As part of our transition to Roberts version 3.0 we are adjusting our store hours.

The retail store hours will be Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm.
Installation hours will begin and end earlier, based on your schedule.

We will continue extended hours by appointment in your home or at our showroom, we are available from 8am to 10pm. Please call the store at 860-442-5314 to setup the appointment.

Thank you.
Rob Grabon

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Paradigm Introduces Monitor Series 7 Subwoofers By Gary Reber   http://widescreenreview.com/blog_detail.php?id=823

Paradigm proudly announces the addition of three new subwoofers to its recently announced Monitor Series 7 line. Featuring the same new streamlined aesthetics and smaller footprint that define the updated Monitor lineup, the new Monitor SUB 8, Monitor SUB 10 and Monitor SUB 12 also boast a number of trickle-down technologies from Paradigm’s award-winning Signature and Studio Series subwoofers, ensuring no-holds-barred, foundation-rattling performance from a smaller, more conventional-looking package.  Paul Wojciechowski, Manager of Product Development says, “While Paradigm is dedicated to using the best available materials when constructing subwoofers and speakers, we are equally committed to researching innovative design techniques that can drive the premium materials to their absolute potential in a smaller, more efficient, more affordable package. The ambition behind the Monitor Series 7 subs was to further improve bass response, even in the 8-inch model that is ideal for the smallest listening spaces.” The Monitor SUB 8, Monitor SUB 10 and Monitor SUB 12 are engineered around the same single-driver design. The SUB 8 and SUB 10 both feature a mineral-filled polypropylene cone with a corrugated Santoprene surround (8 and 10 inches, respectively) first seen in the company’s ultra-high-end Signature Series, a 1½-inch 4-layer copper-clad aluminum voice coil, Nomex spider, 4.5 lb ferrite magnet and an AVS die-cast heat sink chassis. The SUB 12 turns up the heat with a 2-inch 4-layer copper-clad aluminum voice coil, 6.5 lb ferrite magnet, along with dual Nomex spiders and AVS die-cast heat sink chassis. All three subs feature internal Ultra-Class D amplifers delivering 900 watts Dynamic Peak/300 watts RMS Sustained power and boast low frequency extension of 19 Hz (SUB 8), 17 Hz (SUB 10) and 16 Hz (SUB 12) (DIN). The Monitor subs are wireless-ready; with the addition of Paradigm’s PT-2 transmitter (sold separately), up to four Monitor subwoofers can be daisy-chained simultaneously. Each sub in the line comes with an integrated USB port for PBK (Paradigm’s Perfect Bass Kit) equalization (sold separately), which analyzes the subwoofer’s response in a room and then sets the correct equalization parameters to obtain optimal sound, even with less-than optimal placement. Even when the finest subwoofer is placed perfectly, bass can sound bloated or boomy due to imperfect room acoustics. The PBK system measures the subwoofer from multiple positions in the room to highlight problem areas and calculate the correct EQ curve, resulting in pitch-perfect bass tailor made for the room. Paradigm’s Director of Marketing, Mark Aling added, “Given that these are Paradigm’s first Monitor Series subwoofers we wanted to make sure we did justice to this beloved line. The Monitor SUB 8, Monitor SUB 10, and Monitor SUB 12 are not only a beautiful visual match for the new Monitor Series loudspeakers, but as with their counterparts, the subs also represent incredible performance at an incredible value.” Designed, engineered, and manufactured in Paradigm’s state-of-the-art Toronto, Canada facility, the Monitor Series 7 subwoofers are the perfect complement to the newly launched Monitor Series 7 line of loudspeakers. All three subs are available in Black Ash to match the Monitor Series loudspeakers and estimated US FMV pricing for the series is as follows: Monitor SUB 8 is $699, Monitor SUB 10 is $849, Monitor Sub 12 is $999. The PT-2 wireless transmitter and Perfect Bass Kit (PBK) are optional accessories and have a US FMV of $149 and $99 respectively. For more information on Paradigm, please visit www.paradigm.com.

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Don’t forget Roberts Audio Video is your SONOS HEADQUARTERS!.

Wireless full home audio done right and we are here to assist you.

We stock and install all  Sonos componants

From their new Play 3 wireless speaker to the indispensable connect.

Sonos has free controller apps for both iphone and Android smart phones allowing more options for controlling your Sonos music stream and equipment.

Call us or stop by for a demonstration. Wireless home audio has never been easier.

