Fewer recording disruptions and a little extra episode length today to make up for last week! Kef released new R-Series Meta speakers. Sonos has new Era Series Smart Speakers coming in March, and the big one has Atmos. Samsung’s European QD-OLED prices were announced. And we use our favorite word a lot when discussing what’s really responsible for audible differences.

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

00:00:00 – Intro & What We Watched

Rob watched Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Tom watched The Witcher, Top Gun, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

00:13:24 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 140 Patreon Patrons, including James.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Gurinder, Greg, James, Brian, Eddie, and Jorge. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:20:57 – News: KEF R-Series Meta

KEF has brought metamaterial backwave absorption to their R-Series of speakers: https://avgadgets.com/kef-announces-the-r-meta-series-with-mat/

00:24:15 – News: Sonos Era Smart Speakers

Sonos Era 100 looks to replace the Sonos One while adding Bluetooth. Sonos Era 300 adds an upward-firing Atmos driver: https://bit.ly/3IJeNvw

00:26:37 – News: Samsung QD-OLED Pricing

Samsung Europe released prices (in Euro) for all S95C & S90C models: https://bit.ly/3ILm3Hc

Comments:

00:28:26 – Comment: Larry – Happy with Q Acoustics

Changed from Paradigm Monitor SE speakers to Q Acoustics and thinks they sound way better.

00:32:26 – Comment: Ian – Power from Amps to Speakers

Can’t help but cringe when words like “pushed”, “pulled”, “requested” or “drawn” are used, so we try a new analogy.

QUESTIONS:

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This week’s episode is a little rough. Tom is sick, and his modem was having problems. So apologies for being a little out of sorts. Hopefully we can make it up next week! Trinnov Active Acoustics is essentially a Double Bass Array. Martin Logan released new Motion and Motion XT Series speakers. And WARNING: Mark Schifter from AV123 has returned to the online audio retail world.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAs75S

00:00:00 – Intro & What We Watched

Rob watched Morgan, and Fresh. Tom watched a lot: Lockwood & Co., The Expanse, Andor, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

00:30:16 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Jonathan and Steven for their PayPal donations, plus our 141 Patreon Patrons, including Julian.

Thanks to Joe for sending photos with permission for Tom to use them on https://avgadgets.com/

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Anders, Greg, Jonathan, Steve, Julian, Dan, and Dazz. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:33:03 – News: Trinnov Active Acoustics

Essentially a Double Bass Array, Trinnov’s new bass optimization system is very different from Dirac’s Active Room Treatment: https://bit.ly/3k14adW

00:39:31 – News: Martin Logan Motion Series Gen 2

Via Dazz – New Martin Logan Motion and Motion XT Series speakers get a waveguide: https://bit.ly/3E9VcBZ

00:43:02 – News: Mark Schifter is Back

The former AV123 salesman is back via Vera-Fi Audio and XSA Labs. Fair warning.

Comments:

00:48:11 – Comment: Steve – Virtual Listening Mode vs Up-Firing Surrounds

3.1 setup with Virtual Surround Mode vs using up-firing Atmos Modules on top of Front L/R speakers as Surrounds.

00:49:14 – Comment: Infinite Gary – HDMI Troubleshooting

Gary’s results from trying to track down why he’s getting video dropouts.

QUESTIONS:

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Netflix quickly walked back their anti-account sharing blockages and temporary codes. Sightline at AMC is here to charge different movie ticket prices depending on your seat. Sony announced their new lineup of ES Series AV Receivers. And Denon’s A1H manual describes some interesting feature changes.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjArf7X

00:00:00 – Intro & What We Watched

Rob watched Underwater.

00:08:41 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Stefan for his PayPal donation, plus our 142 Patreon Patrons, as well as Nelson for sending a movie code.

Thanks to Greg for sending photos with permission for Tom to use them on https://avgadgets.com/

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Stefan, Juls Kevin, Dan, and Gurinder. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen! Dishoom!

