TOP PICKS OF 2018 REVOLUTION 9

The Year’s Best Gear in Review TOP P

IC
2018 K
Onkyo TX-NR787 9-Channel A/V receiver

TESTED
P42

•
Where Technology Becomes Entertainment ™ soundandvision.com
4K for 2K: Epson’s Home Cinema 4010 4K PRO-UHD LCD projector

SPEAKER
SPECTACULAR GOLDENEAR
TECHNOLOGY
REFERENCE ONE.R
TOWERS
PARADIGM PREMIER
700F 5.1 SYSTEM
SVS PRIME WIRELESS
SYSTEM
Q ACOUSTICS 3050I
CINEMA PACK

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019
$6.99 US $7.99 CANADA
 VOLUME 84, NO. 2

contents features

28
The Year in Gear
SOUND & VISION’S
2018 TOP PICKS

Higher performance, lower prices. We look back at the year in A/V

gear and find lots to like. From a $3,500 LG OLED Ultra HDTV (our Top
Pick of the Year, at right), to a $1,500 Jamo tower-based 5.1.2 Atmos
speaker system (our Top Value of the Year), our list highlights 2018’s
best products.

On the Cover Speaker Spectacular. Clockwise: Paradigm Premier 700F, SVS Prime Wireless, GoldenEar Technology Reference One.R,
Paradigm Premier 200B, Q Acoustics Q 3090CI. Other gear: Sony VPL-VW295ES 4K SXRD projector; Epson HC 4010 4K LCD projector.

4 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 IT’S MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE
– AND EVERYTHING YOU WANT

AV8805 13.2 Channel Pre-Amplifier

Supporting the latest in object based audio surround formats

©2018 Sound United. All Rights Reserved. because music matters


contents
38 EPSON HOME CINEMA 4010
4K PRO-UHD LCD PROJECTOR
42 SONY VPL-VW295ES 4K
SXRD PROJECTOR
46 PARADIGM PREMIER 700F
SPEAKER SYSTEM
50 GOLDENEAR TECHNOLOGY
TRITON ONE.R LOUDSPEAKER
54 Q ACOUSTICS 3000I
SERIES SPEAKER SYSTEM
58 ONKYO TX-NR787
9.2-CHANNEL NETWORK
A/V RECEIVER
62 SVS PRIME WIRELESS
SPEAKER SYSTEM
64 KRELL THEATER 7
AMPLIFIER
6 ❘ February March 2019
72
VOLUME 84, NO. 2
THE JIMI
HENDRIX
EXPERIENCE:
ELECTRIC
LADYLAND
DELUXE
EDITION
Have you ever been to Electric
Ladyland? Music editor Mike Mettler
finds this deluxe box with new stereo
and 5.1 mixes to be a first-class ticket.
departments
10 TRACK ONE
The inescapable temptations of
CES.
14 LETTERS
The streaming saga continues.
Remaster Class rocks! Ye olde
tech.
16 WIDE ANGLE
New gear, news, quick take
reviews, and commentary.
columns
20 SIGNALS
Is it IRL, or is it recorded?
23 STREAM ON
Roon: digital music management
made much, much better.
24 Q&A
Connecting an A/V receiver and
powered soundbar. Does anyone
still listen to radio?
26 THE CONNECTED LIFE
test reports Walking back the design, starting
from the screen.
66 ENTERTAINMENT
2001: A Space Odyssey; Mission:
Impossible—Fallout;
BlacKkKlansman; Incredibles 2;
True Stories; and more.
74 REMASTER CLASS
Superman: A supreme legacy.
©Chuck Boyd, Authentic Hendrix
❘ soundandvision.com
 AUDIO LAVISH ELITE ENTERTAINMENT HOME THEATER
HIGH THEATERS Saint Peters, MO TECHNOLOGIES TECHNOLOGIES
Mountain View, CA Santa Rosa, CA 636-939-4474 Mt.Kisco, NY Colleyville, TX
650-964-4000 707-595-2020 914-242-8881 817-379-9901

DYNAMIC SOUND HOUSE OF AUDIO VIDEO ECHO OLSON’S

SYSTEMS STEREO THERAPY AUDIO HI-FI
Carlsbad, CA Jacksonville, FL Nashua, NH Por tland, OR Lynwood, WA
760-438-3773 904-642-6677 603-888-9777 503-223-2292 206-462-5227

EXCEL THE AUDIO AUDIO QUEST FOR SOUND

AUDIO HUNTERS BREAKTHROUGHS SOUND WORLD
Newpor t Beach, CA Simpsonville, MD Manhasset, NY Bensalem, PA Appleton, WI
949-933-1599 301-848-4100 516-627-7333 215-953-9099 920-733-8539
Triton One.R
$2999 each
 ”
oldenEar’s Mind-Boggling New Triton One.R
Delivers Superb Triton Reference Performance!”
“Everything that made Triton Reference Sound & Visions Product-of-the-Year
in a gorgeous, super sounding, more compact and even more affordable package.”
And they asked, “What can you possibly do to
follow up the remarkable Triton Reference?”
The answer is; Triton One.R! GoldenEar
Technology is pleased to announce the
introduction of the new Triton One.R. This
extraordinary new reference quality loudspeaker
is a smaller, less expensive follow up to the Triton
Reference. The T Ref has been compared with
speakers selling for over ten times its surprisingly
affordable cost. It has had a remarkable response
from both music and hifi enthusiasts as well as
press and reviewers from around the world, who
have bestowed upon it innumerable Speaker-
of-the-Year and Product-of-the-Year awards.
Now the T One.R is here for your ultimate
delight. S&V’s Al Griffin raved,”...a revelation...
If I could pull a Spinal Tap and push the
Triton One.R’s Value Rating beyond our usual
maximum, I’d do it in a heartbeat”.
Advanced Triton Reference Technology means
you will enjoy extraordinary T Ref performance!
We developed new drivers for the T Ref, which
incorporate advanced technologies for better
sound, and brought these advancements into
the Triton One.R.. The new Reference Folded
Ribbon Tweeter, with 50% more neodymium, is
silky smooth and ultra high resolution. The new
Focused-Field magnet structures deliver better
control and higher efficiency. The new internal
wiring, with a special critically perfect twist,
provides better coupling and more coherent
blending of the drivers. The new wiring topology
further improves clarity and definition. And the
very special film caps in the crossover makes
faster transient response a reality. The list goes
on and on, long fiber lambs wool, accelerometer
optimized bracing, special internal damping
pads….. Everything contributes to T One.R’s
remarkable ability to recreate a huge soundstage
and deep three-dimensional image. And the
voicing, which our engineers labored so long
and hard over, makes the T One.R a proud
follow up to the Triton Reference.
The 1600 watt built-in powered subwoofers can
be musically delicate or simply rock your world!
There are three newly designed racetrack
shaped active subwoofer drivers on the
front of the cabinet, which have special
polymer impregnated nomex cones, in order
to minimize cone breakup when strongly
driven. Huge magnet structures are utilized
in order to better control cone movement and
improve transient response. There are four
quadratic planar infrasonic radiators. They
extend the low frequency response and are
inertially balanced (two on each side) in order
to minimize cabinet movement, resulting
in clearer, more detailed sound. Combined
with the 1600 watt sub amp and advanced 52
bit DSP, the built in powered bass section is
superior to most stand-alone subwoofers,
and of course, you will have two subs, one
in each speaker.
Absolutely gorgeous styling and luxurious finish
complete this ultimate lifestyle package, which is
perfect for your music and cinema enjoyment!
The gorgeous cabinet is painstakingly finished
in hand-rubbed piano black lacquer. Its
signature narrow profile looks incredible, helps
it to disappear visually, and delivers important
imaging advantages. It presents itself as an
exquisite, sleek, ultra-high-performance
lifestyle loudspeaker that delivers sound quality
comparable to speakers selling for many times
its cost. And unlike most speakers that are
only good for two channel listening, or home
theater, the Triton One.R, like all GoldenEar
speakers, is engineered to excel at both.
www.goldenear.com
PO Box 141, Stevenson, MD 21153 (410) 998-9134
Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!
facebook.com/goldenear twitter.com/goldeneartech
Call us or check our website for your nearest dealer
 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.

The Inescapable REMASTER CLASS:

THE VIDEO FILE

Temptations of CES Turn to page 74 and you’ll see

a new spin on Remaster
Class. Whereas previous
LAST YEAR—oh, around the same time that I’m sitting down to write installments have highlighted
this—I penned an editorial lamenting changes to the Consumer Elec- a particular classic rock music
tronics Show in Las Vegas that made it inhospitable to writers covering title, for this issue we asked
the high-end audio and home theater categories. The gist of my article movies editor Chris Chiarella
was that for us CES had become mostly irrelevant, and that I would sit the to raid his video library and
Customer 2018 show out and quite possibly future ones as well. come up with a column. With
Service And Yet here I find myself packing bags for Las Vegas, same as I have Richard Donner’s Superman
Subscriptions nearly every year for the past 25 years. Why? about to arrive on Ultra HD
soundandvision@email- A main reason why I’m attending CES 2019 is to check out new TVs. Blu-ray, the choice was an
customerservice.com Manufacturers including Hisense, LG, Samsung, Sony, TCL, and Vizio obvious one for Chris, a self-
Call (800) 666-3746 will all be there as usual showing off new sets, and the highlights are proclaimed Superman
(international calls: bound to be 8K TVs from a range of makers, along with refinements superfan. The discs shown in
386-447-6383)
or write to: of futuristic designs previously shown at CES such as microLED and this issue’s Remaster Class
rollable OLED displays. And while many new sets will be pushing the date as far back as the RCA
Sound & Vision, limits of display technology when it comes to resolution and color bit- SelectaVision release from the
P.O. Box 420235,
Palm Coast, FL depth, it will be interesting to see if they incorporate advanced features early 1980s, but Chiarella's
32142-0235 such as Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC), dynamic HDR, and the archival work also unearthed
Please include your high/variable frame rates that are part of the new HDMI 2.1 standard. laserdisc, VHS, and even a
full name, address, Even with the departure from CES of many audio manufacturers who Super 8mm film version of
and phone number had previously shown at the swanky Venetian hotel, there will still be “the first comic book
on any inquiries. a number of audio holdouts making a trek to Vegas for the 2019 show. blockbuster.” (Photos of Super
Lenbrook, parent of NAD, PSB, and Bluesound will be there, as will 8, RCA SelectaVision, and
Bowers & Wilkins, Cambridge Audio, Elac, Emotiva, GoldenEar Tech- VHS releases were all
nology, Harman, Klipsch, Onkyo, Pioneer, SVS, Sound United, and Tech- provided by James Arndt, a
nics. Those companies are ones whose products are regularly reviewed fellow Superman superfan.)
in Sound & Vision, so we’ll be sure to check in and see what’s new. Have any favorite movie titles
While wandering the frenetic halls of the LVCC, I fully expect to see you’d like to see featured in
countless examples of robots, drones, autonomous cars, smart home Remaster Class? Email me at
devices, and augmented/virtual reality tech. While I do find much of that editor@soundandvision.com
stuff interesting, I will have almost no time to investigate any of it. But I and let me know.
do hope to make time to check out new innovations related to Amazon
Alexa and Google Assistant, the two key AI (Artificial Intelligence) flavors
worming their way into core consumer electronics products such as
speakers, TVs, and A/V receivers. While some folks—several Sound &
Vision reviewers included—feel unease knowing that products can now
“listen” to them and share information with an offsite database, the cat is
out of the bag when it comes to AI. I fully expect to see it incorporated in
a wider range of products Sound & Vision will test in 2019.
You can find our full CES 2019 reporting on soundandvision.com. Also
look for a recap of show highlights in S&V's April/May print issue.

Top: 3D face scanning at CES.

Above: Superman on Super 8.

10 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 February / March 2019 Volume 84/Number 2

EDITOR: Al Griffin

SENIOR EDITOR, TECHNICAL EDITOR: Tom Norton

Meet the
EDITORS-AT-LARGE: Bob Ankosko, Darryl Wilkinson
CONTRIBUTING TECHNICAL EDITORS: Kris Deering, Barb Gonzalez,
Steve Guttenberg, Michael P. Hamilton, Daniel Kumin, Rob Sabin,
John Sciacca, Michael Trei, David Vaughn

Family ...
CONTRIBUTORS: Michael Antonoff, Brandon A. DuHamel, Roger Kanno,
Fred Kaplan, Josef Krebs, Ken C. Pohlmann, Leslie Shapiro, Stewart Wolpin
MUSIC EDITOR: Mike Mettler
MOVIES EDITOR: Chris Chiarella

TECHNICAL ART DIRECTOR WEB MONKEY

CONSULTANT Jeremy Moyler Jon Iverson
Joel Silver,
Imaging Science
Foundation

AVTech Media Americas Inc

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Paul Miller
FINANCE DIRECTOR Owen Davies

General Manager Keith Pray

kpray@avtechmediausa.com

Advertising Manager Ed DiBenedetto

edibenedetto@avtechmediausa.com

Sales Coordinator Rosemarie Torcivia

rtorcivia@avtechmediausa.com

Digital inquiries Keith Pray, kpray@avtechmediausa.com

Important Sound & Vision telephone numbers

US & Canada subscriptions (800) 264-9872,
soundandvision@emailcustomerservice.com
Sound & Vision, box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235
Please include name, address, and phone number on any inquiries
International subscriptions (386) 447-6383
Al Griffin editor@soundandvision.com
Sound & Vision website www.soundandvision.com
Reprints
For high-quality custom reprints and eprints, please contact Keith Pray at kpray@avtechmediausa.com.
Submissions
Any submissions or contributions from readers shall be subject to and governed by AVTech Media’s user
content submission terms and conditions, which are posted at http://www.avtechmediausa.com/terms.
html
Canada Post
Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Imex Global Solutions, P.O. box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2
Subscriber List
Occasionally our subscriber list is made available to reputable firms offering goods and services we
believe would be of interest to our readers. If you prefer to be excluded, please send your current address
label and a note requesting to be excluded from these promotions to AVTech Media Americas Inc.,
260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016 attn: privacy coordinator.
Available Finishes:

Gloss Black Gloss White Printed in the USA. Copyright © 2019 by AVTech Media Americas Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Espresso Grain Satin Black

(100B Only)
You Need to
Hear This
The new Premier™ Series from Paradigm delivers a
surprise: true high performance audio, delivered by
patented technology, at a reasonable price.
With six models, in three elegant finishes, Premier
encourages you to step up to the realm of realism and
depth. These loudspeakers are beautifully designed,
intricately engineered, and Crafted in Canada to fill
your life with sound. Experience Premier today.

Shown: Premier 800F

Paradigm is backed by Sound Science

Paradigm partners with Canada’s world-renowned NRC, researching the
nature of sound and human hearing. Our findings influence every aspect
of our loudspeaker design, from materials to construction. The result is
a unique listening experience, a performance based on sound science. paradigm.com
 the end of your nostalgic look at the back
issues of Stereo Review. Those were the
letters golden years, in my opinion. There are still
lots of us “old-timers” who prefer CDs and
vinyl to downloading, Tidal, etc. I’ve lost
something with your last issue that,
Sensible Sound & Vision hopefully, I can regain before my subscrip-
I would like to comment favorably on the December 2018/January 2019 issue of Sound & tion expires in 2020. 
Vision.  There are many good, sensible reviews of affordable equipment in the issue and I George Roig
liked reading about the music titles used during listening evaluations.  The “Boxes of Joy” Via email
feature was also enlightening.  I really enjoyed the throwback to the older days of the
publication in previous issues and hope that this treat will not stop since some of us have AG responds: First off, Let me address Bill
been subscribers for almost 40 years.  We lived through hi-fi’s heyday and still hope to see a Rasche’s point that combined subscriptions
resurgence of brick-and-mortar stores that sell great equipment. Keep up the good work. to Roon, Tidal Hi-Fi and Qobuz would cost
Jim Zimnicki $3,000 over 5 years. A lifetime subscription
Via email to Roon costs $499. Add to that the $250/
year or so you’d spend on subscriptions to
the uncompressed CD-quality tier of either
Streaming: The Saga Continues find that the vast selection and minimal Tidal or Qobuz and the total amount is more
One letter-writer in the December 2018/ effort required by streaming services easily like $1,750. For a music enthusiast, that’s not
January 2019 issue complained that justifies their expense. But for the less too much to pay for five years of exploration
streaming is a step backward because he well-heeled, it’s useful to remember that and pleasure. Still, I get your point that costs
likes handling physical media and seeing there are alternatives with fixed acquisition for streaming services do add up, and it’s
who played on a recording. Fair enough, costs and no monthly fees. true that in the end you have nothing mate-
though I suspect a majority of the music Bill Rasche rial to show for it. Next up, George Roig’s
listening public doesn’t care as much. Also, Via email disappointment with my attitude toward
Roon can serve up (ha, ha!) those details for physical media. I didn’t state in my editorial
the price of 1-2 physical discs per month. In As disappointed as I was to read that you no that I no longer buy music discs. What I did
my opinion, streaming is a huge step longer care to own or purchase physical say is that I buy them much less frequently
forward. For $10/month, there is more music media, I’d never thought that the editor of now that services like Roon, Tidal, etc. have
available across all genres than I will ever this magazine (or, for that matter, any other become part of my media ecosystem. (I do
live long enough to listen to, and I get to hear audio magazine) would come right out and still regularly buy Blu-ray discs.) My actual
tons of stuff I’d never have purchased due to state such a thing. You may be in the wrong music setup is much like the one that Bill
not being sure if I would like it. And then you business, as I consider this magazine (and describes: networked computer and drives
have free podcasts, archive.org, YouTube Stereophile, your sister publication) to be filled with ripped CDs and downloads that
(out-of-print albums often get uploaded), physical products. Should I assume that you serve as a central hub to stream via Wi-Fi
and internet radio. Streaming seems to be a no longer interact with your own physical and Ethernet to multiple systems. And while
mixed bag for artists, but I can’t see how it’s publication and just read it off the web? I I used to be a JRiver Media Center user, I’ve
a step backward. subscribed to Stereo Review way back in since made the transition to Roon, which lets
Eric Guarin 1973 as a 13-year-old and kept it up until my me seamlessly integrate my stored digital
Via email beloved magazine merged with what you media library with streaming services like
have today. I recently renewed my Tidal in a single “collection.”
Al Griffin’s editorial about his transition away subscription to Sound & Vision for two years
from physical media was interesting and a and was sorry to read that you’ve come to Remaster Class Rocks!
pretty accurate reflection of where things I really enjoy the Remaster Class section of
are at today. Not having to handle discs your magazine. It helps us classic rock fans
means more time spent listening to music to learn about album versions that have
and less time searching for it. But there’s a been released through the years, which
cost for the services he cited. Tidal, Qobuz, sound best, and which items to pursue as a
and Roon would run about $600 per year collector. As far as databases go for the
combined. At the end of the contract, what multiple disc releases, I am familiar with
does a user own? Nothing! Over five years, discogs.com, hraudio.net and sa-cd.net,
that’s a $3,000 hit. Ouch. By contrast, a but was wondering where Mike Mettler gets
home theater PC serving up lossless his very informative list of releases? Please
content from digital downloads and ripped keep this column in the print version of your
CDs is much less expensive and can be magazine and possibly expand it on the
convenient to use when running software website.
such as JRiver Media Center. True, effort is Pierre Martinez
required to acquire a PC, set it up, and fill it Via email
with content you own. Finding new content
is also less convenient, though free Mike Mettler responds: Actually, Pierre,
streaming services, local libraries that lend the overwhelming majority of my research
physical media, and friends’ collections can comes directly from the contents of my own
all be leveraged. That last item is a big deal. personal software library, which contains
Discovering and sharing music with friends more variations on physical format changes
is a great experience. No doubt, many will and the releases themselves than I’m willing

14 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

to admit. That’s what four decades-plus
of meticulously archived “collecting” gets
you! That said, I understand you can keep
up with both historical and current hi-res
releases via hiresedition.com and
digitalmusicnews.com.
Bring Back This Just In. Do It Now.
One of the best things about Sound & Vision
was the column that included the latest in
tech news, including streaming and
satellite/cable service provider develop-
ments. Please bring it back.
Roland Palmer
Via email
I read Al Griffin’s argument for not running
the This Just In section in the magazine
anymore and thought, “Wow, you really
just don’t get it.” Your reasoning was that
Sound & Vision is now a bi-monthly
magazine and that some of the news would
be stale by the time we read it. While I’m sure
that you are well-connected in the industry, I
would suggest that most of your readers
don’t toil in the same trenches and would
find most of this information valuable. By
your own admission, some of the news
would still be fresh and relatively new. You
don’t want your other readers to have to look
elsewhere for the latest A/V news, do you?
Craig
Portage, IN
crutchfield.com/vision
When Sound & Vision started This Just In, I
was about to let my subscription lapse. I
then decided the column was just what I
needed. I’m not a tech geek. It will still be the
latest news if I have not heard it previously. 
Connie Elliot
Studio City, CA
AG responds: When I made the decision to
eliminate This Just In during the redesign
phase leading up the September 2018 issue,
I had no idea just how popular the section
was. Clearly, readers want to see A/V
industry news in the print edition of Sound &
Vision, and don’t necessarily care if it’s a few
months old by the time they are reading. It’s
still my contention that online venues (soun-
dandvision.com, for example) are a better
bet for getting up-to-date A/V and technol-
ogy news. That said, I plan to add more
news to the magazine’s Wide Angle section
going forward. (Check out pages 16-17 for
pieces on Apple Music and Amazon’s Echo
devices, the arrival of 8K TV broadcasting,
Movies Anywhere on Comcast’s Xfinity
TV platform, and interactive programs on
Netflix. These are all interesting recent A/V
news bites in my opinion, and I hope you
enjoy reading them.
Watch Out Where the Huskies…
I wanted to add in my two cents on the “Top
Design Mistakes” series from John Sciacca’s
The Connected Life column. If a front
projector is being configured, color and
reflectivity treatment, along with lighting
control, is critical for viewing accuracy and
enjoyment. For wall color, Kodak gray is a
must, while Duvatyn Commando cloth is an
ideal solution for reducing reflectivity. The
worst possible wall color choice would be a
glossy canary yellow. In that situation, I am
quite certain that one’s guests would find
the rendition of the opening snow scene of
the movie Fargo highly unpleasant! 
Louis A. Carliner
Lecanto, Florida
Ye Olde Tech: An Appreciation
I enjoyed your “Digital Music Players: A
Compressed History,” and wanted to share
my appreciation for your recent “rearview
reviews” of olde tech. My current personal
digi-dead-end is a SLiMP3 device. Is there
a-n-y-o-n-e out there who can help with
bringing it back online with Windows 10?
Looking forward to more looking back.
Myke Muller
Via email
We welcome questions
and comments.
Email them to editor@soundandvi-
sion.com. Please note: Questions
about the features and functions of
products are best directed to the
manufacturer. Questions about what
product you should buy are best
directed to a dealer. All submissions
are considered the exclusive proper-
ty of Sound & Vision magazine and
AVTech Media Ltd. 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.
soundandvision.com ❘ 15
New gear, news, quick takes, and commentary

wideangle

Apple Music Arrives on

Amazon Echo Devices
Tech Giants doing battle in the consumer Artificial Intelligence space are notorious
for protecting their turf. One example: Siri, the digital assistant built into Apple devices
such as the company’s HomePod speaker responds exclusively to music streaming
commands for the subscription-only Apple Music service. Want Siri to fetch songs and
playlists from Spotify or Tidal? No dice. MOVIES
With such exclusivity being the norm, Apple’s recent announcement that it would
allow built-in Apple Music support for Amazon’s Echo family of smart devices came as
ANYWHERE
a surprise move. But is it really that surprising?
COMES TO
The $349 HomePod, a Sound & Vision Top Pick XFINITY TV 
award-winner for 2018, is a much pricier option As of December 2018,
than Amazon’s top speaker, the $149 Echo Plus, subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity
a model that already features built-in support for TV service have access to the
Amazon Music and Spotify. Top Pick awards aside, Movies Anywhere digital locker/
with Amazon owning an estimated two-thirds of video streaming platform. By
the smart speaker market, the company will likely syncing their Xfinity account
move plenty more Echo family products over the with Movies Anywhere, viewers
next few years than Apple will HomePods. can stream, via set-top box
Why is this important? Apple Music is nipping or apps—purchased content
at the heels of Spotify—subscribers to Apple’s from the full range of outlets
streaming service numbered 56 million vs. participating in Movies
Spotify’s 87 million at last count before we went Anywhere, a list that includes
to press. And while Apple deserves kudos for its iTunes, Amazon Prime Video,
HomePod (and also for Siri, which is reportedly Vudu, Google Play, Microsoft
becoming smarter after lagging for years behind Movies & TV and Fandan-
Alexa and Google Assistant), revenue from online goNOW. Movies Anywhere also
services like music streaming is where the real supports redemption codes for
action is at for the company, which saw a severe Blu-ray disc purchases; this lets
stock valuation dip in late 2018 due to lagging viewers tap the service to stream
sales of new iPhone models. titles from studios including
Sony Pictures Entertainment,
Twentieth Century Fox Film,
Universal Pictures (including
2001: An 8K TV Odyssey DreamWorks and Illumination
Japanese broadcaster NHK got a jump on the rest of the world in December 2018 when it Entertainment), The Walt Disney
launched the first 8K TV channel (carried via satellite). The broadcasts, which are accompa- Studios (including Disney, Pixar,
nied by up to 22.2 channel sound, are a trial run for the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics, which Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm),
NHK plans to broadcast live—presumably for viewing on an installed base of consumer 8K and Warner Bros.
TVs. (Japan’s Sharp has begun selling 8K-capable TVs in
that country.) Although cameras that capture images at
8K resolution do exist, NHK decided to mine a different
source of content for the initial broadcasts: films originally
released in the 70mm theatrical format. Among the first
titles to air is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, a
title Warner Bros. recently had scanned in 8K for release
in IMAX theatrical format and on Ultra HD Blu-ray (see
review on page 66). Additional programs NHK has
queued up for broadcast in 8K include My Fair Lady
(another film originally released in 70mm), NASA footage
from the International Space Station, and orchestral
performances by the Vienna Philharmonic.

