LATEST ADDITIONS

We hope you’re enjoying the dog days of summer along with a return to some semblance of pre-pandemic normal even as the COVID-19 Delta variant threatens a return to mask-wearing protocols. Meanwhile, here at Sound & Vision we continue to pursue the latest audio and video offerings with an eye toward isolating gear that rises above the pack. In July, our efforts were duly rewarded with an impressive soundbar that can be had for less than $200 and a compact subwoofer that plays remarkably low and loud. Our testing also uncovered a reference-quality DAC that doubles as a streaming media player and a new flagship speaker from one of Canada’s top audio brands. Let’s take a closer look.

PRICE $180

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Room-filling sound
Enhances dialogue
Built-in Roku streaming interface
Minus
None worth noting

THE VERDICT
The Roku Streambar Pro offers a considerable sound upgrade over a TV's internal speakers and comes with the company's comprehensive streaming platform built-in.

Soundbars are popular for a good reason. The speakers in a typical flat panel TVs sound puny compared with the visual sway of increasingly larger, higher-resolution displays. Also, since not every viewing room can accommodate the separate components of a home theater, a narrow-footprint soundbar solves the problem of raising the impact of the audio and it does so with one cable.

As part of its ongoing 75th anniversary celebration, Klipsch is upscaling its presence in soundbars with four new systems designed to evoke its Reference series of home theater speakers.

Elton John was in the zone. The piano prodigy and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin were in the midst of an almost decade-long creative mindmeld, and October 1973's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was the apex of their collaboration. The initially unintended double album's 17 songs covered the gamut from nostalgic reverie for days gone by (the title track, the indelible "Candle in the Wind") to pumped-up '70s-style electric-boot rockers ("Bennie and the Jets," "All the Girls Love Alice"), and everything in between.