Innehållsförteckning för December 2019/January 2020 från Sound & Vision

LaserDisc Lessons Editor: Just a shout out to say how much I like the Remaster Class feature in Sound & Vision. Chris Chiarella’s columns on Superman and Alien were great, but when he includes LaserDisc in the discussion, he should keep in mind that the video on LaserDisc is analog and that only the sound is digital. Miles Montemore / via email Al Griffin responds: Thank you for the feedback. We’re happy to hear that you like Remaster Class. I should point out for the record, though, that neither of Chris’s columns stated that the video on LaserDisc is digital. The images on LaserDisc may be lowly analog composite video, but we still have to give the format props for introducing the home video enthusiasts to advancements like widescreen presentation…

My company has installed whole-house, distributed audio systems since literally the day we opened our doors back in 1995, and over the years we’ve witnessed generational improvements in technology. Mostly gone are wall-mounted rotary volume controls, now replaced with smartphone app control. And “fixed” six-source/six-zone audio systems of the past have largely been replaced with scalable streaming systems that let you add more zones as needed. While these are both positive changes, one thing that has been lost along the way is operational simplicity for guests who visit your home. Many modern systems require guests to connect to your home’s wireless network, download an app, log into the system, and read instructions. The result is that guests can get left in the lurch when it comes to enjoying tunes during…

MANY YEARS ago (the early 1980s, to be precise), Polk Audio produced the first speakers to feature a technology it had developed called SDA (Stereo Dimensional Array). The idea behind SDA was to eliminate a problem called interaural crosstalk that’s a necessary artifact of typical two-channel speaker configurations. Basically put, when listening in stereo, your left/right ears hear not just sound emanating from the respective left/right speakers, but sound coming from the other speaker as well. According to Polk Audio, this has a constricting effect on the presentation, with the width, height, and depth of the stereo image coming across as a pale representation of what’s actually contained on the recording. The original SDA models, a number of which were reviewed by Sound & Vision magazine’s predecessor, Stereo Review, dealt…

Customer Service And Subscriptions soundandvision@emailcustomerservice.com Call (800) 666-3746 (international calls: 386-447-6383) or write to: Sound & Vision, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235 Please include your full name, address, and phone number on any inquiries. REVIEWING Apocalypse Now Final Cut for this issue’s Entertainment section brought back a flood of memories. I first caught Coppola’s classic war film in my early teens during its 1979 theatrical run, and it left an even greater impression than Star Wars (or should I say, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope) did two years earlier. Watching the film then, I remember thinking I was experiencing something greater than filmed entertainment. And though I didn’t have the words to properly express it at the time, my impression was that I was taking in…

Desktop Dynamo Audioengine is well-known for making affordable powered and passive speakers that are compact enough for desktop use. Like several of the company’s previous offerings, its most recent model, the A2+, is a petite powered speaker with multiple connectivity options, including wireless aptX Bluetooth streaming. What makes it stand out from other Audioengine speakers? The price: at $269, the A2+ is the least expensive powered Bluetooth model in the company’s lineup. Other than being affordable, there’s lots to like about the A2+. Build quality is exceptional for a speaker at this price, and Audioengine offers satin black, high-gloss red, and high-gloss white finish options. The A2+ system’s left-channel speaker contains a 2 x 15-watt RMS (30-watt peak) class-AB amplifier and links to the right-channel extension speaker via an included…

Music on the Move Sonos is no stranger to compact speakers that play without wires, but the new Move ($399) is the first truly portable, battery powered model to come from the company. The Move’s connectivity options let you tote it around the house and even outside when using Wi-Fi; beyond that, as long as it’s charged up, you can take it anywhere and stream music via Bluetooth. The Move comes with a dedicated (and dare we say, stylish) charging base that eliminates fumbling around with connecting cables, and it can also be charged via USB-C (cable not included). The Move seems almost too big to be portable—at 10 inches high and 6.6 pounds, it can’t be slipped easily into a backpack. But there’s a reason for that heft. The…

TVs ARE cheaper than ever. Really. When you see a set priced at $3,500 and your first reaction is a gag reflex, ponder this: a CRT color TV in 1970 might well have cost you $350. That would be a simple tabletop model offering glorious 480i standard-definition resolution on a 19-inch screen, and it would cost $2,400 in today’s money. Current-day premium sets do command similarly high prices, but they now offer more features and better performance than ever before. The 65-inch Samsung QN65Q90R reviewed here has a suggested retail price of $3,500, though it can be found online for significantly less than that. There are also 75- and 82-inch Q90R series models, the latter retailing for $6,500. One couldn’t even dream of viewing with a 65-inch set in 1970,…

Calibration measurements were taken in the HU85LA’s Expert Bright mode. Display enhancements including dynamic contrast were disabled for calibration and I selected the Warm color temperature preset, 2.2 gamma, Auto color gamut, and took advantage of the full 22-point grayscale calibration option. Calibration work was done using a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter profiled to a Colorimetry Research CR-250 spectroradiometer via Portait Display’s CalMAN 2019 (www.portrait.com). Measurements and viewing were carried out using a 100-inch diagonal 16:9 aspect ratio Screen Innovations Zero Edge Pro screen with Short Throw material (0.6 gain). Full-on/full-off contrast was measured after calibration was complete with my Colorimetry Research CR-100 approximately 1 meter from the screen. The projector’s 1,700:1 measurement is nearly double the native contrast I’ve seen with other XPR DLP-based projectors I’ve tested. Engaging the…