16 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 65 YEARS AGO: ahead and approved the now-familiar
525-line NTSC standard in 1941. World War
THE FIRST COLOR II then put a stop to all further TV develop-
TVS ARRIVE ment, black-and-white and color.
Color TV development picked up
Even though 4K TVs have been on the immediately after the war. CBS and NBC,
market for less than five years, numerous along with a host of other color pretenders,
companies announced that they’ll refined their technologies, ran myriad field
start selling 8K TVs at CES 2019. This tests, and made multiple presentations to
despite the fact that less than half of U.S. government committees. On October 11,
homes include a 4K TV, and there’s no 1950, the FCC approved the CBS system.
4K programming available yet on U.S. The CBS color standard required an
broadcast TV networks. ungainly color converter wheel, and it
A mite premature? That’s how it must the next 10 years centered on establishing was incompatible with the existing NTSC
have seemed to consumers 65 years ago a monochrome TV standard. In 1940, the monochrome scanning system. To over-
when, on December 30, 1953, Admiral and FCC created a new body, the National Tele- come this incompatibility, the FCC required
RCA put the first color TVs up for sale. At vision System Committee (NTSC), as an that TV makers produce sets capable of
the time, TV itself was only a few years old, objective adjudicator to approve a unified receiving both black-and-white and non-
less than half of U.S. homes included a TV, electronic TV system. compatible color signals, a requirement
and there was barely any color program- Just as TV standards were being that TV makers understandably loathed.
ming to watch and wouldn’t be for nearly negotiated, CBS, led by its star engineer A few days after the FCC order, RCA—the
a decade. Peter Goldmark, made the first mark in nation’s leading TV manufacturer and the
From its earliest imaginings in the all-electronic color TV with a series of owner of NBC—filed suit in federal court.
late 19th and early 20th centuries, TV demonstrations in 1940-41. According to On May 28, 1951, the Supreme Court
innovators included color in their dreams Susan Murray in her excellent and exhaus- upheld the FCC’s decision. But while CBS
and patent applications. In 1928, Scottish tive recent book, Bright Signals: A History may have won the battle, it lost the color
inventor John Logie Baird was The first of Color TV, it was “an effort to both boost war. During the seven-month court battle,
to demonstrate color TV, a mechanical their corporate image as a technological publicity from the case made consumers
system employing a Nipkow wheel, innovator and hopefully delay the approval aware of CBS’ system incompatibility,
followed by a similar system from Bell Labs of the RCA-backed black and white while RCA increased its TV market share
in 1929. But most TV development over standard for television.” But the FCC went by 50 percent and was able to refine its
color system. On December 17, 1953, the
FCC reversed itself and announced a new
NTSC color standard— essentially, the
Netflix Exhumes Interactivity RCA system.
For Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Two weeks later, RCA rushed out 200
prototype 15-inch Model 5 sets to its top
One exciting feature of the fledgling DVD format when it launched back in the late dealers around the country for viewing
1990s was interactive capability. Imagine, movies where you choose your own plot- parties of the upcoming New Year’s Day
line! While interactive cinema never caught on, it has recently been resuscitated by Rose Bowl Parade. NBC was broadcasting
Netflix for a new episode of the dark sci-fi drama Black Mirror. With over five hours of the parade in living color, the first nation-
extra material to interactively wade through, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch continues wide color broadcast. The Model 5, which
the series’ exploration of the intersection of technology and reality, in this case via a can be seen—and watched—at the Early
teenage video game programmer circa 1984. Viewers get presented with plot forks TV Museum in Hilliard, OH, would become
at crucial points over the course of Bandersnatch, and the selections you make the factory-produced CT-100 priced at
using your TV or streamer’s remote determine the show’s action and outcome. (Of $1,000—around $9,500 today—when it
course, this being Black Mirror, happy endings aren’t necessarily in the cards.) went on sale the following spring. Admiral
also started selling its 15-inch C1617A
color set the same day for $1,175, around
$11,000 today.
Not surprisingly, color was not nearly
the hit that 4K is, or as 8K likely will be.
Time magazine proclaimed color TV to
be “the most resounding industrial flop of
1956.” It wasn’t until 1968 that most prime
time shows on the three major networks
were broadcast in color, and not until 1972
did sales of color TVs surpass those of
black-and-white models.
Whether it will take 15 years for networks
to broadcast shows in 4K or 8K remains to
be seen. —STEWART WOLPIN

soundandvision.com ❘ 17
wide
angle quick take AT A
GLANCE

Riva Concert Audio playback

Smart Speaker
from connected
USB drive
Portable with
optional external
Alexa Gets Sophisticated battery

BY LESLIE SHAPIRO Solid bass

performance

The first smart speakers were cute little gadgets; no one mistook them for
serious audio playback devices. Soon, they started getting bigger and Narrow sound-
somewhat better, with more attention paid to sound quality. Riva, a company stage at close
known for multi-room speakers, just introduced the Concert, a compact range
smart speaker that combines the convenience of voice control with sound Treble could be
that can be taken seriously. Finally, a smart speaker worth listening to. more transparent

The Concert ($179) isn’t the first
smart speaker to make a run at
good sound quality—it competes
there with the Sonos One and
Apple’s HomePod. However, the
Concert has features such as high-
res audio support and Bluetooth
streaming that might make it a
better option for your needs.
Volume, playback, and input
select controls are on the speaker’s
top, along with a microphone mute
button to allow privacy from Alexa’s
always-curious ears. The Concert
is splash-resistant, and its touch
controls are water-resistant. Both
USB and AUX inputs are located on
the speaker’s back. The USB input
can be used to play music from a
thumb drive, and it also can charge
a phone or tablet. An “Away” mode
switch lets you create a network
directly with your phone for times
when Wi-Fi isn’t available. An
optional battery pack ($50) makes
this beauty portable, with up to 15
hours of playback time when fully
charged.
The Concert features three
full-range drivers and three passive
bass radiators for stereo play-
back with one pair each located
on the speaker’s left, right, and
front. I hesitate to call it true stereo
because Riva utilizes its proprietary
Trillium technology that blends the
left and right signals into the front-
firing driver/passive radiator.
While the speaker’s features are
certainly interesting, the Concert’s
performance is what’s most
notable. For such a small package,
I was honestly surprised at how full
the bass was. The bottom of the
bass range is missing, but lower
mid-bass is solid and impactful.
Listening to Portugal. The Man’s
song “Feel it Still,” the bass guitar
sounded sharp and punchy with
good attack, though the lower
synth octaves lacked power. In a
small room, the bass response was
well-balanced, but in a larger, more
reverberant room, it was almost too
boomy (said about no small smart
speaker ever). Luckily, bass and
treble are easily controlled via the
Riva Voice app.
The Concert’s treble response,
once balanced with the bass,
was better than many other smart
speakers I’ve auditioned lately,
but it does lack extreme high-end
sparkle, giving it a “veiled” sound.
However, the speaker deftly
handled Sia’s troublesome high
notes in David Guetta’s “Titanium”
without the distortion that plagues
many other speakers. In the end, I
would happily sacrifice some exten-
sion to ensure that the sound was
consistently clean.
Stereo playback from a single
point source is always problematic,
and even with Riva’s patented
Trillium technology, I found that
the Concert’s stereo performance
wasn’t exceptional. Listening
with the speaker close—in my
case, across my desk— revealed
a narrow soundstage. Moving it
further away gave the sound much
RATING
PERFORMANCE
needed spaciousness. In an ideal
FEATURES
world, users would be able to adjust
left/right separation via software.
BUILD QUALITY
Otherwise, the Concert’s sound
was well-balanced at the extreme
VALUE
ends of its volume range. The bass
tuning at the loudest levels was
particularly impressive. Other smart
speakers reduce bass at higher SPECS
volumes to ensure the speaker
hears its “wake” word, but the Drivers: 2.4 in
Concert has been tuned around ADX driver (3),
this. Admittedly, I had to speak up to 2.6 in passive
get it to hear “Alexa” with the volume radiator (3)
maxed. To get around this, the Connections:
Riva Voice app lets you control the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,
Concert via your smartphone, so AirPlay, DLNA,
you don’t have to shout to be heard. 3.5mm Aux, USB
The Concert can stream music Type-A
using AirPlay, DLNA, and Bluetooth.
Rated Power:
Playback of up to 24bit/192kHz files
50 watts (RMS)
is supported from a connected USB
thumb drive, along with MP3, FLAC, Dimensions:
ALAC, and WMA. While compatible 7 in H x 5 in
with Spotify Connect and Amazon W x 4.9 in D
Music, Riva is working on Pandora Weight: 3 lbs.
and Deezer certifications. A recent Price: $179
update added Alexa calling and rivaaudio.com
messaging.
Early smart, voice-controlled
speakers were fun and entertaining, THE VERDICT
but it’s about time that their makers
The Concert is
started to take sound quality an affordable,
seriously. The Riva Concert offers feature-packed
sophisticated performance and smart speaker
certainly doesn’t lack for features. with natural,
It’s about time that Alexa grew up. warm sound.

18 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 a listener might confuse it
with real life. In fact, when
wide
angle signals phonographs were still novel,
a popular demonstration
challenged audiences to tell
whether it was live musicians or
first time in history there arose
the real question of what was
real, and what was not. For
the next century, engineers
worked steadfastly, grinding
out improvements in audio

In Real Life (IRL) phonograph playback behind

a curtain.
My favorite testimonial is
technology. Stereo came along
as did binaural recording, which
can be dramatically convincing.
BY KEN C. POHLMANN from Anna Case, Metropolitan Add in film, video, color, interac-
Opera soprano, who in 1915 tive gaming, 3D, surround
hakespeare famously observed, “Brevity stated, “Everybody, including sound, and finally, today’s
is the soul of wit.” But if Shakespeare could myself, was astonished to find “virtual reality” technology. If
read modern texts, peppered with AFAIK, that it was impossible to distin- Miss Case was astonished in
IMHO, LOL, OMG, ROTLF and WTF (which is guish between my own voice, 1915, I can hardly imagine her
NSFW), I’m not sure he would make the same and Mr. Edison’s re-creation of shock and awe if she could
assertion. And don’t get me started about it.” Miss Case seems adamant: experience our home theaters
emoticons. the differentiation between today, or parachute into some
Many of us are guilty of using those witless real life and a representation good video gameplay.
acronyms. I mean, why not? Who has time
to type out clichéd phrases like “for what it’s
worth” when you can just abbreviate them? My personal favorite is
PEBKAC (problem exists between keyboard and chair). I think mankind’s first brush with
The newest acronym is IRL. It stands for “in real life.” It is used unreality came with the invention of
to differentiate between the real world and some other world. For the phonograph.”
example, I might say this about a Fortnite player: “Jamie is a real bush
wookiee, but IRL he’s a pretty cool guy.” Which brings us to an inter-
esting question: When did we first find it necessary to differentiate
between real and not-real worlds? of it had suddenly gotten slim. Diminishing the margin
Long ago, I can imagine a campfire and shaggy people My own observation is that between the real and its
demonstrating how they used their spears to bring down a woolly the curtain concealing that re-creation is, of course, exactly
mammoth. Probably a thrilling reenactment, but I don’t think anyone phonograph in 1915 must have the goal of audio/video engi-
would confuse that with reality. Later, the Greeks produced elabo- been pretty thick. Although, in neers everywhere. Even if we
rate plays. Oedipus Rex is a heck of a story that lets me ponder fate all fairness to Miss Case, you are rarely fooled, we must admit
and family values, but it’s just a play. Opera adds music, but Don will recall that Nipper was also that the new stuff can be pretty
Giovanni doesn’t lead me to believe that statues can come to life. apparently unable to tell the persuasive. A good orchestral
No, I think mankind’s first brush with unreality came with the difference between his master’s recording might sound much
invention of the phonograph. It is able to capture a real event, and voice and a recording of it. better than the best seat in the
more or less convincingly replay it. Under the right circumstances, In any case, for perhaps the concert hall. And thanks to
CGI, in movies we routinely see
amazing sights that could never
exist in reality. In those cases,
we could argue that the not-real
world has surpassed the real
world. The day might come
soon enough when our real
lives are widely considered to
be inferior to our virtual lives.
Whoa! I’m not sure I like the
sound of that. A phonograph
recording is one thing, but a
synthesized existence that’s
considered better than actual
existence? No, thank you. I
prefer to live IRL.

THE AUTHOR
Ken C. Pohlmann is an electrical
engineer specializing in audio
topics as a consultant and writer.
He is Professor Emeritus at the
University of Miami.

20 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

wide
angle quick take BY BOB ANKOSKO
AT A
GLANCE

Atlantic Technology office Gatecrasher emitted loud

popping and crackling sounds Full-bodied sound

Gatecrasher 1
when streaming Radio Paradise
Good build quality
and other internet stations to both
speakers. In subsequent days, Easy to set up

Wireless Speaker the problem became so invasive

that the speaker would shut down.
Atlantic Technology sent a replace- Some app-related
glitches
ATLANTIC TECHNOLOGY has been building excellent home theater ment and said preliminary trouble-
speaker systems for nearly three decades so I welcomed the opportunity to shooting pointed to a “software/ No remote control
check out its first multiroom-capable wireless speaker. The wedge-shaped app issue” as the likely cause.  
Gatecrasher 1 has a wrap-around metal grille and luxurious top panel I set up a multiroom group with
RATING
finished in gloss black or a Makassar Ebony woodgrain. The sturdy enclo- the replacement Gatecrasher,
sure houses five front-facing active drivers and a 65-watt class-D amplifier. first with the new speaker feeding PERFORMANCE
two speakers and then all four.
The Gatecrasher 1 is designed worked fine and the sound quality The popping and clicking reap- FEATURES
to be controlled primarily via the with streaming services was very peared but, again, only on the
free Gatecrasher app for iOS and good. Wireless streaming from my new speaker. When I created a BUILD QUALITY
Android devices. Direct control is PC worked well as long as I was new group with the family room
limited to a small cluster of buttons connecting to only one speaker. Gatecrasher feeding Deezer’s VALUE
on the speaker’s top. There’s no on/ A 24/96 download of Bonnie Folk channel to the three other
off button, status display, or remote Raitt’s album Dig in Deep sounded speakers, the problem disap-
control. If you have old-school lean- very good overall. Raitt’s voice on “I peared. Everything worked
ings like me, you’ll miss these. Knew” was lush and her signature fine—until I switched sources SPECS
The minimalist vibe continues slide playing was fluid with just the to the internet station Absolute
Drivers:
around back where you find a three- right amount of grit. Impressive for a Christmas: The family room Gate-
4 in woofer, 5 in
position L/stereo/R switch (for small speaker. crasher went into a fit of snaps, passive radiator,
stereo setups with two Gatecrasher During my testing, I experi- crackles, and pops while the new 2.5 in midrange
1 speakers), a minijack input, and a mented with different combina- office Gatecrasher dropped in (2), angled 0.75 in
tiny reset button. The input incor- tions of speakers, locations, Wi-Fi and out sporadically. The problem soft-dome
porates autosensing for integration networks, and sources in multiroom persisted when I switched to tweeter (2)
with a TV or voice-enabled smart mode. Performance was generally Radio Paradise and then back Rated Power:
device such as Amazon’s Echo Dot. fine with one exception: sound again to Deezer. (AT reports that (total RMS watts):
The Gatecrasher app provides from the family room Gatecrasher, it is working on a software fix.) 65
wireless access to thousands of located one floor up and on the The system ultimately recovered Connections:
internet radio stations and music opposite side of the house from and worked fine during the weeks Bluetooth/aptX,
services such as Tidal, Deezer, and my router, dropped out frequently. leading up to my submitting this 3.5 mm input
Spotify. It also ups the preset count Moving it to a closer location report, except for a bizarre episode Dimensions:
to 10 and provides access to the resolved the issue. in which the app stopped working (W x H x D,
auxiliary input. The fairly intuitive About three weeks after setup, and couldn’t find either system; inches): 12.4 x 6.5
app made system setup easy. all hell broke loose when the the family room Gatecrasher kept x 5.7
Atlantic sent two Gate- playing but the office Weight:
crashers, so I set one up speaker stopped and (pounds): 12.4
in my basement office and wouldn’t turn on. Accessories:
one in my first-floor family The Gatecrasher 1 3.5mm cable
room. It was a cinch to delivers a satisfying
Price: $499
create a group for sharing experience as a stand-
music with independent alone speaker. Unfortu-
volume control for each. I nately, after many weeks THE VERDICT
later expanded the group of listening and experi-
to four by adding Como mentation, the issues I Atlantic Technol-
Audio’s Duetto and Solo encountered rocked my ogy's Gatecrasher
speakers, which use the confidence in its ability 1 is well-built and
same app. to perform consistently in sounds good, but
Using the Gatecrasher a multiroom setup. Let’s some app-related
over an extended period hope that a future soft- glitches mar
turned out to be a roller- ware update will correct multiroom
coaster ride. Bluetooth those problems. performance.

22 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com


I was also quite eager to test
Roon’s purported zone-access
wide
angle stream on flexibility since I recently
moved into a new home where
I was setting up multiroom
listening zones for the first
Manifesto of an Alchemist,
and I cued up the quite
prescient FLAC for “Lost
America” as I read along
to the man’s fairly detailed
bio and clicked on the
links for some of his
collaborators, including
drummer Marco
Minnemann and vocalist
Nad Sylvan. Incidentally,
the more you use and add
to your listening library,
the more artists Roon
will cross-reference and
enable live links for you.
Yeah, I really like that.
Next, I sifted through the
deluxe edition of Led Zeppelin
IV. Why Zep IV? Technically, the
album doesn’t have an actual
title per se, as Zep maestro
Jimmy Page solicited four

Flight of the time. Roon took to my specific

aural universe like a diamond
symbols—or “runes” (now you
get it)—for each bandmember

Navigator stylus takes to virgin vinyl. As I

was unpacking, stacking, and
initially engaging mucho equip-
to serve as a wordless title,
though this 1971 classic is
generally referred to as Led
Once you let Roon manage your digital audio ment and software libraries, I Zeppelin IV. At any rate, I dialed
playback, your multizone listening aspirations was able to listen with practi- in “When the Levee Breaks”
cally no interruption, sans the and marveled at the cavernous
will be fulfilled time it took for my hoofing it to drum sound from John Bonham,
BY MIKE METTLER the next room and/or floor. along with Robert Plant’s deft
For starters, I cued up harmonica work and Page’s
“Captain!” “Captain.” “Captain!” “Captain.” Anyone who still watches “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart,” chiming, biting guitar riffage all
broadcast TV might recognize that repeated one-word exchange a recent collaboration between throughout the track.
from a score of ads for a certain “leg-up” adult beverage. And while underrated vocal powerhouse Finally, my last Roon-related
I most certainly do not condone drinking while driving your sound Miley Cyrus and super- homonym allocation was
system—it’s so difficult getting stains out of cloth speaker grilles producer Mark Ronson. Thanks applied to the California alt-rock
these days—this interchange immediately came to mind as to Roon, “Heart” followed me band Rooney, who made a brief
I commenced my latest review cycle with Roon. from one of my primary listening splash at the turn of the century.
room setups via Sonos to the I cued up the catchy poppish
What is Roon, you ask? Roon and choose to default to hi-res HP laptop in my office on the confectional query, “When Did
is a music playback and library audio output. same floor to a secondary Your Heart Go Missing?” No
management system for usage Roon accesses information AirPlay device upstairs. Pay sonic or informational detail was
with digital devices not unlike, about your locally stored digital close attention to Ronson’s missing here either, I have to say.
say, iTunes, but—spoiler alert— music library, as well as your split-second acoustic-guitar As to cost, you can sign up
the depth of Roon’s all-encom- personal library and playlists on break at 1:30—something most for a free trial period before
passing library-based reach and services like Tidal and iTunes, producers would gloss over deciding on committing to
top-shelf sound quality prefer- in addition to harvesting as in this current guitar-verboten Roon’s annual $119 fee or
ences are what makes it the much related metadata that’s music climate. $499 lifetime membership.
most superior interface currently available. I quite enjoyed Once I had the hang of Considering how often I’m
on the market. Here’s why. visualizing Roon “scanning” the the easy-as-pie Roon nav, it already using and interacting
Roon supports output to a volumes of tunes and playlists was hard to stop clicking and with Roon, the cost seemed
myriad of gear and gadgets in my various-locale-embedded listening. I created a playlist entirely reasonable. As far as I’m
either individually or through libraries. Being an inveterate based around the sound and concerned, Roon can captain
your home network, including collector/music historian, I was spelling of the Roon name my digital aural ship anytime,
Roon-certified network players looking forward to interacting itself because, well, that’s how anyplace, anywhere I choose.
and DACs, computers and with Roon’s real-time artist I roll. First, I searched for Roine
tablets, as well as to any Sonos, credits, biographical mate- (pronounced “Roin-uh”) Stolt, THE AUTHOR
Chromecast, or AirPlay device. rial, genre distinctions, and bandleader/guitarist of Swedish
You can earmark playback in more—the digital equivalent to progressive lords The Flower Mike Mettler, a.k.a. The
SoundBard, is the music editor of
multiple listening zones, enable incessantly poring over album Kings. Roon instantly took
Sound & Vision.
family/multi-listener access, liner notes. me to Roine’s new solo effort,

soundandvision.com ❘ 23
wide
angle Q&A

Are You
Receiving?
BY AL GRIFFIN

Q
I own a Denon AVR-S920W A/V receiver and am ARC (Audio Return Channel, a connect your TV to its HDMI
wondering if it’s possible to hook it up to my Samsung special HDMI port that allows Out (TV-ARC) port, the Blu-ray
HW-MS650 sound bar to use in place of regular for bi-directional passage of player to the HDMI input, the
speakers. The sources I plan to connect to the receiver audio signals) or an optical CD player to the optical digital
include a CD player, Blu-Ray player, TV (via HDMI ARC) and the digital audio connection, either input, and the turntable to the
analog output of turntable with a built-in phono preamp. Is there a of which enables routing of minijack analog input (you’ll
way to do this, or do I need to use separate speakers with the A/V audio signals from the TV to the need to buy a 3.5mm to RCA
receiver? soundbar. While some higher- adapter cable to make that
DEBORAH MARLOWE / VIA EMAIL end soundbars provide multiple happen). Having said all that, I’ll
HDMI inputs, or even a minijack now repeat my original sugges-

A
Given the wide with surround speakers and analog input, to plug in other tion about buying a speaker
range of analog powered subwoofer to connect sources, most have limited system or passive soundbar
and digital sources to the Denon receiver. connectivity options. with subwoofer and surrounds,
you plan to use Powered soundbars like your If you’re not sold on the idea which will let you take advan-
in your system, I’d definitely Samsung model are designed of buying separate speakers, tage of the cool features
recommend buying a sepa- as an all-in-one solution for you could actually hook up all in your receiver like Dolby
rate multichannel speaker getting good TV sound—you the components on your list to Atmos/DTS:X processing and
system or a passive soundbar connect your TV to it via HDMI the Samsung soundbar. Just Audyssey room correction.

Q A
I own an A/V receiver but
don’t ever listen to broad-
cast radio. In the future, I’d
like to just buy a multi-
channel integrated amp with no AM/FM
tuner, but if those exist they are few and
far between. Do people still really use
the radio on their systems?
DAVE BLACK / VIA EMAIL
You’re right—multichannel
integrated amplifiers with
no AM/FM tuner are few
and far between. The
only one I know of is Rotel’s RAP-1580
Surround Amplified Processor, a
product that Sound & Vision reviewed
in 2017. While a receiver technically
has to include a tuner to be called a
receiver, we’ve noted that some new
A/V receivers omit HD Radio tuning
from the feature list—a possible indica-
tion of flagging consumer interest in
broadcast radio. Either way, internet
radio streaming continues to grow in
popularity and is supported by many
new receivers. That’s the only way I now
listen to radio at home.

Q
I bought a Panasonic DP-UB820 Blu-ray player and a find few video program sources that require running separate
Sony XBR-X900F TV thanks in part to the reviews of at present that actually push HDMI connections to the TV or
both in Sound & Vision. Here’s my question: Should I use those limits. Another consid- projector and audio electronics.
both of the DP-UB820’s HDMI outputs, one connected eration is that Anthem simply Aside from simplifying setup,
directly to the TV for video, and the second to my Anthem AVM 60 passes-through video signals; it another benefit to running
preamp/processor for audio? I’d think it would be best for the Pana- doesn’t perform any additional both audio and video through
sonic to handle video processing before sending the signal to the processing or scaling that could a preamp/processor like the
TV, and that the Anthem simply decode the audio, but I’m wondering degrade video quality. AVM 60 is getting to use its
if there are disadvantages to this setup. A main reason why you’d HDMI onscreen display. This
GREG STRZALKA / VIA EMAIL want to use both HDMI outputs gives you onscreen status
on the Panasonic is when using feedback during setup and

A
There’s no reason eight HDMI inputs are HDMI an older processor or receiver when you make adjustments
why you should 2.0a, a version that’s compatible with HDMI connections that (tweaking center channel
be hesitant to use with high dynamic range (HDR) don’t support the full range of level, for example) and switch
your Anthem AVM formats. They also support the up-to-date video features like processing modes. Otherwise,
60 preamp/processor’s HDMI full 18.2Gbps bandwidth needed HDR and 4K/60 pass-through. you’ll need to depend on the
connections for both video and to pass 4K/60 video signals with Your setup might also have pre/pro’s comparatively tiny
audio switching. The AVM 60’s 4:4:4 subsampling, though you’ll unique installation challenges front-panel display for that.

