Sound & Vision April/May 2020

Bookshelf Reference X $1599/Pair “GoldenEar’s Astounding New BRX Defines State-of-the-Art Reference Bookshelf Performance with Fantastic Imaging, Incredible Transparency, Lifelike Detail and Powerful Bass!” “Listening to the sonic excellence of the BRX…it is hard to imagine that a bookshelf speaker can sound this good…airy and detailed, solid bass and excellent imaging.”–Maureen Jenson, Technology Insider GoldenEar Technology is pleased to announce the introduction of a new ultra-high-performance compact bookshelf/stand-mount loudspeaker, the BRX. The goal of the BRX development project was to create a gorgeous, luxuriously finished, ultra-compact loudspeaker which would incorporate the latest advanced technology developed for GoldenEar’s Triton Reference and Reference One.R, in order to achieve truly superb sonic performance typical of larger, much more expensive units. “I was amazed…like all GoldenEar products, they punch way above their weight and deliver fantastic sound with detailed…

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. A/V Evolution IN THIS ISSUE’S Letters section, long-time reader David K. Johnson laments the changes that have impacted the content of Sound & Vision in the years following its merger with Home Theater magazine back in 2013. My response to David attributes these changes to a resurgence of stereo-only gear due to high-res audio streaming and the vinyl revival, along with an explosion of compact wireless audio products such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speakers, not to mention headphones of every type. As the largest print magazine in the U.S. focused on providing comprehensive coverage of consumer audio and video, it…

The South Korean dark comedy/thriller Parasite counted among my favorite movies of 2019, and I was glad to see it win well-deserved Academy Awards for Best Picture, International Feature, Director, and Original Screenplay. As the first instance of an international film getting a Best Picture nod, Parasite’s top honor is groundbreaking and portends a future where truly innovative and interesting films—even ones with subtitles (gasp!)—get their due. While Parasite received proper accolades at the Oscars, the decision by Universal Studios to only deliver a regular Blu-ray release of the film left us scratching our heads. According to IMDB, Parasite was shot digitally at 6.5K resolution and received a 4K master for theatrical presentation along with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack mix. Given those tech specs, Parasite was a prime candidate for a…

The Pleasures of Perusing In the February/March issue’s Letters section, a reader lamented print space being “wasted” on reviews of Blu-ray discs. I live in a semi-rural area with very slow internet speed and am unable to stream anything. For that reason, I still maintain a large disc collection organized by genre and enjoy the ease of perusing titles and giving guests the opportunity to do the same. Discs also include the ability to watch “extras” not available via streaming (as far as I know). I also use an antenna for TV and my music collection is ripped from CDs. Jim Krillenberger / Bellville, Ohio Al Griffin responds: Astonishingly, a recent FCC report cites the number of Americans without access to broadband internet, most of them in rural areas, at around 21 million,…

CES over the past few years has become more about vision than sound, with statement TVs in booths lining the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central Hall vying aggressively for the attention of show attendees. CES 2020 was no different, and in some ways was even more TV-centric due to the wide range of new products and prototypes on view from both established brands like LG, Samsung, and Sony, and relative newcomers such as Hisense, Konka, and TCL. Yes, LG once again had motorized rolling OLED TVs at the show—a product promised for 2019 that never materialized here—along with new OLED prototypes that roll down from the ceiling. But what most interested me was the sets that are likely to arrive in 2020, especially the innovative ones that will actually be…

You can tell the age of a tree by counting its rings. You can tell the age of a person by counting the number of times they say something anachronistic. For example, if I start talking about Compact Discs, kids will instantly identify me as being, uh, mature. They will make snide remarks about the La Brea Tar Pits and mastodons. Kids can be cruel. Ask me how I know. I want to spare you this kind of mortification. Thus, I have compiled a no-fly-zone list of audio/video language. This language contains trigger words and phrases and under no circumstances should be used around persons younger than you. For example, you can say, “Let’s record this.” But if you say, “Let’s tape this,” you’ll immediately wish you hadn’t. Here’s the list.…