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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Piano
Chris Chiarella  |  Mar 25, 2022
Picture
Sound
Extras
One of the most sensual movies I have ever seen, The Piano owes much to Holly Hunter's central depiction of the voluntarily mute Ada, who communicates through her music (she tickled her own ivories for the role), through sign language, and through her remarkably expressive face. A single mother dispatched with her daughter from Scotland to New Zealand for an arranged marriage, Ada soon finds herself the unwitting target of the affections of an unexpected admirer, igniting love, lust, and no small measure of understandable jealous rage.
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The S&V Interview
Which of the New TV Technologies Will Prevail?
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 24, 2022

15 Minutes with Robert (Bob) O’Brien, Co-Founder, Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC)

Advances in TV technology are coming fast and from many directions these days, giving consumers — and home theater enthusiasts, in particular — more reasons than ever to consider upgrading to a new set. Whether we’re talking Mini-LED, MicroLED, or QD-OLED, a new take on OLED technology, there’s a lot to keep up with. We tracked down industry insider Robert (Bob) O’Brien to get his take on what has become a very dynamic space.

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Bookshelf Speaker ReviewsSurround Sound System Reviews
Elac Uni-Fi Reference UBR62 Surround Speaker System Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 23, 2022

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $3,100 (as tested)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Clean-sounding dialogue
Silky detail
Big, open presentation
Minus
Limited deep bass (without sub)

THE VERDICT
Elac’s new Uni-Fi Reference series can hang with many far larger and pricier loudspeakers. Just add a subwoofer or two to this system for movies, and you’ll be good to go.

German speaker company Elac has had quite a run over the past few years, with designer Andrew Jones turning out new models on an annual basis after setting the audio world on its ears in 2016 with the Elac Debut. Following the Debut's launch, the company came out with the pricier Uni-Fi. A three-way bookshelf design, the Uni-Fi incorporated a coincident midrange-woofer that positions the tweeter at the apex of the midrange cone where the dust cap usually sits.

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Music and Soundtrack FeaturesThe S&V Interview
Carlos Santana on Blessings, Miracles, and Full Musical Immersion
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 22, 2022
"I'm just very grateful we're allowed to, by grace, manifest some really, really high-standard, quality music. We do not have to be victims of static."

That's rock legend Carlos Santana, succinctly summarizing two things at once: a) the fine art of making music worth listening to, and b) being able to hear that music as clearly as the artist intended. (To that end, Carlos and I wound up switching phone lines during the front end of our conversation in order to hear each other with a much better-sounding connection, but that's another story.)

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New Products
LG Starts Shipping 2022 OLED TV Lineup
SV Staff  |  Mar 22, 2022
LG just announced pricing for its 2022 OLED TV lineup introduced earlier at CES. The new range includes the OLED evo G2 Gallery Edition and OLED evo C2 series models, both of which feature a new α9 Gen 5 processor that delivers improved peak light output—up to 20 percent, according to the company. Most models are available now at LG.com, and they will be arriving at retail stores in April.
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Ask S&V
How Can I Get More Bass from Bluetooth Speakers?
Al Griffin  |  Mar 22, 2022
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I own a pair of Edifier S2000 Pro Bluetooth bookshelf speakers. I love listening to music through these, but often want to hear more bass and this model doesn’t have a subwoofer output. What are your suggestions for getting better bass from a Bluetooth wireless speaker system? —Jeff Crunkleton, via email

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Audio Video News
Samsung Opens Pre-Orders for 2022 TVs
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 21, 2022
Update (March 23, 2022): It turns out the S95B OLED TV model, one of the many models covered in the recent Samsung news release announcing pre-order status for its 2022 TVs, will actually be the first QD OLED TV to hit the U.S. market if Samsung hits its target April delivery dates. Read more about the advantages and promise of QD OLED display technology in Trends of CES 2022. A Samsung spokesperson offered this explanation: “Since the term OLED is already widely accepted and understood, Samsung decided to go with the nomenclature ‘Samsung OLED TV’ to avoid confusion among consumers.” Industry insider Robert (Bob) O’Brien, co-founder of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), offers his take on this unusual situation in an interview that posts tomorrow (March 24).

Samsung has announced that many of the 2022 TV models it unveiled in January at CES 2022 are now available for purchase or pre-order, depending on the series/model. Here’s a breakdown of specific models with shipping dates where available.

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Signals
Steam-Powered Teslas?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Mar 20, 2022
Whenever I board a train, airplane, or boat, I always ask if I can drive. Except for the time when that cruise ship capsized and sank off the French coast, the engineer/pilot/captain has never handed over the keys. Still, it never hurts to ask. But when I get in a car, I almost always get to drive. Which brings us to the question of “driving” a car and the future of mobile entertainment.

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Sweepstakes
Carlos Santana's Blessings and Miracles Sweepstakes!
SV Staff  |  Mar 18, 2022
Register to win one of three Carlos Santana Blessings and Miracles Vinyl Editions (value $34.98 each), or a limited edition Carlos Santana hand signed Blessings & Miracles PRS SE Doublecut Electric Guitar (value: $2,995/priceless) we are giving away.

"Santana delivers one of the most ambitious, inspired, and magical records of his storied career. There are genre-bending, hook-filled celebrations featuring Rob Thomas, Chris Stapleton, G-Eazy, American Authors and Ally Brooke, and thrilling feats of bravura musicianship that pair the guitar master with fellow icons like Chick Corea and Steve Winwood, and knockout rockers with Metallica's Kirk Hammett and Living Colour's Corey Glover, among others."

"Featuring the artwork from the 2021 Blessings and Miracles release, this Santana Student Edition PRS electric guitar is a must have for any collector. This is a very limited run of these guitars and is hand signed by Carlos Santana."

[This Sweepstakes is now Closed.]

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Miller's Crossing
Josef Krebs  |  Mar 18, 2022
Picture
Sound
Extras
In this classy, hard-boiled, Prohibition-era noir saga by writer-director Joel Coen and co-writer Ethan Coen—with uncredited lifting from Samuel Dashiell Hammett, who actually created the memorable, colorful characters, plot, and mood in his 1931 novel The Glass Key—Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) is right-hand man and wise, cool-headed adviser to powerful political boss Liam "Leo" O'Bannon (Albert Finney).
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