24 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com


wide
angle The Connected Life
Walk Back the
Design, Part One
BY JOHN SCIACCA
When I first began my job as a custom installer back in 1998, I
frequently had to explain to people exactly what it was our company
did. “We install home theater systems; it’s like having a movie theater in
your house,” I’d usually say.
I can remember my techno-
logically skeptical dad saying,
“Why would anybody want
that?” Fortunately, enough
people did want it that 20 years
later my company, Custom
Theater and Audio, is still in
business.
Today, I rarely ever have to
explain what it is our company
does since most folks gener-
ally understand what a home
theater or media room is. I still
regularly meet with clients,
however, who have little or no
idea where to start the design
process when considering an
installation for their home. In
these cases, I find it best to work
the design process back from
how they would like the room to
actually look and perform once
the project is completed.
Two of the biggest home
theater design variables are
26 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
the speakers and display. This
column will focus on display
selection.
The room and/or budget
often dictates the best display
type for the space, and there are
certain bits of information I want
to know before leading a client
to one technology over another.
How big is the wall where
the projection screen or TV
will be installed, and how far
back from it will viewers sit?
The primary reason for choosing
a projector is to get a large,
cinematic image, but if the
display wall isn’t large enough, is
broken up by doors or windows,
or has an unusual construction—
like an A-Frame design—it might
not comfortably support a large
screen. Also, if the room can’t
accommodate seating distances
at least 8-10 feet away from the
screen, a smaller, flat-panel set is
likely the better choice. (For refer-
ence, a 75-inch screen exceeds
the Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers, or SMPTE,
recommended viewing angle at
10 feet.)
Does the budget support
a two-piece projector and
screen installation?
Prices for large flat-panel sets
continue to drop while their
performance simultaneously
improves. Black Friday 2018 saw
name-brand 85-inch Ultra HDTVs
selling for under $3,000, and
75-inch models for well under
$2,000. While there are similarly
priced projectors, their perfor-
mance—especially when it
comes to factors like brightness
and contrast when displaying
HDR—can’t touch flat-panel TVs.
Also, a projector needs to be
paired with a screen for optimal
image quality, which can add
hundreds or thousands of dollars
to the install depending on the
size, design, and model. Wiring
and installation costs, too, are
always higher with a projection
system.
Can the room be closed
off and made dark during
the day?
Recent improvements in
projector technology have
made installations possible in a
greater range of environments.
New projectors are brighter and
capable of delivering higher
contrast ratios, especially
when paired with an ambient
light rejecting screen like
Black Diamond from Screen
Innovations, Phantom HALR
from Stewart Filmscreen, or
Aeon CLR from Elite Screens.
Even so, projectors produce
their best-looking images in a
darkened room. That’s because
they can’t project black; instead
they project nothing—or as
close to nothing as they can
manage—where black should
be, so the black level you see
onscreen will only be as dark as
the room. The room doesn’t need
to be pitch black, but if it is an
open space, or there are lots of
windows, projection will be more
difficult—and expensive—to
pull off successfully.
How do you want the system
to look when it is off?
No matter how terrific your
system is, it’s likely to be turned
off far more than on and in use.
How do you want the room
to look when it’s off? A giant
screen on the wall will inevi-
tably dominate a room. This is
less of an issue in a dedicated,
closed-off room where “step-
ping into a movie theater” is the
desired effect, but most people
don’t want that for their living
or family room. While there are
lifts available that raise and hide
flat-panel sets, these can be
costly and tricky to implement.
In this case, a projection system
can be the perfect solution, with
a screen concealed in the ceiling
or behind a valance, and an ultra-
short throw projector (like Sony’s
VPL-VZ1000ES or Epson’s
LS100) that can be concealed
inside a piece of furniture. With
such a setup, you can have a fully
hidden 100-inch-plus display
that only reveals itself when it’s
time to watch!
Next time, I’ll walk things
back from an audio standpoint.
THE AUTHOR
For the past 20 years, John
Sciacca has worked as a custom
installer in South Carolina. In his
free time, he enjoys drinking
craft beer and watching movies
on his 7.2.6 surround system.
 2018 FLAT-PANEL UHDTVS ❚ PROJECTORS ❚ A/V RECEIVERS ❚ AUDIO SEPARATES & INTEGRATED AMPS ❚ SOUR

TOP PICKS YEAR OF

THE

28 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

CE COMPONENTS ❚ SPEAKERS ❚ SOUNDBARS ❚ WIRELESS SPEAKERS ❚ SUBWOOFERS ❚ HEADPHONES ❚ EXTRAS ❚ TOP VALUES

THE A/V UNIVERSE IN 2018
saw a steady expansion of
high-performance technologies
into a wider range of products.
Support for Ultra HD and high
dynamic range formats in TVs
and projectors has now become
mainstream. Dolby Atmos and
DTS:X immersive sound can
be found not just in high-end
processors and receivers, but
in entry-level receivers and
soundbars as well. In response
to this development, Sound
& Vision in 2018 added a new
Top Value designation. This
new category now supple-
ments the Top Picks awards we
regularly hand out at this time to
outstanding products reviewed
in the magazine during the
previous year.
Looking over our Top Picks
for 2018, it’s clear that OLED
and LCD UHDTVs that push
the envelope for picture quality
have become more affordable
than ever, with prices for 65-inch
models dipping to $3,500
(OLED) and around $2,000
(LCD). There are also plenty
of under-$5,000 projectors
offering 4K resolution—and in
one instance via full 4K-resolu-
tion imaging chips as opposed
to 4K pixel-shifting technology.
A number of those models also
incorporate effective dynamic
iris systems to provide the high
contrast ratios more typical of
high-end projectors.
On the A/V receiver front,
most new models offer Dolby
Atmos and DTS:X processing
out of the box, along with up
to 13 channels of amplifica-
tion for 7.1.6 or 9.1.4 speaker
installations. But you don’t have
to spend on a flagship unit to
experience new immersive
surround formats since models
that pack Dolby Atmos and
DTS:X processing plus nine
built-in amp channels for 5.1.4
or 7.1.2 installations are now
available for under $700. Mean-
while, full 5.1.2 speaker systems
can be had for under $1,500.
Other technologies that
made an impact on our 2018
Top Picks list include automatic
room equalization and voice-
control. Processing to correct
for room modes is now built
into not just A/V receivers, but
subwoofers, wireless speakers,
and soundbars, and can typi-
cally be set up and controlled
via an app. Voice control tech-
nology from Amazon, Google,
and Apple has expanded into
products other than smart
speakers—you can now bark
orders at your TV and receiver
and have them respond to your
commands.
While the list that follows
represents Sound & Vision’s
Top Picks for 2018, it also
includes products reviewed in
our December 2018/January
2019 and February/March 2019
print issues. Prices, of course,
are subject to change from the
MSRP listed when the review
was originally printed, so check
online to see the latest deals.
—AL GRIFFIN

TOP P
IC
2018 K
Flat-Panel UHDTVs
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR

LG OLED65C8PUA OLED
UHDTV
(October/November) LG’s latest C8
series OLED manages to exceed
the performance of 2017’s C7
series offering, a model that we had
deemed to be near-perfect. While
the improvements are evolutionary
instead of revolutionary, the C8’s
significantly lower price brings
OLED TV tech to more viewers.
(See expanded entry on page 36.)
$3,499, lg.com

FINALISTS
Sony XBR-65X900F LCD
UHDTV
(September) This affordable
Sony offering has the typical
limitations of LCD technology
(off-center uniformity, backlight
blooming), but otherwise
matches OLED in terms of color
richness and resolution, and it
exceeds OLED when it comes
to displaying near-black detail
and punchy HDR highlights.
A budget-friendly but high-
performance option if you’re
still scared off by OLED prices.
$2,300, sony.com
Samsung QN65Q8FN LCD
UHDTV
(October/November) A local
dimming backlight with QLED
Quantum dot technology
makes this second-from-top
Samsung QLED series model
an overachiever when it comes
to shadow depth and detail
and color rendition. Combine
that with a light-filtering screen
surface and you have a TV that's
capable of delivering rich-
looking images in a range of
lighting conditions.
$2,799, samsung.com
Sony XBR-65Z9F LCD
UHDTV
(December 2018/January 2019)
While the high pricetag of this
Sony Master series LCD model
elevates it to the OLED realm,
its rich blacks, crisp detail,
spectacular HDR highlights,
and wide off-center viewing
angle—a unique performance
advantage for an LCD TV that
features a standard vertical
alignment (VA) display—easily
earn it top-dog status among
the company’s LCD offerings.
$3,499, sony.com
Vizio PQ65-F1 LCD
UHDTV
(December 2018/January 2019)
With this P-Series Quantum
model, a company mostly
known for making value-
oriented TVs demonstrates that
it can also compete effectively
in the high-performance arena.
For around $2,000 you get a
set with near-complete P3 color
gamut coverage and a local
dimming backlight that delivers
exceptional HDR brightness
and contrast.
$2,100, vizio.com

soundandvision.com ❘ 29
 2018 TOP PICKS

TOP P
IC
2018 K
Projectors
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR

JVC DLA-X590R D-ILA Projector

(June) JVC’s entry-level 4K D-ILA
pixel-shifter offers a similar feature
set, along with similar performance,
to the more expensive DLA-X790R
step-up model that won a Top Pick
award in 2017. Advantages include
near-full P3 color gamut coverage, better when you activate the projec- even higher HDR brightness than its
excellent native contrast (which gets tor’s auto or manual iris control), and sibling. $3,995, jvc.com

FINALISTS
Hisense Laser TV 4K DLP
Projector
(May) This Hisense offering
combines a laser-driven ultra-
short-throw 4K DLP projector
with a 100-inch Screen Innova-
tions Zero Edge ST ambient
light-rejecting screen. Built-in
video streaming apps and
a Harman 2.1 audio system
make it a compelling all-in-one
package for the price. $10,000,
hisense-usa.com
Acer VL7860 DLP Projector
(September) Acer managed
to surprise us with this 4K
pixel-shifting projector, a model
aimed at the home theater
market that ups the DLP picture
quality game mainly through
its effective use of a dynamic
iris control. The VL7860’s
laser-driven light engine
also promises many years of
maintenance-free operation.
$3,999, acer.com
Sony VPL-VW295ES 4K
SXRD Projector
(February/March 2019)
Sony’s new entry-level full-4K
projector manages to improve
on last year’s Top Pick-winning
VPL-VW285ES by adding
improved Reality Creation video
processing, 4K input lag reduc-
tion, and a 4K-capable vertical
stretch mode for use with an
anamorphic lens and 2.35:1
screens. $5,000, sony.com
Epson Home Cinema 4010
4K PRO-UHD LCD Projector
(February/March 2019)
Epson’s affordable new 4K LCD
pixel-shifter proves to be an
exceptional value, delivering
strong contrast, near-complete
P3 color gamut coverage, good
HDR highlight brightness, and
useful setup features like a
motorized lens in a model that
can be found for less than two
grand. $2,000, epson.com

A/V Receivers
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR

Denon AVR-X8500H A/V Receiver

(October/November) Thirteen 150-watt class-AB amplifier
channels plus Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Auro-3D decoding
make Denon’s massive receiver the beast to beat in the A/V
receiver realm. With an ability to handle up to 7.1.6 or 9.1.4
installations out of the box, the company’s flagship model
is the last word in immersive audio and also offers voice
control via Amazon’s Alexa. $3,999, usa.denon.com
TOP P
IC
2018 K

FINALISTS
Denon AVR-X3400H
A/V Receiver
(April) This mid-level model
packs the right mix of features
for someone looking to power
a 7.1 surround setup, or a basic
5.1.2 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X
rig with overhead speakers.
Onboard AirPlay 2 and Spotify
Connect sweeten the deal.
$999, usa.denon.com
NAD T758 V3 A/V Receiver
(May) NAD’s BluOS-powered
7-channel model sets itself
apart from the A/V receiver pack
by featuring Dirac Live LE room
correction along with Dolby
Atmos processing. The T758
also features the company’s
Modular Design Construction,
which allows for upgrades via
swap-out modules to avoid the
technical obsolescence that
receivers are subject to. $1,300,
nadelectronics.com
Yamaha RX-V685
A/V Receiver
(October/November) This
affordable 7-channel model
from Yamaha enables a basic
5.1.2 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X
installation, but also adds the
company’s MusicCast tech-
nology for wireless surround
and multiroom speaker setups.
(We tested it with along with
a pair of the company's $230/
each MusicCast 20 wireless
speakers used as surrounds.)
$599, usa.yamaha.com
Onkyo TX-NR787 A/V
Receiver (See Top Value)

30 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 TOP P
IC
2018 K
Audio Separates
& Integrated Amps
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR
Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier
(December 2018/January 2019) With
a beefy 2 x 200-watt amp and enough
input options to accommodate any
digital or analog source in your rack,
including turntables with moving it over the top is the inclusion of the receivers. Extensive setup memories
magnet and moving coil cartridges, company’s proprietary ARC room and configuration options also make
Anthem’s stereo integrated amplifier correction, a longstanding feature the STR an audio tweaker’s delight.
is certainly formidable. What puts of its home theater preamps and $4,499, anthemav.com

FINALISTS
TEAC AI-503 Integrated
Amplifier/DAC
(April) Don’t be fooled by the
vintage look of TEAC’s inte-
grated amp/DAC. This desktop-
friendly model is primed for
high-res audio and supports
32/384 PCM and 11.2-mega-
hertz DSD files fed through its
asynchronous USB input. The
unit’s 2 x 30-watt ICEpower
class-D amplifier also supplies
enough oomph for living room
use. $1,000, teac.com
Parasound Halo A 52+
Amplifier
(May) Anyone seeking a reason-
ably priced, high-performance
five-channel amplifier would be
well served by this new model
from Parasound, which puts
out 180 watts per-channel and
provides input and driver stages
operating in pure class-A mode
and a class-A/AB output stage.
$2,995, parasound.com
Naim Uniti Atom Wireless
Music Player
(June) Naim’s Unit Atom is not
just a compact 2 x 40-watt
integrated amp, but a music-
streaming dream machine, with
support for Spotify Connect,
Tidal, TuneIn internet radio, and
others via AirPlay and Chrome-
cast. The company’s superior
iOS/Android app also makes
setup and control a breeze.
$3,000, naimaudio.com
Micromega M-150
Integrated Amplifier
(September) The M-150 may
count among the pricier audio
products that Sound & Vision
tested in 2018, but its gorgeous
industrial design, and equally
gorgeous sound quality, make
it a compelling option for deep-
pocketed listeners seeking
something completely different
for their hi-fi rig. $7,499, micro-
mega.com
PS Audio Sprout100
Integrated Amplifier/DAC
(October/November) The
Sprout100 stands out from
similar compact amp/DACs
by including a phono stage.
Otherwise, this affordable unit
delivers plenty of digital and
analog connection options
plus wireless aptX Bluetooth
streaming and a subwoofer
output. $599, psaudio.com
Marantz AV8805 A/V
Surround Processor
(December 2018/January 2019)
This flagship processor offers
15 output channels—enough
to facilitate almost any Dolby
Atmos, DTS:X, or Auro-3D
immersive sound configuration
you can dream up. Audyssey
MultEQ XT32 room correction,
AirPlay 2 streaming, and Alexa
voice control supplement its
all-around great sound quality.
$4,499, us.marantz.com
Cambridge Audio Edge A
Integrated Amplifier
(December 2018/January 2019)
A normally value-oriented
company, Cambridge Audio
threw out all the stops in
creating the Edge A, a 2 x
100-watt statement piece
that combines impeccable
design with sonics that had
longtime reviewer Daniel
Kumin wondering if his system
had ever sounded any better.
$5,000, cambridgeaudio.com
Krell Theater 7 Multichannel
Amplifier
(February/March 2019) High-
end audio pioneer Krell proves
it is back in the game with
the Theater 7, a 7 x 100-watt
class-A amplifier that delivers
the sledgehammer dynamics
needed for home theater, along
with the subtlety and transpar-
ency music lovers demand.
$7,500, krellonline.com

Source Components
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD
Blu-ray Player
(October/November) In a year marked
by the retreat of Oppo from the Ultra HD
Blu-ray player scene, it was a comfort
to see at least one new player arrive
that actually mattered. Along
with providing reference-quality video
performance, the DP-UB820’s flexible
tone-mapping feature led reviewer Kris
Deering to conclude, “For projector
owners who want to watch HDR, the
UB820 is the first must-own player to hit
the market.” $499, panasonic.com TOP P
IC
2018 K

soundandvision.com ❘ 31
 2018 TOP PICKS

FINALISTS
TiVo Bolt Vox DVR and
Streamer
(April) The latest in a long line
of DVRs from TiVo, the Bolt
Vox distinguishes itself mainly
through a revamped UI and
voice-assisted search and
channel selection control, but
an even more appealing feature
may be the big green Skip
button on its remote for vaulting
rapidly through commercials.
$200-$500 plus service plan,
tivo.com

Speakers
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR

GoldenEar Technology Triton One.R Loudspeaker

(February/March 2019) GoldenEar Tech’s scaled-down
version of its Triton Reference loudspeaker manages to
deliver a sizeable percentage of that flagship model’s perfor-
mance at an equally scaled-down price. Not just a Top Pick,
but an exceptional value. $5,998/pair, goldenear.com

FINALISTS
Klipsch Reference Theater
Pack Speaker System
(April) This affordable full 5.1
speaker package impressed
us with its excellent overall
performance. Added bonus:
it comes with a wireless kit for
connecting the system’s 8-inch
powered subwoofer. $999,
klipsch.com
GoldenEar Technology
Invisa Signature Point Source
In-Wall speaker system
(May) In-wall speakers tend
to get a bad rap among audio
enthusiasts, but here Gold-
enEar Tech has managed to,
in the words of reviewer Darryl
Wilkinson, “build an attractive,
non-intrusive in-wall loud-
speaker offering performance
that rivals (and, in some cases,
surpasses) that of an equiva-
lently priced in-room speaker.”
$7,250, goldenear.com
KEF Q Series Q350
Speaker System
(June) This high-value 5.1.4-
channel KEF surround speaker
package admirably handled
Dolby Atmos duties when we
tested it, delivering a generous
soundfield and plenty of bass
impact from its compact
subwoofer. $3,150, kef.com
ELAC Adante AS-61
Loudspeaker
(September) This step-up
standmounted speaker from
ELAC represents yet another
hit for designer Andrew Jones.
On its own, the AS-61 deliv-
ered gobs of detail and a clear
midrange that made it espe-
cially compelling with vocal
recordings. When the SUB3070
subwoofer was added to the
mix, the full-range sound the
system produced “could easily
challenge far pricier speakers,”
said reviewer Thomas J. Norton.
$2,500/pair, elac.com
M&K Sound S150/S150T
THX Ultra Speaker System
(October/November) These
revamped versions of M&K
Sound’s classic THX speakers
deliver audibly better perfor-
mance than the original. The
performance of our review
system, which consisted of
three S150s for the front chan-
nels and four S150T surrounds,
was characterized by precise,
pinpoint imaging across the
front soundstage and excep-
tional dialogue clarity. $10,595,
mksound.com
Tekton Design Impact
Monitor Speaker System
(October/November) This
curious, somewhat industrial-
looking system has a unique
design that uses arrays of
small drivers matched to
specific frequency ranges in
place of a typical midrange
speaker cone. But the results,
as always, are in the listening,
and reviewer Michael Trei was
very impressed with the Impact
system’s efficient, dynamic,
and transparent sound. $5,350,
tektondesign.com
TOP P
IC
2018 K
Paradigm Premier 700F
Speaker System
(February/March 2019) This
mid-range system based
around the company’s 700F
towers "competes with
speakers twice the price," said
reviewer Tom Norton. Tom was
most impressed with its crisp,
dynamic handling of both movie
soundtracks and music, the
latter notably benefiting from
the company’s app-controlled
Defiance X12 subwoofer.
$4,700, paradigm.com
Jamo S 809 Speaker System
(See Top Value)
Q Acoustics 3000i Series
Speaker System (See Top Value)

32 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 TOP P
IC
2018 K
Soundbars
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR
Sonos Beam Wireless Soundbar
(September) The latest addition to the Sonos
wireless speaker ecosystem excels at movie and
TV sound, has an ARC-enabled HDMI input, and
can be controlled via Alexa voice commands.
Best of all, this three-channel soundbar can be
augmented with the company’s Play:1 speakers
as surrounds and SUB subwoofer for a wireless
5.1 system. $399, sonos.com

FINALISTS
Q Acoustics M2 Soundbase
(June, soundandvision.com)
The M2 Soundbase is a good-
looking and fine-sounding
option for improving your TV’s digital inputs provide ample Polk Audio Command Bar
sound without spending too setup flexibility, and Bluetooth Soundbar (See Top Value)
much money. ARC-enabled is onboard for music streaming.
HDMI, analog RCA, and optical $350, qacoustics.com

Wireless Speakers
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR

SVS Prime Wireless Speaker

System

(February/March 2019) The key

feature that distinguishes this
wireless speaker system is its
sound quality. Yes, it has DTS
Play-Fi for wireless multiroom
streaming and is Amazon Alexa-
compatible. But an emphasis
on stereo performance and
the inclusion of a subwoofer
output indicate that audiophile
concerns were front-and-center
for SVS during the Prime's design
process. $600, svsound.com
TOP P
IC
2018 K
FINALISTS
Apple HomePod Wireless includes room correction that legendary, late founding Pink Audio’s Alexa-compatible
Smart Speaker automatically recalibrates when Floyd member, Syd Barrett, offering manages to stand
(June) It came as no surprise you move the speaker to a Kanto’s SYD also managed to out from the smart speaker
to find the HomePod to be different location. He also called impress us with its good looks crowd by adding high-res
an Apple-centric speaker it “the best-sounding small and build quality, easy setup, audio support, along with
that locks you into the speaker” he’d yet tested. $349, and excellent overall sound Bluetooth to its AirPlay, Wi-Fi
company’s AirPlay/Siri/ apple.com for a Bluetooth speaker. $330, and DLNA streaming options.
Apple Music ecosystem. Our kantoaudio.com It also provides decent stereo
reviewer Rob Sabin was none- Kanto SYD Powered imaging, smooth treble
theless very impressed with Bluetooth Speaker Riva Concert Wireless reproduction and notably full-
its ergonomics, build quality, (October/November) With Smart Speaker sounding bass for a compact
and general feature set, which a name that evokes the (February/March 2019) Riva model. $179, rivaaudio.com

soundandvision.com ❘ 33
 2018 TOP PICKS

Subwoofers
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR

MartinLogan Dynamo 1100X Subwoofer

(December 2018/January 2019) App-controlled
subwoofers aren’t a new thing, but MartinLogan
manages to take the concept to the next level by
incorporating its ARC room correction tech into its
subwoofer setup and control app suite. The result,
according to reviewer Michael Trei, was a “clean
impact and dynamic wallop” that made him want to
turn up the volume. $1,099.95, martinlogan.com

FINALISTS
KEF Kube12b Subwoofer
(June) The Kube12b (tested as
part of a full 5.1.4 KEF system),
which features three DSP EQ
modes to tailor output for
various placements, proved to
be an overachiever during our
test given its affordable price.
$700, kef.com
SVS PC-4000 Subwoofer
(May) This sub’s cylindrical
form might not be to everyone’s
taste, but a useful app, onboard
parametric EQ, and an ability to
deliver powerful subterranean
bass that’s felt as much as heard
left a strong impression on
reviewer David Vaughn. $1,800.
svsound.com
GoldenEar Technology
SuperSubX Subwoofer
TOP P
IC
2018 K
(May) With a 1,400-watt
class-D amp and a design that
pits two active and two passive
drivers against each other ELAC SUB3070 Subwoofer Tekton Design Brisance 12
to cancel out vibrations, the (September) Listened to in Subwoofer
SuperSubX managed to sound a system with ELAC’s AS-61 (October/November)
both powerful and musical standmounted speakers, the Sporting the same no-frills
when we tested it as part of a app-controlled and optimized look as the Tekton Impact
full GoldenEar in-wall speaker SUB3070 easily delivered “the surround speaker system it
system. $1,250, goldenear.com low-frequency grunt” needed to was paired with for our review,
fill reviewer Thomas J. Norton’s the Brisance 12 nonethe-
Monoprice Monolith large listening space and also less managed to impress by
12" and 15" THX Ultra managed to ace his suite of pipe providing a foundation of
Subwoofers organ and synth bass torture punchy, taut-sounding bass.
(June) Basshead David Vaughn tracks. $2,500, elac.com $800, tektondesign.com
clearly enjoyed the time he
spent with this pair of powerful
subs, calling out their “clean and
controlled bass response”
and sheer visceral impact
with action movies.
$800/$1,300,
monoprice.com

TOP P
IC
2018 K
Headphones
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR

Focal Clear headphones

(June, soundandvision.com) By using
technology developed for its $4,000 Utopia
headphones, Focal managed to bring many
of the sonic advantages of its flagship to
a model priced under $1,500. The result,
according to reviewer Mark Fleischmann, is
“extremely well-balanced performance” in a
model with “gorgeous looks” and “impec-
cable build quality.” $1,499, focal.com/us

34 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 FINALISTS

HiFiMan Sundara
Headphones
(June) HiFiMan managed to
raise the performance bar for
$500 headphones with its
Sundara, a planar magnetic
model that dramatically
improves on the company’s
earlier designs when it comes
to comfort and looks. $179,
hifiman.com
Etymotic ER3 Extended
Response Headphones
(September) This affordable set
of headphones managed to win
reviewer Steve Guttenberg over
with its neutral, accurate sound
and superior noise isolation
compared with other in-ear
models. $179, etymotic.com
Sennheiser HD 569
Headphones
(December 2018/January
2019) The audiophile-grade
sound provided by the HD
569 headphones may seem
out of step with its affordable
price, but headphone expert
and Sennheiser fan Steve
Guttenberg found that these
budget cans compare very
favorably with the company’s
costlier models. $149, en-us.
sennheiser.com

Extras
TOP PICK OF THE YEAR
Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital Headphone
Amp/DAC
(September) This compact headphone amp/
DAC provides optical, coaxial, and USB digital
inputs, and its analog outputs and volume
control let it also function as a stereo preamp.
DSD and MQA support, smooth sound
quality, and a reasonable price make this a
magic box indeed. $399, pro-jectusa.com

FINALISTS
iFi nano iDSD Black Label
headphone amp/DAC
(April) With an ability to handle up
to 32/384 high-res PCM and up to
quad-rate DSD plus dual outputs
for different headphone types, this
compact amp/DAC’s flexibility is
matched by its great sound quality.
$199, ifi-audio.com
Royole Moon 3D Mobile
Theater
(May) If you want a home theater
TOP P
IC
2018 K
but don’t have room for one,
this mobile theater solution
combining a headset with
HD-resolution OLED display
goggles and active noise-
cancelling headphones could
be the ticket. Reviewer Rob
Sabin was impressed enough
with its performance that he
didn’t mind attracting attention
when donning it on a cross-
country flight. $800, royole.
com/moon
TOP
VALU E
2018

Top Values
TOP VALUE OF THE YEAR

Jamo S 809 Speaker System

(September) Once he figured out how to pronounce “Jamo”
(ya-mo), reviewer Daniel Kumin next directed his attention
to this smart-looking 5.1.2 speaker system’s impressive
performance on Dolby Atmos soundtracks. Bottom line: you
get a lot here for your money, though bass-heads may want
to upgrade to one of the company’s more capable subwoofer
offerings. $1,497, jamo.com

soundandvision.com ❘ 35
 2018 TOP PICKS
FINALISTS
Polk Audio Command Bar
Soundbar
(October/November) This wire-
less soundbar and subwoofer
system offers good sound
quality and flexible connectivity
options paired with Alexa voice
control. At just $300—or less if
you catch one of Polk’s frequent
sales—it’s an attractive proposi-
tion. $300, polkaudio.com
Q Acoustics 3000i Series
Speaker System
(February/March 2019) This
latest tower-based system
from England’s Q Acoustics
combines good looks with
big, rich sound. While reviewer
Daniel Kumin found that the
included Q 3060 subwoofer's
limited extension didn’t do
much to augment overall perfor-
mance, the system is still very
nicely priced for what you get.
$1,499, qacoustics.com
Onkyo TX-NR787 A/V
Receiver
(February/March 2019) Nine
built-in amp channels, Dolby
Atmos and DTS:X processing,
Google Chromecast with
Google Assistant, AirPlay,
and DTS Play-Fi wireless
streaming—Onkyo’s TX-NR787
impressed us by offering all of
those features and more at a
very reasonable price. $699,
onkyousa.com

Top Pick of the Year

2018 TOP PICK OF THE YEAR

LG OLED65C8PUA OLED UHDTV

(October/November) When Sound &

Vision bestowed its 2017 Top Pick of
the Year award on LG’s OLED65E7P
OLED Ultra HDTV, it was the first time
in a few years a TV had earned that
honor, and an acknowledgement of
the technology’s long-term market-
place viability (a notion no doubt
hammered home by Sony’s 2017
release of its own OLED model based
on LG’s raw panel). The award further
served as acknowledgement that
OLED managed to satisfy videophile
performance expectations. It’s true
that OLED doesn’t achieve the spec-
tacular 2,000 nits or higher brightness
levels that certain LCD models are
capable of hitting, but light output with
the latest OLED models has increased,
and the technology’s incomparable
blacks allow it to deliver consistently
excellent contrast.
While technical editor Thomas
J. Norton found the improvements
offered by LG’s 2018 Top Pick of the
Year-winning OLED65C8PUA to be
evolutionary as opposed to revolu- OLED65C8PUA is a Logo Extrac- What was it like watching movies
tionary, there were several notable tion Algorithm (LEA) designed to with the OLED65C8PUA? Viewing a
features that left an impression during prevent image retention, something new Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Brave-
his experience with the new model, it does by limiting the brightness of heart, TJN stated that the Dolby Vision-
which he was able to directly compare stationary objects on moving images. enhanced image “looked little short
with 2017’s OLED65E7P. These include Image retention (otherwise known of spectacular on the LG, providing
a new Alpha 9 processor, an auto-cali- as burn-in), which doesn’t affect LCD one of the most jaw-dropping viewing
bration option for quick adjustment by models, is a potential problem with experiences I’ve had to date.” High
a video calibration professional, and OLED displays. During the course of praise indeed. Equally impressive is
an evolved Dynamic Tone Mapping our review, LEA was found to decrease the $3,500 price of our 2018 Top Pick.
feature that ended up making a visible brightness of stationary objects by up At $1,500 less than last year’s award
difference when viewing programs to 40 percent—a level that should help winner, the OLED experience has now
with high dynamic range. put to rest any fears of OLED burn-in become more accessible to a larger
Another key new feature of the when watching baseball or gaming. swath of viewers.

