Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Sound & Vision

My Track One editorial in June (“It’s the Software, Stupid”) chided manufacturers for releasing Wi-Fi-based speakers, several of which we tested for that issue, that failed to perform with perfect reliability in our reviewers’ homes. As mentioned, our team all had Wi-Fi networks suitable for video streaming, with average to above-average routers. I concluded that the products’ firmware or the multiroom apps intended to control them were somehow at fault. But I also began to wonder what role our Wi-Fi network really plays with these new products, and whether the demands are not, in fact, outpacing the capabilities of today’s “average” network. After all, it’s hard to believe manufacturers would release speakers that regularly behave glitchy or drop out in real-world use. Did these things perform this way in their…

PRICE $299 TIDAL FORCE IS A BRAND spanking new headphone company, and at the time I started working on this review, the Wave 5 was their one and only set of headphones. They’re off to a good start; build quality is excellent, and the mostly metal design felt great in my hands. I review so many headphones and spend time with so many more, I can’t keep track of them all. Upon opening the box, I had a déjà vu feeling about the Wave 5; it seemed very familiar. And then it hit me: It reminded me of the Monoprice M560 headphones I heard at a hi-fi show. I immediately went to Monoprice’s website to confirm the hunch, and sure ’nuff, they looked like near twins. Then I checked the…

PRICE $1,995 pr (assembled); $1,295/ pr (kit) AND NOW FOR SOMETHING completely different: Dayton Audio’s Epique CBT24. What’s an Epique CBT24? A 24-driver, no-crossover, one-way tower loudspeaker that stands 5 feet tall yet is no more than 3.5 inches wide over its full, dramatically arched length. A tower speaker with a unique geometry, pedigree, visual aesthetic, and equally unique technical story (and even marketing plan). The CBT24 is the first product in a new Epique line offered by Dayton Audio and is sold via that brand’s Parts Express website (parts-express.com), known for its array of directto- consumer parts, drivers, kits, and audio products for the value and DIY buyer. Like many of Dayton’s speakers, Epique is offered in both assembled and kit forms. (We opted for the former: They don’t…

PRICE $500 FOUNDED IN 1948, NAKAMICHI became best known in the 1970s for building the booming audio industry’s highest-end cassette decks, both under the company’s own name and for other brands. Nakamichi pioneered three-head decks, which used the extra head to read and monitor a recording in progress. The company has also dabbled in CD changers, A/V receivers, and even TVs, and they provided audio systems for the Toyota Lexus from 1989 to 2001. Hong Kong–based Grande Holdings has owned the brand since 1998. Today, Nakamichi has, among other products, a line of soundbars. They include models selling for less than $100, but there are also some more ambitious entries, among them the Shockwafe Pro 7.1, which comes with two surround speakers and a subwoofer. Top Two The Shockwafe Pro…

E-mail them to HTLetters@sorc.com. Please note: Questions about the features and functions of a particular product are best directed to the manufacturer. Questions about what product you should buy are best directed to a dealer who knows all the details of your system, your preferences, and your personal habits. All submissions are considered the exclusive property of Sound & Vision magazine and TEN: The Enthusiast Network. We reserve the right to edit letters for brevity. Due to the volume of mail that we receive, we regret that we cannot respond to every letter. That Stuff Can Kill You I am the original owner of a wonderful, but aging, Pioneer Elite PRO-151FD TV. Time has taken its toll, and I would like to replace it with a modern hightechnology smart TV…

PRICE $999 IT’S A STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL design: The Beyerdynamic Xelento Remotes are most definitely a looker. Better yet, their ergonomically balanced design made for a perfect fit in the concha of my ears; these are some of the most comfortable in-ears I’ve ever worn. As for the sound, it was spectacular! The Xelento Remotes feature Tesla drivers with large ring magnets. The drivers are essentially miniaturized versions of the Tesla drivers featured in Beyerdynamic’s high-end overand on-ear headphones. And like those, the Xelento Remotes are handmade in Germany. When I asked the company’s spokesman why their technicians handbuild each Tesla driver and wind its incredibly tiny voice coils, he said Beyerdynamic hasn’t been able to automate the process and maintain the quality they demand. The Xelento Remotes come with an…

