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Spatial Audio File
Atmos Lang Syne: The Ten Best Immersive Audio Tracks of 2022
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 30, 2022

Where did all the time go? Time, flowing like a river. Time is on my side (yes it is). Time to play B-sides. Are you eye-rolling at all my lyrically borrowed time comments yet? Anyway, it’s high time to take stock of what we’ve heard and what we’ve learned this past calendar year, seeing how a) time flies, and how b) time is indeed all around us—just like the best Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos mixes are, in fact.

With all this time sensitivity in mind, it seems to be the exact right time (last one, I promise) to comprise my Top Ten list of the best immersive audio tracks of this past year. As always, I’ve thoroughly spec’ed and checked all of the tracks I’ve selected here by way of my personal deep-dive listening sessions on both my home system and headphones alike. You’ll find each and every one of them amidst the cavalcade of Made for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos tracks within the ever-expanding immersive audio libraries on Apple Music Unlimited, Amazon Music, and Tidal.

Enough with all the time-wasting—here are my choices for the ten best, thoroughly immersive audio tracks of 2022, which are, in reverse order from 10 to 1. . .

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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Three for Three: KLH Model Three Review
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 29, 2022

Performance
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $1800/pair

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Tight, crisp bass
Detailed, dynamic sound
Price
Minus
Looks suffer with grilles removed
Needs a subwoofer for bass-heavy films
Vintage style might not appeal to all

THE VERDICT
It might not be at its best in a large room without a subwoofer or two, but the dynamic, open, and detailed sound of the KLH Model 3s can otherwise equal or exceed the performance of many far more expensive loudspeakers.

In the early 1950s Edgar Villchur, Henry Kloss, Malcolm S. Low, and Josef Anton Hofmann founded the Acoustic Research and Development Corporation. Of the four founders, Henry Kloss may be the name best recognized by audiophiles with a bit of mileage on their wheels. Kloss later left AR (along with Low and Hoffman) and founded KLH. Kloss later founded two other loudspeaker companies, Advent and Cambridge Audio.

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SmartStream
2022: A Year of Streaming Commercials, Big Mergers, and Faster Players
Barb Gonzalez  |  Dec 28, 2022
As we look back at streaming in 2022, there have been few innovative new services or products. Instead, streaming is showing signs of its maturity. Both streaming providers and streaming player manufacturers are playing catch-up with the competition.
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TV Reviews
Samsung 98" QN100B Neo QLED 4K TV Review
Mark Henninger  |  Dec 23, 2022

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $40,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Incredible brightness
Cutting-edge picture quality
Lays flat on wall
Minus
No Dolby Vision
Extremely expensive

THE VERDICT
A 4K tour-de-force from Samsung, the QN100B loves to show you what's missing from less capable TVs.

Samsung's over-the-top 98-inch Neo QLED showcases what's possible when a TV has the horsepower needed to handle HDR properly. What's mind-blowing is in HDR mode, its measured brightness can exceed 1000 nits, full-screen. Few TVs of any size can achieve this level of brightness, and the QN100B does it while preserving extremely high contrast and offering a wide color gamut. The resulting picture quality is thought-provoking, even at this price point, because it begs the question of what to prioritize for the ultimate home viewing experience: Size or HDR capability.

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
San Diego Startup Previews Unique Wireless OLED TV
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 22, 2022

The 55-inch set is battery-powered and can be mounted on any surface without tools or even a mounting bracket.

CES 2023 opens two weeks from today and the pre-show news machine is already in full swing. While the big-name A/V brands — Samsung, Sony, LG, etc. — tend to keep CES announcements under wraps until the eve of the show or opening day, tech startups are looking to drum up as much pre-show publicity as possible. One of the more intriguing announcements we’ve seen so far is what San Diego-based started up Displace is hailing as the “world’s first truly wireless TV.”

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Ask S&V
What’s the Best Way to Connect a Subwoofer to My Stereo Receiver?
John Sciacca  |  Dec 22, 2022
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I have a Yamaha stereo receiver and would like to connect a Polk active sub to the “B” speaker jacks while powering a pair of Polk speakers from the “A” speaker jacks. Will this work, or must I instead connect the speakers to the line out on the sub? Which connection will give me the best result without causing damage to the amp? — Alex Parkes, via email

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Signals
Merry Christmas from 1924
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Dec 21, 2022
Take a look at this photograph. What do you think this thing is? Since you're reading this magazine, you are probably technology-oriented. But unless you are 98-years old, you might not recognize that this device played a major role in the early days of radio and audio technology. Let me explain.

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A/V Veteran
’Tis the Season for Christmas Movies
Tom Norton  |  Dec 21, 2022
Christmas! Chestnuts roasting on an open fire (hopefully in a fireplace). Jack Frost nipping at your nose. And lots of Christmas movies. Here are a few of my favorites.
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Audio Video News
Mark Your Calendar: Florida Audio Expo 2023
SV Staff  |  Dec 21, 2022
The organizers of the fourth annual Florida International Audio Expo want to get next year’s show on your calendar. The three-day event will return to Tampa Friday, February 17 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton.
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Music and Soundtrack Features
Remaster Class: The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies & Everybody's In Show-Biz
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 20, 2022
The Kinks were at a crossroads. As they entered the 1970s, the British pop/rockers hadn't yet ascended to the next toppermost level, even after achieving new heights following the songwriting leap Ray Davies took with the still poignant 1967 track, "Waterloo Sunset." It took two critical back-to-back albums, November 1971's Muswell Hillbillies and August 1972's Everybody's in Show-Biz, to fully get them there—and then they never looked back.
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