Ask S&V

Q I am looking for a new Blu-ray player and have a question. What’s the difference between inexpensive models and ones that cost $300-plus? It seems to me that inexpensive models have as many features, if not more, than pricey ones. If it’s a question processing power or something else, does that make a huge difference in picture and sound quality? —Edwin Vela

Q My Yamaha RX-A2010 A/V receiver is connected to a Samsung 4K TV, Verizon HD set-top box, and Oppo Blu-ray Disc player. Here’s my question: Is it possible for me to watch a baseball game while listening to music? Whenever I play music from a turntable or other audio source, I’m not able to see video on the screen. What am I doing wrong? —J. Rivera / via e-mail

Q I’ve noticed that almost every low/mid-priced (under $700) AVR that Sound&Vision has reviewed recently lacks a phono input. With the recent resurgence of LPs, it’s annoying to think that one would have to spend more money to hook up an external phono preamp when in the old days every receiver had one.

I know that HDMI and wireless inputs are all the rage, but don’t want to spend $500 on a receiver plus another $50-150 for a phono preamp, just to listen to my LPs. Are there any reasonably priced AVRs available that have a built-in phono preamp, or should I bite the bullet and buy an external phono preamp for my current receiver? If the answer is the latter, could you suggest a good model for under $100? —Tim Marlow

Q The foam surround on my Velodyne f-1200 subwoofer has disintegrated. I wanted to have it repaired with a rubber surround, but the guy at the speaker repair shop advised against that. Is there any benefit to using foam instead of a rubber surround when repairing a subwoofer driver? —Pete Gibson / via e-mail

Q I have 6 pairs of speakers spread throughout my house that are powered by a Rotel RB-1080 stereo amp. I use a Rotel RSS-900 speaker selector box to feed each speaker pair, and there’s a wall-mounted volume control in each room. The setup works good overall, but doesn’t sound that great.

I’d like to upgrade my system with a multichannel amp, but can’t find one that A) has at least 100 watts per channel, and B) has banana plug connections. I’m willing to spend a few thousand on the upgrade, so price isn’t an issue. Do you have a few amps you can suggest that meet my requirements? —Rob Green via email

Q I’m shopping for an outdoor speaker to use on my back patio and was leaning toward Sonos. Here are my questions: Can I stream audio to Sonos speakers via Bluetooth from my iPhone? Also, are Sonos speakers able to both play tracks from my computer’s iTunes library and stream them from Apple Music? —Jim Flynn

Q Is it true that bigger TV screens -- ones in the 65-inch and above range -- have more noticeable pixelation? --Rufino Mendoza