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Audio Video NewsNew Products
May 2023: News & Gear from Around the World of AV
Bob Ankosko  |  May 25, 2023
With Memorial Day fast approaching, we bring you the latest in news from Sonos, Sennheiser, Comcast, Cleer Audio, Netflix, and Ford (hint: it has something to do with radio).
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SmartStream
Plexamp’s Sonic Sage Uses ChatGPT to Help You Discover New Music
Barb Gonzalez  |  May 24, 2023
Plex continues to innovate and make an already good media aggregating app even better. This time it has turned to using Sonic Sage to improve music exploration and discovery.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
McIntosh Resurrects its First Speaker: 1970’s ML1
Bob Ankosko  |  May 24, 2023
McIntosh is the latest classic audio brand to pay homage to its roots by reissuing vintage designs, a pursuit embraced for years by Klipsch, JBL and, more recently, KLH. But McIntosh is different as a revered hi-fi brand best known for power amplifiers, especially those iconic tube designs that date back to the late 1940s and early 1950s.
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Power Amplifier Reviews
OSD Audio Nero XA7180 7-Channel Amplifier Review
Mark Henninger  |  May 24, 2023

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $850

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Inexpensive
Fanless
RCA and balanced XLR inputs
Auto standby
12 volt and Signal power trigger
Minus
Needs six-inch clearance when rack mounted

THE VERDICT

A rock-solid, affordable and attractive amp for powering seven channels in a surround-sound AV or home theater system. It delivers audiophile-quality sound for about a buck a watt.

Audio amplifiers have but one task: take an electrical signal and make it more powerful without changing its character. A good amplifier is as transparent as possible, neither adding nor subtracting anything from what you hear. The OSD Nero XA7180 promises all that plus high efficiency at a very attractive price.

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Ask S&V
Will Using an eARC HDMI Connection from the TV to My AVR Improve the Sound?
John Sciacca  |  May 23, 2023
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q Can I get better audio by connecting the TV’s eARC HDMI to my Pioneer AV receiver? I don’t believe the AVR supports eARC technology, but I’d like to get the best audio possible. —Chris Murphy

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Monitor Audio’s New Hyphn Speaker Provides a Rarefied Taste of High End Munich
Bob Ankosko  |  May 22, 2023
Lavish hi-fi excess was on bold display at the 2023 edition of High End Munich, the international show where it’s usually easy to find speakers that cost upwards of (or well over) six figures.
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Signals
Mozart: Pure Genius
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  May 22, 2023
Mozart was a genius. Blah, blah, blah. You've heard it a million times. Well, whatever, if people say he was a genius, that's fine. But how would you like to watch a 5-minute video that shows why he was a genius? Right there – black notes on the white page – you can see exactly what genius looks (and sounds) like.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Menu
Josef Krebs  |  May 19, 2023
Picture
Sound
Extras

In this darkly satiric thriller about conceptual dining, mockery is made both of foodies and society’s growing obsession with the dramatically experiential. A group of wealthy culinary enthusiasts, snobby gastronomes, and famous experts are whisked by yacht to a private island where an unforgettable meal awaits them at a highly exclusive gourmet restaurant.

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Audio Video News
Spears & Munsil Introduces Greatly Expanded 2023 Test Disc Set
Bob Ankosko  |  May 18, 2023
Spears & Munsil has announced a vastly enhanced and expanded 2023 version of its popular Ultra HD Benchmark home theater calibration tool.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Technics Unveils New, Improved Wireless Earbuds
Bob Ankosko  |  May 18, 2023
Technics today introduced two noise-cancelling wireless earbuds that improve on the sound quality and comfort of its previous designs.
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