Mark Henninger

Smart Speaker ReviewsNew Products
Apple HomePod 2nd Generation - First Impressions
Mark Henninger  |  Jan 18, 2023  |  2 comments
Today I took a trip to Manhattan to hear the new HomePod Generation 2 from Apple. First impressions of how it handled music playback made me emotional because I realized Apple has achieved that blend of performance plus stylish minimalism it is so well known for. This second-generation HomePod is a game changer because at $300 each, it only costs $600 to put a full-fledged, spatial audio-capable sound system anywhere you want and enjoy jaw-dropping fidelity.
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Tower Speaker Reviews
Epson LS800 4K UST Projector Review
Mark Henninger  |  Jan 13, 2023  |  0 comments

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $3,499 (without screen)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Sits close to wall
Very bright
Low input lag
No rainbow effect
Accurate colors
Minus
Limited color gamut
Can't be calibrated
No HDMI 2.1
2-way pixel shift
No 3D

THE VERDICT
Serving up to 150 inches of viewing, Epson's new triple-LCD UST blows away the UST competition with its category-leading high brightness and easy placement. It's a do-it-all display equally happy to serve up TV, streaming shows, live sports, video games, and 4K movies.

The ultra-short-throw projector category is where all the action is these days when it comes to home entertainment projection. You'll find both name-brand TV makers and brands you've never heard of battling it out for a spot in your living room. But here's the thing: A UST can do both TV and home theater projector-like things. And in some ways, it's a whole new animal.

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CES 2023
Sound & Vision CES 2023 Editor’s Picks
Mark Henninger  |  Jan 11, 2023  |  3 comments
Presenting the Sound & Vision CES 2023 Editor's Picks! Covering CES involves a trip to Vegas at the beginning of each year. It is the show that sets the tone in AV tech and is considered one of the top platforms for companies to launch and showcase their latest products, technologies, and services to a global audience.

CES 2023 was big and chaotic, as it should be! Finding twenty Editor's Choice winners takes a lot of walking, monorail riding, watching, and listening...

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Leica Cine 1 Laser TV UST Puts Picture Quality First
Mark Henninger  |  Jan 06, 2023  |  0 comments
Hisense and Leica team up to create a UST Laser TV that focuses on image fidelity and benefits from Leica's long experience with designing high-performance lenses, the Cine 1.
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Top Picks
2022 Top Picks of the Year
Mark Henninger  |  Jan 03, 2023  |  34 comments
We live in a remarkable era where home entertainment delivers experiences with convenience and quality that was the stuff of science fiction not long ago. The past year yielded a lot of interesting new gear, including the first quantum-dot OLED TVs from Samsung and Sony. It's a year where Sony updated its 4K home theater projector lineup and went all-in with laser light sources. Meanwhile, Epson raised the bar on what to expect from an ultra-short-throw (UST) projector with the wall-hugging LS800, while LG made its popular OLEDs bigger and brighter than ever.
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TV Reviews
Samsung 98" QN100B Neo QLED 4K TV Review
Mark Henninger  |  Dec 23, 2022  |  13 comments

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $40,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Incredible brightness
Cutting-edge picture quality
Lays flat on wall
Minus
No Dolby Vision
Extremely expensive

THE VERDICT
A 4K tour-de-force from Samsung, the QN100B loves to show you what's missing from less capable TVs.

Samsung's over-the-top 98-inch Neo QLED showcases what's possible when a TV has the horsepower needed to handle HDR properly. What's mind-blowing is in HDR mode, its measured brightness can exceed 1000 nits, full-screen. Few TVs of any size can achieve this level of brightness, and the QN100B does it while preserving extremely high contrast and offering a wide color gamut. The resulting picture quality is thought-provoking, even at this price point, because it begs the question of what to prioritize for the ultimate home viewing experience: Size or HDR capability.

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Special Features
King(s) of Long Throw Projectors Crowned
Mark Henninger  |  Dec 13, 2022  |  0 comments
JVC swept the field at the inaugural Projector Shootout evaluation event, put on by Dealerscope and Value Electronics at 335 Madison Avenue (NYC) on December 11, 2022. I attended to see all the competing projectors do their thing in person and for the excellent conversations with people who know their stuff when it comes to projection.
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Bookshelf Speaker ReviewsDesktop Speaker ReviewsSubwoofer ReviewsSurround Sound System Reviews
Monolith M518HT 5.1 THX Sub/Satellite System Review
Mark Henninger  |  Dec 07, 2022  |  0 comments

Performance
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $799.99

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Compact
Clear and precise sound
Wall mountable
Tunable subwoofer EQ
Minus
4 ohms impedance
Low sensitivity

The Verdict
This 5.1 HTiB speaker system combined with a suitable AVR offers a high-performance yet compact alternative to soundbars. The concentric driver satellites provide pinpoint imaging that results in cohesive surround-sound envelopment. Even with stereo music you get a listening experience that defies expectations for a system this small in size and cost.

Home Theater in a Box Done Right
The classic HTiB—an all-in-one subwoofer/satellite speaker system—was long ago supplanted by soundbars as the go-to upgrade for TV audio. But a solid HTiB system, with the speakers properly placed and paired with the right AVR, is a great way to get superior surround-sound on a budget—so long as the components are high quality.

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Soundbar ReviewsStreaming Device ReviewsSurround Sound System Reviews
Roku Streambar Pro 5.1 System Review
Mark Henninger  |  Nov 23, 2022  |  4 comments

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $660

AT A GLANCE
Plus
High fidelity sound
Components sold separately
Easy setup
Built-in Roku 4K streaming
Cordless private listening mode
Minus
No Dolby Atmos support
Weak bass without the subwoofer

THE VERDICT
The top-of-the-line soundbar system from Roku is full of cool features and gives you a surround-sound listening experience that is better than competing systems of similar cost. But it lacks support for 3D immersive sound like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, and the Streambar Pro on its own is not nearly as impressive sounding as when it's part of a complete 5.1 system.

Soundbars have evolved from simple standalone add-on speakers for TVs into fully self-contained home entertainment systems able to deliver cinematic, immersive listening experiences. The catch is today's soundbar systems can get quite costly, often exceeding the price of the TV they might be connected to. With Roku's Streambar Pro, the cost of entry is only $179.99 for the soundbar itself, and you can expand the system from there. Granted, tricking it out with a subwoofer and four add-on wireless is almost four times the cost, but what you get is a very nice surround-sound solution that's easy to install, easy to use, and outperforms many similarly priced soundbars.

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New Products
Capital Audiofest 2022: High-End Sights and Sounds
Dennis Young,  |  Nov 18, 2022  |  7 comments
It’s been seven long years since I last attended Capital Audiofest, the largest high-end audio show on the east coast of the U.S. This year’s show took place on November 11-13 at the Twinbrook Hilton in Rockville Maryland, which is the same venue as my last visit. The show grew significantly in the interim, with five full floors of the hotel taken up by demos, but it maintains the same casual look and feel and a strong focus on two-channel, audiophile-centric systems.
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