JVC’s projector line is getting a refresh, with three new models ranging in price from $9,999.95 to $24,999.95. All models employ the company's BLU-Escent laser diode light source—a feature previously available only in the flagship DLA-RS4500—along with its proprietary 8K/e-shift technology. They are also outfitted with 8K60p/4K120p-capable HDMI inputs (48Gbps)—a first for a home theater projector, according to JVC.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Great value
Impressive dialogue clarity
Voice Assistant input
Minus
Lacks bass impact
Complicated LED display
Narrow soundstage
THE VERDICT
With its strikingly clear dialogue delivery, Vizio's V21d-J8 might just be the best $100 soundbar you can buy.
Whoever complained that you get what you pay for never listened to Vizio's V21d-J8. The company's latest 2.1-channel soundbar is a $100 entry-level model offering strikingly clear sound. Although the V21d-J8 lacks a dedicated subwoofer, it delivers a fair amount of upper-bass impact. For the price, it can't be beat.
In its first major move since being acquired by home-audio powerhouse Sound United last October, Bowers & Wilkins (a.k.a. B&W) has introduced “evolved” versions of its iconic 800 Series Diamond speakers.
As acclaimed as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 1970 magnum opus Déjà vu is, it somewhat helplessly plays perpetual second fiddle to the sea change garnered by the stacked-harmonic conver- gences in evidence on 1969's Crosby, Stills & Nash, which preceded it by 10 months. Granted, CSN was a breath of fresh vocal-arrangement air and instinctual instrumental accompaniment, but Déjà vu fostered the initial intersection of the volatile four-way street of headstrong artistic personalities with the addition of Neil Young into the fold.
Supply disruptions and the ever-lingering effects of the COVID-now-Delta pandemic have made it a challenging year for getting new A/V products to market. Despite the slowdowns, we’ve managed to corral enough gear to keep our reviewers busy even though we would have preferred having more options in some product categories. Our test reports have focused on TV and video projection in recent weeks so we decided to broaden the scope of this roundup to include all TV- and video-related products that have been awarded Top Pick status so far in 2021.
There are over six thousand movies, and TV shows on Netflix in the U.S. Chances are you only see what comes up on your home screen or in suggestions of “more like this” when you choose a title. But if you are looking for a specific movie genre, there are ways to see all the movies and TV shows that might suit your mood.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Superb uniformity and detail rendition
Precise color tracking and accurate saturation
Minimal reduction in audio fidelity
Minus
Woven design involves inherent light loss
Beer budgeteers may find it champagne-priced
THE VERDICT
Stewart's remarkable new Harmony G2 is a reference-level Acoustically Transparent offering for systems with speakers installed behind the screen.
A myriad of boulevards dissects a tract of former citrus groves, referred to long ago as Hollywoodland. Of these thoroughfares, singularly, there is Hollywood Boulevard, known the world over for a century of broken dreams. As lore recounts, and contemporary tales of woe reveal, there is little left to ponder beyond what should have been after most fame-bound aspirants leave.