Ask S&V

Q I'm big into home theater and computers, hobbies that naturally consume lots of electricity. Now that my AV receiver and TV are both due for replacement, I'm hoping you can recommend “green” products that will give me the same great experience, but without the ding on my energy bill and the planet. —Justin Nealis

Q My audio setup consists of a Yamaha RX-A3030 receiver, M&K speakers with 2 Paradigm front effect speakers, and a Velodyne sub. Although I’m in my late 70s and have trouble hearing high frequencies, regular TV broadcasts sound clear on the system. Movie dialogue, on the other hand, sounds muted and is difficult to understand when I watch DVDs or Blu-rays. What steps can I take to make movie dialogue match what I hear with regular broadcast TV? —Bill Vandervoort, Chanute, KS

Q I own a Marantz NR1606 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X-enabled AV receiver, a Roku 4 streamer, a Samsung Ultra HD Blu-ray player, and a Samsung JS8500 Ultra HDTV. Which of these devices will deliver the best audio and video performance for streaming? —Richard Wahlstrom

Q Can recorded programs be transferred from one DVR to another? —Joe Nagy / via e-mail

Q I recently bought High-Res Audio downloads of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” and Supertramp’s “Crime of the Century” from HDtracks. When I play them with my Sony NWZ-A17 Walkman, the volume is much lower than what I hear from FLAC versions of the same music ripped from my CDs. I complained to HDtracks and they said this was normal for HD-resolution files. Can you explain why? —Jacques Simard

Q I assembled my surround sound setup back in 2002. It still sounds awesome, but I'm wondering about the speaker wires. I spent good money for nice 12-gauge speaker wire, the ends of which are bare. Every time I break the system down to move, I see the bare wire and worry that corrosion or some other devious detractor is attacking it. Is that something I should worry about? Should I consider clipping and re-stripping at some point? —Scott M.

Q I'm looking to load my CD collection into a hi-res ripper/music server that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. My plan is to connect it to my Pioneer SC-85 receiver so I can browse lists of artists and titles on my TV. Do you have any suggestions? —April Seale