Denon announced new 8K Receivers, but not quite what we were hoping for. Lovesac StealthTech puts Harman Kardon speakers in your sofa. And Roku might drop YouTube.

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmX1HYgz

00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are our 132 Patreon Patrons, as well as Jack C. for sending Rob an Amazon gift card.
We also greatly appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Brandon, Cody, Raul, David, Weldon, Charles, and @SnoopAugieDog95. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:11:53 – News: Denon entry-level 8K AVRs
Denon officially announced three new 8K AVRs: https://tinyurl.com/hyarsn2t
– https://avgadgets.com/denons-avr-x1700h-3-hdmi-2-1-inputs-but-still-no-upgraded-room-correction/

00:17:17 – News: Lovesac StealthTech
Via Brandon N – Lovesac has “Sactional” sofas with speakers by Harman Kardon built right in: https://tinyurl.com/5u4s6rk

00:20:17 – News: Roku pulling YouTube?
Via Karl – Roku and Google are still fighting over YouTube TV: https://tinyurl.com/5n7uv688

00:23:51 – Comments:

– Brandon says we were right not to worry about port chuffing from his SVS subs. And the Atmos sound in “El Camino” probably isn’t a great test of overhead timbre matching, after all.

– Ryan reminds everyone that Black Friday sales might make Panasonic’s Ultra HD Blu-ray players much more affordable, like they were last year.

– Jonathan gives a shout out to RTheaters for their home theater seating selection and service: https://www.rtheaters.com/

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Back to normal! And Tom got his happy birthday wishes…belatedly. We have some interesting discussions about Vizio’s 2022 TV lineup, attaching fabric to walls & ceilings, and figuring out if you need diffusion, plus so much more.

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWXV8Hd

00:00:00 – Intro, DC & MCU
– All the news from DC FanDome ’21: https://tinyurl.com/madj7h5h
– New MCU release schedule: https://tinyurl.com/ahnm5hd9l

00:08:21 – Listeners of the Week
Our Listeners of the Week are Sam for his PayPal donation, plus our 130 Patreon Patrons, as well as Ash for helping Tom with some artwork, and a big thank you to Lee Overstreet for guest hosting our “catch up” episode last week!
We also greatly appreciate the notes of gratitude for keeping the podcast going from: Jesper, Sam, Gurinder, John, Noah, Jack C., and Jack R. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:12:49 – News: Vizio 2022 TV Lineup
Vizio simplified their upcoming TV lineup, and only the PQ & PQX Series get HDMI 2.1: https://tinyurl.com/5rynvzr8

00:16:29 – News: Europe’s 1st THX Ultimate Cinema
Via Karl: Copenhagen, Denmark has the 2nd THX Ultimate Cinema in the world: https://tinyurl.com/v3wf9wzkwith content specifically remastered for just two theaters: https://tinyurl.com/xs8s4wdk

00:17:27 – News: Apple AirPods Gen 3
bring Spatial Audio to the lowest price point yet: https://tinyurl.com/2r4hbwnx

00:18:45 – Rumor: 97-inch LG OLED
LG Display is making 97″ panels, and a consumer version is rumored: https://tinyurl.com/yrzyjzep

00:20:50 – Comments:

– Nathan W. reminds everyone to run conduit in walls whenever possible.

00:21:06 – Comment: FabricMate for Matt
FabricMate is a plastic track system for securing stretched fabric to your walls & ceiling: https://tinyurl.com/5mxar5ay

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

It’s a second episode in one week! Playing some catch up here. Rob is joined by Lee Overstreet to tackle our backlog of questions after a week off. Sony is trolling us. And Zappiti has new media player models.