36 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 test report
EPSON HOME CINEMA 4010 4K PRO-UHD LCD PROJECTOR
In Living Color
By Al Griffin
AFFORDABLE, 4K-CAPABLE
projectors are very much a reality —
Sound & Vision has reviewed several
such models plucked from the DLP,
LCD, and LCOS camps. And in some
cases, “affordable” can equate to
$2,000 or less. One drawback you
have to contend with when consid-
ering such projectors is their depen-
dence on pixel-shifting technology to
display a full Ultra HD image onscreen.
But given the crisp pictures we’ve
seen when viewing with pixel-shifting
models from JVC, Optoma, Epson,
and others, the lack of true 4K-reso-
lution imaging chips ultimately isn’t
much of a drawback at all.
This time last year we reviewed
Epson’s Home Cinema 4000,
. a $2,200 LCD projector that
uses pixel-shifting to deliver “4K
. Enhanced” image quality. That
. 38 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
model has since been replaced
by the Home Cinema 4010, a new
pixel-shifter priced at $1,999,
though it can be found online for
$1,799.
What do you get when stepping
up to the new Home Cinema 4010?
According to Epson’s specs, slightly
higher brightness (2,400 lumens
of color and white light output)
and improved contrast. Epson
also touts improved 4K PRO-UHD
Enhancement technology for the
4010, with 12-bit processing to
ensure smooth image gradations.
(This feature can be switched off if
you prefer viewing 1080p sources
with no enhancement, though it will
remain on for Ultra HD sources.)
A unique 15-element glass lens is
said to offer better resolving power
across the full screen area, with
RATING
Epson Home
Cinema 4010 4K
PRO-UHD LCD
Projector
PERFORMANCE
FEATURES
ERGONOMICS
VALUE
black coating of the lens chambers
to reduce light leakage.
Otherwise, Epson left in many of
the features that made the 4000 a
strong Top Pick contender in 2017.
The new 4010 boasts the same
near-100 percent P3 color gamut
coverage, a 2.1x zoom lens with
horizontal and vertical lens shift,
and a powered lens control with
multiple lens memories. It also
supports display of HDR10 high
dynamic range content, though
only for 4K/24 programs with 4:2:2
encoding and 10- or 12-bit color
depth (which happens to cover
The HC 4010's most of what’s available on Ultra
near-100 percent HD Blu-ray disc) via its HDMI 1.4
P3 color gamut inputs. The lack of up-to-date HDMI
coverage helps
Ultra HD discs to
2.0/18Gbps connectivity on the
4010 is a bit of a mystery, but unless
look their best. you’re using the projector for 4K
gaming, there’s not much there
to complain about. Epson’s
projector can also be used for
3D movie viewing (requires
optional $99 each ELPGS03 RF
3D glasses).
Compared with other projec-
tors I’ve had in-house over the
past year or two, the 4010 is
quite the big boy: it measures
around 20 inches wide by
17 inches deep and weighs
nearly 25 pounds. The Epson’s
substantial look and feel is
helped by a motorized lens
cover that automatically opens
and shuts when you power the
projector on and off.
Along with its pair of HDMI
1.4 jacks, the Epson has a VGA
input and a pair of USB ports—
one for firmware updates
and the other for powering
an optical HDMI connection.
Control connections include
LAN, RS-232C, and a trigger
output for a projection screen.
The life spec for the 250-watt
UHE lamp is 5,000 hours in Eco
Power Consumption mode,
4,000 hours in Medium, and
3,500 hours in High.
A substantial home theater
projector should come with
a substantial remote control,
and the full-size handset
that accompanies the 4010
satisfies expectations. The
keypad is fully backlit for easy
access in a dim or dark room
and includes direct buttons for
input switching. There are also
buttons to directly call up Color
Mode and Image Enhancement
submenus. Motorized lens
adjustments for size, focus, and
position—an amenity typically
found on pricier projectors that
eases setup considerably—can
be called up by pressing the
Lens button.
SETUP
I installed the 4010 on a high
shelf at the back of my room with
the lens surface positioned 14
feet away from a 92-inch diag-
onal, 1.1 gain Stewart Filmscreen
Cima screen. The generous
range offered by the projector’s
2.1x zoom lens and +/- 96-degree
vertical and +/- 47-degree
horizontal lens shift allowed
me to quickly adjust image
geometry. Using the motorized
adjustments, I was then able to
optimize focus by standing close
up to the screen. Adjustable feet
on the projector’s bottom permit
additional tweaking of image
position.
'A substantial
projector should
come with a
substantial remote.'
Like many other projectors
(and TVs), the 4010 doesn’t
allow for automatic switching
between optimized settings
for standard and high dynamic
range sources within the same
picture modes (called Color
Modes by Epson). For this
reason, I adjusted the Natural
mode, which provided mostly
accurate out-of-box measure-
ments, for an HD/SDR input,
and the Digital Cinema mode
for Ultra HD/HDR. According to
Epson, Digital Cinema covers
the full P3 color gamut and the
98 percent coverage I measured
with Digital Cinema active
proved that to be about right.
Other settings I used for
HD/SDR viewing included
-1 Gamma, Medium Power
Consumption (lamp mode), and
High Speed Auto Iris. I noted
occasional pumping artifacts
from the Auto Iris, but barely
enough to justify the reduction
in image contrast that shutting
it off would require. While the
projector’s black level and
contrast didn’t match what I’ve
seen from pricier projectors,
its performance here was for
the most part impressive for
an under-$2,000 model. I also
chose to use the 4K Enhance-
ment setting for viewing HD
programs, mainly because I saw
no downside to using it. The
Epson also offers loads of detail
and resolution adjustments
to make pictures look crisper
without adding artificial-looking
enhancement; depending on
the source material quality,
these ranged from highly effec-
tive to completely unnecessary.
Configuring the 4010 for
Ultra HD/HDR proved to be a
tougher slog, mainly because it
was difficult to get the projector
to closely track the PQ curve (a
gamma equivalent in the HDR
world) during calibration. For
this reason, HDR images tended
to look too dark. And when I
made adjustments to bump up
the lower range of the curve—
mostly by switching from the
default Auto to the Auto Bright
setting in the Signal menu’s
Dynamic Range submenu, but
also by choosing to goose the
regular brightness and contrast
adjustments—highlight details
could look washed out. Ulti-
mately, I found that it was neces-
At a Glance
Extended color
Good brightness and
contrast
Great value
Blacks could be better
High fan noise with
picture optimized for HDR
Price: $1,999
800-463-7766
epson.com
sary to enter the Color Mode
menu and tweak the projector’s
UltraHD/HDR settings on a per-
disc basis to get satisfactory
results.
HD/SDR PERFORMANCE
Testing the Epson gave me a
good opportunity to break out
the Criterion Collection’s new
Blu-ray release of The Tree of Life.
Based on a new 4K scan from
the original camera negative,
Criterion’s release looks even
better than the original disc,
which has long served me as a
home theater reference. With
the projector upconverting the
image for 4K display, the movie’s
omnipresent trees looked solid
and highly textured, and closeup
shots of the characters’ faces
revealed fine details like freckles
and pores. Skin tones came
across accurately—Jessica
Chastain’s milk-white complexion
in particular stood out against
her orange hair. There was also
a dramatic difference to be seen
in shots from the remembered
past, which had a warm, glowing
look, and the present day, which
appeared colder and bluer.
The sci-fi classic 2001: A
Space Odyssey is another
long-time reference disc of
mine that’s been rescanned and
re-released—this time in 8K
for presentation on Blu-ray and
Ultra HD Blu-ray. Watching the
regular Blu-ray disc version of
this wonderful new transfer on
the 4010, dark scenes such as
one where the early hominids
soundandvision.com ❘ 39
 test report
EPSON HOME CINEMA 4010 4K PRO-UHD LCD PROJECTOR

Test Bench
FULL-ON/FULL-OFF Filmscreen Cima screen with black measured 0.016 nits and reproduction. Coverage of the
CONTRAST RATIO: 8,300:1 the zoom lens set near its peak white 99.58 nits (29 ft-L) P3 color gamut was 98%, an
(SDR); 6,238:1 (HDR) midpoint. for a contrast ratio of 6,223:1. impressive number and one
The projector’s highest SDR Before calibration, the that exceeds not just other
The measurements here were contrast ratio was achieved Epson’s default 6500K color 4K/HDR-capable projectors
made using CalMAN (www. with the Natural color mode, temperature preset in Natural Sound & Vision has tested,
spectracal.com) measure- Medium Power Consump- Color Mode displayed decent but most flat-panel UHDTVs
ment software from Portrait tion, and High Speed Auto grayscale tracking, with the as well.
Displays, together with a Iris setting active. With this Delta E averaging out to 4.9. Gamma closely tracked a
Photo Research PR-650 color combination, black measured After calibration, that number 2.2 target for most of the range
meter, Minolta LS-100 lumi- 0.004 ft-L and peak white improved substantially to 1.6, when the -1 Gamma preset
nance meter and a Murideo/ 31.72 ft-L for a contrast ratio with a high of 2.8 at 70 percent was selected, with a high of
AVPro (Fresco Six-G) test of 7,930:1—a good showing brightness. (Delta E is a figure 2.8 at 70 IRE. In HDR mode,
pattern generator. for a projector priced under of merit indicating how close peak white output measured
Pre-calibration measure- $2,000. The projectors’ native the color comes to the stan- 101 nits +/- 3 nits regardless of
ments were made with the (Auto Iris Off) contrast ratio dards, either D65 for the white the size of the measured white
Epson Home Cinema 4010’s with the same preset and point or the color coordinates window. Picture uniformity
Natural color mode active. Power Consumption mode for each of the primary and was good: white full-field test
Post-calibration measure- active was 1,117:1. In HDR secondary colors that define patterns showed minimal
ments were made in the same display mode with the Digital the color gamut under test. brightness drops between
mode. All measurements were Cinema picture preset, High Values below 3 are generally the center and edges of the
made at 14-feet from a 92-inch Power Consumption, and High unnoticeable.) screen, and no color shifts.
diagonal, 1.1 gain Stewart Speed Auto Iris setting active, With the default settings Our suite of video processing
active in Natural Color Mode, tests revealed uneven
DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD, Inches): 20.5 x 6.7 x 17.7 the Delta E of the 4010’s performance, with the Epson
WEIGHT: (Pounds): 24.7 measured color points tripping up on 2:2 and several
Specs VIDEO INPUTS: HDMI 1.4a (2), VGA averaged out to 2.2. While 2:3 pulldown patterns.
OTHER: USB (2), LAN, RS-232C, 12-volt trigger the projector provides color Input lag with a 1080p
output management system controls, source measured 27.0 ms,
ILLUMINATION METHOD: 250 watt UHE lamp I didn’t feel the need to access making the 4010 a better-than-
LAMP LIFE: 3,500 hours (High mode) / 5,000 hours (Eco mode) them given the Epson’s faithful average option for high-def
PRICE: $1,999 out-of-box Rec.709 color gaming. —A.G.

huddle together in a cave depth was lacking to a degree projectors that I’ve recently impressive contrast between
showed very good shadow but was still notably better than handled. When the scene the black background of space
detail in the cave’s rock surface what I’ve observed on several flashed forward to civilization’s and the white ships and star
and in the creatures’ fur. Black other under-$2,000 4K DLP space-bound future, I saw fields superimposed on it.

40 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 ULTRA HD/HDR
PERFORMANCE
Looking at the Ultra HD disc
version of 2001, the setup steps
I had made to calibrate the 4010
for close tracking of the PQ curve
employed for 4K/HDR display
caused the black level of the
image to appear too high. The
same scenes in the cave and in
outer space had a flat look, with
grayish shadows and blown out
highlights. This was most evident
on shots of the spaceships,
which were devoid of fine detail.
After deciding to wing it and
make brightness and contrast
adjustments by eye, much of
that highlight detail was restored
and blacks now had better
depth. While the color palette of
2001 is mostly restrained, there
were a few scenes that showed
the Epson’s extended color
gamut coverage to advantage.
A standout came near the film’s
end when the astronaut Dave
crawls into the memory center of
the ship’s renegade computer,
HAL 9000, to disable his higher
functions. Compared with what I
saw via regular Blu-ray, the vivid,
detailed reds in this scene made
it a much more intense viewing
experience.
Encouraged by the Epson’s
color performance with 2001,
I next watched a favorite
Tom Norton reference disc,
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol.
2. This film literally popped in
Ultra HD/HDR when viewed
on the Epson. Colors were
consistently vivid, yet clean and
detailed. The rich green and
blue skintones of Gamora and
Yonda, for example, seemed to
glow from within. Same held for
the gold skin of the Sovereigns,
which came across as positively
radiant, and the red laser trails of
Yonda’s whistle-controlled Yaka
arrow. Otherwise, I observed
consistently excellent detail and
solid contrast on this disc from
start to finish when viewing it on
the 4010.
'I observed
consistently
excellent detail and
solid contrast.'
While I was impressed by the
bright, color-rich HDR image
put out by the Epson, fan noise
with the High Power Consump-
tion (lamp mode) setting—the
one I settled on for best HDR
performance—switched on
could be distracting during
quiet scenes in movies. I
strongly preferred using the
less-noisy Medium Power
Consumption setting, but the
image then lost some of its
HDR punch. Always tradeoffs
with projectors! The 4010 also
failed several of our standard
video processing tests—
primarily 2:2, but also some
2:3 pulldown moving image
patterns—though that situation
is fairly common and hardly a
deal-breaker.
CONCLUSION
Is Epson’s Home Cinema 4010
the projector of your dreams?
If your budget maxes out at
$2,000, it very well could be.
The 4010’s 2.1x powered zoom
and horizontal/vertical lens shift
make setup a breeze. Also, its 4K
upconversion, dynamic iris, and
accurate, extended color mean
that most things you’ll watch will
look great. Sure, there were times
when I yearned for greater black
depth, and fan noise when the
projector was pushed to its limits
could be distracting. But overall, I
was very impressed with what the
4010 delivers for the price.
The Verdict
The Epson 4010’s near-perfect
color, good contrast, and wide
array of setup features make it a
strong under-$2,000 projector
option.
soundandvision.com ❘ 41
 test report
SONY VPL-VW295ES 4K VIDEO PROJECTOR
4K For Real
By Thomas J. Norton
UNTIL RECENTLY, most home 4K
projectors used lower-than-4K-resolu-
tion imaging chips and employed
various types of time-offset pixel
shifting to display a 4K image on a
screen. Such projectors are affordable
and widely available, and they can be
remarkably effective. True, full 4K
projection, on the other hand, has
remained something of a golden
goose, priced out of the range of mere
mortals.
In 2017, Sony shook up the
market when it introduced three
under-$10,000 native 4K projec-
tors. The least expensive model, the
VPL-VW285ES ($5,000) was hardly
an impulse buy, but neither was its
price competitive with a new car or
a down payment on a house. When
we reviewed it in the February/
March 2018 issue, the VPL-
VW285ES was the first relatively
affordable true 4K projector.
Sony’s new VPL-VW2985ES
($5,000) represents a further refine-
42 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
ment of the company’s affordable
4K projector offerings. It’s based
on Sony’s 4,096 x 2,160-pixel SXRD
imaging chips (Sony’s variation on
LCOS), one each for red, green,
and blue. Consumer 4K sources
are 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, but Sony is
apparently using a chip architecture
that was developed for its profes-
sional 4K projectors. The extra 256
horizontal pixels would appear to
offer little benefit (or loss) to the
buyer on most program material.
According to Sony, however, those
extra pixels can be put to use by
choosing either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1
Zoom modes, which will expand
the image to eliminate the letterbox
bars (1.85:1 Zoom) or reduce their
size (2.35:1 Zoom). Of course, this
involves extra processing, which
may or may not result in a visibly
better picture when that processing
is balanced out against a 0.003%
increase in the overall pixel count. I
didn’t use the Zoom modes during
my testing.
The new VPL-VW295ES
resembles the model it replaces
so closely that you’d swear it was
a clone. It’s a half-inch taller and
has nearly identical features. The
most significant upgrade the new
VW295ES offers is 18Gbps HDMI
bandwidth for full quality playback
of 4K/HDR/60Hz/10-bit sources.
Sony’s earlier VW285ES model was
limited to 13.5Gbps, which is still
sufficient for 99.9999% of currently
available program sources. (The
only such source we know of is
an Ultra HD disc of the movie Billy
Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.)
Other changes found in the
VW295ES include Motionflow
processing that now operates in 4K
(likely of limited interest to movie
fans who hate the soap-opera
effect). There are also HDR options
that, in Sony’s words, fall “closer
to the director’s intentions,” plus
enhanced Reality Creation, 4K input
lag reduction (a useful feature for
gamers that was limited to 2K in
the VW285ES), and a 4K-capable
vertical stretch mode for use with
an anamorphic lens. Sony also
claims the new projector provides
improved gradations of deepest
blacks.
Similarities to the VW285ES
remain. The new projector has
motorized lens control, but no lens
RATING memories—a disappointment for
users with 2.35:1 screens. There’s
Sony VPL- no automated lens cover or adjust-
VW295ES able iris of any kind, either dynamic
PERFORMANCE or manual (a dynamic iris has
long been an important feature of
FEATURES Sony’s 2K home projectors). There
are 2-step white balance (gray-
ERGONOMICS scale) adjustments and a full color
management system (CMS).
VALUE
The projector’s cooling fan is
very quiet in the Low lamp mode
and only marginally audible in High
mode. Its large remote control is
effective and backlit. The VW295ES
also does 3D, though Sony’s
3D glasses are optional (model
TDG-BT500A, $29.95 for two on
Amazon).
TESTING ONE
All of my serious viewing was done
with Blu-ray (HD and UHD) using
Oppo’s UDP-203 Ultra HD
Blu-ray player.
A pre-production sample of
the VW295ES was sent to us in
August 2018 for a quick look.
We published an online report
of our early observations in
September, but there was no
time for a thorough calibration
of the projector before it had to
be returned for its formal U.S.
introduction at the 2018 CEDIA
Expo.
I did spend many hours
watching that first VW295ES
sample with both SDR and
HDR sources. HD/SDR (1080p)
material fared beautifully, with
the exceptional resolution
suggesting excellent upconver-
sion. Images looked as close
to 3D as I’d hope to see with a
2D source. A Blu-ray of 1964’s
My Fair Lady displayed brilliant
colors and intricate detail, espe-
cially in Higgins’ home with his
books, furniture, and phonetics
gear littered about in typically
excessive Victorian style.
Ultra HD/HDR was more
variable, however: I often had
to adjust the available controls
in search of the best balance of
light and dark as I moved from
one disc to another. But most
material with HDR proved highly
watchable, particularly in terms
of color and resolution.
TESTING TWO
We received a production
sample of the VW295ES in late
October 2018. Fresh out of the
box, the projector had no hours
on its lamp, so I ran it for 100
hours before doing any calibra-
tion or serious viewing.
Like most displays, the
VW295ES offers a wide range
of calibrated presets (picture
modes) and color temperature
settings. But you can’t enter
different settings for HDR and
SDR in the same preset, which
would allow for auto sensing
and switching between HDR
and SDR sources. I used the
Reference preset for SDR, and
Cinema Film 2 for HDR. But
if you calibrate a given color
temperature selection for a
specific calibrated preset,
those identical numbers will
be automatically inserted into
each calibrated preset and
can’t be individually changed.
Sony claims that if you adjust
the white balance for SDR, the
same white balance settings will
be fine for HDR. In my experi-
ence, they weren’t—though the
differences weren’t extreme.
I ultimately used the Refer-
ence calibrated preset for SDR
together with the D65 Color
Temperature setting, and the
Cinema Film 2 calibrated preset
for HDR together with the
Custom 5 Color Temperature
setting. This meant that I had
to switch manually between
calibrated presets when I went
from SDR to HDR or the reverse.
I also calibrated each of those
Color Temperature selections
as needed using the projector’s
2-step white balance controls.
If all that adjustment sounds
ergonomically challenging, it
Above: The VW295ES comes
with a full-size, fully backlit
remote control. Below: Dual
HDMI inputs offer 18Gbps
HDMI bandwidth for full
quality playback of 4K/
HDR/60Hz/10-bit sources.
At a Glance
Excellent resolution
Good HDR brightness
Quiet
Middling black level
Limited BT.2020 and P3
color coverage
No 10-point white
balance adjustment
Price: $5,000
(877) 865-SONY
sony.com
was: I spent hours figuring out
which settings did what and
how changing them affected
other aspects of the setup. But
my comments here are primarily
to alert pro video calibrators to
some ergonomic challenges
with the Sony’s controls.
You can experiment with our
settings, which will appear in the
online version of this review, but
keep in mind that unit-to-unit
variations always exist between
samples of any specific display,
and they can be particularly
significant when you’re dealing
with projection lamps.
HD/SDR SETUP AND
PERFORMANCE
The VW295 passed all of our
HD video tests but will not
accept a standard definition
480i source directly—an
increasingly common limita-
tion in video displays from all
makers. Viewing HD on the
calibrated VW295ES was
every bit as impressive as my
first go-around with the earlier
sample. It handled everything
I threw at it superbly. The SDR
calibration also went quickly
using the 2-step white balance
controls; I didn’t need to touch
the CMS to get outstanding
results.
Even before performing a
full color calibration, I made
a few changes to the default
Reference Calibrated Preset to
tamp down an out-of-the-box
soundandvision.com ❘ 43
 test report
SONY VPL-VW295ES 4K VIDEO PROJECTOR

Test Bench
(Some minor changes from the settings used for these calibrations were made in the final viewing Delta E peaked at 8.2 with
tests. For the control settings used in the viewing, go to soundandvision.com) luminance errors included
The measurements here were made using CalMAN measurement software from Spectracal, (at 40%) and 1.3 without
together with Photo Research PR-650 and Klein K-10A color meters and a test pattern generator luminance errors included
from Murideo/AVPro (Fresco Six-G, for 4K/HDR). (at 60%). The color Delta E
The measurements were made at 15 feet from my 1.3 gain Stewart Studiotek 130 2.35:1 aspect ranged from a low of 0.3 (red)
ratio screen with the zoom set approximately to its midpoint. Both brightness and contrast will to a high of 7.3 (green). The
vary somewhat depending on the setting of the zoom control and, of course, the characteristics of range available from the CMS
the screen. adjustments was not sufficient
to generate better color Delta
HD/SDR at 50%. Post-calibration, using Enhancer on Low, the E results.
FULL-ON/FULL-OFF only the 2-point grayscale measured peak white level The HDR peak white
CONTRAST RATIO: 4,500:1 controls, the maximum Delta E was 144.4 nits (42.1 ft-L) and output measured 141 nits +/- a
In the Reference Calibrate was 2.1 at 10%. The maximum full black 0.025 nits (0.0073 maximum of 3 nits regardless
preset, with the Brightness color Delta E was 1.52 ft-L). However, with HDR the of the size of the measured
control at 54, Contrast at (magenta) before calibration bulk of the image falls below white window. The color satu-
80, Lamp setting at Low, and 1.96 (red and green) after. 50%, with the remainder ration errors in BT.2020 were
Contrast Enhancer Off, and In the 2.4 setting the gamma theoretically reserved for fair, slightly better in P3 (inside
Gamma Correction at 2.4, the ranged from 2.43 at 10% to highlights. The output at 50% BT.2020), and very good in
measured peak white level 2.33 at 70% and 80%. measured 66 nits (19.3 ft-L), BT.709 (inside BT.2020). The
was 72 nits (21 foot-lamberts) for a working contrast ratio middling BT.2020 and P3
and full black 0.016 nits UHD/HDR over the brightness range results were mainly due to a
(0.00467 ft-L). FULL ON/FULL-OFF encompassing the bulk of the wide deviation in green. This
In the (calibration adjusted) CONTRAST RATIO: 5,776:1 program material of 66/0.025, was not visually evident on real
D65 Color Temp. mode In the Cinema Film 2 or 2,640:1. program material.
with the above settings, Calibrated Preset, with the In the (calibration adjusted) The Sony achieved 60.5% of
the average pre-calibration Brightness control at 72, Custom 5 Color Temp mode BT.2020 (1976 standard) and
grayscale Delta E from 10% to Contrast at Max, the Lamp and the above settings, the 82.9% of P3 (1976 standard).
100% was a maximum of 2.86 setting at High, and Contrast post calibration grayscale (Delta E is a figure of merit
indicating how close the color
TYPE: SXRD (LCOS) LENS SHIFT: Vertical and Horizontal (motorized) comes to the grayscale and
NATIVE RESOLUTION: 4,096 DIMENSIONS: (W x H x D, inches): 19.5, x 8.1 x color standards at each point
Specs x 2,160 18.25 (excluding protrusions) in the brightness range. Values
3D: Yes WEIGHT: (pounds): 31 below 3—some experts allow
ILLUMINATION: 225W UHP VIDEO INPUTS: HDMI 2.0 (2) for 4—are generally consid-
Lamp OTHER: USB, 12V Trigger, Remote (RS-232), ered visually indistinguishable
DYNAMIC IRIS: No LAN (RJ45), IR (mini-jack) from ideal.)

