Sound & Vision November 2017

If you ever wonder what the geeks at Sound & Vision do when we’re not listening to new speakers or tuning up video displays, well, we’re probably debating some arcane technical detail that most non-enthusiast mortals would neither understand nor care about. And so it was that a rather fired-up exchange of e-mails went over the wire a little while ago between myself, video technical editor Tom Norton, and our contributing technical editor Kris Deering. What sparked the discussion was Kris’s mention in a review manuscript that a particular projector under test touts support for the P3 color gamut, but that this is not useful to our audience because there is no P3 consumer content—he pointed out that 1080p HD is mastered in Rec. 709, while UHD content is mastered in…

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. I Won’t Be in Any Club With Sabin as a Member I read Doug Perine’s letter to the editor with a great deal of interest. (“That Stuff Can Kill You,” September). I share his same concerns. So there are…

Pro-Ject Special Edition Turntables I’VE BEEN A HARD-CORE BEATLES fan for…well, let’s just say a very long time. So I was more than a little intrigued when I saw Pro-Ject’s Fab Four turntables (my name, not theirs) at the May press event unveiling Giles Martin’s stereo remix of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The thought of a “new” Beatles record being played on a table that pays homage to the greatest band ever was compelling. Maybe it’s time to revisit my longdormant vinyl collection... What about you? Beatles fan or not, what will it take for you to climb into the attic to retrieve that ancient BSR turntable you always meant to upgrade but never did? To rekindle your relationship with albums you haven’t listened to in…a very long time. Or…

Apple’s HomePod wireless speaker has “seven beam-forming tweeters that provide pure high-frequency acoustics with incredible directional control and powerful technologies built right in to preserve the richness and intent of the original recordings,” says the company. But Siri’s “conversational abilities are a distant third to those offered by Google and Amazon,” says Joe Branca of Strategy Analytics—Siri, call Alexa... ViewSonic’s Claims about one-chip DLP projectors versus competing three-chip projectors are only partly supported, according to the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council. It’s OK to quote ANSI lumens for brightness, says the group, but not OK to claim greater color accuracy... Project Hydra is the code name of the new TiVo user interface. It brings back the old-style grid guide, is already deployed in Spain, and is coming to the U.S. late this year... Info-Collecting Smart…

PRICE $200 MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS “CLOCK radio” as I lifted the Mondo+ out of its box. It’s tough to gauge the heft of a product from a picture, so I guess I was expecting something a bit more substantial. Even so, the plastic-encased Mondo+ is nice and compact—about the size of a loaf of bread—and attractive with a smooth gray finish and large color display that serves as a gateway to wireless streaming options and system settings, including—you guessed it—an alarm clock. Curious to see how quickly I could get the Mondo+ up and running, I set it on my kitchen counter, loaded the supplied AAA batteries into the remote, and plugged the radio into a nearby outlet (a lithium-ion battery pack is available on Amazon for $40). In 3 or…

I know, I know. You read Sound & Vision to learn about audio and video topics. It’s a welcome refuge from the political furor that has engulfed every other facet of our lives. But, of course, ultimately, nothing is immune from politics. So, let me ruin your day by telling you about the latest political hot potato: hearing aids. You heard me right. Hearing aids. Hearing aids are big business. As Baby Boomers (finally) start to age, their ears need a little help. Specifically, 40 percent of those age 60 and older have significant hearing loss, and that doubles to 80 percent for those 80 and over. The average price for a hearing aid is $4,700, with some costing $8,000 or more. And those are real out-ofpocket dollars because Medicare won’t…