Innehållsförteckning för February/March 2024 från Sound & Vision

WHAT A difference a year makes. Just 12 months ago, I was thinking about UST projectors in the living room, but saw evidence that TVs would compete in the 100-inch size category. Now it’s a year later, and 100-inch TVs are multiplying like rabbits while prices continue to drop. That’s not to say that UST projectors haven’t seen significant progress from new model releases, but what I find fascinating is how giant screen TV prices quickly became competitive with the cost of a UST projector. Naturally, this resulted in a dimming of my enthusiasm for the UST category, reinforced by the real world experience of comparing a 98" TCL to various USTs. The fact is with projectors you always need to dim the lights to get a picture with perceived…

When a spokesperson for NextGenTV, the broadcasting standard also known as ATSC 3.0, appeared at a recent tech expo, he used the F-word frequently. “Free is a very powerful term,” he exclaimed. He then looked into the camera and spelled out F-R-E-E. “There’s no better language than free. And the great thing about this is it’s a free over-the-air service.” I heard the same pitch—coincidentally from the same dude—25 years earlier when he was doing public relations for RCA. It had launched a line of TV sets with a free, 2-day electronic program guide (EPG). Up until then, a subscription for the StarSight Telecast service available on certain competitors’ TVs and VCRs would run you $46 a year. It was worth every nickel. Instead of fumbling for TV Guide Magazine…

Trevor Rabin is all in on leaping directly into the Atmos-mixing universe, having immersed himself in composing in surround sound for the 50 or so films he’s scored over the past three-plus decades—plus the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix he supervised for the 2LP/1BD limited edition box set and companion 1CD/1BD version of his new solo album, Rio (InsideOut Music). In a recent Zoom interview, Rabin—the onetime Yes guitarist/vocalist/composer behind the somewhat unexpected No. 1 hit single from November 1983’s 90125, “Owner of a Lonely Heart”—and I discussed the creative surround arc of Rio, which soundtrack work of his should be released in surround, and what songs from his era of Yes would benefit the most from new Atmos mixes. (A longer version of this interview appears in my monthly…

IN JUST a few short years the home projector landscape has undergone a radical revolution in terms of price and selection. There’s the proliferation of UST (ultra-short-throw) DLP projectors with laser light sources over the past few years. Even more recently, a new breed of compact and powerful “lifestyle” standard-throw models has emerged. These projectors produce bright and sharp images, often with a level of video fidelity previously unimaginable at their price point. Meanwhile, the dedicated home theater projectors from industry stalwarts like Epson, JVC, and Sony have transitioned to laser light sources. A key point to emphasize is that this buyer’s guide is based directly on my hands-on experience with all the included models. It is not a list that’s just based on specs. Also for the purpose of…

When UST projectors first came out and introduced laser light sources at prices well below what the home theater long throws offered, I wondered how long it would take before lifestyle long throw projectors that leveraged these light sources appeared. It took a few years but now there’s a healthy selection of comparatively compact cube-shaped projectors that output tremendously bright, vibrant, and sharp images. They’re defined by a combination of image quality, portability and affordability. In fact, currently my primary living room display is a XGIMI Horizon Ultra and it produces a picture that looks like a giant TV. XGIMI Horizon Ultra ($1,700) This could well be the most exciting new projector of 2023. What it brings to the table for the money is simply astonishing. High brightness, excellent color…

OVER THE YEARS I’ve reviewed hundreds of audio and video products covering all the usual bases. But not up to now a soundbar. While there are thousands of audio and video fans willing to invest in a home theater, either modestly priced or obscenely expensive, to most folks a “home theater” means simply a big-screen TV and enough comfy seats to accommodate the family and perhaps a few friends. But even they understand, deep down, that those TV speakers aren’t really up to the job when they settle in to watch Top Gun: Galactica. For them an add-on soundbar, typically with only one box to deal with plus a few cables, might be a revelation. Soundbars come with a wide range of capabilities. In general, they include their own on-board…

