This week we thank Kris, Jonathan, Dan (LINK), Thomas, Don, and Bob for supporting the podcast. Without you, this podcast wouldn’t exist. Dan would like to know if the Marantz SR7008 has audibly better pre-outs than the Denon AVR-X4000, Rob wanted Tom’s take on New Michael’s question from last week, and Bill needs a 6.5mm to 3.5mm stereo audio adapter (LINK). Andy wants the formula for calculating sound wave lengths in feet, Romeo has a nook problem and wants better speakers, Michael has a Netflix link Tom doesn’t want to forget. Karl wants to maximize the sound quality of his CD collection, Eliezer wasn’t convinced by Tom’s suggestion that those last couple of subsonic frequencies weren’t that important, and J. Rod has a suggestion for Rob to rent Blu-rays (LINK). Kris has a large room to pressurize and needs a sub or two (LINK), Infinite Gary has some color gamut questions, and James has some links for DIY speaker building (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK). Jim wasn’t happy with his SVS purchase but he was with their customer service, Nelson has an Onkyo receiver question about relative volume, and Jared and Jordan will have to wait until next week for their answers.

AVR 421: Netflix Link [ 1:45:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The weather literally killed Tom’s internet this week, so we called Lee while he was brushing his teeth to fill in with zero notice. Thanks, Lee!

Also thank you to Michael for his donation, and Everett, Andy, and Karl for supporting the podcast!

Dan says we convinced him he doesn’t need a separate 2-channel setup, then asks how he can still have a separate 2-channel setup.

Kevin wants to know if an old SVS sub will match well with a new SVS sub.

And Joe wonders whether to believe his own ears, or a review from a crazy person on Amazon.

Infinite Gary, Byron, Joe S. & Stephen all give us updates on their display issues and subwoofer triumphs.

And Gary (from Australia) & James weigh in on vintage pieces of gear and how to repurpose them.

Nick wonders if Front Wide speakers can solve his reflection worries.

And David wins the award for most patient home theater enthusiast. David wants to make some DIY acoustic treatments, and we’ve got the (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK and LINK) to help him out!

We’ve got a New Michael, and he’s got bass issues that might be complicated to fix.

Barney wants to know where color is heading after reading some information from RED (LINK)

And finally, we give Lee short shrift after being such a good sport with us, but at least one of his questions is out there now so folks can weigh in on it.

Lots of questions still left on our docket for next week, but when a doggie is giving you a certain look, it’s time to wrap it up!

AVR-420-Live with Lee [ 1:40:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Another epic-length podcast but, at the very least, we are mostly caught up. Look forward (hopefully) to more normal (for us) length podcasts in the future. This week we thank Frank, Ahmed, Joe, Byron, and Herb (from Cross-Spectrum Labs) for their support of the podcast. Thanks again you guys! Bill is shopping for some headphones and wanted to know the difference between the Oppo PM-1‘s and the PM-2’s other than the price. He’s also interested in headphone amplification (LINK). Ashley wants to know about the differences between Progressive scan and Interlaced video, Bruno is looking for bookshelf speakers in the 1000 euro a pair price point to try out, and Nick has a slew of questions about his planned basement home theater (including getting great bass, sub placement, acoustical treatments, drop ceilings, and more). Jared needed a sub upgrade but SVS tried to downsell him from the subs he thought he needed. Can you buy too little sub for your room…or too much for that matter? Jose took our rants about esoteric two-channel gear to heart and “downgraded” to the Emotive XSP-1 (LINK) and loves it! Now he’s thinking of adding a sub to his MASSIVE room. Which should he buy (and does he need two like we always say?)? Everett is trying to decide between the Denon AVR-X4000 and the newer X4100w and has a question about ISF modes on displays, Rohan linked us up to a Pono review (LINK – and they called it “snake oil”), and Gaylen is seeing sparkles with some of his content plus he isn’t getting any sound from Zone 2 (Rob ends up figuring this out a bit later in the podcast so hang in there Gaylen!). Leighton is loving his Denon AVR-X4000 but thinks it is a little bright (this is another one Rob figures out a little later). Gary met a speaker designer that said they take room reflections into account when designing their speakers, he’s wondering what “air” is in speaker reviews, and he has had a very strange video error pop up on his projector. Byron is curious about Axiom’s “quadpole” QS8 speakers (LINK), John loves his new SVS sub and is looking to upgrade his bookshelf speakers, and Ahmed thinks we should have a “suggested music” page for listeners (head over to Facebook for a thread on that – LINK and LINK). Jeb has some suggestions for those with vaulted ceilings, Bob has a new SVS but doesn’t know how to use it with his Yamaha RN500 stereo receiver, Mike thinks Rob is a 3D poseur and Tom is a jerk, and Micheal has a Zone 2 issue (LINK). Lastly, we review this review of the Skogrand Tchaikovsky Cables.

