April/May 2022

Sound & Vision

Authoritative information on entertainment technologies and products.

Sound & Vision3 min read
The Bigger Picture
On The Web Log on to soundandvision.com and sign up for our free monthly enewsletter. You’ll get exclusive tips, news, trends, and reviews from your favorite S&V writers. Customer Service And Subscriptions [email protected] Cal
Sound & Vision1 min read
Spatial Audio File
Have you visited our magazine’s official website, soundandvision.com, lately? If so, you may have noticed the addition of a new column called Spatial Audio File. Written by Sound & Vision’s music editor, Mike Mettler, Spatial Audio File reviews selec
Sound & Vision1 min read
Sound & Vision
EDITOR: Al Griffin SENIOR EDITOR, TECHNICAL EDITOR: Tom Norton EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Bob Ankosko CONTRIBUTING TECHNICAL EDITORS: Kris Deering, Barb Gonzalez, Michael P. Hamilton, Howard Kneller, Daniel Kumin, Rob Sabin, John Sciacca, Michael Trei, David V
Sound & Vision8 min read
Letters
When I first started reading Karen Amrhein’s letter about “Children’s Music” in the December 2021/January 2022 issue of Sound & Vision, I became confused. I remember a few children’s movie titles being reviewed, but children’s music?” Then I saw the
Sound & Vision3 min read
Technics EAH-AZ60 Noise-Canceling True Wireless Earbuds
My first stereo system was a full-on Technics rig, right down to the turntable and cassette deck, so I’ve always harbored a fondness for the brand. And while the recent comeback of Technics to the hi-fi scene has had a decidedly high-end spin—its SU-
Sound & Vision3 min read
To Trinitron and Beyond
Man, oh, man. Can this really be happening? Over these many years, I have purchased all manner of excellent Sony products: radios, televisions, tape recorders, receivers, amplifiers, turntables, Betamax, CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Mini-disc, headphones, boomb
Sound & Vision4 min read
Tidal Waves
Tidal has literally rolled with the changes over the course of its 7.5 years (and counting) being nestled in our collective streaming consciousness. In recent years, the streaming giant has doubled down on the ways it offers a multi-genre cornucopia
Sound & Vision4 min read
Concealed Screens
My previous column dealt with the emergence of larger, more affordable bigscreen displays in recent years. A flat-panel TV larger than 80 inches used to be a luxury purchase, but today they are commonplace. For example, just last week I saw someone w
Sound & Vision3 min read
Speaker Selection
Q I’m still using my first system that I bought in the late 1960s. Time for an upgrade! I’m thinking of buying a new pair of speakers in the $3K-$4K range. I’ve seen speakers with four drivers and speakers that use only one driver. Even speakers pric
Sound & Vision7 min read
TV Trends Of Ces 2022
After going fully online in 2021 due to the global pandemic, CES 2022 was an in-person event, with both manufacturers and attendees required to provide proof of vaccination and don masks prior to entering the show floor. Actually, it wouldn’t be enti
Sound & Vision9 min read
Roon Demystified
WHY DOES summer always seem to fly by and winter to drag on? Why does the line you’re in at the supermarket always seem to be the one moving the slowest? What is Roon? These aren’t the easiest questions to answer. For our purposes, we’ll address the
Sound & Vision4 min read
A Conversation With Enno Vandermeer, Founder And Chief Executive Officer Of Roon Labs
Enno Vandermeer has spent the last 22 years developing music playback management systems for music aficionados. As a co-founder and the chief executive officer of Roon Labs, which employs 60 people spread over four continents, Vandermeer oversees the
Sound & Vision9 min read
Media Room Insider: Sedona Paradise
IF THERE’S a heaven on earth, it might well be Sedona, the town and breathtakingly beautiful region in northern Arizona famous for its reddish-orange sandstone formations—majestic creations that rise up from the desert landscape and glow brilliantly
Sound & Vision8 min read
4K All the Way
PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE SONY’S PROJECTOR lineup is notable for its use of the company’s full 4K-resolution (4,096 x 2,160-pixel) SXRD (Sony's term for LCOS) chips. It’s also been notable for featuring a 5K model—5K as in $5,000, the pri
Sound & Vision2 min read
Test Bench
FULL-ON/FULL-OFF CONTRAST RATIO: 5,226:1 The measurements here were made using CalMAN measurement software from Portrait Displays (portrait.com), together with a Photo Research PR-650 color meter, Minolta LS-100 luminance meter, and a Murideo/AVPro (
Sound & Vision10 min read
Feature Presentation
PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE THE ARRIVAL of yet another A/V receiver doesn’t usually engender much excitement here at S&V’s currently sub-arctic regional headquarters in New England. But Onkyo’s new TX-NR7100 is not “just another” receiver.
Sound & Vision9 min read
Bigscreen Sound
PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE MY LISTENING room has seen components from three different South Korean audio manufacturers over the past year, and in each case the performance, build quality, and aesthetics of the product have been uniformly s
Sound & Vision8 min read
Style and Substance
PERFORMANCE FEATURES BUILD QUALITY VALUE GERMAN SPEAKER company Elac has had quite a run over the past few years, with designer Andrew Jones turning out new models on an annual basis after setting the audio world on its ears in 2016 with the Elac Deb
Sound & Vision1 min read
Test Bench
I conducted several in-room measurements using the Parts Express Omnimic measuring software and microphone, a $300 package that offers a usefully accurate response of a speaker at the main listening seat. The results shown here are for my room. All o
Sound & Vision8 min read
A Modern Classic
PERFORMANCE FEATURES ERGONOMICS VALUE THE LOUDSPEAKER landscape is dotted with so-called classics. Legends like the Klipschorn, the Quad ESL, and the JBL L100 have remained in production for decades or enjoyed successful reboots not just because they
Sound & Vision7 min read
Big-Time Bass
PERFORMANCE FEATURES BUILD QUALITY VALUE WATCHING A MOVIE at home is one of the things I always look forward to when coming back off the road from a long business trip. My home theater has evolved over the years from a modest 5.1-channel setup with a
Sound & Vision16 min read
Entertainment
Frank Herbert’s Dune had turned into a sort of creative graveyard for filmmakers over the years, causing the beloved sci-fi novel to be labeled unadaptable. The first attempt was made by Alejandro Jodorowsky, who started his adaptation in 1974, worki
Sound & Vision6 min read
The First Wave
Once the Ultra HD Blu-ray disc format showed that it had legs, one question I found myself regularly being asked was, “When is The Criterion Collection going 4K?” The esteemed boutique label certainly didn’t rush in, but by the end of 2021, fans and
Sound & Vision4 min read
Brilliant Adventure [1992-2001]
David Bowie’s career frequently moved like a sine wave, mirroring the highest of highs and lowest of lows at regular intervals—but, more often than not, he spent the bulk of his creative time near or at the apex of the curve. And that’s but one reaso
Sound & Vision3 min read
All the Things They Said
Talk about peaking at the exact right time. Scottish art-rockers Simple Minds had just hit their stride with February 1984’s transitional Sparkle in the Rain and scored an unexpected No. 1 single in the summer of 1985 with the Breakfast Club soundtra

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