Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2018 i Sound & Vision

Ads on Alexa? So far, the only ads on the voice platform are those incorporated into supported streaming services. But Amazon is talking to Proctor & Gamble and other companies about product placement… Dish Added Google Assistant to all generations of its Hopper DVR and Wally receiver. Use it to navigate or search content… Pay-TV Rate Hikes are rampant this year, with Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, and Dish Network continuing to gouge consumers (and Charter expected to follow) at rates that usually far exceed inflation. Cox, where increases are from one to five bucks, attributes them to “the rising cost of programming content” and “new features and functions” such as voice remote and TV Everywhere… Dish’s Hopper Duo is a two-tuner HD DVR with a 500-GB hard drive, which can store up to 125 hours…

Why are different units of brightness measurement used for different display technologies? For example, I’ve seen lumens used for home theater projectors, foot-lamberts for movie theaters, and nits for high dynamic range–capable TVs. Wouldn’t it be less confusing for the average consumer to lump everything together as a single measurement? Nathan Robertson / via e-mail It would be less confusing for average consumers if there were a single light measurement unit that could be used to compare video displays. Unfortunately, light measurement is a complex topic, and one that can’t be lumped into a one-size-fits-all spec. Let’s break it down. Brightness is a term that describes not light output, but the subjective impression of light. And since that impression can be altered by many factors—ambient room light, for example—it can’t…

When the time comes to record new music, veteran bands often run the risk of being trapped trying to replicate their past successes to a sonic T by playing it safe and serving up a relatively pale companion to the recognizable sound they’ve established over their careers. It’s something that was clearly permeating the brainwaves of Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr and his songwriting foil, guitarist/keyboardist Charlie Burchill, as the pair began to construct the tracks that would comprise their new studio album, the aptly named Walk Between Worlds (BMG). “You want to keep the essence of the band and put the stuff you’re known for up front, but at the same time, you only want it to be retro to a point,” admits Kerr (kneeling in photo). “You want…

PRICE $3,995 TRUE NATIVE 4K PROJECTORS (those that deliver full UHD resolution to the screen with no reliance on pixel-shifting) are thin on the ground when it comes to prices that most home theater fans are likely to consider. As I write this, only Sony offers one model for as little as $5,000, the VPL-VW285ES (reviewed in our February/March issue and also available at soundandvision.com). To keep costs in line, JVC uses a pixel-shifting technique employing three 1920 x 1080 “Full HD” D-ILA imagers. (D-ILA is the company’s version of liquid crystal on silicon, or LCOS.) JVC offers three pixel-shifting 4K projectors in the Procision line, ranging in price from the $3,995 DLA-X590R, reviewed here, to the $7,995 DLA-X990R. JVC’s current version of e-shift is e-shift5, the fifth generation of…

Q350 (purple) +0.65/–3.49 dB, 200 Hz to 10 kHz; –3 dB @ 56 Hz, –6 dB @ 41 Hz; impedance minimum 4.54 ohms @ 177 Hz, phase angle –65.15º @ 96 Hz; sensitivity 87 dB, 500 Hz to 2 kHz. Q650C (green) +0.95/–4.80 dB, 200 Hz to 10 kHz; –3 dB @ 65 Hz, –6 dB @ 53 Hz; impedance minimum 5.19 ohms @ 15.2 kHz, phase angle –50.74º @ 4.2 kHz; sensitivity 87.5 dB, 500 Hz to 2 kHz. Q50A (yellow) +3.15/–2.92 dB, 200 Hz to 10 kHz; –3 dB @ 107 Hz, –6 dB @ 91 Hz; impedance minimum 4.83 ohms @ 223 Hz, phase angle –55.62º @ 136 Hz; sensitivity 86.5 dB, 500 Hz to 2 kHz. KUBE 12b (blue) Close-miked response, normalized to level @ 80…

MONOLITH 12” (red) Close-miked response in Extended mode with both ports open, normalized to level @ 80 Hz: lower –3 dB @ 19 Hz, –6 dB @ 17 Hz, upper –3 dB @ 161 Hz w Crossover switch set to Off. MONOLITH 15” (blue) Close-miked response in Extended mode with two ports open, normalized to level @ 80 Hz: lower –3 dB @ 16 Hz, –6 dB @ 14 Hz, upper –3 dB @ 236 Hz w Crossover switch set to Off. –MJP SPECS Monolith 12”: 12 in two-layer long-fiber pulp/glass fiber cone woofer (1) in dual-port cabinet (bungs supplied) • Amplifier: Class D, 500 watts • Inputs: RCA (2), XLR with passthrough • Dimensions (WxHxD, Inches): 16.7 x 22.8 x 23.6 • Weight (Pounds): 98.5 • Monolith 15”: 15…