In the news:

00:14:56 – News: Netflix Walks Back Anti-Account Sharing

You’ll need to verify devices outside your primary residence, but no more 7-day codes: https://bit.ly/3xbFemU

00:19:26 – News: Sightline at AMC

Value, Standard, and Preferred seats get different ticket prices: https://bit.ly/3DN9IiP

00:25:22 – News: Sony ES AV Receivers

HDMI 2.1 AVRs with Digital Cinema Audio Calibration IX and 360 Spatial Sound Mapping: https://bit.ly/3lj6wFA

– https://avgadgets.com/how-to-install-two-center-channel-home-theater-speakers/

– https://avgadgets.com/qotd-can-i-use-a-tv-as-a-center-speaker/

– https://avgadgets.com/what-is-apples-spatial-audio/

00:33:09 – News: Denon AVR-A1H Manual

Rob found some interesting feature changes: https://bit.ly/3YdzLbb

– https://avgadgets.com/everything-wrong-with-dolby-speaker-layout-diagrams/

QUESTIONS:

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We (mostly) fixed our YouTube video quality! Lee’s got mail. Emotiva released their 13.4-ch BasX MR1 AV Receiver. ZapperBox is a simple ATSC 3.0 tuner. Netflix posted their new anti-sharing rules. Samsung’s 77″ S95C QD-OLED price. And LG (kind of) brings back DTS.

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

00:00:00 – Intro & What We Watched

Rob watched Midsommar, and The Banshees of Inisherin. Tom finished Arcane: League of Legends.

00:16:31 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Raf for his PayPal donation, plus our 142 Patreon Patrons.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Nathan, Marc, Parker, Joe, Gurinder, Dan, Steve, and Jay. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:21:41 – News: Emotiva BasX MR1 AVR

Take their 13.4-output MC1 Pre-Pro and put it in a big case with a huge power supply and 11 x 100 Watt amps: https://bit.ly/3Dy8pUV

00:31:17 – News: ZapperBox NextGen TV Tuner

Via Allen – 1 or 2 tuners. DVR “coming soon”: https://zapperbox.com/

00:33:17 – News: Netflix Anti-Sharing FAQ

New rules to stop you from sharing:

• Updated by Netflix after we recorded: https://bit.ly/3Rn4LTw
• how it was when we recorded: https://web.archive.org/web/20230131144432/https://help.netflix.com/en/node/123277

00:38:51 – News: Samsung 77″ S95C QD-OLED Price

Newest 77″ QD-OLED size won’t be cheap: https://youtu.be/-3nm40i1qCA

00:40:18 – News: LG (kind of) Brings Back DTS

LG OLEDs and QNEDs will pass through DTS, but not play it: https://bit.ly/3Yd0iF9

Comments:

00:41:37 – Comment: Australian Verbox Bass Traps

A super helpful YouTube Comment about Verbox acoustic treatments in Australia: https://verbox.com.au/

00:43:42 – Comment: Chris – Babysitter-Friendly Roku

Great tips for creating an easy Watch TV setup.

00:45:41 – Comment: Kevin – Control4 Pricing Correction

Less expensive Control4 options: https://bit.ly/3XSgAUr

QUESTIONS:

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Netflix has a new co-CEO and will broaden its crackdown on password sharing this quarter. MediaTek’s Pentonic 1000 HDMI chips aren’t quite as feature-rich as we’d hoped. Certain bass traps are a raw deal. And Rob’s excited about our What We Watched segment this week.

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjApw4B

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:11 – Quick Take: Soundcore Liberty 4 Earphones

Tom shares a quick take on the Soundcore by Anker Liberty 4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds: https://avgadgets.com/soundcore-by-anker-liberty-4-earbuds-more-functionality-means-more-better/

00:04:02 – What We Watched

Rob watched Dual, Tau, and the 1st episode of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. He’s also alone, so far, in laughing at the end of Fall. Tom watched Hamilton live on stage (!), and started Arcane: League of Legends.

00:20:39 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Max for his PayPal donation, plus our 141 Patreon Patrons, including Eric, as well as Stan for sending a movie code.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Max, Stan, Abhue, Jorge, Joe, Raf, Eric, Travis, Jon, Paul, and Dan. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:24:30 – News: Netflix’ Reed Hastings Steps Down

Netflix’ founder becomes its Executive Chairman. Greg Peters becomes new co-CEO. And they broaden their crackdown on password sharing.

– https://bit.ly/3XRAIWc

– https://bit.ly/3XXwdt4

00:33:36 – News: MediaTek Pentonic 1000 Disappoints

New HDMI chips will still only have two HDMI 2.1 ports: https://youtu.be/DN5k1LiDiYQ

Comments:

00:38:43 – Comment: Jorge – OTA DVR Experiences

Plex’ OTA DVR can pause and rewind live TV. Channels DVR doesn’t work on Roku.

00:40:13 – Comment: Karl – Noisy HVAC Suggestions

How to tell if you need replacement, or just an installation fix.

QUESTIONS:

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