David Vaughn

Streaming Device Reviews
Kaleidescape Simplifies Disc-to-Digital Conversion
David Vaughn  |  Apr 25, 2023
For eight months, I've had a Kaleidescape Strato-C and 48TB Terra server in my system and the user experience has been outstanding. At the time my initial review posted many readers argued that the system offered poor value compared to ripping discs onto local storage solutions and playing them through an Nvidia Shield or similar front-end device.
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Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K
Kaleidescape vs. Streaming – Avatar: The Way of Water
David Vaughn  |  Apr 11, 2023

Picture
Sound
Kaleidescape Scenes
Extras
James Cameron’s epic sci-fi film Avatar changed the landscape of movie-making when it debuted in 2010. Fans of the celebrated director flocked to theaters, ultimately producing box office receipts that topped $2.9 billion worldwide and making it the top grossing film of all-time. Now, 13 years later, Avatar: The Way of Water is enjoying the same mega-blockbuster success, having grossed over $2.3 billion since the sequel was released to theaters in December, making it the third highest grossing film in history behind 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which raked in $2.8 billion.
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Subwoofer Reviews
Polk Monitor XT10 Subwoofer Review
David Vaughn  |  Mar 22, 2023

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $299

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Compact Design
Plenty of output above 30 Hz
Wallet-friendly street price
Minus
Weak output below 30 Hz
A bit boomy

THE VERDICT
If you’re on a tight budget and aren’t looking for subterranean bass output, the XT10 will provide some oomph down to 30 Hz for a wallet-friendly price.

Polk Audio is an American manufacturer of high-performance audio products, founded in 1972 by Matthew Polk, George Klopfer, and Sandy Gross. The company quickly made a name for itself in the audio industry by introducing innovative technologies such as the first ever satellite speaker for home use...

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Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K
Everything Everywhere All At Once
David Vaughn  |  Mar 12, 2023

Picture
Sound
Kaleidescape Scenes
Extras
Written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, this is my personal favorite to win multiple Oscars this year. The film follows the story of Maureen Folan, who during a contentious IRS audit discovers she is connected to multiple parallel universes and must navigate through them in order to save her family from an ancient evil.
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Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K
The Banshees of Inisherin
David Vaughn  |  Feb 21, 2023
Picture
Sound
Kaleidescape Scenes
Extras
Set in 1923 at the tail end of the Irish Civil War, Pádraic (Colin Farrell) is a simple farmer who is set in his ways. At exactly two o’clock each day, he walks to his best friend’s house to collect him on the way to the local pub. But something is different one day. Colm (Brenden Gleeson) refuses to answer the door. He has decided their lifelong friendship is over, leaving Pádraic confused and obsessed with finding out what he did to deserve such harsh treatment.
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Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K
The Fabelmans
David Vaughn  |  Feb 08, 2023
Picture
Sound
Kaleidescape Scenes
Extras
We first meet Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) as a young boy in New Jersey venturing out to the movie theater to watch The Greatest Show on Earth. After witnessing the horrific train crash in the film, the young man experiences nightmares and decides the only way to get the image out of his head is to recreate the crash using the Lionel train set his parents gave him for Hanukkah while capturing it on film using his father’s 8mm camera. This stoked a creative spirit in the young boy that would last a lifetime.
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Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K
The Batman
David Vaughn  |  Jan 24, 2023
Picture
Sound
Kaleidescape Scenes
Extras
A killer is stalking Gotham City’s elite and a trail of cryptic clues sends Batman into the underworld of the city he has vowed to protect. There he meets a bevy of characters, each with their own agenda. Some wish him success but most want him to fail. As the evidence starts to solidify and begins to hit close to home, Batman must form new relationships before he can unmask the culprit and bring his own brand of justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the city.
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Subwoofer Reviews
GoldenEar ForceField 40 Subwoofer Review
David Vaughn  |  Jan 23, 2023

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $1,200

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Compact design
Plenty of output above 35 Hertz
Very musical
Minus
Tepid output below 27 Hz
Limited controls and no app support

THE VERDICT If music is your main passion, you'll love what the ForceField 40 brings to the table, but movie lovers searching for foundation-shaking bass may want to look elsewhere.

As longtime readers of Sound & Vision know, I have a passion for bass. Some might say I need to seek professional help in this regard—well, at least that's what my wife tells me! I've reviewed products for nearly 20 years and had dozens of subwoofers in and out of my theater during that time, and I am generally easy to please. Surprisingly, in all that time, I've never had the pleasure of reviewing anything from GoldenEar, even though the company boasts a broad line of loudspeakers and subwoofers. Well, the time has finally come.

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Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K
Yellowstone – Season 5
David Vaughn  |  Jan 10, 2023
Picture
Sound
Kaleidescape Scenes
Extras
Yellowstone is back for its fifth season and the issues facing the Dutton family couldn’t be more intense. The patriarch of the family, John (Kevin Costner), has just been elected governor of Montana and his number one priority is ensuring the survival of his ranch. This determination is going to land him in some hot water with constituents and before he knows it, he’s embroiled in a political scandal initiated by a vindictive adversary.
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Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K
Hacksaw Ridge
David Vaughn  |  Dec 19, 2022

Picture
Sound
Kaleidescape Scenes
Extras
One of the bloodiest battles of World War II happened on Okinawa in 1945 and it wasn’t a place you wanted to be if you didn’t carry a weapon. But for contentious objector Desmond Doss, this wasn’t an option. While he believed the war was justified — which is why he volunteered — his personal belief was that killing was wrong and he wasn’t going to be a party to it. He joined the military to be a medic and was there to save lives, not take them. And save lives he did — 75 of them over the course of one night when he was stuck behind enemy li
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