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AV Receiver Reviews
Denon AVR-X8500H AV Receiver Review
Michael Trei  |  Aug 08, 2018

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $3,999

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Clear, punchy sound
Beefy 13 x 150W class-AB power amp
Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Auro-3D decoding up to 7.2.6 or 9.2.4
Minus
No HD Radio
Flagship price to go with flagship performance

THE VERDICT
Denon’s latest flagship receiver checks off every box on the A/V receiver feature wish list, and it provides plenty of brawn to back up its brains.

Some people get weird about anything with a 13 in it. Fear of this seemingly innocuous number, otherwise known as Triskaidekaphobia, has brought us buildings with no 13th floor, and even the renaming of the 13th Space Shuttle mission. But Denon has shown us they don’t have time for silly superstitions by delivering the world’s first A/V receiver with 13 channels of onboard amplification.

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Audio Video News
Consumers to TV Providers: Careful with My Data
SV Staff  |  Aug 08, 2018
The chart, excerpted from the just-released “TV Services: Pay TV in a Data-Driven World” report, shows consumer perceptions of data collection and use among U.S broadband households. Courtesy of Parks Associates.

One in five internet households report being “highly sensitive” to how TV content providers collect and use data about family members and their activities, according to the latest research from Parks Associates.

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The S&V Interview
Tom Bailey, Synth-Pop Songcrafter
Mike Mettler  |  Aug 08, 2018
Photo by James Cumpsty

Tom Bailey, the chief architect of the super-successful ’80s synth-pop masters Thompson Twins (“Hold Me Now,” “Love on Your Side”) is back with a cosmically named solo album, Science Fiction. We called him during a tour stop in Houston to discuss the sonic structure of the album, how he once built his own P.A. speakers, and reconnecting with listening to music on vinyl.

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Audio Video News
TV Startup Targeting Mobile Viewers Raises $1 Billion
SV Staff  |  Aug 08, 2018
WndrCo, the startup founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, former chairman of Walt Disney Studios and co-founder of DreamWorks Animation, announced yesterday that it has secured $1 billion in seed money to launch a TV company that caters to mobile viewers.
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Audio Video News
Onkyo to Distribute TEAC Products in the U.S.
SV Staff  |  Aug 08, 2018
Onkyo USA has acquired exclusive distribution rights to market and distribute TEAC home entertainment products in the U.S.
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Audio Video News
‘Deadpool 2’ Now Available for Streaming, 4K Blu-ray on the Way
SV Staff  |  Aug 07, 2018
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced that Deadpool 2, sequel to 2016’s Deadpool is now available for streaming with the 4K Blu-ray Disc to follow August 21.
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A/V Veteran
An Inside Look at Sony’s Latest TV Technology
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 07, 2018
Last week Sound & Vision editor Al Griffin wrote on this site about Sony’s recent New York event. The subject was the launching of the company’s new Master Series flagship televisions, the new A9F OLEDs (in 55- and 65-inch sizes) and Z9F LCDs (65- and 75-inches). The event was held in a venue that in its past life was an exclusive dinner theater from 1938 to 1951, fell into disrepair in the following decades, and was remodeled in 2013. Since then it has been contracted to Sony, renamed Sony Hall, and used for a variety of theatrical and business events.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
New Yamaha Soundbar Has Wireless Speaker Option
SV Staff  |  Aug 07, 2018
Yamaha today announced a new soundbar that will be its first to feature a wireless surround speaker option in addition to supporting the company’s MusicCast multiroom platform.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Denon’s $999 AVR Boasts AirPlay 2, Atmos, Alexa
SV Staff  |  Aug 07, 2018
Denon today announced the addition of a feature-rich 7.2-channel AVR-X3500H to its X-Series line of AV receivers.
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Audio Video News
Fall from Grace: CDs Relegated to the Bargain Bin
SV Staff  |  Aug 06, 2018
U.S. Recorded Music Sales Volume by Format, 1983-2017. The orange segments represent CD. Source: Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)

When we heard back in February that Best Buy was planning to drop CDs, we weren’t surprised. It’s now official: Best Buy has removed CDs altogether from its website and “de-emphasized” the category in its stores. In other words, CDs have been relegated to those chaotic bargain bins.

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