I want to upgrade my A/V receiver but plan to wait until high-end brands like Anthem and Cambridge Audio provide support for HDMI passthrough of the HDR10, Dolby Vision, and Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) high dynamic range formats. Am I making the right decision? Estuardo / via e-mail That all depends on how important HDR figures into your future viewing habits. While current A/V receivers with HDMI 2.0a connections, Anthem’s MRX 1220 included, are capable of HDR10 format passthrough, the Dolby Vision and Hybrid Log-Gamma HDR formats aren’t necessarily supported by HDMI 2.0a. HLG support was included in the proposed HDMI 2.0b specification, but that version has since been rolled into the forthcoming HDMI 2.1 spec. It’s anticipated that products with HDMI 2.1 ports will start to appear in 2018. Dolby,…

PRICE $5,000 LG’S 2017 OLED OFFERINGS FALL into five model groups, with the OLED65E7P positioned roughly in the middle. At $5,000, it’s hardly a Black Friday special, but it’s significantly cheaper than the near-paper-thin 65-inch flagship OLED65W7P (reviewed in our June issue), which commands $8,000. Unlike that model, which must be hung on a wall, this TV has the added option of mounting on a stand (included). According to LG, all of their OLED sets use the same panels and should offer the same video performance—though with only the OLED65E7P on hand, I had no way to confirm this. They do vary in size and features, but the differences in the latter appear to be small. And flat is back! OK, it never actually went away—but this year, none of…

PRICE $600 IT’S BEEN SEVERAL YEARS SINCE I’ve had a Sony A/V receiver in my rack, so when the STR-DN1080 arrived on my porch, I was eager to see what the foundational brand’s 7.1-channel Dolby Atmos/DTS:X model had to offer. Sony has been synonymous with consumer electronics for so long that today—in the more specialized corners of the field, such as home theater—it’s easy to overlook the company that was such an early player in the game. But Sony still has an enviable market position, as well as design and engineering firepower aplenty to compete in any sphere they choose. At $600, the STR-DN1080 is smack in the middle of upper-entrylevel A/V receivers, the area most folks explore when assembling a first (or second) serious home theater. What that sum…

In the age of internet-delivered entertainment, it’s easy to lose sight of the power of broadcast TV—that woefully underutilized bastion of free HD-quality programming. A few decades ago, rabbit ears and roofmounted antennas were a staple in American homes. Today, about 11 percent of American households get TV over the air, and another 9 or so percent rely exclusively on the internet for TV. Both categories are growing (the latter far more dramatically) as the we’re-tired-ofstupidly- high-cable-bills cord-cutting movement gains momentum. All of this brings us to ATSC 3.0, hailed by its proponents as a revolution in technology that will transform TV broadcasting by bringing together internet and over-the-air signals with a common IP backbone. We reached out to Mark Richer, president of the Advanced Television Systems Committee, to learn…

It’s a paradox, that’s what it is. Technology, by nature, charges forward. Its unstated goal is to obsolete itself as fast as possible. If you’re into technology, the only real place to be is on the cutting edge. You must be an early adopter, own the latest and greatest, and camp overnight at the Apple Store. The paradox is that if you are one of those people, you might be envied, or even admired. But you are not cool. People ooh and aah because you have version 9.2 while everyone else has 9.1. And if you have 9.2.1, they might be blown away. But you are not cool. You are definitely not cool if you have 9.0, 8.9, or 8.8. You are also not cool if you have 7.0, 6.0,…

PRICE $31,000 as reviewed PARADIGM, THE CANADIAN loudspeaker company founded in 1982, has a long and respectable history of building excellentsounding, great-looking speakers at relatively affordable prices—not outrageously expensive but not stupidly cheap, either. Somewhere along the way, though, somebody at Paradigm accidentally said out loud at a company meeting: “What if cost were, well, not no object, but at least less of an object? What if we combined all our best technologies and maybe threw in a bit of new stuff, too? Just how awesome of a speaker could we make? We should try that someday.” And thus the company’s latest and greatest-ever series of speakers was born. Paradigm’s new Persona Series consists of four towers (ranging from the 3F at $5,000 ea to the 9H at $17,500 ea),…

PRICE $900 TUBE AMPS. MONO PRESSINGS. And now, 5.1? Has bedrock surround sound indeed joined the ranks of retro audio technologies? Surround receivers beyond the most entry level nearly always have more than five channels (though their uses vary), while Dolby Atmos and DTS:X have made seven (5.1.2) the new minimum system configuration. What happens when you go in the other direction? The flood of 5.1 speaker sets that I used to review in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has tapered to a trickle. I see fewer new ones at CES and CEDIA, and plain old stereo is dominant at the rest of the domestic and international audio shows. However, the British manufacturer Q Acoustics has been marketing 5.1-channel speaker sets since the company’s inception about a decade…