AV Rant #808: Just Get KEFs

May 20th, 2022 Comments off

News about Onkyo Japan’s bankruptcy sent a scare through the home theater community. But fear not! The Home Entertainment A/V division was already sold off last year. Samsung got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. And we can’t stop talking about KEF’s new LS60 Wireless Towers (with tongues firmly in cheeks).

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

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

00:00:00 – Intro
Rob didn’t watch anything of note this week. But Tom finally discovered how great Agent Carter is, and saw Rob’s favorite episode of Mythic Quest.

00:10:45 – Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are Aras for his PayPal donation, plus our 143 Patreon Patrons.
We also greatly appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Jay, Dan, and Art. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:14:49 – News: Onkyo Japan Bankruptcy
It’s the end of a 76 year-old company. But Onkyo, Integra, and Pioneer AV Receivers will live on, having already been purchased by Voxx last year: https://bit.ly/3Lpn460

00:19:32 – News: Samsung Promises Accurate QD-OLED Firmware
After getting caught by multiple reviewers who weren’t fooled by Samsung’s QD-OLEDs only being accurate when they detected specific test patterns, Samsung says they’ll provide a firmware update to bring Filmmaker Mode in line: https://bit.ly/3wGEtSb

00:23:22 – News: KEF LS60 Wireless Towers
KEF took a bunch of their best technologies, and put them all together into an attractive $7,000/pair package: https://avgadgets.com/kef-ls60-wireless-tower-speakers/

Comments:

00:30:30 – Comment: Karl – Photos from THX Ultimate Cinema in Copenhagen
Twin laser projectors, 14 subs across the front, and spotlessly clean.

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #807: Shiny Happy Customer Service

May 13th, 2022 Comments off

Good news from our listeners who contacted SVS and Epson about product troubles. Why LED light feels different from incandescent. Large backyard pool music plans. And “pants-flapping” bass!

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

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

00:00:00 – Intro
Rob watched Season 2 of One-Punch Man. And Tom said he didn’t watch anything…except for Ted Lasso, Foundation, Severance, Mythic Quest, and Open Range. Nope…nothing at all.

00:11:34 – Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are Raf, Donald, and Aras for their PayPal donations, plus our 142 Patreon Patrons, including Ken and Chris, as well as Gurinder for buying the print version of Tom’s first novel, “Bob Moore: No Hero”, and Aras for talking us up to Simply Stereo.
We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Ken, Gurinder, Donald, Jack, Scott, and Aras. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:18:08 – News: Xbox Everywhere
Microsoft plans an Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming app for Samsung TVs, and an inexpensive streaming stick for gaming: https://bit.ly/3L3wi7R
– https://avgadgets.com/amazon-luna-cloud-gaming-service-launches/

00:20:51 – News: Sonos Ray & Voice Assistant
“Hey, Sonos!”
Amazon and Google won’t play nice, so Sonos is going their own way. Plus their least expensive SoundBar ever: https://bit.ly/3yuXIkb

00:23:16 – News: LG OLED Micro Lenses
Borrowing tech from mobile OLED screens to boost peak brightness: https://bit.ly/3wmQbBy

Comments:

00:27:51 – Comment: Jason – SVS Kudos
Fast, friendly service that went above and beyond.

00:32:28 – Comment: Jack – Epson Service Satisfies
A better-than-expected outcome when a 5050UB projector had a defect.

00:34:28 – Comment: Enrique – BenQ Projector Deal
We gave a list of under-$1,000 projectors. He found a higher spec BenQ TK800M on sale.

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #806: Our First Time Recommending MultEQ-X

May 6th, 2022 Comments off

Sony’s got three new 4K Laser projectors. Yamaha finally updates their firmware, but still disappoints. Samsung is straight up trying to trick reviewers who measure their QD-OLEDs. And we make a suggestion no one expected.

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

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

00:00:00 – Intro
Rob watched Death on the Nile. Tom watched Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and Freaks.

