April/May 2023

Sound & Vision

Authoritative information on entertainment technologies and products.

Sound & Vision1 min read
Sound & Vision
EDITOR: Mark Henninger SENIOR EDITOR, TECHNICAL EDITOR: Tom Norton EDITOR AT LARGE, WEB EDITOR: Bob Ankosko CONTRIBUTING TECHNICAL EDITORS: Barb Gonzalez, Howard Kneller, Daniel Kumin, Rob Sabin, John Sciacca, Leslie Shapiro, David Vaughn, Jim Wilson
Sound & Vision3 min read
Letters
For this issue, we’re going to use letters as an extension to the Q&A and tackle a key consideration when shopping for a subwoofer or deciding to build one DIY: Choosing between ported and passive radiator designs. To get things rolling, I plucked a
Sound & Vision3 min read
Amazon Fire TV Cube 3
The 3rd generation Fire TV Cube has several new features to justify upgrading from your current Fire TV like HDMI pass-through for easy integration with set-top boxes. Additionally, the cube has a more powerful processor that improves picture quality
Sound & Vision3 min read
Would You Volunteer?
Like many of us, you are getting on in years. Whether through disease or simple wear and tear, the delicate mechanisms of your inner ears aren’t quite what they used to be. You might be hearing spurious tones, or just not hearing some things at all.
Sound & Vision3 min read
Lords of Atmos
Guitar maestro Joe Satriani has been making strange beautiful music for well over four decades and counting. Given his penchant for exploring the very concept of space itself and all of its dimensions, it should come as no surprise that Satch has who
Sound & Vision4 min read
CES 2023 – What’s The Future Of Custom?
By rough count, this past CES marked my twentieth attendance, which may seem like a lot to some, but is merely a drop in the bucket compared to some of the veteran A/V journalists out there. Nevertheless, it’s enough to provide some valuable perspect
Sound & Vision3 min read
AVRs, Atmos & eARC
Q I have a 7.2.4 home theater with a Marantz SR7015 powering the 7.2.2 speakers and a Marantz MM7025 powering the other two overhead Atmos speakers. I can’t exactly remember how I decided to wire it this way, but I’ve since wondered if it makes sense
Sound & Vision20 min read
Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road
HOW DO you close a 50+ year career in America, one that has brought music and magic to millions of fans and celebrate with them? Well, if you’re Elton John, you return to the city where it all started—Los Angeles—and to one of the locations that symb
Sound & Vision10 min read
4K Laser for Less
LONG LIVE HOME THEATER! That’s the first thought that came to mind after I set up Sony’s latest and most affordable native 4K projector. When compared to its predecessor, the VPL-VW325ES, this new projector’s main feature upgrades are better video pr
Sound & Vision8 min read
Vintage Vibes, Modern Guts
I LOVE VINTAGE. Of my four motorcycles, which included a beloved 1958 Triumph T20 Tiger Cub, the 1989 Honda NT650 is the newest. Of my dozen or so guitars, my 1964 Strat and 1966 D-18 are the undisputed stars, while a 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb guitar
Sound & Vision10 min read
Hot New Av Gear
PRESENTING THE Sound & Vision CES 2023 Editor’s Picks! Covering CES involves a trip to Vegas at the beginning of each year. It is the show that sets the tone in AV tech. CES 2023 was big and chaotic, as it should be! Finding twenty Editor’s Choice wi
Sound & Vision7 min read
Bass On A Budget
POLK AUDIO is an American manufacturer of high-performance audio products, founded in 1972 by Matthew Polk, George Klopfer, and Sandy Gross. The company quickly made a name for itself in the audio industry by introducing innovative technologies such
Sound & Vision14 min read
Checks All the Boxes
ARENDAL, NOT a name many people know. Ask your friends about them and I'll bet most look at you with a bewildered stare. I first ran across the company around 3 years ago but at that time they weren't doing much in the US so I filed them away in the
Sound & Vision8 min read
Affordable Audio Bliss
AS A recording engineer, I’ve often pondered how soundbars could have become so popular, even though they typically sacrifice the sound quality and true stereo imaging attained by fullrange speakers. I know the answer is because they’re so convenient
Sound & Vision6 min read
Making Atmos Easy
THE MOMENT I first heard a pair of the new Apple HomePod speakers play spatial audio, I could not get one thought out of my mind: This is going to be more than good enough for 90+ percent of listeners. Of course there will still be a place in this wo
Sound & Vision7 min read
Studio Quality Sound at Home
WHEN IT comes to speakers, I’ve learned not to judge a design by its looks. But when you first meet a JBL 4349, it’s impossible not to start thinking about the company’s professional studio monitors. The prominent horn, with its curved and bulging sh
Sound & Vision3 min read
The Fabelmans
In 2023, it would be fair to say that Steven Spielberg is a household name. His body of work as a filmmaker transcends generations and has been entertaining moviegoers for decades. I am certainly a fan, and as such, I was very interested in his lates
Sound & Vision3 min read
Rocky In IV K
ACROSS THE century-plus of motion picture history, few characters can be considered as iconic as Rocky Balboa, the everyman boxer who rises from humble beginnings, works hard to become the best version of himself while staying true to his nature and
Sound & Vision2 min read
Black Adam
FROM THE pages of DC Comics, Black Adam begins in the ancient land of Kahndaq, where a young slave is bestowed with the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance and freeing Kahndaq from its oppressive king, he was seen as a
Sound & Vision2 min read
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
WE HAVEN’T reviewed a title from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a while, so let’s check in with the residents of the fictional African kingdom, Wakanda. In a deeply emotional opening scene, leader T’Challa dies, echoing the too-soon loss of Black P
Sound & Vision2 min read
Empire Of Light
MADE BY British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter Sir Sam Mendes, Empire of Light is set in the English seaside town of Margate of 1980-81 (where I grew up) in a two-screen cinema. Regular life for duty manager Hilary (Olivia Colman
Sound & Vision2 min read
The Menu
IN THIS darkly satiric thriller about conceptual dining, mockery is made both of foodies and society’s growing obsession with the dramatically experiential. A group of wealthy culinary enthusiasts, snobby gastronomes, and famous experts are whisked b
Sound & Vision2 min read
The Banshees Of Inisherin
NOMINATED FOR nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Directing, and Best Original Screenplay, as well as nods to each of the four leading actors, The Banshees of Inisherin tells a simple tale of a man living in a tiny island community off
Sound & Vision2 min read
Kubo And The Two Strings
ENDLESS KUDOS to Kubo’s studio, Laika, for doing more than anyone to keep the waning art of stop-motion animation feature films alive. Shout! Factory has been celebrating their most popular titles in recent 4K upgrades (available in standard or steel
Sound & Vision3 min read
Even the Sea Knows
THE DOOBIE BROTHERS are the consummate 1970s band. Their Northern California-bred sound consists of a harmonious amalgamation of rock, R&B, soul, and blues—a veritable melting-pot musical blend that continues to galvanize audiences the world over fiv
Sound & Vision4 min read
Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17 – Deluxe Edition Box Set
Bob Dylan hit a bit of a rough patch as the freewheelin’ 1980s gave way to the dour 1990s. Dylan ended the MTV decade on a high note with September 1989’s Oh Mercy—a visceral, smoky triumph produced by Daniel Lanois—but he stumbled out of the new-dec

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