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Audio Video News
Cary Audio To Roon: We're Perfect Together
SV Staff  |  Jul 07, 2017
Cary Audio has announced that both its DMS-500 reference network audio player and AiOS all-in-one network receiver are now certified Roon Ready, meaning they can act as the hub for Roon Labs' award-winning music player interface.

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Headphone Reviews
Focal Utopia Headphones Review
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 07, 2017

Performance
Build Quality
Comfort
Value
PRICE $3,999

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Beryllium diaphragm
Rock-star cosmetics
Fine-tuned highs and timbre
Minus
Expensive

THE VERDICT
Focal’s Utopia headphones are a bleeding-edge statement from a pedigreed loudspeaker manufacturer that has made the most of its speaker-designing experience.

When I look back on all the dumb things I did as a kid, surely one of the dumbest was pitching rocks and dirt balls at a wasp nest. With each impact, a cloud of wasps rose from the nest. It was mesmerizing—until one of us got stung. Reviewing Focal’s Utopia headphones isn’t at all stupid, but I suspect the results are going to be similar: a cloud of wasps, maybe a sting. Some readers will look askance at $3,999 headphones, especially since the things I have on hand for comparison cost a fraction of that. I don’t often breathe such rarefied air.

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Ears On
New Tab on the Block
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 07, 2017
Though I live in an apartment packed with LPs and CDs, my work as an audio reviewer sometimes requires me to access music from a mobile device, either directly from the device itself or streaming to an a/v receiver or wireless speaker(s). I use a tablet for that. Ideally, the tablet should hold a generous selection of music files, the higher-res the better, and make it easy to manage them. Unfortunately the tablets I've owned up to now have done neither of those things. So it's time for a new tablet. And it's not an iPad.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Fantastic beasts and Where to Find Them
Avi Greengart  |  Jul 07, 2017
Picture
Sound
Extras
In the Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a school textbook. The movie of the same name provides the back story of its author. I hope there is no test, because I found the movie long and overstuffed.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hacksaw Ridge
David Vaughn  |  Jul 07, 2017
Picture
Sound
Extras
One of the bloodiest battles in World War II happened on Okinawa in 1945, and it definitely wasn’t the place you wanted to be if you didn’t carry a weapon. But for conscientious objector Desmond Doss, this wasn’t an option. While he believed the war was justified—which is why he volunteered—his personal belief was that killing was wrong and he wasn’t going to be a party to it. He was in the war as a medic, and he was there to save lives, not take them. And save lives he did—75 of them over the course of one night when he was stuck behind enemy lines.
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Audio Video News
Roku Updates OS
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 07, 2017
Roku’s new operating system brings new features. The search platform ties into 300 streaming channels. More Ways to Watch uses content recognition to recommend programs or streams, including those delivered by antenna. If you’d rather not have Roku monitoring your viewing, it can be turned off.
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Audio Video News
McIntosh Introduces Biggest Amp Yet
SV Staff  |  Jul 07, 2017
Having a Mc-attack? McIntosh Laboratory, the iconic audio brand with the "McIntosh Blue" watt meters that's still hand-building its components in Binghamton, NY, has what will satisfy you. The new MA9000 is the biggest and most powerful stereo integrated amplifier the 68 year-old firm has ever engineered, and it's a doozy.

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New Products
July 2017 New Gear
SV Staff  |  Jul 06, 2017
Denon HEOS Bar Soundbar
If experiencing 5.1 surround sound from a single box interests you, read on. The latest addition to the HEOS family of app-controlled wireless multiroom products—the HEOS Bar—uses advanced signal processing and nine drivers to create a spacious soundscape. The 43-inch-wide enclosure is perfect for screens 50 inches or larger and connects wirelessly to Denon’s low-profile HEOS Subwoofer ($599).
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Audio Video News
MQA Comes to CD
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jul 06, 2017
MQA is coming to CDs, with the first releases arriving from Ottava and Chesky. Master Quality Authenticated is a form of “audio origami” that folds down hi-res audio into more manageable file sizes and streams. It can travel in a “CD quality” stream, so why not release it on CD?
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Ask S&V
Can You Recommend an Affordable Streaming Amplifier?
Al Griffin  |  Jul 06, 2017
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I don’t even know what to call it, but I'm looking for a reasonably priced device ($150 or less) with enough watts to drive a small pair of two-way speakers that’s also internet-enabled and capable of playing back Pandora, Spotify, and iTunes (not Apple Music) tracks from my iPhone. Can you make a recommendation? —Scott Oakley, Pine, AZ

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