AV Rant #369: Karmic Ants
Our first official podcast without Liz. WE MISS YOU LIZ! The floodgates have opened and we, once again, have more questions that we can answer. This week we answer questions from Gary, Andrew, Bill, Kris, Joel, Gaylen, and Abby. We cover connecting a sub to a soundbar, how sound is placed in the soundstage by speakers, and why some prefer sealed versus ported subs. Is there a reason a some subs sound better than others (hint – it isn’t the sub)? We give some subwoofer and projector recommendations. When might a center channel be better than a matched (to the mains) center? We let you know. A few comments on tube amps, speaker wattage ratings, and ants. Lots of ants. Thanks for listening. Now, don't forget to:
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As mentioned in AVRant Episode #369, we had lots of great topics for discussion forwarded to us by our awesome listeners!
First up, care of AVRant Listener Jonathan:
“Gaming’s Long Con” – how do we determine a videogame’s value?
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2014/02/gamings-long-con.html
“We no longer pay for games by the minute, but you wouldn’t know it. The economics of large game-development studios have come to resemble those of their film counterparts: their creative and financial output is increasingly oriented around a handful of blockbuster titles.”
Interesting stuff!
WARNING! Slightly NSFW!!
This link also comes to us care of AVRant Listener Jonathan:
Oculus Rift + Novint Falcon + Tenga adult toy = exactly what you might’ve guessed…
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/real-sex-virtual-reality-oculus-rift-tenga
Our next discussion topic link comes to us care of AVRant Listener Will. Congrats on your recent big purchase, by the way, Will! We expect updates!
Here’s a Life Hacker article about disabling “motion smoothing” to get rid of the “soap opera effect”. Will says he tries to do this to everyone else’s TV when they’re not looking
http://lifehacker.com/disable-motion-smoothing-to-get-rid-of-soap-opera-effe-1526424116
How about you? Do you stealthily disable frame interpolation on your friends’ TVs? Or do some of you even *gasp* LIKE SOE?
Here’s someone who decided to use Oculus Rift for something a little less risqué.
AVRant Listener Efrain let us know about a fun story showing us the first-person Oculus Rift version of the original Legend of Zelda!
http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/21/zelda-vr/
What do you do when the Oculus Rift and a Novint Falcon just don’t engage quite enough of your entire body and senses?
Well, you turn to none other than AVRant Listener Lee, of course, who found us the “Tranquility Pod” – a $30,000 waterbed that vibrates when music is played:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2014/02/tranquility-pod/?cid=co18921864
Want to veg out? No, I mean REALLY veg out?
AVRant Listener Lee gave us the heads up about SnapStream – the 30 tuner, 30TB DVR:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/with-30-tuners-and-30-tb-of-storage-snapstream-make-tivos-look-like-toys/
Wha’d’ya say? Are those enough tuners for ya?