UHD BLU-RAY Blade Runner 2049 The 1982 science-fiction opus Blade Runner remains an undeniable visual spectacle that fired the imaginations of many a viewer. While neither a bona fide critical or commercial success upon debut, it visualized a Los Angeles of the future beyond anything we’d seen before and set the stage for endless fan speculation that has led to five different studio-sanctioned cuts thus far. The sequel, 2049, was released to much of that same indifference. Thirty-five years coming, it still failed to generate a response befitting a cult franchise of this magnitude. The new story is set three decades after blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) went on one last job to “retire” a group of rogue replicants, synthetic people created by the Tyrell Corporation as slaves who…

2010’s Saw 3D was ostensibly the final film in the popular horror saga. And then, lo and behold, a mere seven years later, the franchise was rebooted with Jigsaw. Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, the story finds the elaborate, gruesome Jigsaw killings mysteriously starting up all over again. As before, law enforcement is at a loss as to how the legendary serial killer Jigsaw—dead and buried!—could possibly be committing these nasty new murders. Meanwhile, as is the tradition with Jigsaw, a fresh group of victims has been ensnared in his intricate traps and forced to confess their own crimes or risk death. The gore-porn horror franchise’s latest installment delivers on all the basics that have defined the series over the years and includes a twist ending viewers will…

Facing their own complete extinction due to extreme storms that are destroying whole cities, the world finally comes together, sending 17 teams of scientists and engineers to create a system, a series of satellites all controlled by a giant space station that can use an assortment of devices—super lasers, thermal missiles, freezing beams, etc.—to stabilize the weather. Naturally, someone’s gonna try to seize control of Dutchboy, as the system is known, and weaponize it to make himself president of an all-powerful country that will destroy its enemies and rule the planet. Contrast is good, producing bright whites of a frozen village in the desert, ranges of grays and yellows of halls of power and congressional committee rooms, and deep blacks of the suits’ suits set off by the rich colors…

INXS were riding high as the calendar got deeper and deeper into 1987. The alt-rocking Australian sextet had truly come into their own following the wider international penetration of 1985’s Listen Like Thieves. They were also burgeoning MTV darlings, mainly thanks to the magnetic presence of poster-boy frontman Michael Hutchence. That said, the band had enough musical acumen to override their video-centric image, best exemplified by the churning, layered groove of Thieves’ big hit, “What You Need,” itself born of the interlocked songwriting axis of lyricist/vocalist Hutchence and keyboardist/guitarist Andrew Farriss. The band’s October 1987 effort, Kick, sealed the aural deal, ultimately going six-times platinum and serving up four Top 10 hits on the U.S. charts. And now, Kick is being properly feted in a four-disc 30th anniversary box set.…

Focal 300 Series In-Wall/Ceiling Speakers Focal, known for its great-looking (and-sounding) speakers, has expanded its mid-priced 300 Series of in-wall/ceiling speakers with three models that feature the brand’s signature flax cone woofers and inverted-dome aluminum-magnesium tweeters. All have a low-profile frame with a magnetic grille and are designed for quick installation (no tools required) and high power handling. Three’s Company: The 300 IW6 ($499) is a two-way, single-woofer design suitable for music and home theater applications, while the more elongated IWLCR6 (shown, $799) has two woofers flanking a midrange/tweeter complement that can be rotated 90 degrees, making it ideal for use as a left-, center-, or right-channel speaker in a home theater. The ICLCR5 ($799) is also well suited for home theater with a left/center/right channel selector and pivoting midrange/tweeter…

It’s not every day that a new consumer electronics category comes along that has an adoption rate projected to be faster than that of any other device, including smartphones, computers, TVs, and radios. Some 56.3 million smart speakers are projected to ship this year, nearly twice as many as last year and 10 times the number shipped in 2016, according to Canalys. In the first quarter of 2017, only 7 percent of U.S. households had smart speakers. By the end of 2020, 75 percent are expected to have them, according to Gartner and Edison Research. Electrified speakers, the type that put out sound but didn’t listen to users’ marching orders, have been with us for a century. Maybe because they’ve been around so long and been relegated to second-class status…

FULL-ON/FULL-OFF Contrast Ratio (SDR): 27,400:1 THESE measurements and charts were produced using SpectraCal’s CalMAN software, together with Photo Research PR-650 and Klein K-10A color meters and a test-pattern generator from Murideo. The picture settings used here will be posted at soundandvision.com. All measurements were taken at approximately 14 feet from a 96-inch-wide, 1.3-gain Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek 130 screen. THE SDR peak white reading for this measurement was 27.4 ft-L (93.9 nits), and the black level was 0.001 ft-L (0.0034 nit). These measurements were read from my Stewart screen using the Klein meter in the approximate middle of the projector’s zoom range. FOR HDR, as calibrated, the full-on/full-off contrast ratio measured 13,869:1 at a peak white level of 55.4 ft-L (190 nits with a 10% white window) and a black level…

