LATEST ADDITIONS

The S&V Interview
Mike Rutherford Opens Up About Genesis' R-KIVE
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 24, 2014
And then there were… five? The above photo is no trick of the tale, for you’re indeed seeing the five key members of Genesis — from the top of the stairs down, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, Peter Gabriel, and Mike Rutherford — together again for the first time in many years. No, they’re not reforming, but rather have come together to celebrate the career-spanning documentary Genesis: Sum of the Parts airing on Showtime October 10 (and expected to see home release sometime in November), as well commemorate the September 30 release of R-KIVE (Rhino), a 37-track, three-CD box spanning 42 years of both band and solo material. “I know, who’d have thought there’d be all of this activity at my age?” laughs Mike Rutherford, a mainstay of the band through all of its incarnations. “But when you see all these songs side by side, like ‘Turn It on Again’ with [Collins’] ‘In the Air Tonight,’ [Gabriel’s] ‘Biko,’ and [Mike + The Mechanics’] ‘The Living Years’ — you go, ‘Wow, that’s a great body of songwriting.’ ” Full-bodied, you might even say. Recently, Rutherford, 63, and I talked about the band’s impetus for sound quality, why tracks like “Supper’s Ready” still endure, and what might come next. Play me my song, o musical box.
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Audio Video News
GoldenEar Ready to Ship SuperCinema 3D Array XL Soundbar
SV Staff  |  Sep 24, 2014
Extra Long Version of Popular 3D Array Soundbar Made for Screens 65 Inches and Up

GoldenEar Technology announced that the new SuperCinema 3D Array XL soundbar will be available in early October at a suggested retail price of $1,599. The XL is a larger version of the SuperCinema 3D Array soundbar—an S&V Top Pick in 2012—intended for TVs with screens sizes 65 inches and up.

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Audio Video News
LG to Present Tony Bennett/Lady Gaga Concert in Ultra HD
SV Staff  |  Sep 23, 2014
“Cheek to Cheek” Special Hailed as First Concert Streamed in 4K

LG today announced that this past summer’s “Cheek to Cheek LIVE!” concert, featuring Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, will be the first concert to be streamed in 4K/Ultra HD when it becomes available on Amazon Instant Video in October. LG is the official Ultra HD sponsor of the event.

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Audio Video News
Samsung Launches Ryder Cup App for Golf Fans
SV Staff  |  Sep 23, 2014
Samsung today unveiled the Ryder Cup TV App, which provides a new way for golf lovers to interact with this year’s Ryder Cup at home or on-the-go. Developed in collaboration with Turner Sports and the PGA of America, the app provides live scores, access to behind-the-scenes video footage, and “virtual hole flyovers” with details about course.
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Audio Video News
"David Bowie Is" Immersive at the MCA Chicago
Lauren Dragan  |  Sep 22, 2014
In the center of an all-white video screen, stands a young David Bowie. He is miming the story of a man who finds a mask that generates him enormous success and yet ultimately causes his suffocation. And so it’s fitting, perhaps, that the Bowie retrospective at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art (September 23 through January 4, 2015), titled “David Bowie Is,” contains little detail concerning the life of David Jones, the man who would become Bowie.
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Grace NotesAudio Video News
Apple TV Rocks Beats Music
Leslie Shapiro  |  Sep 22, 2014
While all the Apple Kool-Aid drinkers could talk about last week was the new iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, an interesting tidbit of news was mostly overlooked, but we feel it’s rather exciting. (Is it just me, or is it really hard to get all that thrilled about yet another iPhone launch?) Along with a sleek new interface for the set-top box, Apple TV has added Beats Music streaming.

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AV Receiver Reviews
Denon AVR-S900W AV Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 19, 2014

Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $650

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Wi-Fi, AirPlay, Bluetooth
HDMI 2.0
Cool cardboard mike stand included
Minus
Slow DLNA media access
No MHL for phone streaming

THE VERDICT
The Denon AVR-S900W offers high value at a crowded price point, with superb performance, a competitive feature set, and a supplied stand for the room-correction mike.

You can’t set up room correction without a microphone, and you can’t use the mike without bringing it to ear-level elevation. But few A/V receiver makers include a mike stand. Along with Anthem, Denon is now one of the happy exceptions. No, the stand packed with the AVR-S900W isn’t a metal photography tripod with all the mechanical trimmings. But it is an effective platform for the mike used to set up Audyssey room correction. Constructed entirely of black card stock, it consists of a four-finned base, two plain column pieces, and a third column piece with sawtooth holes for height adjustment. Piece it all together, top it off with the customary Hershey’s Kiss–shaped mike, and you have something that looks like a rocket. Run Audyssey’s auto setup and room correction program—in this case, the MultEQ version, which measures from six seating positions—and your home theater system is ready for liftoff.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Josef Krebs  |  Sep 19, 2014
Picture
Sound
Extras
Jack Ryan’s creator, writer Tom Clancy, had the hero of his first book, The Hunt for Red October, trying to outwit the Soviets during the Cold War. Shadow Recruit presents his back story, beginning with Jack still in his college years. Yet, surprisingly, it’s the 9/11 attacks that motivate him to take his analytical skills to Afghanistan to help fight the war. Nevertheless, it works. And instead of staying behind a desk, Jack’s soon out in a helicopter with soldiers on a mission, getting shot down, badly injuring his spine, but saving two of his men. So it’s no surprise that, after heroically forcing himself to learn to walk again, he’s recruited by The Company.
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Tech2
B&W C5 Series 2: Once More, With Feeling!
Lauren Dragan  |  Sep 19, 2014
Bowers&Wilkins have become known for their innovative takes on aesthetic design. (Remember the Zeppelin?) Sometimes weird, and often wonderful, B&W have a love-it-or-hate-it style that is distinctly their own. No exception is the C5: in-ear headphones with a bullet-like shape and a unique stabilizing loop that have been recently revamped and released this week. The C5 Series 2 have a few deviations from the originals, while still keeping a similar form factor. I sat down to compare version one to Series 2 to get a better sense of what’s new.

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Ask S&V
Can I Use a Receiver as a Separate Power Amp?
Al Griffin  |  Sep 18, 2014
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I own a Pioneer Elite VSX-49TXi receiver that I’m using in a bedroom system because it lacks HDMI connections. My plan is to upgrade the Onkyo receiver in my theater room with a Marantz pre-pro plus a power amp. Here’s my question: Could I use the Pioneer receiver purely as a power amp connected to the Marantz pre-pro? —Rick Jennings, Hollister, CA

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