Table of contents for November 2015 in Sound & Vision

Two close-together and closely aligned recent announcements about the flat-panel TV business really got me reflecting on how much that world has changed…and is changing again. The first was the post on July 31st that, as of January 1, 2016, Japanese manufacturer Sharp, one of the early innovators of LCD technology and a much-storied TV brand worldwide, would be leaving the industry. The announcement said that Sharp had sold its Mexican TV assembly plant and licensed its brand to Hisense, currently the Chinese market leader in flat-panel sets. Sharp TV’s next year will, in essence, be Hisense products, though perhaps manufactured in the same place and with some or all of Sharp’s pre-existing assets and technologies. The second announcement was actually a product launch, done with much bombast at a…

Sears’ Connected Solutions in San Bruno, California, is a 4,000-square-foot showroom within a store with room vignettes that mimic a kitchen, living room, nursery, bathroom, backyard, laundry room, and garage. It includes a Simply Entertaining section for smart TVs, mobile devices, and Bluetooth speakers; a Simply Fit section for fitness trackers, wireless bathroom scales, and gym gear; a Simply Automated section for app-controlled lighting and smart appliances; and a Simply Secure section for doorbells, security cameras, and smoke alarms. Smaller versions with half the products will roll out over the next few months.…

When we think of audio companies, images of tall buildings, rows of cubicles, and loading docks usually come to mind. And it’s true that many audio companies are still like that. But a more contemporary image of an audio company would be you in your pajamas. You see, technology manufacturing isn’t what it used to be. I’ve been aware of the new paradigm for quite a while, but an article in Bloomberg Business News really brought things into focus. Titled “Start Your Own Smartphone Company for $1,000,” and authored by Tim Culpan, it describes how that small sum can let you compete against Apple and Samsung. In particular, you can have a smartphone custommade for $20, with a minimum order of 50 units. Then you have a shot at becoming…

Second-screen use is “creating a generation of kids for whom TV is punishment,” says Miner & Co. Studio. The marketing firm surveyed 800 parents of children ages 2 to 12. Fifty-seven percent of parents said their kids like watching video on “a device other than the TV.” Kids prefer tablets because they are portable, have touchscreens, are easier to use, allow more independence, and allow re-watching of content. So when a kid acts up, the parent yanks the tablet and makes the kid watch the family TV. Another 41 percent of parents said their kids prefer using tablets to having desserts.…

MartinLogan Motion 60XT Speaker System PRICE $6,695 as reviewed COMING UP WITH A GOOD slogan for your company can be tricky. You want something that tells people what you do, but you don’t want it to tie your hands as the company evolves. For years, Burger King ran commercials using the catchphrase “Have It Your Way,” but they had to drop it when they wanted to reduce the bottlenecks being caused at restaurant counters by custom orders. Now they’re back to being the “Home of the Whopper.” Of course, you could simply ignore the historical inaccuracy of your catchphrase, as the H.J. Heinz Company has done; after all, they probably have 5,700 varieties today, not just 57. MartinLogan ran into this problem a few years ago when they wanted to…

Origin Acoustics Director D108 In-Ceiling Speaker PRICE $1,600 each, $14,400 as reviewed LOVE HIM, HATE HIM, OR SIMPLY wonder what’s up with all the tattoos, there’s no denying the fact that Jeremy Burkhardt is one of those distinct personalities who has had a profound effect on the custom audio/video industry. Then again, he may be someone you’ve never heard of, unless you’re in the custom installation business. Unlike other notables—such as Polk, Carver, and Bose—Burkhardt isn’t the name of a speaker brand. Nevertheless, if you’ve listened to a set of in-wall or in-ceiling speakers, especially one of the bazillion or more models SpeakerCraft has produced over the past 25 years (including tons built for other brands), you’ve felt—or, rather, heard—Burkhardt’s influence on architectural audio. As they say, however, what have…

E-mail them to HTLetters@sorc.com. Please note: Questions about the features and functions of a particular product are best directed to the manufacturer. Questions about what product you should buy are best directed to a dealer who knows all the details of your system, your preferences, and your personal habits. All submissions are considered the exclusive property of Sound & Vision magazine and TEN: The Enthusiast Network. We reserve the right to edit letters for brevity. Due to the volume of mail that we receive, we regret that we cannot respond to every letter. Those Pesky Pics I have read most of the letters you print for many years, but I’ve yet to see anyone mention one of my biggest pet peeves, movie-wise. We have a mid-level projector in our theater…

