June-July-August, 2011

Cover Story

Cover Story:

August | Issue #4

Maximum Impact

Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters propel rock back to the top with "Wasting Light"

By Mike Mettler
Posted July 7, 2011
1

Dave Grohl and I are crouched together on a hot blacktop driveway that encircles the SoCal locale where the photo session for this exclusive S+V cover story is taking place. To the onlookers who shuffle past us and sometimes hover at a respectful distance, it appears as if these two hunched, animated, close-talking bearded longhairs are plotting to take over the world — and perhaps that’s not an entirely wrong assumption. » Read Full Story

Test Report: LG 47LW5600 3D LCD HDTV

When it comes to watching 3D movies, a gap exists between the theater and the home viewing experience. One major difference is the glasses.

By Al Griffin
Posted July 13, 2011
1

At 3D theaters, you’re handed lightweight passive glasses that work in tandem with a polarizing filter positioned over the projector’s lens. When viewing at home with a 3D TV, you use bulky, battery-powered glasses with active shutter liquid-crystal lenses. Passive glasses in theaters are cheap and easily replaced. But at an average cost of $100 per pair, glasses used at home represent a sizable investment. Better to put them in a safe place — and keep ’em away from kids!

» Read More

Test Report: Thiel Audio SCS4T Tower Speakers

A design that aims to equal the phase coherence of your mouth

By Brent Butterworth
Posted July 13, 2011
11

You already own a speaker that’s better in some ways than any ever reviewed in Sound+Vision — and you’ve owned it since you were born. What is it?

» Read More

Review: Sharp XV-Z17000 3D DLP projector

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted June 16, 2011
1

Sharp was once king of the $10,000 projector class, a class now nearly disappeared. With the 3D era under way, it returns to the game with this $4,995 offering, only to find the market far more competitive than before. Most notable is the $500-cheaper JVC DLA-X3, the baby brother of the X7 model I reviewed in the April/May issue.

» Read More

Test Report: Cambridge Audio Minx 215 System

Compact speakers without compromise

By Brent Butterworth
Posted July 13, 2011

There are times when prejudice is forgivable. One can hardly be blamed for assuming that store-brand whiskey, truck-stop coffee, or music by a lite-jazz artist who goes by a single-letter surname is going to suck. Likewise, one might reasonably presuppose that a little cube-shaped speaker isn’t going to please serious listeners.

» Read More

Review: SVS SB13-Plus Subwoofer

Massive wattage and slick control in a compact package

By Brent Butterworth
Posted June 16, 2011
1

I would never do what SVS did with its new subwoofer, the SB13-Plus. The company originally sent me a review sample last fall, but despite the fact that it sounded (and measured) great, SVS asked me to hold the review while its engineers tweaked the sub’s Sledge STA-1000D amplifier. It took months for the new amplifier to arrive.

» Read More

Test Report: Onkyo TX-NR509 A/V Receiver

Onkyo’s new value quotient is off the charts.

By Daniel Kumin
Posted June 5, 2011
1

Difficult though this may be to believe, not everyone in 2011 America can afford to earmark $1,500 for an A/V receiver — or even $500. Still more shockingly, not every person who can would even choose to. Well, then, how about $400? Onkyo apparently sees this figure as being a bit more like it.

» Read More