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWXhmJ8

00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are our 131 Patreon Patrons, including Karl M. & Martin, as well as Vincent for sending Rob an Amazon gift card.
And we greatly appreciate the notes of gratitude and encouragement from: BJ, Bertrand, Yuri, Bob, Ariel, Karl, Martin, and Blake. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:09:57 – News: Sony Perfect for PS5
Right after finally updating X900H TVs to support VRR (except…not really): https://is.gd/gM2OHM
Sony announced their Perfect for PlayStation 5 marketing plan: https://is.gd/UuLKkD
2021 Bravia XR TVs and some older models will get two new features, but are still waiting on VRR: https://is.gd/mVj6an
And Auto HDR Tone Mapping is nice, but not a Dolby Vision replacement: https://youtu.be/UJrWSuREBCo

00:16:32 – News: 2020 LG OLEDs get 120Hz Dolby Vision
While Sony markets and waits, LG OLEDs check all the HDMI 2.1 boxes: https://is.gd/vmB0xF

00:18:53 – News: – New Zappiti players (& MakeMKV)
Zappiti Neo, Reference, and Signature bring Dolby Vision and HDR10+: https://www.zappiti.com/our-products
– http://makemkv.com/
– What is LibreDrive: https://is.gd/J7GmcH
– How to flash the firmware of a UHD optical drive, or just buy one that’s ready to go: https://is.gd/p8x9TW

Comments:

00:24:18 – Comment: James shares hidden LG menus
Info, diagnostics, and Control4 setup screens for LG TVs.
– https://youtu.be/dnUUAZY9HnQ
– https://youtu.be/5zVtt59Jx0I
– https://youtu.be/v9XneXymASs

00:29:39 – Comment: Gurinder suggests Andover Mills rug
We discussed black paint, velvet, and carpet. But if you want a Jet Black rug, the Andover Mills Marsily might be it: https://is.gd/VipN7d

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Did ya miss us? We’re back after an extremely rare week off for us. We weigh in on the YIO Remote 2 on Kickstarter, and why we suspect Epson’s new 4K laser projector models actually use native 1080p resolution panels.
And we’ll have a second episode in just a few days to catch up on what we missed!

Pictures shown in this episode: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWU1c9T

00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Matt and Ben for their PayPal donations, plus our 131 Patreon Patrons, including Karl M., as well as Scott S. for sending Rob a thank you gift directly.
We also thank David for giving Tom permission to use his photos on https://avgadgets.com/
And we greatly appreciate the notes of gratitude and encouragement sent to us by: Derek, Junior, Nathan, Curt, Brandon, Billy, Karl, and Matt. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:09:51 – News: YIO Remote Two
Another universal Hub-based remote comes to Kickstarter, but we’re a bit cautious about it: https://is.gd/eTEpx7
Youthman hosted an hour+ live stream about it: https://youtu.be/-L5vM8cEyX0

00:14:51 – News: Epson LS11000 & LS12000
Epson Europe/UK will launch two new 4K laser projectors this year, and they’ll come to North America in 2022. We explain why we think they’re actually using 1080p resolution LCD panels that flash four times per frame.
– LS11000: https://is.gd/l98t4a
– LS12000: https://is.gd/7u0Dxb

00:20:55 – News: Disney & Scarlett Johansson settle lawsuit
Out of court, and they look forward to working together again. Who could have guessed? https://is.gd/C1s1bs

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

A stealth Denon AV Receiver launch gives us hope for even more models with more than one HDMI 2.1 input this year. And pre-production Sofabaton X1 reviews seem like mostly good news, too.

Pictures shown in this episode:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWSQzW4

00:00:00 – Intro & Listeners of the Week

Our Listeners of the Week are Eric and Randall for their PayPal donations, plus our 133 Patreon Patrons, including Eric, as well as Randy & Jonathan for both talking us up to SVS, and Jorge for talking us up to GiK Acoustics.
Jorge also kindly gave permission to use his photos on https://avgadgets.com/
And we greatly appreciate the notes of gratitude sent to us for keeping the podcast going from: Joe, Jon, Chris, Jason, Jorge, Eric, and Randy. Thank you to everyone for continuing to listen!

In the news:

00:10:08 – News: Denon S760H stealth launch
Some people managed to purchase the new 7.1-ch Denon AVR-S760H that includes three HDMI 2.1 inputs: https://is.gd/9q30LQ

00:13:32 – News: Sofabaton X1 pre-production reviews
Sofabaton X1 remains available via Kickstarter: https://is.gd/jbkZ5e
Some of our questions about soft buttons and how to navigate the screen have been answered by videos such as OSReviews’: https://youtu.be/ExNE1klrPPs

00:19:15 – Comments:

– Gurinder tells us about a way to fix the rubberized backing on your Harmony remote when it gets sticky and gross.

QUESTIONS:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS