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Sony XBR-65Z9F LCD Ultra HDTV Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 17, 2018

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $3,500

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Impressive HDR brightness
Excellent black level and shadow detail
Superior off-center viewing angle for LCD
Minus
Some backlight blooming artifacts
Unimpressive built-in sound

THE VERDICT
Sony’s Master Series Z9F LCD makes a strong claim for top-dog status in today’s Ultra HDTV market. It produces superb images, with enhanced off-center viewing so all guests will be happy at your next Super Bowl party.

In mid-2016, Sony launched a new flagship LCD design, the XBR-Z9D. The series incorporated Backlight Master Drive, a local dimming technology that was a big step forward in realizing the peak brightness potential of high dynamic range (HDR). The Z9D series has remained at the top of Sony’s TV lineup for two years—an eternity for UHDTV technology. But it now shares space with the new XBR-Z9F Master Series LCD models, which are available in 65- and 75-inch sizes, along with the company’s new A9F Master Series OLED TVs.

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SmartStream
Updated Fire TV Stick 4K Can Handle More Formats and Control Your TV
Barb Gonzalez  |  Oct 17, 2018
Amazon’s updated Fire TV Stick 4K boasts an improved processor and a newly designed Alexa Voice remote.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
New Self-Powered Wireless Controller Aims to Simplify Smart Home Control
SV Staff  |  Oct 17, 2018
Berlin-based Senic has announced a self-powered wireless controller that aims to simplify the smart home experience by providing one-click control over Sonos speakers, Philips Hue lighting, and other smart devices.
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Audio Video News
Creedence Clearwater Revival Celebrates 50 Years with 7-LP Box Set
SV Staff  |  Oct 17, 2018
Video Premiere: Abbey Road’s Miles Showell on how he mastered albums from the band’s prolific 1968-1972 period.

Craft Recordings is celebrating the brief but astonishingly prolific career of one of America’s greatest rock-and-roll bands, Creedence Clearwater Revival, with a 50th anniversary LP box set comprising all seven of the band’s studio albums on 180-gram vinyl.

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Speaker TechA/V Veteran
When Is a Subwoofer a Subwoofer?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 16, 2018
A recent product announcement from Amazon touted the launch of a “subwoofer” to supplement the response of Amazon’s popular Echo vocal assistant. Presumably it will work with the even smaller Echo Dot as well. But for me it raised a couple of eyebrows.

Given that the low frequency response of an Echo alone probably doesn’t reproduce any useful output much lower than 100 Hz (admittedly an educated guess), the Echo Sub certainly can't hurt. But given its size and its 6-inch driver, there's no way that such a product it can be considered a subwoofer...

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Audio Video News
First Audio Amplifier on Display at New York AES Show
SV Staff  |  Oct 16, 2018
The Audio History Library & Museum is paying tribute to the early days of audio in a special display it has put together for the 145th International AES Convention, which opens tomorrow (October 17) and runs through Saturday at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.
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Signals
The Pohlmann Interview
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Oct 16, 2018
As this magazine celebrates its 60th anniversary, we are trying to reconcile the fact that Ken Pohlmann is the longest-serving contributor to these pages. Frankly, we’re not sure why we ever hired him 30 years ago. In an effort to find out, we asked Mr. Pohlmann to share his stories of his early days at the magazine. —The Editors
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
SI Ships Motorized Version of Short-Throw ALR Screen
SV Staff  |  Oct 16, 2018
Screen Innovations (SI) has announced that the motorized version of the ambient-light-rejecting Short Throw (ST) screen it previewed at CEDIA Expo will ship in October.
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Audio Video News
IHS: 2 Million 8K TVs Will Ship in 2020
SV Staff  |  Oct 15, 2018
Following a year in which TV sales declined globally, TV shipments are forecast to grow 3.6% year over year in 2018, with an additional 1.4% growth in 2019, according to research released today by London-based IHS Markit.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Next Level Acoustics Unveils Custom Enclosures for Sonos Beam Soundbar
SV Staff  |  Oct 15, 2018
Next Level Acoustics, a Boston-based maker of speaker systems and accessories, has introduced a line of add-ons designed to enhance Sonos’ Beam wireless soundbar.
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