LATEST ADDITIONS

Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I’m upgrading my home theater for Dolby Atmos and have noted that various speakers are now being specifically marketed for this purpose. For example, I’ve seen compact speakers with sloped, downward-pointing baffles that are designed to be wall-mounted near the ceiling. Are these as effective in delivering overhead effects as an in-ceiling or Atmos Enabled speaker? Also, could an Atmos Enabled speaker be mounted in the same manner near the ceiling? —R. Hatton, via email

The first thing to fade from my bloated cable bill when I dropped all sports channels was a line item called the Regional Sports Network Fee. It was a monthly tax that cost me $5.89 just for the ability to tune into channels I never watched. And it was a fraction of the more than $30 that instantly vanished from my cable bill once I customized my lineup minus the sports channels I'd been force-fed for years.

The Hi-Fi Show Live 2018, a high-end audio event organized by the editors of Sound & Vision sister publication Hi-Fi News & Record Review, will take place this Saturday and Sunday at the historic De Vere Beaumont Estate in the village of Old Windsor in Berkshire, England.

PRICE $4,499

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Auro-3D formats
13 processing channels and 15 audio outputs
Clean, highly detailed sound
Minus
Very narrow remote sensor

THE VERDICT
Marantz’s new flagship surround processor makes the most of the Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Auro-3D formats while providing a notable sound quality improvement over its predecessor.

I remember my first flagship A/V receiver like it was yesterday. It was the year 2000, and Onkyo’s TX-DS989, which sold for a cool $3,200 and featured seven channels of built-in amplification plus support for the latest, greatest THX Surround EX and DTS-ES codecs was every home theater enthusiast’s dream. With rear surround speakers now added to the mix, a home theater could actually match the arrays found in cinemas.