MARANTZ HAS been a premium audio brand for more than 65 years, so it makes sense that the company’s A/V receivers focus squarely on audio performance, rather than racking up loads of home theater bells and whistles only a few will use. But while it’s clear that Marantz’s offerings tip the scale a bit more toward music enthusiasts than the custom installation scene, the new SR6014 isn’t some stripped-down product aimed at hair shirt-wearing audiophiles. Instead, it’s a bang-up-to-date home theater receiver that ticks off all the boxes for most-wanted surround sound features. With some key A/V receiver manufacturers falling under the same ownership umbrella—Marantz and Denon are both part of Sound United, while Onkyo acquired Pioneer’s home entertainment wing in 2015—you might expect that the offerings from each brand…

OVER THE PAST 25 years, the Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries company has grown from a small and relatively obscure maker (in the U.S. market, at least) to a much more major player in the world’s crowded loudspeaker arena. The Danes’ latest move toward the broader marketplace is the Oberon series, an affordable range consisting of two towers, two bookshelf/standmount models, one on-wall, and one center-channel—all two-way, vented-enclosure designs. We sampled a system comprising two pairs of the smallest bookshelf model, the Oberon 1 ($599/pair), for fronts and surrounds, the Oberon Vokal center speaker ($549), and the SUB E-9F ($799), a compact powered subwoofer with a 9-inch driver. DALI’s top claim for the new family is that it extends its proprietary SMC woofer design to an accessible entry level tier. SMC…

Pocket Wonder Listeners tend to consider an external digital-to-analog converter as either completely unnecessary or absolutely essential. If you believe bits is bits, you’re probably perfectly happy with the converter inside your smartphone, tablet, or computer. If you don’t, you likely have auditioned many a converter component with a seriously gimlet ear. Both tribes, however, can agree that the headphone amps in most smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops leave a lot to be desired when it comes to peak output, dynamics, and inherent sonic quality. AudioQuest, a firm that made its bones selling high-end cables to folks committed to the differences therein, is a natural to provide a similar set of options in the portable DAC space. And indeed, its DragonFly line of miniature USB-Headphone amp/DACs has been so successful…

The more I listened to hi-res music with Amazon’s newly upgraded streaming service, Amazon Music HD, the more I could hear the voice of Michael Palin’s Cardinal Ximénez from the infamous Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch about The Spanish Inquisition, albeit with one verbal twist: “Nobody expects Amazon Music HD!” Until now, I have to admit I’d never really accessed the standard Amazon Music service with any regularity. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that, as much as I visit brick-and-mortar record stores whenever and wherever I can, I also continue to buy a lot of physical product through Amazon. Many has been the time where midnight on a Friday rolls around with an email notifying me I can begin streaming (or downloading) whatever new album (or five) I’ve…

Q I just finished listening to the new Giles Martin remaster of The Beatles’ Abbey Road via a 24-bit/96kHz stream from Qobuz. For the first few tracks I felt like I was listening to the original album, but on a much better stereo system. Then the bad news came when I got to the medley on “side two” starting with “You Never Give Me Your Money.” Instead of a seamless flow between songs, I heard distinct gaps between the tracks. It really ruined the experience. Why can’t streams of album tracks that are supposed to segue do so without annoying, and at times jarring, gaps in the sound? There are lots of iconic recordings with the same issue. THOMAS E. MOORE / FAIRFAX, VA A Getting gapless playback of digital…

For the picture settings used during viewing, visit soundandvision.com. The measurements here were made using CalMAN software from Portrait Displays, together with Photo Research PR-650 and Klein K-10A color meters and a Fresco Six-G test pattern generator from Murideo/AVPro. HD/SDR FULL-ON/FULL-OFF CONTRAST RATIO: 153,800:1 With the Backlight set to 26, local dimming on Standard (the default), and Contrast at 35 in Movie Picture mode, the measured peak white level on a 10% full white window was 44.9 foot-lamberts after calibration (153.8 nits). A full black screen was nearly unmeasurable at 0.001 nits (the ragged edge of our Klyne meter’s accuracy), resulting in the above contrast ratio. With Warm2 Color Tone and the above settings selected, the pre-calibration grayscale Delta E from 20% to 100% was a maximum of 2.91 at…

HEGEL MUSIC SYSTEMS is a Norwegian audio electronics manufacturer that has been slowly and steadily making a mark on the high-end audio world since it started out in the early 1990s. One thing that distinguishes Hegel from other audio companies is its portfolio of proprietary technologies that were developed in-house by founder and chief designer Bent Holter. SoundEngine, the most well-known of these, emerged from Holter’s university student thesis, which explored the issue of reducing harmonic distortion in an amplifier while retaining a high damping factor. Now up to version 2, SoundEngine is incorporated throughout the full Hegel line, including new products like the H390 integrated amplifier ($6,000). Having had previous experience with Hegel gear, I find two constants in the company’s offerings. The first is a dedication to simplicity.…