AVR 419: Welcome [ 2:38:50 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

After a week’s hiatus, Tom and Rob are back – with an extra-long podcast trying to catch up. Strap in for 2.5 hours of your questions being answered. This week, we thank listeners Josh, Jose, James, and Joshua for their donations. Your support keeps this podcast going. We also thank Alan, Paul, Bill, and Jared for spreading the word about the podcast. Thanks guys! Efrain thought we might want to comment on this video (LINK) from the Rocky Mountain Snake-Oil Fest (LINK). He was right. John has an old Velodyne sub that he thinks he might want to retire. He also wants to know our opinions on sealed versus unsealed speaker designs. Kevin is planning his home theater and believes he will have to place speakers close to the walls. What do we think about front versus rear ports? Kevin also wants to know if vintage gear can be better than recent gear, why he’s heard LPs that sound better than XRCDs, and what the H stands for. Byron has some questions about reference volume and speaker specifications and Ashley proved Rob correct that HDMI CEC does, in fact, suck. Nikhil has a slew of updates and some questions including why some industry professionals give advice that contradicts ours [hint – they are wrong LINK], the differences between analog and digital coaxial cables, crossover settings on a sub, in-wall wires, and THX recommendations for speaker placements. James wants to be on the podcast (LINK) while Jason has questions about adding non-matching height speakers, color gamut, and what we think of TV shows that can control your lights (LINK). Monty has questions about the Harmony Ultimate remote (LINK) and Buttkickers (LINK), Thomas has money burning a hole in his pocket and wants us to help him spend it, and we fix Michael’s volume control problem. Infinite Gary has room treatment woes, Joe wants to know if he should invest in a Denon AVR-4520CI over the X4000 that Tom so loves, and Bruno wants to know what “difficult to drive” means in regards to speakers. Jeff chimes in on using the URC solution we suggested last time, recommends Peerless PRS projector mounts, and stumps us with a NAS gapless playback question (we might touch on this again next week – if you have suggestions, you know the email addresses). Lastly, Mike found a 2D to 3D converter for $25 and wonders why more 3D TVs don’t come with this installed (LINK). Whew! That was a lot!

AVR 418: Say My Name [ 2:21:27 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We didn’t think we’d get a chance to record this podcast, but we powered through and made it happen. This week, we thank Barry and Mike as our listeners of the week. Without your support, this podcast wouldn’t have happened. Efrain came across a product from MIT (not the college LINK and LINK) and wants our opinions. Byron loves his new Denon AVR-X4000 and loved Rob’s links from RealTraps about room treatments (LINK) but wants an external amp. Can we give him a reason to buy one? Fred is depressed about how displays are set in stores, Nick needs help deciding where to put his home theater, and Mike has some near-field listening and earphone questions. David wants to know how to hang his acoustic panels and his projector, Mahee upgraded and is disappointed, and Ashley is having problems with his HDMI switch. Gary has some updates on his subs, has a plan for testing older recording methods, and wants to know what transient response is specifically related to room acoustics.

AVR 417: Unlikely Podcast [ 1:45:27 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download