peak brightness of nearly 150
nits (!) in the default High lamp
setting. I dropped the lamp
setting to Low and adjusted it
for an SDR peak white level of
roughly 72 nits (21 footlamberts)
with the projector positioned 14
feet away from my 96-inch wide
Stewart Studiotek 130 screen.
Both color and detail were
excellent when viewing a wide
range of reference Blu-rays,
including Oblivion, Kingdom of
Heaven (Ridley Scott’s master-
piece, but only in its full Direc-
tor’s Cut and if you can accept
its rather loose interpretation
of history), My Fair Lady, How
to Train Your Dragon, and The
Mummy (the 1999 serio-comic,
Brendan Fraser version, not
the recent Tom Cruise bomb).
My appreciation of all of these
titles is enhanced by their very
different but consistently stun-
ning, and stunningly recorded,
music scores. But I digress.
The only notable SDR short-
coming with the VW295ES was
its decent, but not particularly
inspiring, black level. If your
most recent 4K viewing experi-
ence involved a DLP projector,
you’ll be positively impressed.
But if you’re moving on from
an earlier Sony projector with
a dynamic iris, or a JVC model,
you won’t be. I found the
middling black level to be only
a minor distraction, but then my
2.35:1 screen hides black bars
on widescreen films. When I
briefly viewed using my smaller,
1.85:1, 87-inch wide Elite screen,
however, I didn’t find the black
bars to be overly distracting.
If 3D is your thing, the
VW295ES can do it, but you will
see just how dim a projected
3D image can be, particularly
in comparison with HDR. The
dimness doesn’t do much for
color either (I didn’t perform
a 3D calibration). Neverthe-
less, in a landscape with few
3D options, projectors like the
VW295ES are the last hold-
outs for displaying the rapidly
shrinking selection of new 3D
movies.
Checking image lag on a
projector using our 1080p-only
Leo Bodnar tester can be dicey,
as that device is designed
for use on flat-panel TVs. For
the VW295ES I had to turn it
around facing the projector.
But while I’m not overconfident
that the numbers I achieved are
absolutely correct, the improve-
ment in Game mode (36ms)
compared with the Reference

44 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com


mode (138.3ms) suggests that
Game is the best choice for
gamers. In both cases, Input
Lag Reduction, which is on by
default in the Game mode, was
turned on.
UHD/HDR SETUP AND
PERFORMANCE
For HDR viewing, I wasn’t satis-
fied with any of the calibrated
presets (picture modes) in
their default settings. But after
making extensive adjustments
to the VW295ES, its subjec-
tive HDR performance left little
on the table. While the color
measurements I made of the
projector were underwhelming,
you’d never know it from the
visible results. Guardians of
the Galaxy Vol.2 has some of
the most brilliant color you’re
likely to find on an Ultra HD disc,
from the vivid gold in the skin
and clothing of the “Golden
Morons,” to the brilliant hues
in the final funeral scene, and
everything in between. I’ve
viewed this disc on many other
high-end displays—both
projectors and flat-panel LCD
and OLED TVs. Yes, colors on
the flat-panel sets are techni-
cally richer and cover more
of the P3 color gamut used
for most Ultra HD sources.
But short of a side-by-side
comparison—which would
throw in a myriad of other
variables—the Sony projector’s
color performance didn’t come
up short in any visible way.
Ditto for resolution. Sony
includes a Panel Alignment
adjustment to fine-tune the
convergence of the red, green,
and blue colors that comprise
the image. But while very
minor corrections might have
produced a marginally better
result, I felt no urge to use this
feature. Reproduction of fine
details was first-rate with the
VW295ES. The Ultra HD Blu-ray
version of Braveheart is a
gorgeous, true 4K transfer, and
the Sony showed more facial
pores and freckles here, and
with other discs as well, than
any self-respecting actor would
care to reveal.
With the VW295ES, lumi-
nance from light to medium to
dark scenes was also far better
balanced after adjustment than
it was out of the box. As deliv-
ered, the Sony doesn’t follow
the PQ Curve (gamma for HDR)
well at all—results were consis-
tently darker than the stan-
dard. Calibration brought the
projector far closer. After setup
I never had to make significant
changes as I switched from one
UHD disc to the next apart from
a step or two each way in the
Color and Brightness controls
(and then only driven by the
video perfectionism trolling
around in my head).
The best flat-panel sets
produce a peak highlight bright-
ness that’s many times the set’s
average picture brightness.
With the Sony XBR-65Z9F LCD
UHDTV that I reviewed in the
December/January issue, for
example, the difference could
be as much as 10:1. Projectors
can’t come close to that. With
the VW295ES, the ratio was
closer to 2:1. While that perfor-
mance level won’t blow you
away, it was still obvious that
the Sony was doing its job to
provide the visual impact you’d
expect from HDR.
As with SDR, the Sony’s
main HDR shortcoming was
its black level. Getting the best
HDR result not only demanded
going from the Low lamp setting
to High, but also a roughly 50
percent increase in the Bright-
ness control. Both of these
adjustments made the projec-
tor’s visible and measured
black level increase. The Sony’s
black level shortcomings could
be mainly seen on fades to
full black and star fields. Even
so, dark but not totally black
images, including many scenes
from Jurassic World: Fallen
Kingdom and Skyscraper, still
came across effectively.
CONCLUSION
The makers of 4K projectors
that use a DLP imaging chip
may claim that their products
are true 4K, and from one
perspective they’re correct.
Those models do put all of the
pixels on the screen, but just not
at the same time. Thanks to the
image retention of the human
eye, the ones that we’ve seen
offer superb resolution. But
the selection of 4K projectors
offering true, simultaneous 4K
imaging at a consumer-friendly
price remains limited. Sony’s
new VPL-VW295ES is the least
expensive of the lot. And while I
wish that Sony had included its
well-refined dynamic iris system
to improve the projector’s black
levels, it’s nonetheless an excel-
lent performer and is highly
recommended.
The Verdict
Sony’s VPL-VW295ES isn’t sig-
nificantly different than last year’s
VPL-VW285ES, but it’s still a
tempting entry in the limited
world of affordable true 4K home
projectors.
soundandvision.com ❘ 45
 test report
PARADIGM PREMIER 700F SPEAKER SYSTEM
Crafted in Canada
By Thomas J. Norton
THE OTHER DAY a friend who’s
neither a videophile nor an audiophile
dropped by my home to watch a
movie. A pair of loudspeakers I had
just finished reviewing for Stereophile,
our sister publication, were sitting in a
corner, waiting to be packed up. When
I told him their price—$6,000/pair—
he appeared shocked. Even Para-
digm’s affordable new 700F speakers,
then as now serving as the left/right
46 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
RATING
Premier 700F
Speaker System
PERFORMANCE
BUILD QUALITY
VALUE
pair 100B bookshelf speaker to the Defiance X-12
$2,000/pair 800F tower model, subwoofer
this series counts among the most
PERFORMANCE
intriguing new entries for a 5.1
surround sound speaker system
FEATURES
priced under $5,000.
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
VALUE
Paradigm boasts that its speakers
are designed and built at its own
facility. But they don’t use the more
specific phrase, “Made in Canada.”
The reason? While the cabinets and
drivers are Canadian-made, some
other components are sourced
from overseas. However, that’s
the case with most loudspeakers Paradigm's Defiance
today, and in fact much of the X12 subwoofer
Premier line’s competition is manu- packs a 12-inch
factured entirely off-shore. driver and uses the
I chose a review system company's Anthem
anchored by the $1,598/pair Room Correction
Premier 700F tower. For a center (ARC) app for setup.
channels in my system, are pricier than
he would like were he to invest in a
system of his own (unlikely!).
But most home theater fans
know better. Spending as much
for speakers as you might for a
top-of-the-line 65-inch UHDTV isn’t
something they would consider
outrageous. Case in point: Para-
digm’s Premier series. Consisting of
six models ranging from the $800/
I chose the smaller of the two
Premier options, the Premier
500C ($799). The 500C is a
three-way with a separate
midrange—the best design
for a center speaker apart from
a model that’s identical to the
left and right channels (which
in most home theaters would
block the screen!). Premier
200Bs ($998/pair) filled out
the system as L/R surrounds.
These use the same tweeter
as the other models, together
with a 6.5-inch woofer. While
the 700F and 200B are rear-
ported, the 500C is sealed. All
Premier models are said to be
compatible with 8 ohms, though
no minimum impedance is
specified.
Both the cones in the 700F
and the woofers in the 500C
are made from carbon-infused
polypropylene. The 500C’s
midrange is black-anodized,
pure aluminum X-PAL, a
material that’s also used for
the tweeter domes in all of the
Premier models. The surrounds
of the cone drivers use Active
Ridge Technology (ART).
According to Paradigm, this
increases driver excursion for
lower distortion and higher
output (claimed at 50 percent
and +3dB, respectively).
All midrange and tweeter
drivers in the Premier line are
covered in perforated metal
shields—Paradigm’s Perforated
Phase- Aligning Lenses (PPA).
Try to keep up with the acro-
nyms! These are said to not only
protect the drivers but to also
function much like phase plugs
by increasing and smoothing
output.
The 700F and 200B cabinets
are shaped with gently tapered
sides (on the top in the 500C),
a design that is said to reduce
internal standing waves.
I’m skeptical of this benefit,
however, since the standing
waves generated in the small
internal dimensions of a loud-
speaker cabinet are typically at
a high enough frequency to be
easily suppressed by damping
material. But the curves do give
the speakers a more elegant,
upscale look than the usual
flat-sided boxes. All Premier
speakers are available in Gloss
Black, Gloss White, or Espresso
Grain finishes.   Room Correction (ARC) and
The towers and center
speaker each have two sets
of binding posts (I used them
single- rather than bi-wired),
while the surrounds make do
with a single pair. The back of
the removable grilles that come
with the speakers are covered
with plastic stiffening ribs, with
small openings apart from a
single larger one for the tweeter.
The ribs partially block the
At a Glance
Crisp detail
Big, powerful sound
Tower unstable on thick
carpet
Poorly designed grilles
Price: $4,694 (as tested)
(905) 564-1994
paradigm.com
midrange driver, which would
appear to defeat the purpose
of its PPA lens. While the grilles
clearly degrade the sound,
they’re held in place by magnets
and are easy to remove and
reattach if they’re needed to
protect the drivers.
Floor spikes are provided
with the 700Fs, but I didn’t use
them. Large, thick rugs cover
most of my home theater space,
and there are hardwood floors
beneath them that I don’t want
damaged. The thin Premier
towers proved a little unstable
on the rugs minus the spikes,
so to avoid accidents I attached
a set of aftermarket outriggers
(available from soundocity.com)
that I’ve used in the past with
other slender speakers.
For a subwoofer I chose
Paradigm’s new Defiance X12
($1,299), the second largest
model in the Defiance range.
The X12 uses a 12-inch driver
with an ART surround that’s
mounted in a bottom-ported
cabinet and driven by a
650-watt RMS amp (1,300-watt
dynamic peak). Available only
in a satin black finish, its key
features are Paradigm’s Anthem
Subwoofer Control apps. These
allow for setup with a phone,
tablet, or computer, with menus
offering a variety of adjustments
such as preset Music, Movie,
and Night modes. (I used Music
mode for music and movies.)
Of the three available setup
methods for the X12 subwoofer,
I opted for the most basic:
using my iPhone X with its
own internal microphone. The
soundandvision.com ❘ 47
 test report
PARADIGM PREMIER 700F SPEAKER SYSTEM
results were excellent, and I
felt no need to go further. But if
you do, the next step up would
be to use an Android or iOS
device together with an external
Anthem microphone (included).
The sub also offers a wireless
option with an (optional) plug-in
module, though I didn’t test it.
SETUP
I used my Marantz AV8805
surround preamp, along with
a Parasound Halo A 52+ five-
channel amp (rated at 180 watts
into 8 ohms, all channels driven)
to drive the Paradigm system.
My players were a Marantz
UD7007 for two-channel music
on CD and an Oppo BDP-203
for movie discs. Cables were
Kimber AGDL for a digital coax
link from the Marantz player,
generic HDMI from the Oppo,
Cardas Hexlink unbalanced
interconnects to the amp (for
the left and right channels), and
AudioQuest Rocket 88 to the
speakers.
My home theater space is
a large, open-concept area—
probably over 10,000 cubic feet
when all spaces that the main
area opens to are included. I
therefore requested that Para-
digm send two X12 subs. While
a single X12 worked remarkably
well, a pair of them produced
audibly tighter and cleaner (but
not deeper) bass. The observa-
tions made in my review are all
with the two subs operating
(the quoted system price here
is for one with a single sub). But
a single sub should perform
similarly in an average-size
home theater.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE
I’ve long used a couple of
compilation CDs loaded with
carefully selected bass-torture
tracks to test a system’s low-end
performance. Without a sub, the
Paradigm 700Fs made a good
case for themselves. While
the deepest bass was never
genuinely powerful, I didn’t
expect it to be in my space from
48 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
a speaker containing a pair of
5.5-inch woofers. The 700F’s
soundstage wasn’t huge, and
its overall presentation was a
little lean, but the bottom end
that it managed was tight and
free of boom or bloat—exactly
what you want from a full-range
speaker destined to be paired
with a subwoofer or two.
My comments from this point
on include the two Defiance X12
subwoofers, which were high-
and low-pass filtered at 80Hz
via the Marantz AV8805. Both
subs were in separate locations,
with only a brief attempt made
to optimize their response via
positioning prior to individually
ARC-ing them. After setting
the subwoofer level with both
engaged, the system was then
evaluated without additional EQ
of any kind, room or otherwise.
It won’t be hard to describe
just how much the subwoofers
added to the 700F’s sound
quality. I can do it with one word:
phenomenal. On the title cut
from Bela Fleck’s Flight of the
Cosmic Hippo, the kick drum
was solid and room-filling, with
the deepest growls remaining
tight, powerful, and distinct. The
percussion on this track can be
a little bright, but the Paradigms
kept the attacks hard and crisp
without sawing my ears off.
Another track I listened to,
Bass Unlimited’s “Heavy Metal
Bass,” has a synth solo that runs
up and down the bass scale.
While the X12s couldn’t quite
grab the lowest notes on the
downward slide, it didn’t distort
them either.
The opening passages
of Respighi’s Pines of Rome
(ripped from a Telarc CD) is
supported by a deep, powerful
organ undertone. While the
Paradigms didn’t shake my very
large room, they did energize
it with a subtle but unmistak-
able power. Ditto the depth and
impact of Nils Lofgren’s guitar
from his Acoustic Live concert.
(The Nils Lofgren track “Keith
Don’t Go” is played far too often
at audio shows, but for good
reason.)
From Danish jazz singer
Sinne Eeg’s vocals on “My Trea-
sure” from her album Waiting
for Dawn and Elvis Presley’s
classic cover of “Fever,” to
explosive, bass-heavy tracks,
the Paradigm system handled
everything with grace and also
eye-watering dynamics when
called for. And it did so far more
convincingly than the relatively
small towers might suggest—at
least with the subs engaged.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE
For 5.1-chanel movie playback I
made two changes to the setup.
First, I angled the left and right
speakers toward the center so
that their axes crossed in front
of the main listening position.
Next, I moved the listening
seat back a foot or two. These
changes slightly tempered the
700F’s tendency toward bright-
ness when aimed directly at
the listening seat. This seldom
bothered me with music, but it
was more obvious with raucous
action soundtracks. The
changes also produced a more
cohesive front soundstage
for movies, with decreased
tendency for one of the front
speakers to dominate.
Those changes made, movie
playback was now entirely
compelling. Avengers: Infinity
War is perhaps the first true
epic of the superhero genre,
with more mayhem per parsec
than any other entry in the
Marvel canon. Its superbly
produced soundtrack makes
it difficult to choose the best
examples. The scenes that
impressed me the most
include the forging of Thor’s
new hammer, the ambience
of an alien environment, and
the dynamic punch when
Thor risks his life to reignite a
star. Infinity War’s music also
deserves mention, from the
pop tunes that accompany the
early scenes with the Guardians
to the dramatic underscoring
throughout the rest of the film.
All of it was well served by the
Paradigm system.
The soundtrack from The
Greatest Showman was a
treat on the Paradigms from
beginning to end. The songs,
which range from driving and
catchy to soft and introspec-
tive, are the main attraction
here (yes, this is definitely a
great musical). Dynamics are
also over the top, particularly
in the circus scenes. When the
Jenny Lind character appeared
in concert, I closed my eyes
and just listened to what could
easily pass for a first-rate music recording,
rather than a song dropped into a movie
soundtrack. All songs here, in fact, were
reproduced astonishingly well by the
Paradigms, and their wildly anachronistic
quality was not in the least distracting apart
from Jenny Lind’s concert number (the
“Swedish Nightingale,” was a mid-1800s
opera singer, not a belting, 2018 pop
star—but this film was never intended to
700F 5.5 in polypropylene 200B 6.5 in polypropylene cone woofer;
Specs cone woofers (2), 5.5
in polypropylene cone
1 in dome tweeter; 7.9 x 13.3 x 12.7 in
(WxHxD); 18 lb
midrange, 1 in dome DEFIANCE X-12 SUBWOOFER 12 in driver;
tweeter; 8.4 x 39.9 x 12.7 in 650 watts RMS (1300W dynamic peak);
(WxHxD); 48.2 lb ported; stereo RCA line-level in; line level
500C 5.5 in polypropylene cone woofers LFE in; speaker level in; trigger input;
(2), 4 in cone midrange, 1 in dome tweeter; Wireless Module (sold separately); 18 x
20.2 x 7.2 x 13.8 in (WxHxD); 26 lb 19.5 x 18.8 (WxHxD); 62 lb
be historically accurate!).
One issue I found with the system
was that the balance of the Premier
500C center channel sounded notably
different on setup test tones than the other
speakers—it was clearly warmer and less
crisp. But this was not evident at all while
watching movies, except on the rare occa-
sions where steered dialogue was used.
I did take a few in-room measurements
of the 700Fs using the Omnimic measure-
ment system from Parts Express. My
measurements were taken on-axis from the
main listening seat, subwoofers engaged.
There were no surprises. The bass had a
little emphasis at around 30Hz (not at all
unpleasant!) and a small elevation at 200Hz
(a known anomaly in my room). While the
top end didn’t appear to be emphasized, a
rise of no more than 2dB centered at 2kHz
might account for the occasional bright-
ness I heard on some source material.
Without the subs, response at 50Hz in my
room was down by about 5dB.
CONCLUSION
If I have one criticism of Paradigm’s
Premier 700F system, it’s that the sound
edges toward brightness more often than
warmth, particularly if the recording, or
your front-end electronics, lean that way.
That said, I prefer a little added sparkle to
dullness, and I like how these Paradigms
grab your attention and won’t let go. If you
favor low-key, dialogue-driven movies or
elevator music, this is probably not your
system. But if excitement is what you crave,
the Premier 700F system will deliver, and
with a much smaller dent to your budget
than you might expect.
The Verdict
The Premier range is far from the most
expensive in Paradigm’s speaker lineup, but
the performance and build quality that it
offers lets it compete with speakers twice
the price.
soundandvision.com ❘ 49
 test report
GOLDENEAR TECHNOLOGY TRITON ONE.R LOUDSPEAKER

RATING

GoldenEar
Technology Triton
One.R Loudspeaker

Reference Redux
PERFORMANCE

BUILD QUALITY

By Al Griffin VALUE

GOLDENEAR TECHNOLOGY’S Triton Reference, a model that

I reviewed in the June 2017 issue of Sound & Vision, was the result
of a value-oriented audio brand throwing caution to the wind to
produce a cost-no-object loudspeaker. Even so, since we’re dealing
with GoldenEar Tech here, the Triton Reference ended up priced at
$8,498/pair—not exactly cheap, but well below what you’d pay for
the flagship efforts of other speaker brands.
A regular rotation of speakers passes through my doors, but
the Triton Reference is the one I was truly sorry to ship back—
its powerful, full-range sound and sophisticated cosmetics
gave clear indication that co-founders Sandy Gross and Don
Givogue were capable of successfully stepping up their game
while managing to keep costs in check. For that reason, when
GoldenEar Tech asked if I wanted to spend time with its latest
creation, a scaled-down $5,998/pair version of their flagship
called the Triton One.R, I jumped at the chance.
Standing 54 inches tall, the Triton One.R is four inches
shorter than its big brother, and the other dimensions have
been pared down as well to create a more compact model
than the towering Triton Reference. That said, this is very much
a full-range speaker, with frequency response down to 13 Hz
according to GoldenEar’s tech specs. And while many other
full-range tower speakers require heavy lifting from an attached
amplifier, the Reference One.R’s rated 8-ohm impedance
and 92 dB sensitivity mean you can use it with even modest
integrated amps and receivers. Also like its big brother, the
One.R has a built-in subwoofer section—this one with three 5
x 9-inch active bass drivers powered by a 1,600-watt DSP-
controlled digital amplifier. The sub’s output is augmented by
four 7 x 10-inch passive radiators, two of them mounted on
each cabinet side to balance out movement.
The Triton One.R uses the the same High-Velocity Folded
Ribbon (HVFR) tweeter as the one found in the Triton Refer-
ence. A revamped design with 50 percent more neodymium
magnet material than the tweeter units found on earlier speakers
from the company, this next-gen HVFR offers improved
efficiency and power handling. Rounding out the speaker’s
driver complement is a pair of 5.25-inch upper bass/midrange
drivers. According to GoldenEar Tech, fine tweaks including
a “balanced” crossover configuration, a reworked internal
speaker wire topology, and the use of high-quality capacitors
Each Triton One.R all make a contribution to the speaker’s sound quality. Last but
houses three 5 x not least, the One.R was voiced by the company to mimic the
9-inch active performance of the larger Reference tower.
drivers augmented Whereas the Reference’s large size made it a visually
by four 7 x 10-inch overpowering element in my near-3,000 cubic foot listening
passive radiators. room, the One.R’s reduced scale was more to my liking. As

50 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

with the company’s other tower
models, the cabinet tapers in
dramatically from back to front,
which gives it a slim, stream-
lined appearance when viewed
face-on but also serves to mini-
mize diffraction effects. A very
welcome carryover from the
Reference is the One.R’s piano
black lacquer-coated medite
cabinet. This gives the speaker a
solid look and is also, according
to GoldenEar Tech, “engineered
with the goal of making it as non-
resonant and inert as possible.”
FEATURES AND SETUP
The Triton One.R’s lower back
features a panel with gold-
plated cable connections
plus an RCA jack to provide a
subwoofer LFE input option
when the speaker is used for
surround sound applications.
There’s also a level knob and
an IEC power connection. Four
rubber-coated levelling feet are
included with each speaker,
and there are also metal carpet
spikes and discs for use on
wooden floors.
Initial positioning of the
speakers for best sound in
my room was carried out by
Sandy Gross himself. While
Sandy’s setup favored a tightly
angled arrangement for optimal
imaging, I later nudged the
towers out into a less restrictive
formation, one that widened the
soundstage a bit but still main-
tained a solid stereo image.
The speakers were placed at
a one-foot distance from the
room’s back wall and a nine-foot
distance from my listening
position.
Associated gear used for
my main evaluation included
a 2 x 150-watt Hegel Music
Systems H190 integrated
amplifier, an Elac Discovery
music server streaming Tidal
and stored FLAC files via Roon
music management software,
a Pioneer BDP-88FD universal
disc player, and Nordost Purple
Flare speaker cables and
interconnects. For the home
theater part of my test, I placed
the One.R towers in a system
consisting of a GoldenEar
Technology SuperSat 50C
center channel speaker and
Triton Two tower speakers for
the rear channels, an Anthem
AVM-50v surround preamp/
processor, a Sunfire Cinema
Grand multichannel amplifier,
and an Oppo UDP-203 UHD
Blu-ray disc player.
While the Triton One.R does
have a low-frequency level
control knob, same as with the
other powered towers from
GoldenEar I’ve tested I found
that leaving it at the default 12
o’clock position resulted in the
most linear-sounding bass.
This was definitely the case with
music, and it carried over as
well when I relocated the One.R
pair into my home theater for
movie-watching. For the latter
situation, you simply configure
the front speakers in your
receiver or processor’s setup
menu as Large and select “No”
for the subwoofer output option.
The main reason why you
might want to use the speaker’s
LFE input (with the receiver
or processor’s own controls
handling LFE level adjustment)
is to compensate for really large
rooms, or ones where the layout
necessitates asymmetrical front
speaker placement.
PERFORMANCE
To get a sense of how the
speakers sounded in my room
during his visit, Gross played a
mix of demo tracks he typically
uses at audio shows. Thank-
fully, he left that CD behind. One
track, “Nomads,” by jazz bassist
Buster Williams, really captured
my attention. Listening to it,
Buster’s standup bass sounded
completely seamless as he
wound his way from the highest
to the lowest registers of the
instrument. Cymbals and piano
had a crisp, airy presentation,
and a vibraphone floated across
the soundstage in a strikingly
3D-like manner during Stefon
Harris’ solo. The powerful sense
of atmosphere that the One.R
speakers conveyed conjured
up memories of my time with
the Triton Reference, which had
a similarly vivid and realistic
presentation.
Another thing that captivated
me about the Triton Refer-
ence when I reviewed it in 2017
was its incredibly transparent
rendering of vocals, and the new
One.R proved equally adept
in that department. Streaming
“Stay” from the new Cat Power
album Wanderer via Tidal, Chan
Marshall’s fine-textured voice
came through in an effortless
manner and stood in solid relief
against the piano chords in the
background. Pulling out a CD of
Push the Sky Away, by Nick Cave
& the Bad Seeds, the singer’s
deep, upfront voice on “We No
Who U R” sounded distinctly
fleshed-out, but also well-
blended with the song’s female
backing vocals.
On a recent road trip, I was
impressed by how good some
tracks on the new The Beatles
(White Album) reissue sounded,
even when streamed through
my car’s none-too-great stock
audio system. I looked forward
At a Glance
Full-range sound
with powerful bass
Reasonably compact
form factor
Excellent value 
Nothing major
Price: $5,998/pair
(410)-998-9134
goldenear.com
to returning home and hearing
those same tracks. Listening
to new mix of “While My Guitar
Gently Weeps” via Tidal, the
panoramic soundscape that the
One.Rs rendered was a revela-
tion. Drums and percussion
spread impossibly wide to the
right and left, leaving loads of
space for the piano and George
Harrison’s smooth vocals. Eric
Clapton’s “weeping guitar,”
meanwhile, towered hugely
over everything during his solo.
The One.R’s vivid presentation
of this remixed track left nothing
to the imagination—all detail
contained in the now 50-year-
old recording was brought forth
and laid bare.
A full-range tower speaker
should be expected to repro-
duce orchestral works with a
convincing sense of dynamics
and scale. To confirm that with
the One.R, I turned to Mahler’s
Symphony No.1 as played
by the Florida Philharmonic
Orchestra conducted by James
Judd (Harmonia Mundi CD).
Listening to the tentative intro
of the symphony’s first section,
the delicate, extended scrape of
bows across violins cut cleanly
through space and the fluttering
piano and woodwinds were
conveyed with equal clarity. As
this section neared its climax,
the One.R’s folded ribbon
tweeter presented the piercing
blasts of brass in a detailed, airy
manner, while the slam of the
kettle drums and cymbals were
appropriately thunderous.
With the Triton One.Rs
dispatched to my home theater
soundandvision.com ❘ 51
 test report
GOLDENEAR TECHNOLOGY TRITON ONE.R LOUDSPEAKER
setup, I didn’t once feel a need
for additional subwoofers, even
when watching action flicks with
ass-kicking DTS-HD Master Audio
soundtracks. The footfalls of the
monstrous Kaiju in Guillermo del
Toro’s Pacific Rim, for example,
had a window- and bone-rattling
punch, along with ample low-end
extension. Playing the new Ultra
HD Blu-ray of 2001: A Space
Odyssey, the eerie massed voices
in Requiem, the Ligeti choral work
that director Stanley Kubrick uses in
the scene where the black monolith
first appears on earth, seemed to
blast through the room like a wind-
storm. And when the action cut to a
scene where a pre-human creature
is bestowed with the insight that
bones can be used as tools to
smash things, the bombastic swells
of brass and kettle drums in Strauss’
Also sprach Zarathustra displayed
even more intense gut-punching
slam than what I had heard during
the Mahler symphony.
52 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
CONCLUSION
My time spent reviewing GoldenEar
Technology’s flagship Triton Refer-
ence speaker in 2017 turned out to
be something of an event—I had
never before had an opportunity to
listen with a serious full-range tower
speaker in my listening room, and I
absolutely liked what I was hearing.
To me, the Reference’s $8,498/pair
price seemed very fair for the quality
and scale of sound that those
speakers delivered.
Listening to the company’s Triton
One.R in the same space, I have to
say I’m even more floored than I was
by the Reference. That’s because
the new model delivers equally
full-range sound, along with many
of the same qualities that made that
earlier speaker so impressive: clear,
fleshed-out mids; airy, transparent
highs; and linear, low-reaching bass
courtesy of a built-in subwoofer that
lends itself equally well to music or
movie soundtrack reproduction.
The Triton One.R’s more compact
form-factor proved to be another
The Verdict
plus in my room since it didn’t loom
as large and intimidatingly. At just
GoldenEar Technol-
under $6,000/pair, I expect that this
ogy’s scaled-down
formidable new speaker will cut into
version of its Triton
the company’s sales of the Refer-
Reference delivers
ence, but I’m sure they knew that
similar dynamic,
going in. If I could pull a Spinal Tap
full-range perfor-
and push the Triton One.R’s Value
mance as the com-
rating past our usual maximum, I’d
pany’s flagship
do it in a heartbeat.
speaker, but does so
at an even more
reasonable price.
5 x 9 in cone
subwoofer
Specs (3), 10 x 7 in
passive radi-
ator (4), 5.25
in cone bass/midrange driver
(2), pleated planar magnetic
tweeter; 1600-Watt subwoofer
amplifier; enclosure, 8 x 54 x
16 in (WxHxD); base, 12.3 x
19.8 in (WxD); 80 lb
PRICE: $5,998/pair
 HOME

60DAY

High performance
T RIA L

dual microphone
hearing technology
with app control
for under $300!

