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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Samsung Unveils New Flagship Soundbar
SV Staff  |  Jul 13, 2017
Samsung has stepped up its soundbar game with a new flagship model that uses patented distortion-cancelling technology to “provide a sweet spot no matter where you sit.”
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Ask S&V
How Do I Set Up Rear Speakers?
Al Griffin  |  Jul 13, 2017
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

I recently bought a 7.1-channel receiver, along with a 5.1 speaker system. Due to space limitations, I plan to install the surround speakers in the rear of room behind the seating area. Here’s my question: Should I configure the rear speakers in my receiver’s setup menu as Surrounds or Back Surrounds? —Greg Smith

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Headphone Reviews
1More Quad Driver In-Ear Headphones
Steve Guttenberg  |  Jul 12, 2017

Performance
Build Quality
Comfort
Value
PRICE $200

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Truly innovative tech
Proprietary quad-driver design
Highly transparent sound
Great value
Minus
Cables aren’t user-replaceable

THE VERDICT
The 1More Quad Driver’s sound dazzles with its transparency, wide-open imaging, and nimble bass.

There’s something really special happening here. The 1More Quad Driver In-Ear is easily the most transparent, best-imaging headphone I’ve heard for $200. I’m not joking—before I knew the price, I assumed it was at least $300 or $400. Since there’s no outward indication of what makes the Quad Driver so outstanding, I was super eager to find out.

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Music Reviews
U2: The Joshua Tree – Super Deluxe Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 12, 2017
Performance
Sound
“Outside, it’s America.” That’s U2 vocalist Bono, setting the stage for the explosive climax of “Bullet the Blue Sky,” one of the pivotal tracks on the band’s 1987 masterpiece, The Joshua Tree. As Bono purposefully charges his way through the denouement of the narrative, ace guitarist The Edge literally dive-bombs the aural equivalent of the lyrical floodlights—let’s call them “flood-licks”—through a series of unrelenting scorched-earth riffs while the track careens to its final U.S. caress.
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Audio Video News
Focal Offering Sib Evo Atmos Sub/Sat Systems
SV Staff  |  Jul 11, 2017
Focal, the respected French speaker and headphone manufacturer, has updated its affordable Sib satellite loudspeaker line to to embrace the Dolby Atmos-enlightened among us.

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A/V Veteran
OLEDs Here and There
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 11, 2017
All of us are familiar with LG’s successful use of OLED technology for flat screen UHDTVs. We also know that Sony is marketing its own OLED sets this year. But Sony buys its OLED panels from LG Display (an independent entity from LG itself, though connected to it in some inscrutable way). In fact, LG Display is currently the only company in the world that manufactures OLED panels for consumer televisions. LG’s arch-rival Samsung is a leader in producing OLEDs for cell phone displays, but a few years back decided against marketing OLED HDTVs, at least for now.

Other companies are also marketing OLED sets, but none of them are currently available in the US. And at present all TV OLED panels come from LG Display. But that doesn’t mean that these sets are identical. Each maker uses its own unique electronics and video processing.

While you can’t yet purchase an OLED display here in the US apart from an LG or Sony, it’s useful to know a little about others offering this technology. The more OLEDs sold worldwide, the more viable the technology will remain and, ultimately, the faster its currently high prices will drop...

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Signals
After Nearly 30 Years, Sony Rediscovers Vinyl
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jul 11, 2017
I must admit, the news took me by surprise. I know that vinyl is officially a thing, and a growing thing at that. But I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn that Sony was getting back into the LP business.

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Audio Video News
Vudu Converts Discs Via Phone
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 10, 2017
Walmart-owned Vudu will convert your Blu-ray or DVD titles via smartphone. Using the Mobile Disc-to-Digital feature on the Vudu mobile app, scan the barcode on the packaging. It’s not free—you’ll pay $2 per title for standard-def or $5 for high-def.
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New ProductsPremiere Design
Teac AI-503 USB DAC/Integrated Amplifier
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 10, 2017
As much as it might look like it, this is not your father’s long lost amplifier—the one you remember sitting on a rack in the den next to the Dual turntable and AR-3s—recently discovered in a remote corner of the attic. Nope, behind those vintage VU meters is a thoroughly modern USB DAC/integrated amp designed for the post-analog age or, more specifically, the Age of Hi-Res Audio. Simply put, Teac’s mission with the compact AI-503 is to preserve the fine details and nuances of your carefully curated music collection, whether you’re pulling tunes off your home network, a USB thumb drive, or a digital audio player.
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Headphone ReviewsGrace Notes
Zipbuds 26 Bluetooth Wireless Sport Earphones
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 10, 2017
I worry when I see any product claiming to have audiophile sound. As if any company is going to advertise their new headphones with tone-deaf, mediocre sound? How about I-don’t-give-a-crap sound? Let’s just say that I start off a bit skeptical when I read claims like that, especially from a company who is a relative newcomer to the market. After some quality listening time with the new Zipbuds 26, I’m cutting them some slack. These earphones sound really good. Claim away.

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