AVForums Podcast: Episode 244 - 26th November 2018

Phil Hinton

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00:00:32 – Cold weather, hat making, North Korean spying missions, and London trips
00:08:28 – Current Competitions
00:12:36 – Phil’s initial thoughts on the Sony ZF9 LCD TV
00:30:27 – Steve reviews the Arcam AVR390 AV receiver
00:41:11 – Ed explains the various audio formats
00:46:12 – Steve reviews Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
00:56:20 – Films opening this week – Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Creed II
00:59:47 – Blu-ray releases this week – Hotel Artemis, Hackers, Night of the Demon, Gosford Park, Mama Mia!: Here We Go Again, Prince of Darkness, and Escape from New York
01:01:31 – 4K Blu-ray releases this week – Mama Mia!: Here We Go Again, Philadelphia, and Escape from New York
01:05:52 – RIP Stan Lee and William Goldman
01:15:40 – Goodbyes

Presented by Phil Hinton with Steve Withers, Ed Selley and Mark Botwright

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Time: 01:16:31 | File Size: 110mb | Direct Link
 
Great podcast! Glad to see you give some love for Arcam avr's for sure they worthy premium products.

Interested in hearing on the AVR power amp options
 
Great podcast as always guys :smashin:

Nice to hear more chat on the Arcam Avrs, as a happy 850 owner I am somewhat curious though if you could beat this in SQ by using a power amp with the smaller 390 for a similar price, I suppose the question is what power amp is a fair comparison to the Class G of the 850? Makes you wonder what value there is in ever buying the dedicated 860 processor!

Also Phil careful if you’re buying Braveheart, issues with the disk not playing on certain players as I found out to my disappointment last week :( supposed to be a new pressing due to be released by Fox according to the review thread, was picked up by Amazon but HMV seem to still be selling the defunct copies
 
Sorry to hear about another below-par Sony TV, just when they seem to be getting their act together. Hard to get past the Q9 if you want an LCD, or C8 for an OLED.

Can confirm that Scottish Twitter is wild. Searched for something forums-appropriate to share, there is literally nothing that isn’t full of industrial language.
 
 
Great podcast Gents. I'll just leave this here:

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Very enjoyable edition gentlemen and think it's only fair that Phil or Steve write an article about the demise of 3D TVs if Ed has to write about cabling. You may need to increase your server capacity!
 
Usual standard of poddy guys, a mix of AV with some pleasant nonsensical banter.

Regarding Black Friday.

I don't usually impulse buy especially the more pricy items over the several "Black Friday / Cyber Monday".... and all week deals :rolleyes:.... but. I bought from Sevenoaks Sound & Vision via "Amazon Pay" two pairs of Kef Q50a Dolby Atmos / DTS:X speakers in white for £360 per pair instead of the srp of £450. Now I know I could probably garner a consideration for cash at some other time but I very much doubt (until Kef eventually discontinues them) that I could match that level of discount.

I haven't bought the replacement AV amp yet (I have the upgraded "Denon" AVC-A11XV) as stereo reproduction is important to me and I was not prepared to buy "blind", even with a healthy discount of around £700, the "Denon 8500" this "Black Friday". From my point of view the surround capabilities on either this "Denon" model or the Marantz SR8012 would be deriguour but I need a demo to hear the quality of their respective stereo reproduction. I will garner a demo at a main dealer of these AV amps probably sometime next year. As time goes by the prices will drop anyway on these models as well as a possible consideration for a cash purchase. But I felt as far as the speakers were concerned it was a no brainer and it was the first time ever that I have bought any hi-fi / av gear "blind" online. Having said that the only speakers i've auditioned in my present setup were my main floorstanders, a pair of Kef 104.2's which were purchased on the 30th July 1986 for £699, and they're still going strong. All the others, the 100 centre, a pair of TDM 34ds side surround dipoles in white and a pair of 70s back surrounds are Kef and they all match up seamlessly, hence buying the Q50a's without a demo. The sub bass unit is a Rel Storm 3 by the way.

Also if you pay via "Amazon pay" and the amount is over £500 you get a free Echo Amazon Dot. So this is part one for me of going over from 7.1 to 7.1.4.... and no I won't be fitting them as upfiring. :nono: I will fix them on the wall (they have keyholes at the back) next to the ceiling facing down. That will be the next best position from having in-ceiling speakers which I can't do from a decoration point of view as well as the fact that the setup is in our lounge.... plus.... I have a wifey to appease. Looking forward to the next podcast.... LT. :thumbsup:

Addendum: By the way Sevenoaks have extended their "deals" until Sunday the 2nd December.
 
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I've got to agree with the review of 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'. I was working in Dorchester and as the local cinema is only £3.50... Thought I would go along... What an awful film... I was actually falling asleep ... Very pretty ... No substance ... Just like a girl I dated a while ago.

If you are near Dorchester. It's a great cinema - Plaza Cinema. You can get 3 movies in for a bit over £10, loads of leg room, great sound & picture....

I was a little upset, they used to charge £2.50 !!
 
Might be a bit of a leap, but the picture heading up this podcast made me think of Jack Nicholson playing Jon Snow in Game of Thrones....but playing the Character totally as classic Nicholson once his "Father" gets executed! Now that would be a thing to see! :)
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Arcam sounds really nice. Thanks for pointing out the amps are not assignable though. I was just asking that question in my head when you answered it. What a pity as that reduces flexibility somewhat - I love on my Marantz that I can use the built ins for the ‘lesser’ channels and beef up mains with external PA.

Also looking forward to review of that £1k 7 channel power amp. What was the brand again? Roll on brexit so we in euro land can pick it up for about €2.75.

Enjoyed the irony of the lads bemoaning some actress or other for having an annoying voice.
 
Arcam sounds really nice. Thanks for pointing out the amps are not assignable though. I was just asking that question in my head when you answered it. What a pity as that reduces flexibility somewhat - I love on my Marantz that I can use the built ins for the ‘lesser’ channels and beef up mains with external PA.

Also looking forward to review of that £1k 7 channel power amp. What was the brand again? Roll on brexit so we in euro land can pick it up for about €2.75.

Enjoyed the irony of the lads bemoaning some actress or other for having an annoying voice.
It's the IOTA AVXP1, which you currently have a chance of winning in an AVForums competition: IOTAVX AVXP1 Competition | AVForums
 
Thank you for the podcasts, keeps me entertained on the commute home, love all the insights and reviews.
 
Watched a video from Vincent regarding the Sony ZF9 and why it appears to be an IPS panel. Apparently it's a VA panel but they've added a special filter/layer (X-Wide Angle) to the screen to improve the viewing angles, which has unfortunately raised the black levels and thus given more of an IPS style image.
 
Apparently it's a VA panel but they've added a special filter/layer (X-Wide Angle).
Yes, I have since spent more time with it testing and came to the same conclusion, after some initial thoughts that it looked extremely IPS-like. My review will be coming soon and I still haven't had any feedback from Sony to my questions.
 

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