Millions of people have trouble hearing. At restaurants. Movie theaters. Public speaking events. Watching TV. But many of us don’t
want to deal with the expense and bother of wearing hearing aids all the time. ZVOX has a solution. Our new VoiceBuds® use our
AccuVoice® digital technology to make voices more clear – and reduce interference from background noises. They fit behind your
ear and become virtually invisible. And they are so comfortable, you'll forget you're wearing them!

These Are Not Cheap Hearing • VoiceBuds use digital hearing

Amplifiers! technology:
VoiceBuds are nothing like the cheap  Multi-channel compression
devices you may find on line or in reduces loud, distracting sounds.
stores. VoiceBuds are FDA registered
and use the advanced technology
 10 bands of layered noise
you will find in hearing devices reduction helps reduce non-
costing hundreds – voice sounds.
or thousands – more:  12 bands of frequency shaping
help to accentuate voices.
• Two microphones – one for the
front, one for the rear. Directional  Feedback cancellation
microphone technology helps prevents squeeling.
Available in three colors: Champagne, silver and dark gray.
distinguish between voices you  App-based tone controls let
want to hear...and background you tailor the sound to
noises you don’t want to hear. your environment.
• Smartphone app (for iPhone® • Each VoiceBud is supplied with
or Android®) allows you to use comfortable open-fit ear plugs in
Bluetooth to adjust volume and multiple sizes so you can wear
select between four hearing modes: them comfortably all day. Or just
1. Normal setting. pop them in when you need them.

FDA
2. Noisy room setting. Great Sound. Made Simple.
3.
4.
Automobile.
Outdoors. 800-614-1287
$
29999
ea REGISTERED

30-Day Home Trial | Free Shipping | zvox.com | amazon.com

® ZVOX, AccuVoice & VoiceBud are registered trademarks of ZVOX Audio.
 test report
Q ACOUSTICS 3000I SERIES SPEAKER SYSTEM

RATING

Speakers
PERFORMANCE

British Steal
By Daniel Kumin
BUILD QUALITY

VALUE

Q ACOUSTICS is a relatively new
British loudspeaker manufacturer who
has made a goodly amount of noise in
the value/performance speaker arena
for a dozen years now. I count the firm
manufacturing firms and ever-more
powerful and widely accessible
computer-modeling design
processes. The result of this
confluence has been a bounty of
Subwoofer
PERFORMANCE
aggregate make the home-theater
dollar go further than ever before.
FEATURES
To learn just how well Q
Acoustics plays in this consumer-
benefiting fray, we called in a $1,499 ERGONOMICS

among the 21st-century flowering of excellent designs in the most “Cinema Pack” culled from its latest
affordable-speaker-makers catalyzed competitive price ranges, from new 3000i series: 3050i floorstanders, VALUE
by partnerships with Chinese and old names alike, that in the complemented by 3010i compact

54 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

two-ways for the surrounds,
a 3090i center-channel, and
a 3060S powered 8-inch
subwoofer. All of these (save
the 3060S sub) employ either
4- or 6.5-inch woofers, and
0.9-inch soft-dome tweeters, in
handsomely radiused cabinets
that the firm claims exploit
“point-to-point bracing” to
achieve stiffer, less resonant
enclosures. The 3050i also uses
Helmholtz Pressure Equalizer
technology, a feature that,
according to Q Acoustics, is
"designed to convert pres-
sure to velocity and reduce the
overall pressure gradient within
the speaker enclosure." (At first,
this sounded like a transmis-
sion line to me, but the 3050i’s
specified 91 dB/SPL 1W/meter
sensitivity specification seems
awfully high for a transmission
line, a design that in effect
trades efficiency for extension
by essentially discarding the
woofer’s back wave.)
In any case, unboxing
the well-packaged 3050i
revealed very nicely crafted
(and quite heavy) towers,
with a look and feel that truly
belied their $400-each cost.
And the other members of the
3000i Series suite followed
suit; these speakers, which
are available in handsome
matte white, black, gray, and
walnut woodgrain finishes,
neither look nor feel their price.
The surround and center are
conventional enough, but
the sub is constructed in an
unusual, floorspace-saving,
wall-hugging format.
SETUP AND LISTENING
I set up the speakers in my
usual array: towers straddling
my 55-inch TV; sub in long-
established, acoustically best
position to the right of the right
tower; center on a low stand
to bring it just below the TV’s
bottom edge; and surrounds
on high shelves flanking the
listening position and angled
back to “wash” along the side
walls somewhat. There I left
them for about 10 days of casual
TV and music use to cover any
break-in concerns.
Beginning my attentive
listening as always with two-
channel, full-range playback via
the 3050i towers alone, I quickly
established that positioning in
my room— and very likely in
yours as well—was critical. With
the towers’ rear a foot or even
two from the front wall, bass was
excessive, yielding a sound that
went well beyond “warm” to rich,
fat, or even bloated. Moving the
speakers out from the wall an
additional two feet helped a lot,
but I ultimately found that a full
four feet between tower-rear
and wall was required to get the
best balance in my space.
This setup delivered a
sound I still characterized as
“warm,” but now in a euphonic
sense. Familiar material like
James Taylor’s “Line ‘em Up”
from 1997’s Hourglass—one
of my all-time favorite short-
hand evaluation tracks— was
superbly solid and dense, but
still retained satisfying timbral
definition and transient pres-
ence over the track’s intensely
gooey, over-rich bass. Taylor’s
distinctive baritone, warm and
chesty but with a nasal twang
riding along the top, sounded
as expected. Maybe the warmth
was a trifle accentuated, but the
details of his breath and articula-
tion were so well preserved that
I didn’t object. Imaging also was
impressively tight but broad.
The 3000i Series is
available in matte black,
white, and gray, along
with the walnut wood-
grain finish shown here.
At a Glance
Rich, full-range sound
Fine imaging
Great-looking and
nicely finished
Center-channel not a
perfect timbral match
with towers
Subwoofer output and
extension does not fully
complement towers
Price: $1,499
qacoustics.com
Any speaker that aces my
“Line ‘em Up” test merits further
scrutiny. I continued with an
oddly effecting acrostic upon
The Rite of Spring (which called
to mind Stravinsky’s own,
oft-used aphorism: “This too is
possible…”) by The Bad Plus.
Track ten, “The Sacrifice: Intro-
duction,” amply demonstrated
the ability of the 3050i towers to
reproduce natural instrumental
colors. Plucked bass sounded
convincingly woody and vibra-
tory up and down the neck,
while the ethereal piano and
drum shimmers floated effort-
lessly above and around. The
3050i’s slightly soft balance did
not seem to exact any penalty
on treble detail or openness:
piano attacks were still light and
ping-y, and brushed cymbals
and snare lively and natural.
But it was full orchestra
programs that showed the
British pair at its best. A favorite
old Telarc CD of Bruckner’s
9th played by the Cincinnati
Symphony was presented
with a full, strong image that
completely filled the space
between the speakers and was
accompanied by a nice sense of
scale. The old monk’s highest-
octave strings never shrieked,
and his close-clustered chords
in the brass were free of extra
edge or dissonance. All in all, it
was a very competent reproduc-
tion, and the 3050is surprised
me by wrapping hall ambience
quite a bit up the side walls.
soundandvision.com ❘ 55
 test report
Q ACOUSTICS 3000I SERIES SPEAKER SYSTEM
With many movie
soundtracks mixed to the bright
side, filmsound is a friend to
warmer-sounding speaker
designs. The Q Acoustics
system certainly seemed to
friend filmsound right back. I
streamed Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and was
rewarded with big, impactful
sound (with or without the
3060S sub on board, more
on which below), a satisfy-
ingly deep presentation, and
unfailingly crisp and intelligible
dialogue.
In the keystone position, Q
Acoustics matches the towers
with its 3090ci, a horizontal
two-way center speaker that
uses a pair of 4-inch woofers
rather than the 6.5-inch units in
the towers. On its own merits
this is a very competent design,
with clear, well-focused sound,
though it was a little thinner on
some male voices than many
such dual-woofer centers,
which I often find tend toward
lower-mids excess and even
over-fullness or “hoo.”
The 3090ci’s crispness
is not necessarily a demerit,
but it made for a fairly sharp
contrast with the 3050i
towers. Comparing a range
of announcers both male and
female between centered-
mono (3090ci) and dual-mono
(tower pair) playback, all but
a couple of higher-pitched
female voices sound distinctly,
even dramatically different on
the center unit: brighter, with a
more focused and prominent
presence-range that tended
to highlight different vocal
formats to an easily noticeable
degree. This is not altogether
bad, but I also noted a timbral
discontinuity in full-range, busy
sequences like the bank-vault
monorail-ride/dragon-escape
sequence early in Harry Potter
where front-stage cohesion
seemed less complete than
what I hear from my everyday
speakers.
The 3060S subwoofer is
fairly obviously the red-headed
stepchild of this particular Q
56 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
Q 3050I: 6.5 in cone woofer Q 3010I: 4 in cone woofer, 0.9 in soft-dome
(2), 0.9-in soft-dome tweeter; tweeter; vented; 9.9 x 10 x 5.9 in (WxHxD); 9 lb.
Specs vented; 12.2 x 40.2 x 12.2 in Q 3060S: 8 in cone woofer; sealed; 150 watts,
(WxHxD); 39.3 lb Class D; stereo line RCA; continuously variable
Q 3090CI: 4 in cone woofer (2), level and crossover controls; power, auto-on,
0.9 in soft-dome tweeter; vented; 16.9 x 6 x 8.5 in 0/180° phase switches; 18.9 x 11.8 x 5.9 in
(WxHxD); 13.2 lb. (WxHxD); 18.7 lb
Acoustics suite. First, it’s a very That said, Q Acoustics
compact 8-inch sub, pack- specify the little subwoofer with
aged not in the familiar cubical a useful bass limit (-6 dB point)
cabinet of most such designs, of 35 Hz, and the 3050i towers
but in a small-suitcase format at a surprisingly higher 44 Hz,
intended to nestle unobtrusively but my ears did not fully agree. I
against a wall. It’s equipped had some difficulty finding film
with big-subwoofer facilities or music examples where the
like substantial class-D power sub added much to the party.
and line-level-only signal input, Setting my pre-pro’s left/right
and equipped with a delightful, high-pass crossover to a fairly
magnetically fixed modesty low 60-Hz setting and dialing
panel that conceals cables, in the sub for optimum musical
power-cord, and controls other balance yielded a useful whole,
than Crossover (frequency) with a slightly leaner, tighter
and Level (volume). It’s a very bass character than the towers
attractive design, and at $399 alone, and possibly a soup-
would be a very fair match with spoon of additional extension.
bass-limited systems based (This may well have had as
around soundbars or sub- much to do with placement as
compact satellites. (One based actual performance.) But I was
around a quartet of Q Acoustics challenged to find a case where
3010is might make a good deal adding the sub, regardless of
of sense, and in a brief trial the crossover point, produced a
small two-ways mated better noticeable extension of overall
with the 3090ci to my ear.) But in deep-bass quantity. On their
the context of the 3050i system, own, the 3050i towers delivered
it seemed a clear outrider: an solid in-room lows, contributing
8-inch sub beside a tower pair content down to very nearly
whose total low-frequency- 35 Hz or so, as evidenced by
driver cone area measures more familiar material such as the
than three times greater. cannon-fire practice sequence