PRICE $700 CAMBRIDGE AUDIO IS A BRITISH manufacturer known for their sleek, well-built, affordable audio components and speakers. They are also known for their universal disc players, which are based on Oppo Digital units but sold minus the built-in digital-to-analog converters and analog audio outputs. According to Cambridge, this is meant to “decrease interference to the signal, improving quality by reducing video noise.” Since the brand makes A/V receivers with built-in DACs designed to mate with their players, there’s some sound reasoning behind that strategy. The company’s newest $700 CXUHD Ultra HD Blu-ray player is based on the platform for Oppo’s $549 UDP-203 (reviewed in our May 2017 issue, also available at soundandvision.com). Other than the Oppo’s 7.1-channel analog output jacks, the two players are essentially the same, right down…

PRICE $3,000 IS IT AN INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER with onboard wireless and network streaming, or an audio streamer with built-in amplification? Yes. The Uniti Atom, from British iconoclast Naim Audio, is both of these, as well as a quarterback for the company’s Mu-so wireless-multiroom ecosystem (and a few other things mixed in). Like all Naim products since the brand’s inception in the mid-1970s, the Atom is distinctly different from most competing designs in both appearance and operation; the company’s proximity to the powerful vibrations of Stonehenge doubtless has something to do with this tradition. That said, the Atom is less different from its competition than many a previous design, because this sort of streaming amp is what the classic stereo integrated amp seems to have morphed into, here in the post-physical-media…

The Mountain Between Us is part survival adventure and part love story within a compelling premise. Ben and Alex meet by chance at the airport; their flight has been cancelled due to inclement weather, and both have urgent need of reaching their destinations. Ben (Idris Elba) is a prominent neurosurgeon who is needed in surgery the following day, and Alex (Kate Winslet) is a photojournalist who's getting married in 24 hours. Thrown together by necessity, Alex charters a small plane to take them to Denver. Beau Bridges nicely fills in the obligatory role of Walter, the doomed pilot who suffers a debilitating stroke at the worst possible time, causing the plane to crash in the snow-covered mountains. The survival element of Mountain takes on a paint-by-numbers aspect as it meanders…

Remember those A Day in the Life of… coffee table books that gave us glimpses of Hollywood and the Soviet Union and the like over a single 24-hour span? Imagine that same dynamic applied to some carefully selected, human-free locales across the globe, and you start to get the idea behind Earth: One Amazing Day. This sequel to the 2007 nature documentary Earth takes us from the pre-dawn hours well into the night, revealing visions of flora and fauna we’ve likely never seen before. (Giraffe smack-down!) The single-rotation construct does help to unify the disparate proceedings, even if the voiceover sometimes tries a bit too hard to entertain us. The production values on the movie (and the disc) are top-notch, with Dolby Vision high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos dimensional…

The 2014 wuxia film Brotherhood of Blades established the story of three members of an elite palace guard unit during the Ming Dynasty who must abandon their brotherhood and apprehend one of their own after he goes rogue, only to find themselves caught up in an even larger conspiracy. The Infernal Battlefield continues the story of these best-of-the-best guardsmen. It brings back much of the cast, but this is a standalone film that doesn’t require viewing the first to be understood. Shen Lian (Chang Chen), a captain, finds himself trapped in a conspiracy by rebels fighting against the palace, and in order to clear his name he must align himself with the elusive—and gorgeous—wanted rebel Bei Zhai (Yang Mi) and her cohorts. Classic elements of the wuxia genre combine with…

Who uttered that famous declaration? Was it: a) Confucius, b) Friedrich Nietzsche, c) Vin Diesel, d) Dominic Toretto? Of course, that is a trick question because both c) and d) are correct. The movie was The Fast and the Furious, a cinematic masterpiece about street racing and skid marks. Which brings us to the bar graph. It shows total music album sales (physical and download) in the U.S. from 2000 to 2017. Album sales were once the revenue champion of the music business. Not anymore. We bought 785 million albums in 2000 and a mere 169 million in 2017. If you’re in the business of selling albums, right about now you’re downsizing and sending out your résumé. Oh, hang on, someone just texted me. Anyway, album sales are down. There…

PRICE $349 FROM CONCEPTION THROUGH launch, the Apple HomePod speaker was six years in development. That’s a long time to bring to fruition something as ubiquitous and seemingly simplistic as a wireless tabletop speaker. If we account for the many poor examples of the breed, we can acknowledge that a truly excellent wireless speaker might require some extra time to create…but six years? The HomePod was so long in coming that the “smart speaker” with built-in voice assistant that it eventually became hadn’t yet been invented (by rival Amazon) when the project was begun. Which, I’m certain, delayed it even further. This lengthy R&D, however, is why you’ll hear Apple promoting the HomePod, first and foremost, as an extraordinary audio product—because that’s what it was conceived to be: a small…

