Perlisten Audio has an entire new THX Ultra speaker Series at a lower (but still expensive) price bracket. We go over the details of Emotiva’s new monoblock amp. And our honest advice about a new theater room probably isn’t what one of our listeners wants to hear.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Rob watched The Last Duel, and Tom revisited Turner and Hooch, and The Last Jedi. And we discuss Ms. Marvel.

00:21:24 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Raf for his PayPal donation, plus our 139 Patreon Patrons, including Bertrand, as well as Infinite Gary for letting Rythmik know he heard about their subwoofers from us.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Allen, Dale, Bertrand, and Aras. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:23:17 – News: Emotiva BasX A1 Monoblock Amp

It spoils the easy pricing structure they had going, and it’s RCA only, but the BasX A1 is a reasonably affordable 200 Watt monoblock amp: https://bit.ly/3HLRjnv

00:27:44 – News: Perlisten R-Series THX Speakers

After introducing the first THX Dominus speakers with their S-Series, now Perlisten has unveiled their lower-cost, THX Ultra R-Series lineup: https://bit.ly/3QCjEk6

00:30:27 – News: Buy Walmart Products on your Roku

Two clicks are all it takes to order advertized products from Walmart on your Roku streaming device: https://bit.ly/3HMs6Jw

Comments:

00:32:32 – Comment: Andrew – Waxing Speakers

Andrew had good results using car wax on his glossy speakers. Rob suggests piano polish: https://www.corycare.com/productcat/piano-care-products/

QUESTIONS:

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Auro, Insteon, and the Xbox Cloud Gaming Stick all appeared to be dead, but they’ve lurched back to life in various ways! Some in-depth discussions on room curves, home theater influencers, and which HDMI cable to buy at a store, plus much more.

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

00:00:00 – Intro
Rob watched “RRR”. Tom shares his thoughts on Baahubali and the first episode of Ms. Marvel.

00:14:37 – Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are Aras for his PayPal donation, plus our 139 Patreon Patrons, including Tom, Dale, and Terry.
Thanks to Dale 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: Tom, Dale, Kiran, Terry, Andrew, Dan, Kevin, and Aras. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:19:21 – News: Auro Technologies goes Bankrupt
It isn’t the end of the Auro-3D format, as it’s being folded back into Galaxy Studios: https://bit.ly/3Ok1dyN

00:22:13 – News: Insteon gets New Owners
Insteon Hubs sprang back to life, followed by an announcement of new ownership: https://bit.ly/3tFd1n8

00:24:38 – News: Xbox Cloud Gaming on Samsung TVs
2022 model year Samsungs get an Xbox App with Cloud Gaming: https://bit.ly/3NZHm8p

Comments:

00:26:11 – Comment: Nathan – Dolby & Trinnov Room Guides
Dolby Atmos Home Entertainment Studio Guidelines: https://sforce.co/39wqIy4
Dolby Audio Room Design Tool: https://bit.ly/3Oge9Wk
Trinnov Speaker Layout Guide: https://bit.ly/3b6wLtH

QUESTIONS:

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A shorter episode this week, as Rob had an appointment to keep. But not to worry, we’ll be back next week to play catch up!

HDMI cables get a new feature, and Samsung’s QD-OLEDs weren’t the only TVs cheating on tests.

Check out Tom’s newest novel, “Touch of Pain”, and leave a review: https://amzn.to/3JRVzSu

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Rob watched The Green Knight, and Tom watched The Hating Game, and has more thoughts about Obi-Wan Kenobi.

00:16:45 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Ryan and Aras for their PayPal donations, plus our 139 Patreon Patrons, including Martin.

We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Aras, Dale, David, Ryan, Martin, Karl, Jay, Greg, and Max. Shout out to Gurinder and Mark for finding our new 2Hour+ Club Secret Words!

And since Dale asked about YouTube episodes prior to #505, those can be found here: https://bit.ly/3xtPwju

In the news:

00:20:42 – News: HDMI Cable Power

The latest HDMI 2.1a Amendment 1 spec includes power from source devices for HDMI sources: https://bit.ly/3tj7vGT

00:31:00 – News: Samsung QLED also Cheating

Samsung’s QD-OLEDs were cheating on test pattern measurements, but they were updated to at least fix Filmmaker Mode. Now their flagship 4K QLED has been caught doing those same cheats and more. But Samsung says they’ll update that, too: https://bit.ly/3QkvC1Q

Comments:

00:32:39 – Comment: Aras – John Carpenter for Front Wides

Aras recommends John Carpenter’s movies that have been released on Ultra HD Blu-ray as demo material for Front Wide speaker usage in their Atmos soundtracks, with two notable exceptions.