Not long into Christopher Nolan’s latest opus we begin to understand that, despite its three-hour runtime, Oppenheimer isn’t bloated, it never drags, and in fact it dares the viewer to keep up with the many characters and plot developments. There’s less of a scientific emphasis than you might expect, but what we need to comprehend is clear without ever dumbing down the subject matter. Instead, this is the epic story of an extraordinary genius, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), tasked by the U.S.government to lead the team that would deliver the world’s first atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project assembled many of the world’s brightest minds in a makeshift town in the far reaches of the New Mexico desert, inevitably igniting clashes of styles and personalities. In a race against…

STEVEN SPIELBERG’S The Color Purple became one of the moviemaker’s most remarkable successes, winning the National Board of Review’s Best Picture Award and garnering eleven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture while earning him Best Director honors from the DGA. The unforgettable characters of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prizewinning novel populate this lyrical cinematic adaptation. At the center is Celie, a Southern Black woman who gradually gains self-respect as she strives to educate herself and to find love, despite an abusive spouse and a society biased against her race and her sex. I find this to be an engrossing and stirring drama. Spanning forty years, its narrative is epic in scope, tragic, and momentously uplifting. The subject matter is tough and its depiction in the movie is visceral and heart-wrenching. The Color…

FRAMED FOR killing the most admired and respected gang leader in New York City during a landmark announcement, The Warriors suddenly find themselves unarmed and on the run, with every cop eager to lock them up and every other gang member looking to fight them or kill them. It’s one hell of a night for these guys, just trying to get back to their Coney Island home turf in one piece, but it won’t be easy. Walter Hill’s taut 1978 thriller has a dangerous energy all its own, with near-nonstop adrenaline punctuated by glimmers of social commentary. Unlike last issue’s Witness, Warriors—like Arrow’s recent Barbarella as well—is newly sourced from an original camera negative scan performed by Arrow. Both the theatrical and the 2005 “Alternate Version” here have been exclusively…

Q I have Dali Euphonia MS5 speakers, each powered by Parasound Halo amps. I also have a center channel powered by a Classé amp. We’re moving into a new house and would like to add surround sound speakers, as well as place Atmos modules to get Dolby Atmos. Is it possible to combine wired and wireless speakers to achieve a 7-channel surround with Dolby Atmos using my existing speakers? - DIVYESH PATEL A Thanks for the question, Divyesh! There’s a lot to take in here, and there are a few ways to make this happen, so let me break down your options and describe what it would take to accomplish this. First off, I would always recommend going wired if at all possible. A wired connection is more reliable and gives you…

In my previous two columns I discussed how to improve your outdoor entertainment systems. Whether you want to upgrade your audio (“Creating an Audio Oasis”) or your video (“Creating a Video Oasis”), there are tons of solutions at varying price points that will make sure your outdoor oasis is ready to party well past sundown! But let’s say you want something bigger than an 85-inch display, or are looking for a true outdoor theater experience? That takes a bit more doing, and is what I’ll cover in this column. BIG SPENDERS The ultimate in outdoor video entertainment would be a MicroLED display. These are fantastically bright, have vibrant color, and come in a variety of sizes up to 200-inches. There is probably no greater expression of this technology than the…

For movie lovers, there’s nothing that can beat a dedicated home theater space and a projector designed to do its best work in a dark room with the lights out. Grab some popcorn because with these projectors, it’s showtime! JVC DLA-NZ7($9,000) JVC is the go-to brand for home theater enthusiasts willing to put in the legwork to get the most cinematic result. And its DLA-NZ7 is an 8K e-shift (pixel-shift) model with native 4K three-chip D-ILA as the foundation. JVC has the secret sauce when it comes to HDR tone mapping. I’ve seen this projector doing its thing and it is the single best projector in this roundup for use in home theaters. How do I know? I’ve directly compared it to the Epson LS12000 and Sony XW5000ES and seen…

OPTOMA BOASTS of being both the top 4K UHD projector brand globally and the number one Digital Light Processing (DLP) brand in the United States for 2022, citing the PMA Research Worldwide Projector Census, making the company no stranger to the world of projected light. Hopes for continuing that streak and contributing to this year’s DLP tally is the Optoma UHD35STx, a short throw design that when operational, does not fit the mold for projector placement, at least in the traditional consumer sense. So where and how does Optoma anticipate the UHD35STx will slot into the marketplace? I have a hunch… THROWING LIGHT AROUND Currently, a growing and widely accepted trend positions Ultra Short Throw projectors directly below a specialized screen (ideally) and by design aims the lens upward at…

