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5 Podcasts to Enhance Your Appreciation of Music
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 30, 2020
If there’s one thing the ongoing pandemic has taught us, it’s that the “too much time on my hands” concept no longer applies. Here are five music-centric podcasts and a sixth smorgasbord selection to enhance your appreciation of music and the ways it’s made.
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4K TV ReviewsOLED TV ReviewsTV Reviews
Sony XBR-65A8H OLED Ultra HDTV Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 29, 2020

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $2,800

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Unsurpassed contrast
Superior color and resolution
Wide viewing angle
Minus
Complicated menu system
No HDMI 2.1

THE VERDICT
Sony's latest OLED measures up to the best, including the company's 2019 Top Pick of the Year-winning Master Series model, and comes in at notably lower price.

We previously reviewed Sony's XBR-65A9G OLED, a member of the company's Master Series Ultra HDTV family. While that set is still available and remains a first-class option, the only advantages it appears to offer over the new XBR-65A8H OLED reviewed here are slightly more sophisticated sound features plus an ability to serve as a center channel in an outboard multichannel audio setup. The XBR-65A8H, meanwhile, is priced considerably lower than its Master Series predecessor at $2,800.

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Audio Video News
CES Goes All-Digital for 2021
Al Griffin  |  Jul 28, 2020
When Emerald recently announced that the annual September CEDIA Expo would be canceled due to Covid-19 concerns, our next thought after taking that news in was, “What about CES?” Well, the answer to that question came today with the Consumer Technology Association’s announcement that its 2021 tech-fest, scheduled for January 6-9, will be an “all-digital experience.”
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Audio Video News
Qobuz Is Giving Away High-Res Music
Al Griffin  |  Jul 27, 2020
Back in the Napster and LimeWire glory days when I first started listening to music using a computer, “download” and “free” were basically synonymous. With the arrival of iTunes, the paradigm shifted to having to pay actual money for compressed downloads of albums and individual tracks, and HDtracks later upped the ante with uncompressed, high-res music downloads.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
5 More Top Concert Blu-ray Discs
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 24, 2020
"I miss going to concerts."

It's a common refrain these days. Perhaps you've even said it yourself out loud on occasion to no one in particular but yourself, and/or to whomever you're jointly commiserating and quarantining with, and/or have typed it out as a comment-cum-lament underneath one of those incessant social media "memories" reminders that really only serve to bum you out about what you're missing—not to mention what you most decidedly won't be able to replicate in a comparable fashion in the near future.

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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Klipsch The Fives Powered Speaker System Review
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 23, 2020

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $799

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Versatile
Easy to set up
Solid construction
Good sound with powerful bass

Minus
No tone controls

THE VERDICT
The Fives accommodate a variety of audio setups without the need for an outboard amp or receiver and deliver pleasing sound with rich, powerful bass.

I’m all about simplicity so I welcomed The Fives with open arms. A follow-up to The Sixes Klipsch introduced a couple years ago, the new speakers are smaller and take connectivity to the next level with the addition of an ARC (audio return channel)-enabled HDMI port. If I had to pick one word to describe this system, it would be versatile.

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Bookshelf Speaker ReviewsSubwoofer ReviewsSurround Sound System ReviewsTower Speaker Reviews
Revel PerformaBe Surround Speaker System Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 22, 2020

Speakers
Performance
Build Quality
Value
Subwoofer
Performance
Build Quality
Features
Value
PRICE $20,500 (as tested)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Superb overall performance
Impeccable fit and finish
Relatively compact
Minus
Pricey

THE VERDICT
It may be pricey, but this PerformaBe system offers sublime performance with both music and movies.

I've reviewed many Revel surround speaker packages over time, but it's been six years since my last Revel review, a system centered on the Performa F208 tower speaker. At around 13 grand, that system could still be considered an affordable option compared with a full surround package built around the company's flagship Ultima range. Now, with its PerformaBe line, Revel has a mid-price speaker offering to help bridge the gap.

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SmartStream
NBCUniversal's Peacock Not Ready for Prime Time
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jul 22, 2020
On July 15, NBCUniversal became the last of the major studios to launch its own streaming service. Unfortunately, it appears that Peacock has not learned from the success of its predecessors.
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New Products
NAD Prepares to Ship M33 Streaming DAC/Amp
Al Griffin  |  Jul 21, 2020
A predictable effect of the pandemic on the A/V world has been a slowdown in shipments of new gear shown at CES that typically would have arrived by spring or early summer. One example: NAD’s M33 Masters BluOS Streaming DAC/Amp, which we had reported on at CES 2020. NAD’s eagerly awaited new $4,999 streaming amp was originally supposed to ship in March/April but is now scheduled to arrive in North America in late August. Better late than never!
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Signals
Superman Builds a Gaming PC
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jul 20, 2020
Superman obviously reads S&V. Well, at least he reads this Signals column. Why else would he so specifically follow my suggestion, and then post about it on his Instagram page?

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