Audio Video News

McIntosh has introduced three retro-styled, reference grade preamplifiers, including a dual-chassis tube model said to have the lowest noise of any McIntosh preamp ever produced.

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

In what may be the most creative (and craziest) stunt for a music video, UK director Joe Connor hitched a pair of vintage Sony TVs to a weather balloon with GoPro cameras in tow and sent them to orbit. All to promote the song “Call You Home” by Kelvin Jones. A YouTube post of Jones singing the song went viral last year, eventually leading to a deal with Sony Music.

Marantz has announced plans to ship an updated version of last year’s AV7702 preamp/processor in October.

Forgetting for a moment about security risks associated with the rise of the Internet of Things—a world in which every imaginable device, from your TV and wireless music system to your refrigerator and sprinkler system, is online gathering and exchanging data—Forbes raises a thought-provoking question:

Still listen to the radio? Ever wonder what your favorite deejay or newscaster looks like? You no doubt have an image of him (or her) in your mind, however, fictitious it might be. The guessing game is over if you’re a fan of CBS Radio News: the 24/7 cable TV-like news service is now streaming live at radio.com, writes S&V contributor Michael Antonoff in a recent article for USA Today.

In a nod to the many classic Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series speakers still found lurking in mastering and recording studios around the globe, B&W recently invited the audio press to New York’s renown Sterling Sound mastering studios to unveil the new 800 Series Diamond speaker family. But it would be wrong to call this a revision.