from Master and Commander:
The Far Side of the World and
similar low-bass chestnuts.
With the sub activated and
goosed up a few dB, I could
certainly match the overall
deep-bass heft of the towers
alone on filmsound, and with
a slightly heavier effect. This
might well have delivered a
dB or two more of ultimate
level—rather louder than any
master level I’d likely call for in
real life—but I nevertheless did
NERO XD
POWERFUL, COMPACT, WIRELESS.
With 200W Max Output the NERO XD is ready
to rock! NERO is equipped with a Cirrus Logic
Hi-Fi DAC Chip, an optical input and Bluetooth®
enabled. NERO XD brings Hi-Fi listening to
everyone in any space.
not judge it to be a sufficient
improvement. (As I plumbed
the ultimate capabilities of the
3060S late in the review period.
its amplifier failed while raising
input signal level to about 1 volt.
A second sample performed
flawlessly and absorbed all the
punishment I sent its way.)
Don’t get me wrong: the
3060S is a terrific, uniquely
configured 8-inch sub, and a
strong value. But the simple
fact is that Q Acoustics does
HI-FI DAC POWER
A M P L I F I E R
not offer—yet, anyway—a
subwoofer with enough deep-
bass extension and output to
make much sense paired with
the 3050is.
CONCLUSION
Outside of the subwoofer’s
slight contribution to the
system, it is hard to find fault
with this 3050i-based Q Acous-
tics array. Room constraints
may, as with many tower
designs, impose bass-balance
challenges, but receiver- or
preamp-based room/speaker
correction, or the much simpler
expedient of a bass control,
can deal with much of that. (In
fact, simply setting my pre-pro’s
bass to -1 largely mitigated
the 3050i’s slight remaining
low-frequency excesses in my
room.) Otherwise, getting a
well-balanced 5.1 system with
exceptional imaging capa-
bility for $1,499—a figure that
includes a subwoofer you might
not really need, or might find
more useful in another room
paired with another system—is
a unique value.
The Verdict
This highly affordable Q Acous-
tics 5.1 package offers big, warm,
dynamic stereo sound from com-
pact towers, and good movie
sound with or without the
included sub.
OPTIMAL
SPEAKER
DESIGN
osdaudio.com
soundandvision.com ❘ 57
 test report
ONKYO TX-NR787 9.2-CHANNEL NETWORK A/V RECEIVER
Revolution 9
By Michael Trei
IT’S EASY to get overlooked when
you’re in the middle. A middle child
misses out on both the attention
that’s lavished on the first born
and the doting care parents give
to the baby of the family. The same
thing can happen with an audio
company’s product lineup. Onkyo
makes more than a dozen A/V
receiver models at varying price
points, but most of the acclaim
inevitably goes to the flagship with
its flashy bells and whistles, while
models at the entry level get lots of
love for providing good value.
Often, however, the real value
sweet spot lies somewhere
between the two extremes, where
you get something like 80 percent
or more of the flagship’s perfor-
mance and features for a small
fraction of its price. For Onkyo, that
means the TX-NR787, a model at
the top of its consumer-oriented NR
receiver line, but below the more
58 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
advanced RZ models aimed at the
custom installation crowd.
When it comes to features,
the sweet spot here means a 9 x
100-watt amplifier, bang up-to-date
surround processing including
Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, THX Certi-
fied Select performance, a host of
wireless and streaming options,
and automated speaker setup. All of
that in a 30-pound package priced
well south of a kilobuck.
Onkyo rates the TX-NR787’s
power amplifier section at 100 watts
per channel using FTC standards,
but then bumps that up to a hefty
220 watts after tossing in a bunch
of what I call “tailwind” factors
(one channel driven at 1 kHz into 6
ohms with 10 percent distortion).
Still, 100wpc should be plenty for a
typical home theater with reason-
ably efficient speakers in a medium-
sized room, although you may find
the TX-NR787 running a bit short
RATING
Onkyo TX-NR787
9.2-Channel
Network A/V
Receiver
PERFORMANCE
FEATURES
ERGONOMICS
VALUE
'I was struck of puff in a big room with difficult-
to-drive speakers. Notably, the
by the power Onkyo’s amplifier section is a true
and weight class-AB design with a linear power
delivered supply, not the class-D type found
in many lower-cost receivers these
by the TX- days. THX says Certified Select is
NR787.' suitable for rooms of around 2,000
cubic feet, with a 10- to 12-foot
viewing distance. That almost
perfectly describes my own home
theater room.
To take full advantage of the
TX-NR787’s nine channels, you can
choose to run a full 7.1 surround
setup with a single pair of ceiling-
mounted or upward-firing Atmos
speakers, or to ditch the rear
surround speakers and add a
The TX-NR787's second Atmos pair in their place.
nine amp channels I decided to go with the second
let you choose option to maximize Atmos perfor-
between a 5.1.4 or mance. (Unfortunately, there are no
a 7.1.2 Dolby preamp outputs, so you can’t add a
Atmos setup. separate two-channel amp to have
it all.) Of course, you can also
use the TX-NR787 in a regular
5.1 surround setup, freeing up
the extra amp channels to drive
speakers in up to two addi-
tional audio-only zones, or to
bi-amp your front left and right
speakers.
Now that I’ve mentioned
preamp outputs, Onkyo
describes the TX-NR787 as a
9.2-channel model, but I think
that’s kind of cheating since its
two subwoofer jacks deliver
identical signals, with no
individual level, distance, or EQ
adjustments. Even in the setup
menus, the configurations are
labeled 7.1.2 and 5.1.4, with no
mention of a second subwoofer
channel. The point? My
pedantic brain thinks it would
be more accurate to call this a
9.1-channel receiver.
Built-in streaming on the
TX-NR787 is limited to services
such as Spotify, Tidal, Pandora,
TuneIn Radio, and Amazon
Music, but you can also stream
to it from other devices using
Chromecast, AirPlay, and DTS
Play-Fi. If you happen to own a
Sonos system, the TX-NR787
can integrate with it through the
Sonos app, though you'll need
to use a Sonos Connect.
The TX-NR787’s looks are
in line with other recent Onkyo
A/V receivers, with a single,
large volume control knob
dominating the faceplate’s
right side, and a long row
of input selection buttons
below a central green display
window. On the left side, two
smaller knobs allow you to
select the surround mode and
tone settings, while a small
ring of buttons on the display
duplicates the main control
ring on the remote. Front-panel
connectors include an HDMI
input, a headphone output,
and an input for the AccuEQ
Advance setup microphone.
The lack of analog RCA
multichannel inputs or outputs
around back leaves plenty of
real estate for other connec-
tions, including a decent
assortment of analog and digital
audio and video inputs for
legacy equipment. Given the
recent uptick of interest in vinyl
records, I wasn’t surprised to
also find a phono input.
The days of massive receiver
remotes with zillions of buttons
appear to be over, so it makes
some sense that Onkyo’s
clicker is a simple affair with
no light-up buttons or display,
and only a limited number of
control buttons. One reason
for this change is app-based
control, and the app for the
TX-NR787 lets you locate most
of the receiver’s functions
quickly and easily. But I still like
to use a dedicated remote while
watching in a dark room, and
the Onkyo’s simple layout made
it easy enough to operate by
feel alone.
SETUP
Hooking up the TX-NR787 didn’t
present any unusual problems,
although making sure all nine
speakers were wired up with
proper polarity required some
focus. The receiver’s nine pairs
of speaker binding posts are
the type best suited to either
stripped wire or banana plug
speaker cable terminations.
I recently rewired my entire
home theater with Canare
four-conductor speaker cable
terminated with banana plugs,
so getting everything sorted out
wasn’t too difficult. I used my
PSB Synchrony speaker system
for the main 5.1 setup, with two
At a Glance
Powerful, full-bodied
sound
5.1.4 and 7.1.2-channel
surround options
AccuEQ Advance room
calibration
No multichannel preamp
outputs
Basic remote control
Price: $699
800-229-1687
onkyousa.com
pairs of ceiling-mounted PSB
Imagine Minis for the Atmos
overhead speakers and my
oldie-but-goodie M&K MX-350
THX subwoofer handling the
LFE channel.
Onkyo’s onscreen GUI
is intuitive enough to make
navigating through the setup
easy, although the somewhat
dim and murky text made it
hard to read at times. I updated
the firmware at the start of the
review process without a hitch,
although the receiver locked up
before finishing when I repeated
the process near the end of my
review period. Luckily, powering
it off and then on again cleared
the problem without creating
any new issues.
Onkyo dropped the popular
Audyssey automated speaker
soundandvision.com ❘ 59
 test report
ONKYO TX-NR787 9.2-CHANNEL NETWORK A/V RECEIVER
calibration on its receivers a few
years back in favor of its own
proprietary AccuEQ Advance
room calibration system. A new
addition is AccuReflex, which
compensates for the extra
distance the sound needs to
travel if you’re using upward-
firing height speakers. As with
Audyssey, the AccuEQ system
sends a series of noises and
tones to each speaker in turn,
but unlike Audyssey, most of the
measurements are done with
the supplied microphone in a
single position. Two additional
positions are used, but these
are shorter tests designed to
correct for standing waves
only. Once AccuEQ had gone
through its paces, I compared
the results with my own manual
setup and found that it was
able to get distances and levels
pretty much spot-on. Tonally,
I found it was thinning out the
lower midrange and boosting
the high frequencies, although
the effect was subtler than what
I’m accustomed to hearing with
Audyssey MultEQ XT32 calibra-
tion. As usual, I did the bulk of
my evaluation with AccuEQ
and other sound enhancers
switched off.
PERFORMANCE
I started out by streaming two-
channel music using built-in
apps and from my iPhone using
both AirPlay and Chromecast
through the Synchrony One
towers with no subwoofer. The
Onkyo was not happy when I
attempted to stream high-res
audio from Qobuz via Chro-
mecast, stuttering and locking
up at times. (I’ll put this down
to the fact that the service
hasn’t officially launched yet
in North America, and I was
using an overseas-based press
preview account.) Other music
streaming services worked fine
via Chromecast. Listened to
on Tidal, Joe Cocker’s superb
cover of Bob Dylan’s “Seven
Days” recorded with Sly and
Robbie on drums and bass
revealed a nicely fleshed out,
60 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
POWER OUTPUT: 100 watts (2), USB, stereo RCA (6), stereo minijack
(8 ohms, 2 channels driven, (front), phono (MM)
Specs 20 Hz-20kHz, 0.08% THD); OTHER: Ethernet, RS-232C, 12-volt trigger
220 watts (6 ohms, 1 channel VIDEO OUTPUTS: HDMI (2) ARC (main only)
driven, 1kHz, 10% THD) AUDIO OUTPUTS: subwoofer (2), ¼-inch head-
AUTO SETUP/ROOM EQ: Proprietary (AccuEQ) phones, Zone 2
VIDEO PROCESSING: 4K pass-through Multi Zone: Zone 2 stereo RCA line-level or
supports HDCP2.2, upscales analog sources speaker-level (assignable), Zone 3 speaker
to HDMI; HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG, and level (assignable)
BT.2020 via HDMI WIRELESS: Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay,
DTS Play-Fi, FlareConnect, Chromecast
DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD, Inches); 17.2 x 6.9 x 15 WIRELESS STREAMING: Spotify, Deezer,
WEIGHT: (Pounds): 23.8 Pandora, Amazon Music, Tidal, TuneIn Radio
COMPUTER AUDIO: Streaming via wired
VIDEO INPUTS: HDMI (7, 1 front), component Ethernet or Wi-Fi (DLNA), USB, PCM audio up
(2), composite (2) to 24-bit/192kHz (WAV/AIFF), up to 5.6 MHz
AUDIO INPUTS: coaxial digital, optical digital DSD
punchy sound, with plenty of equipped receiver through its
CONCLUSION
bottom-end kick. Any lingering paces with Atmos soundtracks.
concerns I had about the amp’s Normally I would play an Ultra I was genuinely surprised by the
ability to drive the Synchrony HD Blu-ray like Gravity, but this performance of the TX-NR787.
towers were quickly put to bed, time I streamed a few episodes The word I’d heard on Onkyo
and I was able to crank the of the Amazon series Jack Ryan receivers was that the presenta-
music up loud without having from my Amazon Fire Cube. tion is detailed, but the sound
the sound turn raw and thin. Figuring out how to get the can be a bit bright at times. In my
To ensure that this unexpect- Atmos-enabled audio stream listening, I found the TX-NR787
edly brawny sound didn’t come to work turned out to be a bit of to have an impressively rich,
at the cost of the Onkyo’s ability a challenge, but that was due to powerful sound that required
to deliver subtle detail, I played Amazon’s non-intuitive settings, no apologies. Its well-chosen
a live SACD of Dvorak’s Slavonic not the Onkyo’s. Near the end feature set will also tick off most
Dance #2 with Ivan Fischer of the first episode, the rebels boxes on a shopper’s want list.
conducting the Budapest attack a CIA Black Site in Yemen Here’s hoping the TX-NR787
Festival Orchestra on my Oppo in an attempt to spring one of gets the respect it deserves
UDP-203 universal disc player. their own. Here again I was despite being a middle child.
This wonderful multichannel struck by the power and weight
recording put me right in the delivered by the TX-NR787: the
concert hall, with the burnished dynamics of explosions and The Verdict
glow of the lower strings gunfire were more like punch
balanced by the bright clarity of in the gut than a slap in the Onkyo’s nine-channel receiver
the violins and wind section. face, and the sound seemed to delivers an impressive blend of
Of course, you’re going to expand beyond the confines of performance and features at a
want to put any Dolby Atmos- my room. middle-of-the-pack price.
 test report
SVS PRIME WIRELESS SPEAKER SYSTEM
Stream Sensibly
SVS, a company that made its
name selling high-performance/
high-value subwoofers direct to
consumers via the web, has since
gone on to build similarly gifted
and affordable full-range
speakers. Audiophile sound
quality that doesn’t break the bank
is in the brand’s guiding DNA. So,
it should come as no surprise that
SVS’s debut wireless product
makes an audiophile statement in
both its design philosophy and
sonic personality.
Perhaps the most obvious
defining characteristic of the
new Prime Wireless Speaker
System is that it’s a system,
consisting of a stereo pair, and
not just another standalone
tabletop or portable speaker.
It is modeled after the classic
desktop system, in which one
of the satellites contains the
amplification for both speakers
and sends the opposite channel
signal to a passive mate through
an umbilical connection. In this
case, the right-channel master
provides the brains and brawn,
while the left speaker gets life
62 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
through a thin-gauge 10-foot
cable with a four-pin connector
on either end.
Among the master speaker’s
many features is a Stereo/
Mono switch that allows this
self-powered unit to play alone,
and SVS will happily sell you
just that speaker for rooms that
warrant it. But here’s the kicker:
the powered wireless speaker
without its mate costs $500,
while the full system goes for
just $100 more. The message
from the company is clear.
Music, even from a lifestyle
system like this, is meant to be
heard in stereo, and it is that
experience SVS intends to hang
its hat on. Can you dig it? I can.
FEATURES AND SETUP
You get a substantial and well-
featured package here for your
six Benjamins. The speakers,
based on the design of SVS’s
well-reviewed Prime Satellite,
measure approximately 10 x 6
x 7 inches (HxWxD), and weigh
in at about 9.6 and 8.8 pounds,
By Rob Sabin
respectively, for the active and
passive satellites. They exhibit
typically solid SVS build quality
and are finished in a nice piano
gloss-black. They’re small
enough—barely—for a near-
field desktop installation, but
large enough to place on stands
or on your furniture if you intend
to fill a room with sound.
To that end, inside each is a
1-inch aluminum dome tweeter
and 4.5-inch polypropylene
midrange driver. The tweeter
(protected by a screen should
you remove the grilles) features
a diffuser ring to help open the
soundstage. Class-D power
amps provide 50 watts to each
driver; a hearty 200 watts total
for a bi-amplified system with
carefully tuned active digital
crossovers. There’s a flared port
on the back of each speaker to
bolster the bass.
For the wireless/multiroom
audio connection, SVS licensed
the DTS Play-Fi platform. It
allows Wi-Fi streaming from
app-integrated music services,
including most of the usuals—
Amazon, Spotify, Pandora,
iHeart Radio, SiriusXM, Napster,
and Tidal, among others—as
well as a few lesser knowns
such as Deezer. The Play-Fi
app’s optional Critical Listening
Mode supports hi-res audio
signals up to 24-bit/192kHz for
files streamed via a wireless
or wired connection...and
the Prime Wireless system is
equipped to take advantage of
those streams with its built-in
24/192 DAC. Bluetooth, a
RATING
SVS Prime Wireless
Speaker System
PERFORMANCE
FEATURES
ERGONOMICS
VALUE
second wireless option, is of
the higher-quality AptX variety
should your source device
support that.
Adding versatility are analog
stereo RCA and 3.5mm minijack
input connections on the
back panel, along with optical
digital audio suitable for a TV
or game console. There’s also
a dedicated RCA subwoofer
output that automatically
detects a sub’s LFE connection
and activates an 80Hz filter. A
USB port is strictly for service
or charging/powering a phone
or accessory such as SVS’s
wireless subwoofer transmitter
($120, not included). There’s
an Ethernet input for a wired
network connection and a
helpful loop-through Ethernet
output.
Two push-or-spin knobs on
the front panel flank a modest
LED display that indicates
which source connection is in
use. The right knob spins for
volume or track play/pause
with a push. The left knob spins
for source selection when you
choose anything but Play-Fi,
which you’ll always boot from
the Play-Fi app on your device
(iOS or Android) or desktop
(Windows only).
Now, here’s the cool part.
When you push the Prime Wire-
less speaker’s left knob it allows
easy access to any playlist,
internet radio station, or song
on any of the music services
or your music server. There are
six separate presets it cycles
through, and they work just
like the presets on a car radio:
press and hold on the desired
number to set it to whatever’s
playing; cycle back to play the
stored preset you want. Since
Play-Fi creates a direct network
connection to the speakers, you
don’t need to boot the app to
select a preset once it’s stored.
If six presets aren’t enough,
Play-Fi lets you store a separate
list you can access from within
the app.
Another nicety: if you have
multiple Play-Fi speakers in your
home, the app can distribute the
music coming in from one of the
Prime Wireless wired inputs to
other zones. And Play-Fi is now
Amazon Alexa-compatible. As
long as you have a nearby mic-
enabled smart speaker, such as
an inexpensive Echo Dot, you
can tell Alexa to play specific
songs, albums, playlists, or
stations in a particular zone,
as well as control volume and
basic transport functions.
System setup was straight-
forward, if a bit tedious.
Fortunately, the Play-Fi app
walks you through all the steps
and screens, which are further
extended if you add Alexa.
Should you run into trouble, the
online user manual is excellent,
and SVS always has customer
service standing by.
PERFORMANCE
I warmed up with the system
for a few days by placing it
on my desk. Whether with
low-bitrate Pandora or better-
quality streams from Tidal, this
nearfield installation repeatedly
dragged me out of my work
and into utter distraction. Give
the Prime Wireless system
well-produced tracks, and it
will impress with natural timbre
mated with superb midrange
and upper frequency open-
ness and clarity. Highs were
beautifully extended and
utterly detailed, with no hint of
brashness. Bass extension was
clearly limited by the speakers’
size, but it was delivered without
the artificial upper-bass boost
practiced by so many small
speakers. It all just sounded so
balanced, clean, and unforced.
And the soundstage! Even at
such close range, the presen-
tation extended beyond the
speakers and was both deep
and rock-solid. Instruments
and voices had dimensionality
and were reproduced with
remarkable precision from their
spots within the spread; they
ranged in depth from behind
the speakers to sometimes
well in front. Tightly-miked
vocals, like Matt Duncan’s in
the title track from his album
Beacon, leaped forward and
hovered intimately just a touch
behind my computer keyboard.
The rhythmic bass line came
through without much depth or
weight, but with fine tunefulness
and texture. Smacked hi-hat
had natural metallic timbre and
decay. And when the percus-
sionist began whacking the
clapsticks, the crisp knock
hovered back right and well
above the rest of the stage, and
was nicely etched and size-
appropriate. Great stuff.
If my only yearning in the
office was for deeper and more
powerful bass, that hankering
DRIVERS: 4.5 in polypropylene
Specs midrange,
tweeter
1 in aluminum dome
AMPLIFIER: Class-D, 50 watts
per driver (200 watts total)
INPUTS: DTS Play-Fi (Wi-Fi), Ethernet, AptX
Bluetooth; optical digital, RCA stereo analog,
was amplified once I moved the
system to the speaker stands
in my studio. It now had a large
open space to fill, and it lost
the modest room gain from the
wall behind my desk. These are
2-way speakers, but there’s a
reason SVS calls the 4.5-inch
driver a midrange and not a
woofer. The system is rated
down to 52 Hz +/- 3 dB, and
while I don’t doubt that, without
any obvious mid-to-upper bass
contouring it sounded awfully
lean in my space.
I hooked up a 10-inch
subwoofer I had on hand
and…wow, what a difference.
Fortunately, the system retained
the stunning soundstage I’d
heard at my desk; it just blos-
somed into the bigger space
and grew more lifelike. Once I
added the sub, everything filled
in from the midrange on down,
and what was already a fairly
loud system for its size gained
additional dynamic authority
and headroom. Acoustic and
electric bass lines had their
body and impact restored, bass
drum kicks got their cavity and
visceral weight back. One of my
go-to EDM test tracks, “Like”
by Cuthead, starts with what
sounds like a duel between a
restless kick drum and a hyper
cowbell. Without the sub, you
get the thumps and some
transient impact from the drum,
but none of that “in-your-chest”
shockwave. With the sub added,
the system got its mojo back.
CONCLUSION
The SVS Prime Wireless system
is a purist’s product. It’s not a
cute little standalone speaker
that cleverly pretends to have
more bass than it really does—
not that there’s anything wrong
with that if you’re looking for
3.5mm stereo analog
OUTPUT: RCA subwoofer
OTHER: USB Type-A (service and power only)
DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD, Inches): 6 x 10 x 7
WEIGHT: (Pounds): 9.6 (active speaker), 8.8
(passive speaker)
PRICE: $600
At a Glance
Neutral, open sound
DTS Play-Fi high-res and
multiroom options
Extensive wired and
wireless connectivity
Dedicated subwoofer out
Limited bass output begs
for a subwoofer
Price: $600
(877) 626-5623
svsound.com
some background fill. But the
Prime Wireless is for people
who are serious about their
music and ready to sit in the
sweet spot. As long as you don’t
push it harder than you would
any small speaker of its size, it
does everything right, including
near-perfect frequency balance
down to its low-end limit. And
as long as you don’t expect it to
generate more bass than you
would any small speaker of its
size, it won’t disappoint.
But...and it’s a big but...if you
mate the Prime Wireless with a
decent subwoofer from SVS—
the company’s $499 SB-1000,
for instance—or another
manufacturer, you’ll end up with
a full-range hi-fi with modern
digital convenience and surpris-
ingly good audiophile sound
quality. All for a very affordable
price. Oh yeah, did I mention the
45-day risk-free trial?
The Verdict
SVS breaks the mold with a
surprisingly versatile and great-
sounding wireless speaker
package.
soundandvision.com ❘ 63
 test report
KRELL THEATER 7 AMPLIFIER
Multichannel
Master
By Michael Trei
IT’S HARD to overstate the
importance of Krell Industries in the
history of high-end audio. Founded by
Dan and Rondi D’Agostino in 1980,
Krell was the audio equivalent of
Lamborghini—an audacious riposte
to more Ferrari-like rivals such as Mark
Levinson and Audio Research. For
almost three decades, Krell went from
strength to strength, introducing a
stream of ever more ambitious
products that tested the depth of their
customers’ pockets, along with the
strength of their audio equipment
shelving. Then, starting around a
decade ago, the brand slowly slipped
off the radar screens of most
audiophiles.
We now know that the
D’Agostinos were the target of what
Dan has described as a hostile take-
over by a group of investors. The
new owners were more interested in
making a deal to put Krell-branded
high-end sound systems in Acura
cars than in pursuing the compara-
tively small home audio market.
Before long, some products were
64 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
being manufactured in China, and
Krell’s edge slipped away.
While Dan moved on with a
new venture, Rondi stayed and
fought for the company she had
co-founded 30 years earlier,
eventually succeeding in regaining
control. Krell is now working to
reestablish its brand as a world
leader in a somewhat smaller, yet
even more competitive, high-end
audio market. The Theater 7 ampli-
fier is part of that process.
Krell amplifiers have always been
overstated in design and under-
stated in their on-paper specifica-
tions. Back in the 1980s, we would
talk about “Krell watts,” where the
amp’s massive power supply and
conservative on-paper power rating
meant that it could drive speakers
in real world systems way beyond
what the numbers would suggest.
With 7 x 105 watts, all channels
driven into 8 ohms, the Theater 7
may not sound like a powerhouse,
but with most speakers it can really
deliver the goods.
RATING
Krell Theater 7
Amplifier
PERFORMANCE
FEATURES
ERGONOMICS
VALUE
Krell built its reputation on amps
that deliver pure class-A power,
free from the switching distortion
common to more typical class-
A/B designs. The problem is that
pure class-A amps are notoriously
inefficient and pump out huge
quantities of heat. Instead of having
to make a choice between ultimate
sound quality and efficiency, Krell
developed what they call iBias Class
A to give you both at the same time.
While sliding bias amps are nothing
new, the difference with iBias is
that the bias level is determined
by what’s happening at the amp’s
output where the speaker load is
connected, rather than at the input.
An iBias circuit in
the Theater 7
SETUP
delivers class-A
operation minus Despite being the smallest and most
the wasted energy affordable multichannel amplifier in
and excessive heat Krell’s lineup, the Theater 7 ($7,500)
associated with is still a beast by any normal stan-
class-A designs. dards. Weighing in at 70 pounds
and measuring over 20 inches
deep, you’re going to need a pretty
stout shelf to support it. A bottom-
mounted cooling fan ensures that
things never get too hot, but Krell
still advises that you give the amp
plenty of breathing room.
As with any power amp, hookup
is straightforward. Each of the
seven channels has both balanced
XLR and single-ended RCA inputs,
but rather than putting a switch in
the signal path to select between
them, Krell includes seven little
copper loops that short the inverted
phase of the XLR input to ground
when it’s not being used. Krell
describes the speaker terminals as
five-way binding posts, but I found
they weren’t particularly well-suited
to larger spade terminals,
working best with either
bare wire or banana plugs.
The power inlet uses a hefty
20-amp-capable C20 IEC plug
rather than the more common
15-amp C14 variety, although
the supplied power cable has
a standard 15-amp plug at the
wall outlet end for compatibility.
Rounding out the connections
are a 12-volt trigger input and a
LAN port.
While the Theater 7 doesn’t
have its own control app, it can
be addressed remotely via the
hardwired LAN connection.
When you switch on the amp,
the front panel display shows an
IP address, and when you enter
that IP address on a portable
device or computer that’s on
the same network, a control
screen pops up. From there
you can update the firmware,
switch the amp on or off, adjust
the no-signal switch-off timer,
monitor the operating tempera-
ture and fan status, and carry
out other operations. However,
this functionality is meant more
for a custom installation profes-
sional or Krell technical support
to diagnose problems remotely
than it is for user operation.
I primarily used the Theater
7 to drive my PSB Synchrony
seven-channel surround
speaker rig, but rather than
using them with my subwoofer
as I would normally do, I simply
ran the Synchrony One towers
full-range and switched off the
sub. This allowed me to evaluate
the amp’s full-range perfor-
mance without siphoning off
the deep bass frequencies to a
separately powered unit.
and dynamics of his stick work
was certainly ear-opening.
Charley Drayton’s bass on this
track is a great test of an amp’s
ability to control a speaker. With
the Theater 7, his bass lines
were full-bodied and powerful,
yet also tuneful and easy to
follow.
Any home theater amp
should be expected to deliver
sledgehammer dynamics and
an ability to maintain an iron grip
on the speaker drivers, but it can
be a taller order to combine that
with subtlety and transparency.
The track “Ramblin’ Boy” from
The Weavers’ Reunion At Carn-
egie Hall is a tough test of those
properties. When I listened to
it with the Theater 7, the purity
of Pete Seeger’s voice, and the
huge sense of natural spacious-
ness when the crowd joined
him in singing, provided an
impressive demonstration of
the benefits of the Krell’s iBias
Class A circuitry.
While Incredibles 2 didn’t
have quite the spark that made
the original movie so great,
there’s no denying that the
opening nine-minute sequence
when The Underminer robs a
bank in Metroville is a fantastic
home theater demonstration.
With the combined sounds of
the Underminer’s tunneling
machine and money vacuum,
the Incredibles’ attempts to
stop him, and a jazzy music
background all going at once,
this sequence can give any
audio system a real workout.
The Theater 7 maintained its
composure throughout the clip,
with dialogue remaining clear
and fully resolved. Even without
benefit of a subwoofer, the
combination of the Krell amp
and the Synchrony One tower
speakers managed to get the
walls shaking in my 14 x 16-foot
theater room.
After taking into consider-
ation “Krell watts” versus what
you get with more typical power
amps, 105 watts-per-channel
can still be a limiting factor in
some larger rooms, especially
when inefficient speakers are
used. Personally, I’m more of
a quality over quantity kind of
guy, and I’d always go for an
amp like the Theater 7 over a
lesser alternative with a higher
power output specification.
In my setup, I never felt like I
was running short of juice. (Of
course, if you want to have it all,
At a Glance
Class-A sound with
improved efficiency
Exceptional transparency
and control
Not the most powerful
amp on the block
Display unnecessary for
most users
Price: $7,500
203-298-4000
krellonline.com
Krell also offers the 7 x 200-watt
Chorus 7200XD amplifier.)
CONCLUSION
After a few years spent flying
under the radar, Krell is very
much back in business. While
the company’s main focus
has always been two-channel
audio, the Theater 7 shows that
it’s also a serious player in the
multichannel game. For a home
theater where the main focus is
quality rather than trying to blow
out everyone’s ears, it’s hard to
beat Krell’s Theater 7 amplifier.

PERFORMANCE
Starting with two-channel music
streamed from Qobuz, I fired up
some of my favorite evaluation
tracks. It immediately became
clear that despite its name, the
Theater 7 isn’t just for movies.
Drumming legend Steve Jordan POWER OUTPUT: 7 x 105 watts (8 AUDIO INPUTS: Gold-plated RCA (7,
is famous for the crisp snap ohms), all channels driven; 7 x 140 single-ended), balanced XLR (7)
that he gets from his snare, and Specs watts (4 ohms), all channels driven; AUDIO OUTPUTS: five-way binding
on the reggae track “Words Of DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD, Inches): 17.1 x posts (7 pair)
Wonder” from Keith Richards’ 7.65 x 21.1; WEIGHT (Pounds): 70; OTHER: 12-volt trigger input, LAN
Main Offender album the impact

soundandvision.com ❘ 65
 reviews in ultra high definition
REFERENCE

RATINGS
EXCELLENT
entertainment GOOD
FAIR
POOR

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY UHD BLU-RAY

sequence have a vivid, yet detailed
look that regular Blu-ray can’t touch.
Audio on the new release is the
same remixed and restored 5.1
DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
found on the 2007 Blu-ray version. It’s
a powerful track, however: dialogue
is clear and the classical music selec-
tions have a full, unstrained sound,
particularly the drum-and-brass
wallop of Strauss’ Also sprach Zara-
thustra, an orchestral piece that’s
become the movie’s sonic signature.
Ligeti’s Requiem, a choral work that
gets cued up on the soundtrack
every time the alien black monoliths
appear, is mixed to envelop the
viewer in a swirling torrent of voices.
Another audio option on the disc
is a 6-track theatrical audio mix
irector Stanley Kubrick’s seminal sci-fi epic, co-written with author from 1968 formatted for 5.1 DTS-HD
Arthur C. Clarke, takes the whole of human history as its subject— Master Audio, though I didn’t note
from the initial flicker of intelligent thought in hominids, to the present much difference between it and the
day where humans live with the assistance of computer-generated primary soundtrack.
artificial intelligence. The film literally works as a space opera: long A Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood
stretches pass dialogue-free with just classical music serving to audio commentary is provided on
enhance the hyper-realistic images of ships and passengers aloft in the 4K disc. Other extras reside on
the cosmos. (2001: A Space Odyssey won an Oscar for best visual a separate Blu-ray and rehash the
effects, the only one it managed to take home from the 1969 same content from the 2007 release.
ceremony.) While viewers at the time of the film’s release were The list includes various short
challenged by the slow pacing and mystifying ending, its themes of subjects on Kubrick, Clarke, and the
the banality of human endeavor in the face of cosmic vastness, and film’s award-winning special effects,
ULTRA HD BLU-RAY
the precarious relation between mankind and its own creations, a vintage Look! Magazine piece on
STUDIO: Warner Bros., 1968
continue to resonate. ASPECT RATIO: 2.20:1 2001, a 1966 audio interview with
The new Ultra HD Blu-ray of 2001 represents a significant visual HDR FORMAT: Dolby Vision and Kubrick, and the film’s original theat-
upgrade over the already fine-looking 2007 Blu-ray release. The 2007 HDR10 rical trailer. You also get a regular
AUDIO FORMAT: DTS-HD Master
disc was mastered from a 2K scan of a 35mm optical reduction from the Blu-ray version of the movie, a
Audio 5.1
65mm negative. According to Warner Bros., generation loss inherent LENGTH: 147 mins. booklet with production, design, and
to that process resulted in reduced sharpness, compromised color DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick storyboard stills, and a pack of four
balance, and compressed shadow detail. There were also brightness STARRING: Keir Dullea, Gary art cards. While the disc’s packaging
Lockwood, William Sylvester,
and color aberrations at the sides of the image, along with image distor- represents a classy overall effort, it’s
Leonard Rossiter, Douglas Rain
tion due to the optical scope reduction. a shame that no new content was
Looking at the new Ultra HD disc, which was mastered from an 8K created to commemorate the 50th
scan of the film’s original 65mm camera negative, the increase in detail anniversary of what many critics
is immediately apparent. The 2.20 aspect ratio of the new version also consider to be the most significant
matches that of the film’s original 70mm theatrical release. Improvements sci-fi movie ever made. l AL GRIFFIN
in uniformity are clear—gone is the slight vignetting of the 2007 disc’s
image, an effect that could be easily seen in the film’s early sequences.
The presence of high dynamic range (Dolby Vision, though I watched
on a projector limited to HDR10 display capability) doesn’t register until
the first scenes in outer space, where the powerful contrast between
white ships and star fields and the deep black beyond lends powerful
pop to the image. While 2001 has a mostly muted palette that’s
characteristic of its era, colors in select scenes such as one where the
astronaut Dave (Keir Dullea) works to disable the memory center of
Warner Bros.

the ship’s onboard computer HAL 9000 beautifully showcase the wide
color gamut capability of Ultra HD Blu-ray. The various red hues in this

66 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 BLACKKKLANSMAN
UHD BLU-RAY

IN A STORY so jaw-dropping it has to be true, rookie African-Amer-

ican cop Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), the only officer
of color on the Colorado Springs police force, initiates an under-
cover investigation into the Ku Klux Klan amid tense race relations
in the 1970s. His part is played over the telephone, and to perpet-
uate his ruse he is partnered with white officer Flip Zimmerman
(Adam Driver). Flip attends meetings in the guise of “Ron,” requiring
the two men to coordinate their words and actions in order to
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT present a unified front as they pretend to be a single hardcore bigot.
The absurdity of this situation is seldom lost on director/co-writer
UHD BLU-RAY Spike Lee, who plays the material for laughs as well as drama,
suspense, and an opportunity to educate.
SAY WHAT YOU WILL about controversial superstar Tom Cruise, The movie was shot on film by Chayse Irvin with a somewhat soft
his dedication to the big-screen Mission: Impossible franchise he focus that gives it an era-appropriate look. There’s modest grain
launched in 1996 is nothing short of inspiring. Performing stunts and only minimal compression artifacts to mar the respectable 2.4:1
that would give a professional thrill-seeker pause, he literally throws
himself into his work with unparalleled zeal. For this sixth go-round,
secret agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is in hot pursuit of terrorists out
to tear down our world order, bad guys armed with an apocalyptic
manifesto, and some nuclear weapons. Expect betrayals and
frame-ups that force Ethan to go rogue…again.
Truth be told, this series is starting to feel a little long-in-the-tooth
by now. Some of the twists and tricks in this new longest-ever install-
ment are predictable, the personal relationships are more touchy-
feely, and it seems like more of a direct sequel than a standalone
adventure. Shot on a combination of digital video (up to 8K) and film,
Fallout was given a true 4K master that looks right at home on Ultra
HD Blu-ray. That’s not to say this is an ideal presentation: Tom’s been
at this for more than two decades, after all, and the 2.39:1 image
(1.9:1 for two IMAX sequences) is often soft and forgiving, more akin
to high-def Blu-ray quality. Wide shots of cities and landscapes are image. Black levels are lifelike but with some murk here and there,
most impressive, and focus is deftly manipulated to effectively shift particularly a slight loss of depth in smoky interior scenes. Shadow
the audience’s attention as needed. Colors tend to be subdued, detail is strong, notably on backlit faces. Dolby Vision HDR makes
which works well for the London scenes. Dolby Vision HDR the most of the somewhat subdued but very natural palette, adding a
emphasizes the frequent deep blacks, which are at times pierced by welcome bit of punch to the proceedings.
extremely bright highlights. The Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack at the core of the Atmos
Bass on the Dolby Atmos mix fully expands the soundstage to
soundtrack is definitely strong (I marvelous effect, adding real enjoy-
listened to the TrueHD 7.1 core), with ment and even a bit of levity at times
explosions and crashes that you can with the placement of well-edited,
truly feel. Quiet passages are also discrete voices. It’s one of the most
used cleverly for contrast and to estab- surround-aggressive tracks I’ve heard
lish mood. Composer Lorne Balfe’s in a long time, using sound to help tell
updated riff on Lalo Schifrin’s iconic the story in a powerful way. The music
theme helps tremendously to propel is mixed big with generous dynamic
the action. A wild motorcycle chase range, something clearly evident in
is really sold by the sound, and just both the energetic drums of Terence
about every variety of gunshot seems Blanchard’s original score and the
to be featured in this dynamic mix. engaging implementation of delicious
ULTRA HD BLU-RAY ULTRA HD BLU-RAY
Although there’s no mention of STUDIO: Paramount, 2018 STUDIO: Universal Studios, 2018
vintage tunes. The trebly snapping of
“extras” on the disc’s main menu, the ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1/1.90:1 ASPECT RATIO: 2.40:1 fingers above the music or a whistle
audio page proffers no fewer than HDR FORMAT: Dolby Vision and HDR FORMAT: HDR10 from somewhere in a crowd serves to
three commentaries plus an isolated HDR10 AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with draw you in all the more.
AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
music track in Dolby Digital 5.1! All of TrueHD 7.1 core LENGTH: 135 mins.
The 4K disc repeats the paltry
these are repeated on the included LENGTH: 147 mins. DIRECTOR: Spike Lee extras from the bundled Blu-ray. An
Blu-ray version of the movie, and a DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie STARRING: John David extended trailer scored with Prince
bonus Blu-ray platter is anchored by STARRING: Tom Cruise, Henry Washington, Adam Driver, Laura music reveals too much of the movie,
Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Harrier, Topher Grace, Jasper
a roughly one-hour documen- Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris Pääkkönen, Robert John Burken
while the five-minute featurette is little
tary of sorts comprised of short, more than an ego stroke for Mr. Lee,
Universal Studios

specific vignettes. There’s also a although it’s the only glimpse we get

Paramount

deleted scenes montage, storyboard of the real Mr. Stallworth. A digital

still frames, and more. l CHRIS CHIARELLA copy is included. l CHRIS CHIARELLA

soundandvision.com ❘ 67
 WESTWORLD: SEASON TWO
UHD BLU-RAY

Westworld: Season One ended in a cliffhanger with Dolores

(Evan Rachel Wood) taking charge of the adult amusement park.
Westworld: Season Two picks up shortly after this event with the
puppet show now over and the liberated “hosts” coming after the
humans for their own pound of flesh.
Season Two follows four intersecting story lines: Dolores’ revenge,

