John E. Johnson, Jr.

Movie Renter’s Guide – December, 2009

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Star Trek (Blu-ray), The Taking of Pelham 123 (Blu-ray), Angels & Demons (Blu-ray), Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws (Blu-ray), A Charlie Brown Christmas (Blu-ray), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1965, Blu-ray), Wrong Turn (Blu-ray), An American Werewolf in London (Blu-ray), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000, Blu-ray), The Office: Season 5 (Blu-ray), Battlestar Galactica - The Plan (Blu-ray), District 9 (Blu-ray), The Inglourious Basterds (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Denon AVR-3310CI 7.1 A/V Receiver

John E. Johnson, Jr.

When shopping for a receiver, most consumers either get the bargain of the week at $499 or the macho machine at $2,499. But, what about those receivers in the middle, as in $1,499. Not cheap enough for the bargain hunter, not "impressive" enough for the high end. Maybe you should take a second look. At that middle price, you can still get the hot features, but not break the bank. Here, we review Denon's AVR-3310CI which clocks in at 120 watts x 7 and decodes everything, even that new kid on the block . . . height channels.

Receivers

JVC GZ-HM400U High Definition Video Camera

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Up until the past year, the sensors in HD video cameras were just barely enough in pixel count (2,073,600) to get 1920 x 1080 video. That has changed now, and camera manufacturers are putting sensors in their HD video cameras that have a much higher pixel count. The main reason is so that consumers can take high resolution snapshots with their video cameras, similar to the high resolution photos they can get from dedicated digital snapshot cameras. The serendipity is that the high resolution image can be downsampled to 1920 x 1080 rather than there being only just over 2 megapixels to start with, and this gives a sharper video image. The JVC GZ-HM400U is just such a camera, with its 10.3 megapixel sensor. Have a look at our review to see how it performed.

Video Accessories Misc

Movie Renter’s Guide – November, 2009

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Lie To Me Season One (Blu-ray), Waterworld (Blu-ray), Big (Blu-ray), Army of Darkness (Blu-ray), Child's Play (Blu-ray), Role Models (Blu-Ray), Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (Blu-ray), Bruno (Blu-ray), Doom (Blu-ray), Shaun of the Dead (Blu-ray), The Scorpion King (Blu-ray), The Rundown (Blu-ray), High Crimes (Blu-ray), The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Blu-ray), Monsters, Inc. (Blu-ray), Up (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Movie Renter’s Guide – October, 2009

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-ray), The Proposal (Blu-ray), Qdeo HD Video Test Disc (Blu-ray), Spears & Munsil HD Video Test Disc (Blu-ray) , The Girl Next Door (Blu-ray), Misery (Blu-ray), Disaster Movie (Blu-ray), The Tale of Despereaux (Blu-ray), MASH (Blu-ray), Powder Blue (Blu-ray), Drag Me To Hell (Blu-ray), Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray), The Passion of the Christ (Blu-ray), Away We Go (Blu-ray), Field of Dreams (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Emotiva USP-1 Stereo Preamplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Emotiva's new USP-1 stereo preamplifier, at $399, sets a new standard in performance in low priced components. Besides the standard full range outputs, this preamp offers a split output where you can adjust the low-pass frequency for one (which goes to your subwoofer) and the high-pass frequency for the other (which goes to your main power amplifier). This allows you to essentially bi-amplify, and with the low frequencies removed from the high-passed output, your power amplifier will run more efficiantly, not having to waste power on low frequencies that your speakers cannot reproduce. And, they toss in a phono stage that has both MC and MM settings. This may mark the beginning of phono stages being a standard part of stereo preamplifiers, rather than having to purchase an outboard phono stage. Long live LP's! Oh, there's a headphone jack too.

Preamplifiers

Earthquake Titan Telesto Floor-standing Speakers and Supernova MKVI 10″ Subwoofer

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Earthquake Sound has just introduced the Titan Telesto floor-standing speakers. They are 50" high and have a unique horn-loaded tweeter as well as a conventional dome tweeter. Two 4" drivers handle the midrange, with a side-mounted 8" woofer dealing out the low frequencies. They are beautifully finished in black piano lacquer and are priced at $4,999 for the pair. Earthquake also sent their Supernova MKVI 10" subwoofer, because I had been so impressed with the 15" version, and I wanted to see how the smaller one performed. Well, it performed! And so did the Telestos . . . .

Floor Standing Speakers

SVS STS-01 Floor-standing Speakers, PB10-NSD Subwoofer, and AS-EQ1 Subwoofer Equalizer

John E. Johnson, Jr.

With SVS' release of the STS speaker series, they have made a concise statement that they are definitely in the speaker trade as well as subwoofers. The STS follows on the MTS series, and according to their website, a high-end speaker series is slated for late 2009. In the current article, we review a pair of STS-01 floor-standing speakers along with a pair of PB10-NSD 10" subwoofers and their new AS-EQ1 equalizer that is made specifically for subwoofers. The listening tests as well as bench tests show that SVS is a company to be reckoned with. Their products continue to perform at a very high standard, and yet, they are priced so that anyone can afford them.

Surround Sound Speaker Systems

Marantz SA-7S1 SACD Player

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Marantz has been a renown audio company for a better part of the 20th century. Although it changed hands several times over the years, the quality never wavered from being superb. The average consumer these days may think of mass market receivers when the name Marantz is mentioned, but they also build some of the best high performance products in the consumer arena. The SA-7S1 is Marantz' top-of-the-line SACD player. It is fully balanced throughout - thus having XLR outputs along with the standard RCA unbalanced outputs - and has some of the lowest distortion bench test results I have ever measured. It sounds as smooth as satin whether playing SACDs or standard "old fashioned" CDs, and is built to make sturdy equipment racks creak when you place it on the shelf. Last, but not least, it is beautiful to look at whether it is playing or not.

SACD Players