THE MOODY BLUES had no choice but to take a huge gamble as the calendar turned to 1967. While the Birmingham, England-bred band had made an initial splash during the first wave of The British Invasion in late 1964 and on into early 1965 with “Go Now”—a peppy No. 10 U.S. pop-chart hit sung by guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine—they found themselves somewhat behind the curve when forward-thinking songwriting, adventurous composition, and outright psychedelia began dominating the rock milieu in the latter half of the decade. What was a poor working-class band to do? Personnel issues, financial straits, and other typical growing pains had resulted in Laine—who recently passed away at age 79 in December 2023—and bassist Clint Warwick departing the fold in 1966, paving the way for guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward and…

LOOKING BACK at 2023 and our Top Pick selections, what becomes clear is it was a great year for speakers. Whether passive or active, bookshelf or tower, we saw and heard high-performance designs that deliver the goods both sonically and aesthetically—as exemplified by the KEF LS60 which is far more than just a wireless speaker system, it points to a bright future for wireless active speaker systems. It was also a great year for subwoofers, with Klipsch stepping up to the plate and delivering a home run with its revamped Reference Premier subwoofer line. On the video side, the Samsung S90C ups the maximum screen size of quantum-dot OLED to 77 inches and offers a true reference viewing experience in a sleek and stylish package. Need an even bigger screen?…

SET IN the year 2065, The Creator tells of a war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence that ensues after a nuclear device levels Los Angeles, killing millions. Joshua, a former special forces operative sent to track down AI’s mysterious leader, is now a shell of his former self after suffering a tragic loss in the line of duty. Years later, the military recruits him to locate the elusive architect of advanced AI and a weapon he created, which has the power to end the war… and humankind. Joshua crosses into enemy-occupied territory only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child. This is a wonderfully fresh take on the sci-fi/action genre. Focusing on…

WIDELY REGARDED as one of the most beautiful films ever photographed, writer/director Terrence Malick’s second feature film, Days of Heaven, is a dramatically minimalist affair elevated by its often jaw-dropping visuals. The plot involves a long con by penniless lovers Bill and Abby who set their sights on a well-heeled farm owner, posing as brother and sister so that she can marry their way into a better life. Bill has a temper that gets him into trouble, and a precocious little sister who handles their nomadic life with remarkable ease. It’s not a whole lot of story, frankly, in fact it sometimes feels so loose it can seem random (did 15-year-old actress Linda Manz even know that she was in a movie?) but it’s held together by moments of suspicion…

MINNESOTA NICE turns dark in this Academy Award-winning (Original Screenplay, the Coen Brothers; Best Actress, Frances McDormand) from Joel and Ethan Coen. William H. Macy plays bumbling car salesman Jerry Lundegaard who lands himself in debt embezzling money through his father-in-law’s car dealership in a scheme using fake auto sales. To cover his tracks and make back the money, he hires two men (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife for ransom. The plan quickly goes sideways, bodies start piling up, and a pregnant Sherriff from Fargo, North Dakota; Marge Gunderson (McDormand); joins the investigation when a Minnesota trooper turns up dead. The gritty cinematography and poetry-in-white by cinematographer Roger A. Deakins turn the setting into a character of its own in this visceral dark comedy, anchored by…

This is my last communication. Outer walls breached. Door is splintering. Hinges giving way. Out of ammo. Just one grenade left. I’ll take as many as I can with me. God have mercy on my soul. This holiday season was another last hurrah. One of the last bastions, Best Buy has been a stalwart brick-and-mortar retailer of audio/video gear and movies. But with the new year, its inventory of silvery discs will disappear. Starting in 2024, Best Buy will no longer sell DVD or Blu-ray discs in-store, or online. Apparently, getting out of the disc business is a financially prudent thing to do. The once ubiquitous racks of discs are fast disappearing from the electronics departments of both big-box and small-box stores. Yes, some grocery stores have tubs 'o movies,…