PRICE $3,150 as reviewed ONE OF THE HEADLINES I considered for this review was “What Becomes a Legend Most.” It’s a poignant song from Lou Reed’s New Sensations. Before that, it was an advertising slogan that sold mink coats in ads featuring Judy Garland, Lauren Bacall, and Marlene Dietrich, among others. Somehow, it fits KEF, the British speaker manufacturer responsible for numerous driver-related innovations, including the Uni-Q coincident array. KEF’s Muon and Blade towers have the fragrance of luxury about them. The LS50 mini-monitor is a crowd-pleasing peacock, always strutting down the runway in new colors. However, less affluent surround audiophiles can have a slice of the KEF tradition in the new and affordable Q Series. And no innocent little minks had to give up their lives. Basic Black Unlike…

PRICES $800, $1,300 REPRODUCING A MOVIE soundtrack in a home environment isn’t an easy task. At your local cinema, the theater will hopefully have sound dampening so you don’t hear outside noise. And if you’re lucky, the system will be calibrated properly and provide enough headroom so there’s no clipping or distortion during the dynamic portions of the soundtrack. In most homes, you have to contend with a lot of extraneous factors. The acoustics may not be right, with the room being too bright (not just sound-wise but also light-wise) or too dead (making for lifeless audio). This can affect your enjoyment of the movie. Furthermore, the quality of your gear matters. Sure, a 32-inch budget TV and soundbar from the local big-box retailer may be fine for watching the…

Naim Uniti Atom Wireless Music Player THIS graph shows the Uniti Atom’s left amplifier channel with two channels driving 8-ohm loads. Measurements for THD+noise, crosstalk, signal-to-noise ratio, and analog/digital frequency response were all within expected performance parameters. Full details available at soundandvision.com. –MJP SPECS Power Output: 40 watts per channel at 8 ohms • Dimensions (WxHxD, Inches): 9.65 x 3.75 x 10.43 • Weight (Pounds): 15.4 • Audio Inputs: Coaxial (1), optical digital (2), USB (2, 1 front), HDMI 1.4b (1, ARC); analog line-level stereo (1) • Additional: RJ-45 Ethernet • Audio Outputs: Stereo speaker level (banana jacks), line-stereo (1), headphone (1/8-in stereo, front panel) • Wireless: Dualband Wi-Fi-b/n/ac, Bluetooth (aptX HD); Apple AirPlay, Google Chromecast • Wireless Streaming: Spotify Connect, Tidal, internet radio (TuneIn), others via Chromecast • Computer…

In the late 1980s in the town of Derry, Maine, a young boy goes out to test a paper boat during a torrential rainstorm. Braving the elements, he places the boat in the gutter and runs alongside to watch its progress. Unfortunately, he’s too slow and watches it descend into the storm drain. He bends down to see if it’s lost forever and is surprised to see a clown staring back at him. Startled, he quickly jumps back. The clown introduces himself as Pennywise and offers to be the kid’s newest friend—instead, the boy becomes the clown’s latest victim. As more kids start to disappear, a group of young teenagers, led by the boy’s older brother, band together to get to the bottom of the story before more people go…

Phil Connors, a TV weatherman from Pittsburgh, is dispatched to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities where he’s teamed up with a young and annoyingly cheerful producer and a smart-aleck cameraman. With impending offers from other stations, Connors has short-timer’s disease and isn’t what you’d call a pleasant guy to be around. In fact, he’s a first-rate pain in the rear whom his coworkers want to spend as little time with as possible. After a surprise blizzard traps the team in the small town, things go from bad to worse; Phil wakes up the next morning to find it’s Groundhog Day all over again…and again…and again. Bill Murray has had quite a career, and Groundhog Day was the vehicle that showed he was more than just a…

The Foreigner, a superior action-thriller from Martin Campbell, the director of two of the best Bond outings ever—Casino Royale and GoldenEye—not only delivers both excitement and dramatic complexity but offers a surprisingly moving performance from its star, Jackie Chan. Presented in a Blu-ray of impressive picture and sound quality, it makes for memorable home theater. When a bomb goes off in London, aging Chinese restauranteur, Quan, loses his last surviving family member, sending him on a quest to identify and punish those involved. Since a youthful IRA splinter group, “Authentic IRA,” claims responsibility, he decides that Northern Ireland Deputy Minister Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan, also displaying his acting chops), an ex-IRA member, will offer him the lead he seeks. Facing resistance, in the form of verbal rebuffal and then henchmen, ex–Special…