00:14:23 – Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are Raf for his PayPal donation, plus our 142 Patreon Patrons, including Dale, as well as Brandon for trying to help Tom’s parents with their Harmony remote, and Greg for sending a movie code.
We also appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Mike, Jason, Dale, and Dan. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:20:14 – News: Sony XW 4K Laser Projectors
An interesting back and forth in prices and features compared to JVC’s lineup.
– XW5000: https://bit.ly/3weoLxM
– XW6000: https://bit.ly/39HftTe
– XW7000: https://bit.ly/3OW1ZmR

00:31:00 – News: Yamaha Aventage 4K/120 Firmware
It took a very long time, and still isn’t complete: https://bit.ly/3MT1lV9

00:34:04 – News: Samsung QD-OLED Trickery
They’re goosing EOTF and colors, but faking accuracy strictly at the most common test pattern sizes: https://youtu.be/rhto9MmiExE

Comments:

00:38:54 – Comment: Jason Ehrlich – Kinetics VersaTune LF
The head of Sales Development for Kinetics reached out to clarify details about their HardSide, TAD, and VersaTune acoustic panels, and introduce us to their VTLF 80Hz 2 1/8″ thick bass trap: https://bit.ly/3LJ6nDz

00:47:42 – Comment: Greg – Balanced vs Unbalanced
Greg shares a write up from Sanders Sound: https://bit.ly/3MT1OGT
– https://avgadgets.com/xlr-vs-rca-which-cable-is-better/

QUESTIONS:

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AV Rant #805: The Trouble with Dirac

April 29th, 2022 Comments off

Lee steps in for Rob this week so Tom is doing the show notes! Be prepared to be underwhelmed! Or just whelmed. Whatever. We talk about some AV stuff, some other AV stuff, and a save a couple of listeners a ton of money.

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

Our Listeners of the Week are our 145 Patreon Patrons, as well as Chris for finding what the hackers left and Ara for talking us up to Gary Yacoubian.

And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Dan. Eric, Matt, Augie, Gurinder, Patrick, and Aras.

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AV Rant #804: Don’t Buy Gurinder’s Niece’s Book

April 22nd, 2022 Comments off

RSL has a new SpeedWoofer subwoofer. Insteon has vanished without warning. And IMDb TV gets a new name: Freevee.

Gurinder is a long-time listener, and his 12-year-old niece published a novel on Amazon! It’s titled, “The Orb Oracle”. But we would never promote that. No, sir. What sort of precedent would that set? We’d certainly never mention how she also made her own cover art. And we’d never link to where you can buy it, like this: https://amzn.to/3vwYs5y . Not gonna happen. Sorry.

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

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

00:00:00 – Intro
Tom watched Spider-Man: No Way Home and Metal Lords. Rob watched West Side Story and The Batman.

00:15:13 – Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 146 Patreon Patrons, including Bertrand, as well as Peter for sending a Movies Anywhere code.
Thanks to Keshaun and Dane for giving Tom permission to use their photos on https://avgadgets.com/
And we appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Peter, Nathan, Jorge, and Gurinder.

00:21:08 – The Orb Oracle
A novel by Gurinder’s niece, who also did her own cover art. It’s too bad we refuse to mention it or link to it, like this: https://amzn.to/3vwYs5y

In the news:

00:23:09 – News: RSL SpeedWoofer 10S MK II
An updated version costs $50 more, but digs down to 22 Hz: https://is.gd/Qnw0hm

00:26:35 – News: Insteon Shuts Down Servers
Without warning, Insteon home automation seems to have closed up shop and vanished: https://is.gd/fhSPrV
– Options for Insteon users: https://is.gd/93Xdvg

00:31:08 – News: IMDb TV is now Freevee
The Amazon-owned streaming service gets a new name, Apr 27: https://is.gd/mPFFKe

Comments:

00:33:08 – Comment: James – RTI Remotes
A dealer-only, universal remote option: https://is.gd/efBv5a

00:36:00 – Comment: Nathan – JustWatch
Another good universal search and watchlist option: https://www.justwatch.com/

00:37:56 – Comment: Dazz – Vacation TV Horrors
SoundBars, Bose Cubes, and smoothing, oh my!

QUESTIONS:

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