We check out the news from Apple’s iPhone Event. Perlisten has brought their more affordable A-Series speakers to North America. And we put a little dent in that backlog from Sasi!

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Our thanks to Lee Overstreet and Joe Klusnick for co-hosting last week while Tom was away. Super fast CEDIA trend mentions.

00:02:58 – World News Headlines

Context for what’s happened in the world this past week, but now easier to skip than ever. And it’s not all bad!

00:08:05 – Personal Updates

Tom is in his new house! Rob has a personal warning about scammers.

00:25:18 – What We Watched

Tom watched Dark Waters, and High School Musical. Rob watched M3GAN 2.0.

00:44:25 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Sasi for his PayPal donation, plus our 127 Patreon Patrons, as well as Kris for sending Rob an Amazon gift card, and Infinite Gary for sending Tom a movie code.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Henry, Allen, David, Gary, Daniel, Nathan, Kris, Greg, Sasi, Dan, and Eddie. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:48:24 – News: Apple iPhone 17 Event

New iPhone models, Apple Watches, and AirPods Pro 3: https://tinyurl.com/yr9rdjxs

00:55:58 – News: Perlisten A-Series Speakers

Perlisten’s less expensive A-Series speakers have now come to North America: https://tinyurl.com/y4tt9h5d

QUESTIONS:

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This is our CEDIA 2025 Special!

Joe Klusnick is back, having attended the CEDIA Expo in Denver, Colorado in person. We quickly catch up with Joe, and then dig right into this year’s noticeable trends

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Welcome back, Joe Klusnick!

Don’t forget, we also posted a regular news, comments, question and answer episode this week with guest co-host Lee Overstreet.

00:01:17 – What Joe’s Been Watching

Joe has been regularly keeping up with: Alien: Earth, Peacemaker S.2, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

00:03:07 – Setting the Stage

Views from the Colorado Convention Center, and how Joe got his press badge.

00:07:03 – This Year’s Trends

What were the common themes that made themselves apparent at this year’s CEDIA Expo?

00:19:37 – The Slideshow Begins

Virtual Publications in place of print magazines, and a selfie from Sound Room Row.

– https://cedia.org/

– CEDIA Expo Show Directory: https://tinyurl.com/frztct2f

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Tom is away this week, so Lee Overstreet joins Rob H. And keep your eyes peeled for a 2nd AV Rant episode this week, as we will be posting a CEDIA 2025 Special with Joe Klusnick! Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max were announced. Magnetar announced new MKII versions of their universal disc players. CalebRated is finally back after settling their lawsuit with Digital Trends. And we have a specific release date for the much-anticipated Sofabaton X2 Smart Remote, and it’s not too far away!

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Quick world news headlines. And keep an eye out for our 2nd episode this week, which is a CEDIA 2025 Special with Joe Klusnick.

00:08:04 – Catching up with Lee

00:13:24 – What We Watched

Lee binge-watched The Last of Us S.2. Rob watched Suspiria (2018).

00:30:15 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 126 Patreon Patrons, as well as Jack for coming through on sending Dan D his Dayton OmniMic, and Greg for offering to provide another measurement mic for a future giveaway.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Brad, Brian, Eric, Ilango, Julian, Karl, Henry, Gurinder, Dan, and Jason. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:34:27 – News: Dolby Vision 2

We’re not entirely sold on the stated new features, such as gaming white point adjustment, bi-directional tone-mapping, and Authentic Motion. But that won’t stop Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max from coming to future devices and content releases, so we might as well familiarize ourselves with it: https://tinyurl.com/37vmnnay

00:43:49 – News: Magnetar MKII Universal Disc Players

The new UDP800MKII and UDP900MKII aim to improve image processing a lower mechanical noise, but mostly focus on audio upgrades: https://tinyurl.com/nhemj67y

00:49:47 – News: CalebRated is Back!

The lawsuit with Digital Trends has been settled, and Caleb Denison is back posting videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CalebRated

00:50:44 – News: Sofabaton X2 Release Date

They’ve given a specific release date: Oct 18. And the list of features and details has us excited: https://avgadgets.com/sofabaton-x2-smart-remote-first-look/

Comments:

01:03:15 – Comment: Nathan – JVC NZ700 Justification

He figures the JVC NZ700 is a bigger upgrade over an NX7 than we made it sound, so he lists more advantages that we didn’t highlight.

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Tom had a hard out this week, so there’s some solo Rob to deal with for the last few questions. Trinnov’s new Altitude CI Pre-Pro uses Audio-over-IP and lets you pay to expand your channel count by 2 at a time. Integra Professional Amplifier Series was made to please custom installers. Kaleidescape kAI aims to make it easier to find the next movie you want to watch. And we’re told about a better way to undo Audyssey for your tactile transducers.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Unhappy world news. But forward progress for Tom with his new house. And Jack’s OmniMic is on its way to Dan D after our random draw last week.

00:16:02 – What We Watched

Rob watched The Gorge. Tom watched My Cousin Vinny.

00:33:19 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 125 Patreon Patrons, as well as John T for sending Tom a movie code.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: John M, Phil, Kris, John T, Dan, Jack, Andrew, and Eric. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:37:11 – News: Trinnov Altitude CI Pre-Pro

Trinnov’s newest Processor using ethernet to output its speaker signals to upgraded Amplitude16 amplifiers. And you can pay to expand your channel count by 2 at a time: https://tinyurl.com/4v5h68hs

00:41:46 – News: Integra Professional Amplifier Series

New 4-ch and 8-ch Class-D amps from Integra pack in all the features custom installers could want: https://tinyurl.com/msk29f7x

00:45:02 – News: Kaleidescape kAI

Kaleidescape is adding a large language model search option to help you find what you want to watch: https://tinyurl.com/5zs7estu

Comments:

00:53:17 – Comment: Nathan & Dazz – Earphones for Running

Nathan says to wait for a sale on the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2. And Dazz says to try Comply foam ear tips for Apple AirPods Pro 2.

00:54:50 – Comment: J – Undo Audyssey for Tactile Transducers

You can use the miniDSP 2x4HD’s USB output to create a loopback measurement of what Audyssey did to your Sub Out signal. So no more guesswork. You can create a perfect inverse EQ curve using Room EQ Wizard.

QUESTIONS:

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