Scott Wilkinson
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Podcast 112: Andrew Jones
Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Scott Wilkinson • May 22, 2012 • 3 comments
Andrew Jones, chief speaker engineer for Pioneer and TAD Labs, talks about his illustrious career as a speaker designer with KEF and Infinity, the difference between research and product development, the importance of knowing what and how to measure audio performance, how he was able to design Pioneer's entry-level speakers to perform so well, his work with ultra-high-end speakers at TAD Labs, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 1:08:37

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Inexpensive Projectors
Ask Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson • May 21, 2012 • 0 comments
I purchased a Sony VPL-HS20 in 2003, and I have enjoyed the picture quality until recently, when the projector started intermittently turning off without notice. I figure it's time for a new projector, although I can no longer afford one in the $3000 range. I live in Canada, and the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8345 (similar to the 8350) is around $1250. Also, if I wanted 3D (not urgent), the Epson 3010 is around $1400 on Amazon.

I currently project onto a 119-inch screen with some light control, although it is not perfect during the day. If I purchased a budget projector such as one of the Epsons mentioned above, will the quality be at least as good as what I've seen from my Sony? If not, can you recommend something else for me?

Paul Barnick

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Is Your Flat Panel Wall-Mounted?
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Scott Wilkinson • May 18, 2012 • Published: Dec 31, 1969 • 13 comments
I'm starting to commission more reviews of soundbars from long-time home-theater writer Lawrence Ullman. Recently, he asked me how many people wall-mount their flat-panel TV and would therefore want to wall-mount a soundbar, which is easier said than done in some cases. The last time I saw any stats on this, the vast majority of flat-panel owners did not wall-mount their set, but rather attached the stand and placed it on top of a sturdy cabinet of some sort.

But I don't really know, so I'm asking you—is your flat-panel TV wall-mounted? If so, is it close to seated eye height, or do you have it mounted higher—say, above the fireplace? Did you do it yourself, or did you hire someone to do it? How did you hide the cables? Let us know in the comments.

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Is Your Flat Panel Wall-Mounted?
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Matching Front and Surround Speakers
Ask Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson • May 16, 2012 • 15 comments
I've heard you say, "Make sure your surround speakers are the same brand as the fronts." I have Hsu Research speakers for the front left, right, and center, Axiom dipole surrounds, and a JBL 12-inch subwoofer. I've been told by lots of audio geeks that I don't need to match the surrounds to the fronts. But after I heard what you said, I got confused. Help!

Mark Hudson

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Podcast 111: Juergen Herre
Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Scott Wilkinson • May 15, 2012 • 0 comments
Juergen Herre, chief scientist at Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits and professor at Erlangen University in Germany, discusses the development of the MP3 audio format (technically called MPEG-1 Layer 3), how lossy audio codecs work using psychoacoustics, how higher bitrates yield higher audio quality, constant versus variable bitrates, more recent audio codecs such as MPEG-2 AAC and surround MP3, 3D audio, object-oriented audio, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 1:02:14

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Large TV for Well-Lit Room
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Scott Wilkinson • May 14, 2012 • 14 comments
I would like to buy a TV with a 65-inch or larger screen. My budget is $3000 to $4000. Unfortunately, the room it will be in is very bright with a 15-foot floor-to-ceiling glass window behind the set facing east. I watch a few DVDs, but mostly just cable TV in HD when available; 3D is not important to me. Obviously, I am concerned about light reflection off the screen. What do you suggest?

Orrin

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What Is Your Downstream Bandwidth?
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Scott Wilkinson • May 11, 2012 • Published: Dec 31, 1969 • 28 comments
In this week's Home Theater Geeks podcast, Boxee co-founder and CEO Avner Ronen talks about the new paradigm of streaming TV. Of course, the image and sound quality depend greatly on how much downstream bandwidth you have—for 720p, many people recommend at least 3 to 4 megabits per second (Mbps), while 1080p normally requires 6 Mbps or more. (Vudu specifies 2.25 Mbps for 720p and 4.5 Mbps for its HDX 1080p stream.)

Which leads me to ask, what is the downstream bandwidth in your home? If you don't know, there are several websites that let you measure it, both downstream and upstream; I use speedtest.net, which yielded the results shown above at my home, where Charter Cable provides my Internet access. If you know how much bandwidth you're paying for, you might want to verify it. Also, I'd love to know if your broadband Internet access is provided by DSL, cable, or another service—my impression is that cable is generally faster than DSL—so please leave a comment about that if you would be so kind.

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What Is Your Downstream Bandwidth?
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Display Setup for Newbies
Ask Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson • May 10, 2012 • 6 comments
I just bought a Mitsubishi WD-Y657 65-inch DLP rear-projection TV in perfect condition for $300. I've tried to find the best picture settings online, but I can't find anything for this model. Can you provide any help or suggest a good setup disc? Hopefully something easy to use, as I'm fairly new at this.

Cody Lacroix

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Podcast 110: Avner Ronen
Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Scott Wilkinson • May 08, 2012 • 0 comments
Boxee co-founder and CEO Avner Ronen talks about the new paradigm of online video delivery, image and sound quality versus bandwidth, integrating and unifying various online sources, the importance of the user interface, the trend toward encrypting basic cable channels, the founding and evolution of Boxee, the Boxee box and remote, online delivery of 3D and 4K, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 1:00:21

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AVR with Digital-Audio & Component-Video Outputs
Ask Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson • May 07, 2012 • 13 comments
My Pioneer VSX-35TX A/V receiver just died. I'm looking for a new receiver in the $500 range, but I'm having a hard time finding any that have, among other things, a digital-audio output. Why is that important? I have a Pioneer TRE-D800 wireless headphone transmitter that does 5.1 audio, and it can accept either optical or coaxial inputs. Another consideration is that my Pioneer Elite PRO-510HD RPTV has no HDMI inputs, so I need a component-video output. I want a receiver that can grow from here, so 3D pass-through is a must, and 7.1 audio would be a bonus.

I'm interested in the Pioneer VSX-1122, but it doesn't seem to have all the outputs I need. The Pioneer Elite VSX-52 has exactly what I'm looking for, but it's $400 out of my range. What other brands of receivers should I be looking at, or am I just plain screwed at my current budget?

Chris Friebus

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