00:33:39 – Comment: Ian – HDMI to RCA

Ian suggests a digital to analogue HDMI to RCA converter for using a streaming device for audio without needing to have a TV turned on: https://amzn.to/3H9A2o8

00:34:52 – Comment: Greg – Thoughts on Sonos

Greg weighs in on Blake’s in-laws regarding using a Sonos home theater setup in their open Living Room.

QUESTIONS:

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We bookend our questions this week with lengthy discussions about room correction and why certain changes are perceived the way they are. An open, reflective room prompts some unexpected recommendations. And Samsung fixed their QD-OLEDs with firmware.

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

00:00:00 – Intro

Tom & Rob both watched the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Rob watched the new Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie. And Tom watched Stranger Things 4, and Brave.

00:21:55 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Aras, Bill, and Raf for their PayPal donations, plus our 141 Patreon Patrons, including Dale, as well as George for talking us up to GiK, and Dale for talking us up to SVS.

We also want to thank Dale again for giving Tom permission to use his photos on https://avgadgets.com/ . And he suggests https://www.audimute.com/ for environmentally friendly acoustic panels.

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going – even through catching COVID-19 – from: George, Dan D, Dale, Jay, Aras, Dan H (yup, they were two different Dans), and Eddie.

Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:27:38 – News: Xbox Cloud Gaming Stick Cancelled

Microsoft says they’re pivoting away from the Xbox Streaming Stick that was announced last year: https://engt.co/3zbdzVp

00:32:09 – News: Samsung QD-OLEDs Fixed

Firmware for Samsung’s S95B QD-OLEDs has quickly arrived to fix Filmmaker Mode and remove the test pattern trickery: https://youtu.be/VpDBAZ0vNuo

00:34:12 – News: Anthem ARC Genesis Beta

We’re impressed by Anthem’s new approach to subwoofer-speaker phase alignment: https://youtu.be/L8RObv5DWu8

Comments:

00:37:12 – Comment: Colin – Screen / Picture Off

A great tip we didn’t think of for listening to an HDMI source without having your TV showing an image.

00:38:56 – Comment: Zach – OLED Dimming Update

Our suggestion to lower the OLED Pixel Brightness setting was a success.

00:40:38 – Comment: Mark – SVS Service Rubbing Off on Others?

A year later, and a different subwoofer brand is now willing to replace a faulty amp for free. Mark also recommends “The Losers” as a sleeper home theater hit.

QUESTIONS:

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SofaBaton X1 Universal Remote gets a revisit one month in. We dig into projector selection, small room setup, crossover setup, and reliable ceiling mounts. We also talk about turning Towers sideways, and where the heck Onkyo hid their HDMI bandwidth setting!

Check out Tom’s novel, “Touch of Pain”: https://amzn.to/3JRVzSu

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzRje8

00:00:00 – Intro

Rob watched “Her” and “Old”. Tom watched more Mythic Quest, and High School Musical.

00:19:29 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are George and Dan for their PayPal donations, plus our 143 Patreon Patrons, as well as Dan for generously sending Tom a Harmony Remote + Hub for Tom’s parents.

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

In the news:

00:23:21 – News: EA is keen on a merger

The biggest of gaming giants doesn’t want to go it alone anymore: https://engt.co/3MM7VND

00:25:24 – News: BOE showcased True QLED TV

Dubbed AMQLED, this is fully electroluminescent quantum dots self-emitting all of the TV’s light. And inkjet printed, to boot: https://bit.ly/38mXWiX

00:29:05 – News: SofaBaton X1 Remote Update

Andrew updated his review, one month into using it every day: https://avgadgets.com/sofabaton-x1-review-is-this-the-harmony-killer-weve-been-waiting-for/

Comments:

00:31:49 – Comment: Jason – Landscape Lighting Wire as Outdoor Speaker Wire

“Insanely” tough, and inexpensive for outdoor use: https://thd.co/3lN9Wx7

00:33:03 – Comment: Aras – Shares His Music & Artwork

Truly impressive drawings and paintings, and a sample of his music recorded with “traditional methods”:

– https://arasvolodka.tumblr.com/

– https://youtu.be/UhTr_qU_6HA

QUESTIONS:

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