INCREDIBLES 2 Maeve’s mission for her daughter, the Man in Black trying to solve
the game, and Bernard seeking his own answers. What ensues is
UHD BLU-RAY pure chaos as the hosts become more enlightened and begin to
understand their own artificial consciousness. They grapple with
WHEN WE LAST left our intrepid superheroes (in 2004’s The philosophical questions of whether they are new form a life, and if the
Incredibles) they had defeated the nasty villain Syndrome. The new sins committed in Westworld have any consequences.
film opens with the Incredibles battling the Underminer, the same As much as I liked season one of Westworld, season two’s ten
villain they had encountered at the end of the previous film. They episodes are a jumbled mess. You’ll be thoroughly confused during
win the day with the help of their superhero buddy Frozone, but the
resulting chaos puts the Incredibles back in the doghouse with the
law and the public.
Soon afterwards, however, Helen Parr, AKA Elastigirl, is given an
opportunity to save the reputation of the family—and of all Super-
heroes. Meanwhile, husband Bob Parr, AKA Mr. Incredible, stays
home with the kids—fast-mover Dash, disappearing and force field-
producing Violet, and baby Jack-Jack. With the latter just beginning
to reveal his own weird and still uncontrolled superpowers, and the
older kids undergoing teenage angst or New Math issues, Bob has
his hands more than full.
Loaded with Pixar’s typically brilliant animation and clever plotting,
Incredibles 2 is every bit as good as its predecessor—perhaps even
better. As reviewed here on a 65-inch OLED TV, the Ultra HD disc’s
colors were vivid and true and the 4K resolution superb—but we
expect no less from Pixar. The use of HDR is also effective. Bright
highlights pop off the screen in a realistic, tangible, but also some-
times surprisingly subtle way that only well-produced HDR can offer. the first half and wondering if you can make it to the end—not an
The Dolby Atmos soundtrack (reviewed here in conventional 5.1 easy adventure. Seriously, sitting through it is a chore. The first four
surround) is shiny and vivid, but as with many recent Disney releases episodes are almost unwatchable because the narrative doesn’t
it is recorded at an unusually low level. There are also some related make any sense until you finish the season, when everything finally
dynamic range issues: I had to raise the volume level 3-4 dB higher comes into focus.
than the first film required, and when I did so the louder bits were As much as I loathed the show’s
over the top. But many listeners won’t mind this, and the soundtrack entertainment value (or lack of it), the
is otherwise excellent, especially disc’s native 4K images are a sight
Michael Giacchino’s James Bond- to behold. Detail is off the charts in
flavored score. closeups, with every facial pore easily
The extras (only on the included distinguishable from the next. Exte-
standard Blu-ray disc) include deleted riors are just as impressive, especially
scenes (though as with most such the on-location shots in Monument
deleted scenes in animated films, Valley, Arizona, and Moab, Utah.
they’re roughly sketched), outtakes, a Westworld: Season Two includes a
number of “making of” shorts, and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack to comple-
commentary track. There’s also Bao, ment the show’s stunning visuals.
the theatrical short that accompanied The track does a great job of placing
ULTRA HD BLU-RAY
the film in theaters (though as good STUDIO: Warner Bros.
the viewer within the scene by using
as it is, I wonder when touchy-feely ULTRA HD BLU-RAY ASPECT RATIO: 1.78:1/2.35:1 discrete effects that fall into the three-
replaced humor and whimsy in STUDIO: Disney/Pixar HDR FORMAT: Dolby Vision and dimensional space. For example,
Pixar’s shorts). A pair of extras are ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1 HDR10 when a public announcement goes
HDR FORMAT: HDR10 AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with
also available exclusively with the AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
out to evacuate a building, the sound
digital download of the film (which I TrueHD 7.1 core LENGTH: 580 mins. comes from all around you as if you
view as an ominous development). LENGTH: 118 mins. DIRECTOR: Various were in the building. Gunshots ring
But the highlight extra for me is the DIRECTOR: Brad Bird STARRING: Evan Rachel Wood, out with clarity and impact, effects
STARRING: Holly Hunter, Craig T. Thandie Newton, Ed Harris,
Auntie Edna Mini-Movie, in which the Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson Tessa Thompson
pan through the room with precision,
Incredibles’ quirky costume/fashion and the dialogue is always intelligible.
Warner Bros.

designer and movie scene-stealer Supplements include interviews

Disney/Pixar

Edna Mode babysits for the unpre- with several main characters and ten
dictable Jack-Jack. l THOMAS J. NORTON production featurettes . l DAVID VAUGHN

68 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 SAWDUST AND TINSEL
BLU-RAY

ALBERT (ÅKE GRÖNBERG), the aging owner and ringmaster of an

impoverished travelling circus, takes the troupe to his home town in
order to visit his estranged wife and sons with the hope of returning
to the safe, bourgeois family nest. In reaction, his jealous young
lover (the gorgeous Harriet Andersson), a horseback rider, allows a
charismatic actor to seduce her. In this, his finest early work,
writer-director Ingmar Bergman —as he later would with The
Seventh Seal and The Magician—uses homeless players to explore

TRUE STORIES the role of the artist in a society. Ruled by vanity and vulnerability,
they face constant humiliation as they offer their gifts to a cruel
BLU-RAY public, suffer abuse from contemptuous state authorities, and tear
at each other.
FRESH OFF the success of his band’s appearance in Jonathan
Demme’s seminal concert film, Stop Making Sense, Talking Heads
front man David Byrne tried his hand at making his own feature film
in 1986. A comedy styled as a documentary about the fictional town
of Virgil, Texas, True Stories centers on the town’s quirky residents,
whose lives are reminiscent of tabloid newspaper stories. Starring
Byrne as the narrator and main character, this enjoyable, offbeat
film offers clever and sometimes even brilliant takes on Americana.
The Criterion True Stories edition features a new digital transfer
mastered in 4K resolution from the original 35mm camera negative.
The lighting looks natural and the presence of some grain adds the The black-and-white Sawdust and Tinsel had three cinematogra-
pleasing “analog” quality of a movie shot on film. Dark scenes in phers—the great Gunnar Fischer (The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawber-
Chapter 7 that take place in a club are a little soft and lack shadow ries), aided by Hilding Bladh and Sven Nykvist, who eight years
detail as the camera pans around the seated patrons. However, in later would become Bergman’s main collaborator on such films as
a similarly dark scene in a theater in Chapter 27, tiny details in John Through a Glass Darkly and Persona. Each shot different sections of
Goodman’s face, including small beads of sweat, are visible and the story, resulting in different looks and styles that reflect alternate
framed by the gorgeous inky blackness of the empty stage wings in times and mind-states. The memorable expressionistic flashback
the background. A somewhat oversaturated palette gives the film a sequence—the suffering of a Christ-like clown carrying his naked
slightly surreal look, including the characters, who often wear bright wife like a cross after she’d swum naked with mocking troops—is
primary colors that serve to visually reinforce their peculiarities. overexposed to create a strange, faded, too-bright look. Elsewhere,
The many musical performances in True Stories sound impressive baroque in-depth compositions show streets, groups, and caravans
on this new 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio track (supervised in great detail. For theater scenes, chiaroscuro lighting is used to
by Byrne), even if the mix is confined mainly to the front speakers. create psychologically arresting imagery. Criterion’s new transfer
Vocals and instruments sound clear in Chapter 7, which features the was sourced from a Swedish 2K digital restoration made 2017 from a
actors lip-synching “Wild, Wild Life” by the Talking Heads. Occasional 35mm print. The image reveals inky blacks in the ringmaster’s outfit
crowd noises and sound effects are (and the bear he’s metaphorically associated with), bright white in his
nicely localized in each channel. handkerchiefs, and a wide range of
Aside from the musical performances, beautiful grays in backgrounds. Some
the soundtrack is mostly driven by overcast scenes look soft, but all
dialogue, which is always clean and others are sharp and highly textured.
intelligible. Hiss and other damage has been
The disc’s extensive extras consist digitally removed from the film’s mono
of a new hour-long making-of docu- soundtrack. The track’s wide dynamic
mentary, a second documentary on range conveys the jarring atonal score
graphic designer Tibor Kalman, and a by modernist Karl-Birger Blomdahl
faux-documentary about present-day with suitably bassy drums and no
Virgil, Texas. There are also seven breakup in the higher notes. Atmo-
deleted scenes, a vintage making-of BLU-RAY
spheric effects like rain sound natural
doc, a video introduction by Byrne, STUDIO: Criterion, 1986 and voices full and vibrant with all
and the original trailer. A new CD, True ASPECT RATIO: 1.85 BLU-RAY dialogue clear and comprehensible (if
Stories: The Complete Soundtrack, is AUDIO FORMAT: DTS-HD Master STUDIO: Criterion, 1953 you speak Swedish, that is).
Audio 5.1 ASPECT RATIO: 1.38:1
included that contains all of the film’s LENGTH: 89 mins. AUDIO FORMAT: LPCM Mono
Commentary by scholar Peter
songs. Compared with the Talking DIRECTOR: David Byrne LENGTH: 93 mins. Cowie always makes a disc worth
Heads’ 1986 True Stories CD, songs STARRING: David Byrne, DIRECTOR: Ingmar Bergman owning, and he doesn’t disappoint
such as “Love For Sale” and “Wild Wild John Goodman, Spalding Gray, STARRING: Harriet Andersson, here, mixing production background,
Annie McEnroe, Swoozie Kurtz, Åke Grönberg, Hasse Ekman,
Life” sound more clear and dynamic Pops Staples, Tito Larrivaw Anders Ek, Gunnar Björnstrand
comparisons with the director’s other
on this new soundtrack CD. Finally, films and themes, insights on actors
liner notes are provided, including and characters, and analysis of the
Criterion
Criterion

new essays printed on newsprint in a film language used to communicate

mini-tabloid format. l Roger Kanno Bergman’s brilliant ideas. l JOSEF KREBS

70 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

 music
THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
ELECTRIC LADYLAND:
DELUXE EDITION
THE NOMENCLATURE of the key
line that appears within the
credits of the original October
1968 double-vinyl release of
Electric Ladyland tells quite the
prescient tale: “Produced And
Directed By Jimi Hendrix.” The
most crucial word in that
phraseology, of course, is
Directed, as the ace guitar
slinger spent a good bit of his
in-studio time in 1968 thinking in
purely cinematic terms. Though
his indisputable fretboard
prowess was universally
acknowledged by that point in
his all-too-short career—some-
thing forever overshadowing his
other, underrated top-shelf
talents as a soulful, thoughtful,
versatile vocalist and insightful,
confessional, cosmic song-
writer—Jimi the artist was
always yearning to broaden his
creative palette and expand the
scope of the stereo listening
experience to the fullest extent
the technology of the day would
allow.
Hendrix would find no better
in-simpatico partner to explore
those burning desires with than
South African-born producer/
engineer Eddie Kramer, who
also had significant engineering
roles on the first two Jimi
Hendrix Experience albums,
May 1967’s Are You Experienced
and December 1967’s Axis: Bold
as Love. And while it may have
taken 50 years to get there, their
rainy-day dreams have finally
72 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com
come to pass on the master-
piece de resistance Electric
Ladyland deluxe box set. As
multidisc collections go, this
one covers all the right bases,
with a Kramer remaster of the
core 75-minute double album
on Disc 1, numerous early takes
and outtakes on Disc 2, and a live
concert from September 14, 1968
at The Hollywood Bowl in Cali-
fornia on Disc 3 (highlight: the
one-two gut-punch of “Sunshine
of Your Love” and “I Don’t Live
Today”).
But the crux of the creative
apex can be found on the
Blu-ray, which contains not only
an insightful, in-depth making-
of documentary but also one
of the most fully realized and
all-encompassing 24-bit/96kHz
surround mixes I’ve heard to
date. In fact, this duo’s mutual
multichannel wishes for EL were
confirmed to me directly by
Kramer himself, back when I sat
in on a mixing session he was
doing for Sting’s cover of “The
Wind Cries Mary” for the 1995
Hendrix tribute album In From the
Storm at Jimi’s own Electric Lady
Studios in Greenwich Village,
New York. “Electric Ladyland is
the one studio album of Jimi’s
best suited for 5.1,” Kramer
told me at the time, citing the
phase-challenging content
all throughout the album. And
there’s also the fact that it was
rife for multichannel (re)visitation
anyway, thanks to it being cut on
1-inch 12-track tape mainly at the
Record Plant in New York—in
contrast to the first two JHE
albums, which had both been
cut on ½-inch 4-track tape.
From the literal get-go, the
wild and widespread all-channel-
clockwise sonic swirling on
the album opener, “. . .And the
Gods Made Love,” lets you know
instantly Hendrix and Kramer
have come to challenge what
your speakers can (and can’t)
CD & BLU-RAY
Label: Experience Hendrix/Legacy
Audio Formats: 16-bit/44.1kHz PCM Stereo
(CD); 24-bit/96kHz DTS-HD Master Audio
5.1, 24-bit/96kHz LPCM Stereo (Blu-ray)
Number of Tracks: 84 (48 on 3 CDs, 36 on
1 Blu-ray)
Length: 6:16:36 (3:42:28 on 3 CDs,
2:34:08 on 1 Blu-ray)
Producers: Jimi Hendrix (original
recordings); Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer,
John McDermott (Deluxe edition); Eddie
Kramer (5.1 mix, stereo remixes and
remasters)
Engineers: Eddie Kramer (original
recordings and additional recordings); Gary
Kellgren, Vincent J. Gagliano, Tom Muccio,
Angel Sandoval, Lenny Stea (additional
recordings); Scott Sedillo (5.1 mastering)
PERFORMANCE
SOUND
handle. Like a centrifugal-force
machine gone haywire, “Gods”
unfolds at breakneck speed all
around you, a spindrift panorama
revisited here and there all along
the way, like when it serves as
an especially poignant callback
during the not-so-gentle
denouement of “Moon Turn the
Tides. . .gently gently away.”
That, of course, is not all. The
expansive sci-fi epic “1983. . . (a
Merman I Should Turn to be)”
would be the perfect soundtrack
for a 3D Aquaman movie, the
aural equivalent of taking a
sonic voyage 20,000 leagues
(or should that be Hz?) under
the sea. “1983” is a breathtaking
13-minute journey depicting the
artist’s concurrent ascent and
descent into a future lived under-
water, accented by his lightning-
quick ping-ponging guitar-riff
depth charges and drummer
Mitch Mitchell’s ever-intuitive
jazz-influenced stick, snare, and
cymbal work.
The jaw-dropping moments
on display here are almost too
numerous to mention, but I
nonetheless marvel at the abject
fluidity of Jimi’s rhythm and lead
work during “Come On (Let the
Good Times Roll),” his Curtis
Mayfield-inspired falsetto on
“Have You Ever Been (to Electric
Ladyland),” and the biting,
soundstage-destroying flame-
thrower riffage dominating the
conclusion to “House Burning
Down.”
Finally, the album closer, the
proto metal-melting, mountain-
chopping “Voodoo Child (Slight
Return),” showcases Jimi’s utter
mastery of the wah-wah pedal.
Kramer’s 5.1 mix makes you feel
like Hendrix is simultaneously
coming at you from every direc-
tion all at once, yet it is still teth-
ered to the basic tenets of song
structure and presentation—a
true mixmaster’s feat unto itself.
Had Jimi Hendrix lived on into
the audio playback and
recording industry boom of the
1970s and beyond, I have no
doubt he would have been at
Peter FordhaGerorge Pericharos; Authentic Hendrix, LLC
the forefront of exploring the
outer limits of quad and
surround mixing of his own
original material—in essence,
becoming the Steven Wilson of
the classic rock era, if you will.
Have you ever been to Electric
Ladyland? Just cue up this A+
surround sound mix, and I’ll
meet you in the next world of
all-channel aural excellence—
but don’t be late. l MIKE METTLER
 PAGE MANUFACTURER 8-9 ........ GoldenEar Technology 57 .......... OSD Audio
goldenear.com osdaudio.com
69.......... AXPONA
axpona.com 27 .......... Harman/JBL 12-13 .... Paradigm
jbl.com paradigm.com
61 .......... CinemaShop
(866) 243-1001 52 .......... Hsu Research C2, 3 ..... Polk Audio
cinemashop.com (800) 554-0150 (410) 764-5275
hsuresearch.com polkaudio.com
15 .......... Crutchfield
(800) 319-8843 7, C3...... KEF 19, 21 .... SVS
crutchfield.com (732) 683-2356 (877) 626-5623
kef.com svsound.com
C4 ......... Denon
(201) 762-6665 25.......... Klipsch Audio Group 53 .......... ZVOX Audio
usa.denon.com klipsch.com (866) FOR-ZVOX
zvoxaudio.com
71 .......... EISA 11 .......... MartinLogan
eisa.eu martinlogan.com

37 .......... Elite Screens 5 ............ Marantz

562-483-8198 (201) 762-6500
Elitescreens.com us.marantz.com

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP
As required by Title 39, Section 3685 United States Code below
is the Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation of
Sound & Vision.
1. Publication Title: Sound & Vision
2. Publication Number: ISSN 1537-5838
3. Filing Date: 10/01/18
4. Issue Frequency: 6 issue/year, Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov
5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 6
6. Annual Subscription Price: $12.99
7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 260
Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016.
Contact Person: Matt Kexel/Phone 646-442-5828
8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business
Office of Publisher: AVTech Media Americas Inc, 260 Madison
Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016
9. Publisher, Keith Pray/ 260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York,
NY 10016; Editor, Al Griffin/ 260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New
York, NY 10016
10. Owner: AVTech Media Americas Inc, 260 Madison Avenue, 8th
Floor, New York, NY 10016
11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders
Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds,
Mortgages or Other Securities: None x
12. Tax Status: (For completion by nonprofit organizations
authorized to mail at nonprofit rate)
(Check one) The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of
this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax
purposes
x Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months
Has Changed During the Preceding 12 Months
13. Publication Title: Sound & Vision
14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September, 2018
15. Extent and Nature of Circulation:
Average No. Copies No. of Copies of
Each Issue During Single Issue Published
Preceding 12 Months Nearest to Filing Date
a. Total number of copies ........ 53,241 53,771
b. Paid Circulation (by mail and outside the mail)
1. Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on
PS Form 3541...................44,914 44,312
2. Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on
PS Form 3541............................ 0 0
3. Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales
Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors,
Counter Sales and Other Paid Distribution
Outside USPS..................... 1,282 1,300
4. Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail
Through the USPS.................... 0 0 (Electronic & Print) are paid above a nominal Price
c. Total Paid Distribution..........46,196 45,612
d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
(By Mail and Outside the Mail)
1. Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies included on
PS Form 3541........................250 480
2. Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies included on
PS Form 3541............................ 0 0 I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and
3. Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes
Through The USPS................... 0 0 misleading information on this form or who omits material or
4. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
Outside the Mail..................1,501 3,054
e. Total Free or Nominal
Rate Distribution .................... 1,752 3,534
f. Total Distribution ..................47,948 49,146
g. Copies not Distributed.......... 5,293 4,625
h. Total .......................................53,241 53,771
i. Percent Paid..........................96.3% 92.8%
16. Extent and Nature of Circulation:
Average No. Copies No. of Copies of
Each Issue During Single Issue Published
Preceding 12 Months Nearest to Filing Date
a. Paid Electronic Copies ........35.588 34,453
b. Total Paid Print Copies (Line 15C) + Paid Electronic
Copies (Line 16A) .................81,784 80,065
c. Total Print Distribution (Line 15F) + Paid Electronic
Copies (Line 16A) ................83,536 83,599
d. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided
by 16c X 100)......................... 97.9% 95.8%
x I Certify that 50% of all my distributed Copies
17. Publication of Statement of Ownership will be printed in
the: January 2019 issue of this publication.
18. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager,
or Owner
Keith Pray, Publisher 10-1-2018
complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or
information requested on the form may be subject to criminal
sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or
civil sanctions (including civil penalties).

soundandvision.com ❘ 73
 remaster class

2001 DVD ("Special Edition" Cut)

SUPERMAN

A Supreme Legacy
IN PART BECAUSE it has now endured for 40

2006 Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD

years, but also because it is the sort of thrilling
cinematic entertainment we never seem to tire
of, Superman has appeared on just about every
home entertainment format, and deservedly
so. The first comic book blockbuster, director
Richard Donner’s visually stunning epic stars

James Arndtapitol CD
Christopher Reeve as the only survivor of a
brilliant but arrogant alien culture who finds his
place in our world as a god-like protector.
Superman debuted on home video in a
two-CED set for the RCA SelectaVision system
(shown at right). Audio was mono and the picture panned and scanned, the 4:3 image hobbling Geof-

2011 Motion Picture Anthology BD

frey Unsworth’s glorious widescreen cinematography. The original VHS release was truncated from 143
minutes down to about two hours, reportedly due to a lack of videocassettes longer than a T-120.
American audiences were finally given a widescreen version with the release of the 1990 laserdisc.
Color and overall picture quality left much to be desired, but at least the marvelous and vital composi-
tions were finally set free. Not much changed until Superman entered the digital age with the 2001 DVD.
This marked a pivot to a longer, director-approved “Special Edition” cut, complete with a version-
specific commentary with Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz. This was the only cut of the
movie on five-inch disc until the 2006 “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” DVD tin, which included the long-
overdue theatrical version. Not until the 2011 “Motion Picture Anthology” Blu-ray boxed set appeared
was the original 1978 cut available in high definition. Then, in 2017, Warner Archive Collection made
many a fan’s dream come true with the “Extended Edition,” a sprawling three-hours-plus kitchen-sink
cut that restored footage only seen in TV airings, but now presented in letterboxed form on Blu-ray.
Which brings us to 2018, and a new Ultra HD Blu-ray that honors the past while delivering the best
2017 Extended Edition BD

of today. I’ve seen this movie more times than I can count, and in 4K I spotted little bits of background
action I’ve never noticed before. Of course, there’s more detail exposed in the matte paintings, as well as
real precision in the wafting wheat stalks of Smallville. The organic peculiarities of focus, from the lenses,
filters, etc., are beautifully maintained. Grain is sometimes substantial, and not only in the process shots.
The film’s color balance has been tweaked a few times over the past 17 years, and for the 4K disc the
producers appear to have settled on a happy medium that is both vibrant and faithful. HDR10 and Dolby
Vision impart a pleasing pop to the 2.40:1 image. There’s also a subtle beauty to the color range that
wasn’t there before, with more nuance in the fleshtones, although some makeup is also noticeable.
The first DVD packed a remixed, modified 5.1-channel soundtrack reimagined for contemporary
tastes, and that provides the basis for the Ultra HD Blu-ray’s new Dolby Atmos mix. Somewhat surpris-
ingly, the disc defaults to a high-bitrate Dolby Digital 5.1-channel presentation...which marks the home
2018 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

entertainment debut of the original 1978 theatrical six-track! Ioan Allen of Dolby Laboratories once
explained to me that this was the first 5.1-channel soundtrack (pre-dating even Apocalypse Now) as
evidenced by its split left/right surrounds and directional dialogue. While it doesn’t offer the whiz, crash,
and boom of modern tracks, it is nonetheless an exhilarating and enveloping audio accompaniment.
The 4K disc ports commentary by producers Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler that is repeated on the
bundled Blu-ray, but only with a subset of the many super extras of the past. For picture and sound, this
new disc is a champion, but don’t banish your old discs to The Phantom Zone just yet. Chris Chiarella

Sound & Vision (ISSN 1537-5838) (USPS 504-850) February/March 2019, Vol. 84, No. 2. COPYRIGHT 2019 BY AVTech Media Americas, LLC. All rights reserved. Published six times a year
(December/January, February/March, April/May, June/July, August/September, October/November) by AVTech Media Americas, LLC., 260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY
10016-2303. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. Single copy price is $6.99. Subscriptions: U.S., APO, FPO, and U.S. Possessions $12.99 for 6 issues.
Canadian orders add $6.00 per year and international orders add $12.00 per year (for surface mail postage). Payment in advance, U.S. funds only. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See
DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Sound & Vision, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Mailing Lists: Occasionally, our
subscriber list is made available to reputable firms offering goods and services we believe would be of interest to our readers. If you prefer to be excluded, please send your current
address label and a note requesting to be excluded from these promotions to AVTech Media Americas, LLC., 260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016-2303, Attn: Privacy
Coordinator. Subscription Service: Should you wish to change your address or order new subscriptions, you can e-mail soundandvision@emailcustomerservice.com, call (800) 264-9872
(international calls: 386-447-6383), or write to: Sound & Vision, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235..

74 ❘ February March 2019 ❘ soundandvision.com

THE DENON

AVR-X8500H
The World’s First 13.2 Channel Receiver
The Denon AVR-X8500H supports the latest surround formats, including
IMAX® Enhanced — the most premium at-home entertainment experience.
With a more than 100-year legacy of trusted sound, it’s time to enjoy
world-class home-theater.

Learn more at usa.denon.com

Manufactured under license from IMAX Corporation. IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation in the United States and or other countries.
All Rights Reserved. For DTS patents, see http://patents.dts.com. Manufactured under license from DTS, Inc. DTS, the Symbol, DTS and the Symbol
together are registered trademarks or trademarks of DTS, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries © DTS, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Denon is a trademark or registered trademark of D&M Holdings, Inc.