Scott Wilkinson

Ask S&V
3D Obsolescence
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 05, 2011
I'm thinking about getting a Samsung UN46D7000 with my tax return this year. That means I'll have to upgrade my A/V receiver and HDMI cables, plus I plan to get a 3D Blu-ray player since the PS3 doesn't do 3D Blu-ray as well as a dedicated player.

The thing is, all this gear is made for 1080p at 24 frames per second, but filmmakers like James Cameron and Peter Jackson are talking about 48 and 60fps. If I buy now, am I just going to have to buy a new system again next year, or will the standard stay viable at least long enough to get some value out of the current generation of gear?

Nik

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 71: Scott Wilkinson
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 05, 2011
In this special episode of Home Theater Geeks, I take viewers on a video tour of my own home theater and answer many questions from the chat room. Plus, my wife Joanna drops by at the end and we sing a little duet!

Run Time: 1:28:36

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Ask S&V
Streaming Audio to a Pre/Pro
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 01, 2011
I just bought an Integra DHC 80.2 and want to stream music and movies from my HP laptop (or create a separate server) to it with a hard-wired Ethernet connection. However, I want the best possible sound. How can I do this?

Dale

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Ask S&V
Compact Home-Theater Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 30, 2011
I read in a recent Ask Scott post ("Building a System") that you thought full-range speakers in the system under discussion would be overkill for watching movies. One of the reasons for using bookshelf or compact speakers for the front left/right channels—tonal matching—was also highlighted as an appealing quality in Home Theater's review of B&W 805 compact speaker system (seen here).

I am looking to set up a surround system for the sole purpose of watching movies (no music) in a 12x12 room. As a general rule, do you recommend a system with matching front and surround speakers over a system with full-range fronts and compact surrounds, knowing there will be a sub either way? Most of the systems I see reviewed in magazines as well as all the recommended systems at my favorite local hi-fi store match large floorstanding front speakers with small surrounds, but your advice seems to contradict this.

Johann Dutton

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Premiere Design
Estelon Model XA Speaker
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 30, 2011
Who would have thought that Estonia, a tiny republic on the Baltic Sea in the far northeast corner of the European continent, is home to a high-end speaker maker? Estelon was founded in 2006 to bring the vision of designer Alfred Vassllkov to life. His first product—the Model XA—is still the company's flagship.
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Ask S&V
AVR Surround Modes
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
I have a Harman Kardon AVR 146 5.1 receiver. Which surround mode (Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, DTS Neo:6, or Logic 7) will provide the most enveloping sound without cranking up the surround speakers? I'm currently using Dolby Digital, and while the rear speakers are supposed to provide ambient sound, I find them lacking. I use a sound meter to set the Channel Adjust levels and a tape measure to determine the distance to the sweet spot for the Delay Adjust settings.

Brian Porter

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Ask S&V
HDMI Audio Return Channel
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
I have all my source devices (TiVo, Roku, Blu-ray player) connected to my Denon AVR-791 via HDMI 1.4a cables, and a single HDMI cable goes to my Panasonic TC-P50VT25 television. If I use the Internet apps on the TV, I cannot hear any sound. How should I set up the AVR and cables to get sound from the TV to my speakers? I have the onboard speakers disabled, of course, and if I turn them on, the sound does work. I don't know if the AVR can take audio back over the HDMI cable through the HDMI output port.

I ask because the Netflix app on the TV is pretty good. I thought the same version would be on the matching Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player, but it's not. Right now, we use the version on the TiVo or Roku.

Paul Wurster

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 70: Chris Connaker
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
Chris Connaker, founder of ComputerAudiophile.com, talks about the basics of high-resolution computer-audio files, including file formats and compression, adaptive and asynchronous USB DACs, ripping physical discs, online sources for high-res music files, the Simple Design Sonore Linux-based music-server appliance, cloud-based systems, using a preamp/processor with high-res music servers, local-area network streaming, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 57:01

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Ask S&V
Hybrid Plasma?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 28, 2011
A salesman at a store I visited said the Samsung PN64D8000 is a hybrid plasma with LED backlighting, which makes it much better than the Panasonic plasmas. He says it has the brightness of LED and all the qualities of plasma. What is your opinion of this technology?

Joe Souders

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Premiere Design
NuForce Reference 18 Monoblock Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 28, 2011
Since 2005, the mission of NuForce has been to "thrill the ear, delight the eye, and please the pocket." I've not heard the company's flagship Reference 18 monoblock power amp, but it does have a delightful appearance and a pleasing price—at least as far as high-end power amps go.
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