Q I have tried streaming Amazon Music HD to my Marantz SR7015 receiver over Bluetooth from my iPad using the receiver’s HEOS app. The app shows resolutions all the way up to 24 bit/192kHz — something I didn’t think was possible with Bluetooth! Will I get the same resolutions if I make a hardwired connection from iPad to AVR using an AudioQuest DragonFly Red USB DAC? —Paul Giovino, via email
As any serious photographer can tell you, color is a complex subject. There are researchers devoting their careers to it. It's also central to properly setting up a television in a process we call calibration.
Movies can reveal a world mainstream audiences might not have been aware of, and in doing so they go beyond mere entertaining to offering actual enlightenment. Such is the case with Nomadland. Winner of 2020 Oscars for Best Picture, Director, and Actress, the film depicts a culture of folks with little in the way of material possessions—really just a vehicle and a few incidentals—who relish their freedom and mobility as they roam this great land.
Technics is planning an October launch for its latest integrated amp, the SU-G700M2. The new model is an upgrade of the previous SU-G700, and features technology used in the company’s flagship Reference SU-R1000 integrated amp such as LAPC (Load Adaptive Phase Calibration) to permit optimum matching with any speaker and the JENO (Jitter Elimination and Noise-Shaping Optimization) Engine.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Standard-setting HDR performance
Wide viewing angle for LCD
Deep blacks and strong shadow detail
Minus
Lacks Dolby Vision
Occasional blooming artifacts
THE VERDICT
The price for Samsung's latest sets may be up from last year's equivalent models, but if you're in the market for a new TV, the improvements to be found in the new QN90A series make it worth serious consideration.
In 2020, Sound & Vision tested Samsung's 65-inch Q90T series TV, an LCD model that lacked some of the features and refinements found in the company's flagship sets from the previous year. But at $1,900, it also struck us as a solid deal given the overall price-performance ratio and received a Top Pick. Samsung's new Neo QLED QN90A series LCDs, available in 55-, 65-, 75-, and 85-inch screen sizes, are pricier than the Q90T models they replace, though the higher prices in this case come with marked performance upgrades.
DirecTV Stream launched recently as the newest DIRECTV incarnation. There are a few changes, but for those who subscribe to AT&T TV, the only difference will be the onscreen logo and mobile app name. There has been much confusion about DirecTV Stream, from the name change, to how to stream it and the differences between it and the DIRECTV satellite service.
I've watched all the Terminator movies. Thirty-two times. Each. I know all about Skynet and how it will exterminate the human species. And I know that science fiction can become science FACT. But you future robot rulers of the planet, your name isn't Skynet. It's Alexa.
The messiah here is Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), preaching and gathering disciples to join him in his efforts to help feed and free the people. Judas is Bill O'Neal, the follower who's secretly working for the oppressive force—the Chicago PD and the FBI circa 1968, who see the BPP as more of a threat than the Russians or the Chinese.
Concern over the rapidly spreading Covid-19 Delta variant has wreaked havoc on CEDIA Expo 2021 but the show is soldiering on. Here’s some of the CEDIA-related news that has crossed our desk.