Innehållsförteckning för October/November 2022 från Sound & Vision

Q I have a Sonos system for playing music throughout the house. I’ve recorded my 700-CD collection and like to listen to the songs randomly but Sonos does not access the whole collection—only about 4,000 of the 6,000 available songs. I’ve spoken with the company many times and they maintain it’s not their problem. I’ve deleted and reset the folder numerous times, even going to the extent of separating collaborating artists, all to no avail. I have no problem listening to that same folder in my car or my wife’s car. Can you recommend a solution, or do you know of an app that can safely randomize files? CLIVE FOX/RICHMOND, VA A When researching this, I found that Sonos is capable of handling external song libraries up to 65,000 tracks, so obviously…

RATING PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE PIONEER’S VSX-LX505 Elite A/V receiver represents a new generation of feature-packed yet reasonably priced AVRs. It boasts up-to-date technology and enough channels to rock a full 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos or DTS:X surround setup with four height speakers without having to rely on an outboard amplifier to power “extra” channels. And that’s not its only marquee feature: The LX505 is Roon Tested to ensure compatibility with the music-management/streaming software, supports HDMI 2.1/4K passthrough on its main HDMI inputs and outputs, and is certified to work with Sonos systems. It also supports 8K video and incorporates Dirac Live room/speaker-correction EQ technology along with Pioneer’s proprietary MCACC (Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration) system. Like most of today’s AVRs, the list of features is long and varied and includes a set…

RATINGS System PERFORMANCE BUILD QUALITY VALUE I’VE REVIEWED many Monitor Audio speakers over the years. When I lived in California I reviewed the Silver 10s. Later, after I moved east, I bought a pair of the Silver 10s (actually three of them—long story), and when Monitor released a proper three-way Silver Series center speaker, I acquired one of those, too. When other speakers aren’t in-house for review, that Silver trio becomes the core of a Franken-system that includes surrounds, overhead Atmos speakers, and subwoofers from other brands. The Silver Series, now in its 7th generation—hence the 7G designation—has evolved continuously over the years, both in refinement and, not surprisingly, price (Monitor Audio is hardly alone here). The speakers are designed at Monitor’s headquarters in the U.K. and built in a…

RATING PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE FROM TIME to time I get to review an audio product that is so thoroughly engineered, so cutting-edge and so high performing that it leaves me in awe. And let’s be clear, after three decades of doing this, I’m not easily impressed. But I’ll tell you here that the subject of this review, the $2,400 Devialet Dione, is hands-down the best all-in-one soundbar I have ever heard, and undoubtedly one of the two best soundbars currently available. We’ll get to that later, but for now, let’s take a closer look. If you’re familiar with Paris-based Devialet you’ve probably seen their Phantom, a futuristic wireless speaker that puts out more volume and bass than anything its size. (If not, pay a quick visit to devialet.com.) The…

RATING PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE TRUE NATIVE 4K projectors have only been widely available—and reasonably affordable—for the past few years. Prior to that, most home projectors used a process called “pixel shifting” to produce 4K images: A 2K imaging device first presents half of the pixels in each 4K frame, shifts the image by less than the distance of a single pixel, and then displays the other half of the pixels. All of the pixels in the 4K source appear on screen—just not at the same time. The shift takes place so rapidly that it is undetectable to the human eye. Projectors that use pixel shifting are still available because the process works surprisingly well and helps keep the cost of projectors down. I’ve been using JVC’s pixel-shifting DLA-X790R (a.k.a.…

RATING PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE HISENSE IS known by Sound & Vision cognoscenti as a brand taking ambitious steps to spotlight itself as an innovator in leading-edge television technologies with pricing it terms affordable. For those who do not peruse our pages, the Hisense name may be more closely identified with refrigerators and other home appliances. But as a manufacturer in the consumer electronics space, especially one in the business of making flat-panel televisions and projectors, you can legitimately claim to “have arrived” when your products occupy rack space in Costco alongside the best-known brands in TV. In addition to offering a full range of flat-panel sets, China-based Hisense has been a longstanding proponent of ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors—a.k.a. “laser TVs”—having done much to elevate the category here and in the…

RATING PERFORMANCE BUILD QUALITY ERGONOMICS VALUE KEF’S LITTLE LSX II exudes quiet sophistication, which begs a question: Is it a lifestyle speaker or an audiophile speaker? It’s both, actually—and why not? The cantaloupe-sized wireless speaker is the British audio titan’s latest self-powered “just add music” solution and it packs a punch, drawing on extensive signal processing to optimize performance, with the goal of delivering near full-range reproduction to a very high standard. The system also boasts a proprietary app that integrates setup, control, and streaming from virtually every important service—including Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, and Amazon Music—or your own file- or disc-based music collection. If you’re thinking you’ve seen this speaker before, you’re right—it’s a dead ringer for the original LSX the company introduced almost five years ago. Though the LSX…

Sonos always seems to be one step ahead of the competition, coming out with new products before people even realize they need them. That playbook hasn’t changed with Sonos Ray, a new budget-friendly soundbar small enough to fit on a shelf or under almost any TV. While it’s a simple design that lacks a ton of features and input options, its sound quality and price ($279) more than make up for those omissions. The Ray is offered in black or white and has three touch controls on top for volume, starting or pausing playback, and skipping tracks. Its speakers face forward to “minimize interference from nearby surfaces,” and two front-firing ports bolster the low end, while highfrequency waveguides enhance stereo imaging. Setup Getting the Ray up and running was a…

EISA, or the Expert Imaging and Sound Association, is an organization representing 60 of the most respected special interest publications and websites from 29 countries that cover Hi-Fi, Home Theater Video, Home Theater Audio, Photography, Mobile Devices, and In-Car Electronics. Every year EISA’s Expert Group members, including editors from this publication, test a very wide range of new products from their field of expertise before comparing results and voting to decide the cream of every product category. To win an EISA award all products undergo a comprehensive multi-step judging process. So, while EISA’s annual Convention in Antwerp in May and Awards Meeting in June were, once again, both cancelled due to the pandemic and travel chaos, the comprehensiveness of the Association’s product testing was not diminished. EISA hosted no fewer…

RATINGS REFERENCE EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR Subtitle it, Let It Breathe. When The Beatles: Get Back initially aired across three consecutive nights on November 25, 26, and 27, 2021 on the Disney+ streaming platform, it was, to say the least, a cultural phenomenon. Not only did Get Back grant a new generation access to many of the sights and sounds required to understand the full scope of the ongoing impact of The Fab Four to this day, but director Peter Jackson’s almost-8-hour docudrama also served as a redemption of sorts for the lingering, decidedly mixed reactions to the 1970 band documentary directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Let It Be. The Collector’s Set edition of Get Back is spread across three BDs, one for each designated “Part,” all of it housed in…