USTs come in many variations now. Some aim to please the cinephiles of the world. It is in the UST category where we have seen DLP native contrast ratios pushed beyond what was previously thought possible. Other USTs are all about replicating that “giant TV in a sports bar” experience and deliver a lot of lumens for the money. Here are some of the best examples of this burgeoning projection category that has changed the game when it comes to what's considered a big screen these days. Leica Cine 1 ($9,000/100" or $9,500/120") The Leica Cine 1 is quite possibly the best general-purpose UST you can buy today, but you do pay a premium for the pleasure. It is an RGB triple-laser model manufactured by Hisense, and the Leica branding…

FROM ACCLAIMED filmmaker James Cameron, Titanic is an epic tale of forbidden love and courage set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic, which carried over 1,500 people to their death in the ice cold waters of the North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912. When this film was released, the hoopla surrounding it was hard to miss. It seemed like everyone was talking about it, either to complain about its syrupy love romance and lengthy run time or to marvel at its superbly crafted story and game-changing special effects. Not at all what I expected, it truly is an experience like no other. Epic in scope, grandiose in execution, it is a trans-generational film that is haunting, tragic and engaging. Presented in a 2.35:1…

OF COURSE when Weird Al makes his biopic, he’ll take something preexisting and turn it into something uniquely his and rather funny. Put another way, the king of musical parody has gone and parodied the entire medium of celebrity biographies. Weird premiered as a Roku Channel streaming exclusive, the story of a boy with a dream an accordion making it big in comedy records by swapping his own lyrics into other people’s songs. That’s where any similarity to actual fact ends, as the plot veers unapologetically into blatant fabrication and a gleeful middle finger aimed at VH1 Behind the Music clichés. Those shifts might be the one weakness here, as the tone varies quite a bit, mostly absurd but trying a little of everything and often taking its time between…

AN ESTEEMED doctor on the run (Harrison Ford), a dogged U.S. marshal (Tommy Lee Jones) on his trail, a one-armed killer, and… F. Lee Bailey? These disparate elements all come together to form a delectable whole in Andrew Davis’s thrilling crime drama, The Fugitive. Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, a surgeon who is convicted of murdering his wife. He goes on the run when the bus transporting him to prison crashes, causing a massive accident. He is determined to find the person he says is the real killer, a one-armed man who was in his house that fateful night. Meanwhile, Tommy Lee Jones is Samuel Gerard, the lawman leading the team to hunt down Kimble. Oh, and F. Lee Bailey? Well, he’s not referenced in this film, but he was…

Frank Zappa was a master at creating musical Venn diagrams. What do I mean by that? Well, Zappa’s compositional talents stretched well beyond the rock music idiom, so many of his releases would offer a keen intersection of doo-wop, classical orchestration, avant-jazz, progressive jams, country funk, and pure pop sensibilities (for starters). Sometimes he would even incorporate all his artistic powers into all 20-plus minutes of an album side’s lone track. As Zappa rolled into the 1970s, he initially leaned into more of an outré, jazz fusion approach on July 1972’s Waka/Jawaka and then swung over to a big-band presentation for November 1972’s The Grand Wazoo before harnessing then-modern pop/rock elements to fuel the breakthrough commercial appeal of September 1973’s Over-Nite Sensation, one of the most accessible and popular albums…

UPON INCEPTION, Alice Cooper was conceived more as a group construct, not just a moniker for one person. The name itself was intended to encompass an all-for-one band concept, but it was also concurrently adopted by lead singer Vincent Furnier, who soon enough embodied the id and ego of Alice Cooper to such a degree that he transmogrified that persona into his fully becoming one and the same. Six-plus decades later, Alice Cooper is still going strong as the king of shock-glam metal to this very day—and his rabid fanbase wouldn’t have it any other way. How Vincent-as-Alice ultimately came to be directly informed the unapologetic, pull-no-punches raw power of the band’s best-realized album, March 1973’s Billion Dollar Babies. In essence, Cooper drew directly from the moral center of his…