Lo and Behold! PRICE $2,999 WHAT? $2,999 FOR HEADphones? Can they be worth it? Yes, and yes. It’s not just that the Hifiman HE1000 sounds more transparent, spacious, and dynamic than other headphones: With the HE1000, music arrives more intact—there’s more there there. The Hifiman HE1000’s open quality makes you realize not all open-back headphones sound equally open. You don’t have to be an engineer to understand why: Just look at the HE1000 ear cups’ thin horizontal blades that minimize reflections to a remarkable degree and expose most of the back surface of the diaphragm to the air. That’s in stark contrast to other open-backs’ perforated grilles that reflect some of the drivers’ sound back onto the drivers. The HE1000’s ultra-thin (less than 0.001 mm thick) drivers encounter no such…

Once a soundbar is mounted on the wall below the TV, a lot of folks are tempted to use it for music. An NPD Group survey found that 55 percent of soundbar owners use it for such things as podcasts and radio (though probably not vinyl). That makes sense, since more than 80 percent of bars have Bluetooth capability to communicate with mobile devices. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, 66 percent use the bar for music. As soundbars wax, other product categories wane. Forty-five percent of soundbar owners retired a home theater in a box system and 35 percent retired an A/V receiver.…

I was skeptical that Apple’s all-you-can-queue subscription plan, Apple Music, would cause me to abandon online services like Spotify that also boasted 30 million songs. Not an Apple acolyte, I use a Windows computer and an Android smartphone. I boycotted buying anything from iTunes when a $50 credit in my account was hacked and Apple refused to restore it the second time it happened. But I also own an iPod touch, two iPads, and an Apple TV, and the iTunes Store on my PC continued to be the place for sampling free music— typically after discovering the songs on radio stations streamed on iTunes. I couldn’t ignore Apple’s offer to new users of getting the first three months of service for free, so I bit. Upon installing the app on…

Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema LS10000 3D LCD Projector PRICE $8,000 LAST YEAR’S CEDIA EXPO WAS A bit of a buzzkill for projectors. We continued to see a dropoff in the number of manufacturers, and two of the biggest names in consumer projectors, Sony and JVC, both decided to forgo new models altogether. But that didn’t stop Epson from unveiling one of the most exciting projectors I’ve seen in years, the PowerLite Pro Cinema LS10000. Not only is it unlike any previous Epson model, but it’s also the first laser-driven home theater projector I’ve seen—and at a sub-$10,000 price point. But can it compete with the juggernauts from Sony and JVC at these higher price levels? Let’s find out. AT A GLANCE + Plus ▄ Laser light engine ▄ HDCP 2.2…

Elite Prime Vision DarkStar 9 Projection Screen PRICE $3,138 as reviewed HIGH LIGHT-OUTPUT CAPABILIties and receding prices in the DLP and LCD projector camps have recently broadened the application possibilities for two-piece projection video. One facet of design garnering prominent attention from screen manufacturers is ambient light rejection (ALR) technology, which allows a projector/screen combo to function as the big-screen TV in a multipurpose room the way a flat-panel TV might—though at a potentially much larger size. A branch root of these innovative endeavors may be time-lined by the introduction of “gray” screens during the toddler days of LCD projection, as struggling black levels found welcome assistance from tinted screens. Arguments may ensue over whether “tint” is the appropriate connotation here—some insisting that, in the realm of projected light, gray…

Imagine if you could focus sound the same way you beam light from a flashlight. Think of the possibilities. You could direct sound to Bill, and Betty, who’s sitting right next to him, wouldn’t hear a thing. Sort of like headphones without…uh… the ’phones. Sound far-fetched? Not at all. Inventor Woody Norris demonstrated the technology behind such audio beaming more than a decade ago under the Hypersonic Sound banner. (Type his name into the search bar at ted.com to see Woody in action.) I remember when he stopped by our offices with an early prototype back in the early days of Sound & Vision. Actually, it may have been during the latter days of Stereo Review, predecessor to this magazine. His setup was kinda kludgy, but it worked, projecting a…

Big Sound— Planning for Your Audio Install Last month’s column dealt with some of the big-picture infrastructure items when planning a video installation. Beyond the brand and size of TV you’ll be getting, the big four preinstallation items requiring attention are power, sources, audio, and con This month, I’m tackling things to consider when adding an audio system. Many people think audio is a simple install now because there are so many wireless options available, but wireless refers to transmitting and receiving the audio signal, and systems still require wiring from the amplifier to the speakers. And while wireless systems like Sonos and PlayFi are great problem solvers, they might not be the ideal solution for everyone. When it comes to filling your home with great sound—or any sound, for…

Music services like Pandora generate musical recommendations based on your listening habits. Will the next step be to recommend music based on your brain type? In a study called “Musical Preferences Are Linked to Cognitive Styles,” researchers at the University of Cambridge asked 4,000 participants to fill out questionnaires and rate several pieces of music. Their goal was to classify listeners according to the E-S (empathizingsystemizing) theory. Type E (for empathetic) individuals preferred “music that featured low arousal (gentle, warm, and sensual attributes), negative valence (depressing and sad), and emotional depth (poetic, relaxing, and thoughtful).” That might translate into R&B, country, or folk, among other things. Type S (systemizing, analytical) people preferred “music that featured high arousal (strong, tense, and thrilling) and aspects of positive valence (animated) and cerebral depth…

The Federal Communications Commission has approved the merger of AT&T and DirecTV, bringing together the former’s hybrid fiber-copper TV delivery system and the latter’s satellite service under the same corporate umbrella. The $48.5 billion deal comes with strings attached. The combined company will have to bring fiberoptic Internet service to 12.5 million households, with discounts to low-income households, plus gigabit service to schools and libraries. It will be forbidden to discriminate against online video services (Netflix, et al.). And that’s important, since AT&T is the only major ISP to impose data caps. The combined company will have 26 million subscribers in the U.S. and 19 million more in Latin America.…

Major TV manufacturers are collaborating in field tests that would bring a new ATSC 3.0 television broadcast standard, which would include a new IP-based Ultra HD video standard and a broadcast- and streamingfriendly surround standard. One part of the forthcoming broadcast standard is the “physical layer,” or transmission technology. One possible candidate, Futurecast, has moved into the second phase of testing by its developers: LG, its Zenith division, and GatesAir, a manufacturer of broadcast transmitter equipment. The system can accommodate everything from fastmoving vehicles in city centers to indoor locations to rural areas up to 50 miles away. Futurecast is said to be good at resisting multipath reflections from tall buildings, traditionally a bane of TV broadcasting. Meanwhile, Samsung is getting together with Pearl TV—a consortium of nine companies that…

Sunfire XTEQ10 Subwoofer PRICE $1,750 MY NAME IS DAVID VAUGHN, AND I’m a bass-a-holic. There isn’t a 12-step program to cure me of this disease—and even if there were, I’d avoid the treatment like the plague. There’s nothing like feeling the thump in your chest when an explosion rocks the room in the latest Hollywood blockbuster or hearing the windows rattle to some classic rap from the early 1990s. (Hell, who would have ever thought that “classic” and “rap” would go together in the same sentence?) Traditionally, the easiest way to ensure powerful bass was to build a large, rigid enclosure, put a big woofer in the box, supply it with as much amplification as you could afford, and then let it thump away. The only negative to such a…

Sonus Faber Chameleon T Speaker System PRICE $3,447 as reviewed ITALIAN TECHNOLOGY DOESN’T get a lot of respect. (There’s a version of the old joke where in heaven the police are British, the cooks French, and the engineers German; in hell the police are German, the cooks British, and the engineers— you guessed it— Italian.) But think only of Ferrari. Or Lamborghini. Better still, think of supercar maker Pagani, for which today’s examinee, Sonus Faber, provides premium audio systems. So I’ll refrain from further perpetuating stereotypes or repeating tired Fiat jokes (to which I’d be fully entitled, having nursed one long-ago girlfriend’s reviled 128 rust-bucket through a bitter Boston winter, at the cost of many a frostbitten finger). Instead, let me point out that Sonus Faber—Latin for “sound-smith”—has more than…

Eilte Prime Vision DarkStar 9 Projection Screen MEASUREMENTS were made while the room was light sealed. All measurements were taken at a distance of 12 feet from the screen surface. Instrumentation included a Minolta CS-200 color meter (NIST certified 12/2014) with a Quantum Data 780 generator and SpectraCal CalMAN 4 software. THE projector was an Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 3500. AFTER calibration of the projector to the screen, the grayscale Delta E measured on the DarkStar 9 averaged an excellent 1.96, mainly precipitated by an error of 5.22 at 20 IRE (20% brightness) that gave the overall average quite an uptick. Given the Epson’s inability to go completely black, I didn’t measure at 10 IRE and would not attribute this 20-IRE error to the screen. (Delta E is a figure…