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by Clint DeBoer — last modified October 03, 2011

http://www.audioholics.com/buying-guides/how-to-shop/led-lamps-replace-incandescent-bulbs

Have you been keeping up with the LED lighting movement? I’d even go so far as to call it a “transition”. The future is here – it’s just a tad expensive right now. What is driving consumer and professional fascination with LED bulb technology is that it lasts longer, uses less power and should, eventually, cost less. LED lamps produce more light than heat – and that means they are more efficient. They are also safer – both for you (they don’t shatter) and for the environment (they are toxin-free). You can also run LED lighting with existing dimmers. Right now they have a higher threshold for dimming than their incandescent counterparts, but they do indeed dim. The other thing we like about LED lighting is that it doesn’t require the expense or bulk of a ballast system. That’s less to troubleshoot, and less to pay for. It also makes LED lamps smaller – giving them the potential of being used in some pretty creative and compact scenarios where fluorescent technology fell flat on its face. For home theater, LEDs represent the next logical step for projectors – and they’ve already made their way into the backlighting systems of flat screen televisions.

So with all that excitement, why isn’t everyone using LEDs in their homes, replacing traditional light bulbs?

The pricing still sucks. I mean, you can do the math and it’s actually cheaper in the long run – but that’s just it: you have to do the math. It’s a tough sell to compare a $1 bulb with a $65 counterpart. And honestly, in some scenarios the price doesn’t make sense – at least not if “price” is the ultimate objective and determining factor. And high costs, fortunately, are temporary. We know this because LED is essentially an on-chip technology. You stamp it onto a circuit board and there is no need for a fragile glass shroud. It’s more stable during shipping and in high yields, the fewer parts are going to equate into a product that costs LESS to manufacture than traditional light bulbs.

LED lighting is appealing to the homeowner for the simple fact that it works, it can swap out with existing bulbs quite easily, and its cheap to operate. For commercial installations, it can save a boatload of money (literally) and for the custom installation market, you’ve got a wide field of options for accent lighting as well as controllable, dimmable solutions that look smart and save time and money in the long haul.

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http://www.homemediamagazine.com/netflix/netflix-quietly-caps-streams-per-household-24984

Subscribers no longer can access streams on multiple devices from one account

Netflix during the Labor Day weekend quietly imposed a new policy that allows one stream per subscriber.

The new restriction comes as the Los Gatos, Calif.-based online disc rental pioneer bows streaming service across 43 Latin America countries, the Caribbean and Mexico.

Netflix heretofore has been largely indifferent toward the number of connected devices accessed its streaming portfolio. The company paid lip service to streaming caps with household access determined by the number of rental discs out at a time.

If you were on the one-disc plan you had access to one stream; two-disc plan, two streams, and so on. Netflix never actually restricted access as it pushed its streaming service and all but ignored physical rentals.

First noted by StopTheCap.com, a consumer-based broadband advocacy website, Netflix subs attempting access from multiple devices during the Labor Day weekend received a “streaming error” message explaining the new limitations.

With Netflix imposing a 60% rate hike on the combined streaming and physical disc membership options, subscribers seeking multiple streaming access in the home now will have to pay accordingly.

Two discs out at a time ($19.98 a month) will afford you streams on two devices, while the three-disc plan ($23.98) allows three streams, and four discs four streams from four devices at $29.98 a month.

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Surround Sound is the term commonly used to describe a system in which the sound output appears to surround the listener — that is, the technology gives the impression that sounds are coming from all possible directions.

Surround sound is a way to provide a more realistic and engaging experience. Sitting in front of your television or playing a computer game with basic $10 stereo speakers plugged in will provide you with sound. You hear the music, voices and other sounds coming to you from straight ahead. Using a surround sound system, however, you’ll hear variances in the sound and and it will be presented to you from different directions. For example, the car driving off screen will sound like it is coming from the left. While playing a 3D shooter game, the rocket gun blasts sound as if they are being shot from overhead or grenades sound like they are exploding at ground level.

Today consumers demand immersive entertainment and surround sound plays a big part in delivering an engaging entertainment experience. To this end, there’s no lack of options when it comes to surround sound technology and systems.

All technical aspects aside, surround sound works because multiple audio channels are received through speakers that are positioned at various locations in the room. This is programmed into the source and the sound tracks are decoded when the source is played. While this may seem simplistic, it is important to remember that sound systems started out with monophonic sound, a single channel system. In monophonic (mono) sound systems, the signal sent to the sound system is encoded as one single stream of sound — and the sound is usually received through a single speaker.

Advancements led to stereophonic sound (stereo) where the sound was split between two channels, left and right. Stereo sound enabled listeners to hear some ambiance of the production — for example, a recording of a live concert in stereo where you begin to hear playback from extraneous noises at the performance. Surround sound takes it a step further by producing a live-quality effect. If you’re at an actual concert, you hear sound from behind you, and listening to a recording in surround can produce the effect of this noise — coming from behind you, or to the right, or even from above and moving down.

Surround sound adds realism and a new field of depth to your listening experience. This is accomplished not only because you have more speakers for output, but because the sound recording itself contains more audio channels.

The A/V (audio/video) Receiver

At the heart of every home theater is an audio/video receiver (A/V). Using a DVD movie as an example, the audio is encoded when the DVD is produced by packing multiple audio channels into a compressed format for storage.  When you play the DVD movie, your DVD player or A/V receiver (commonly called a a home theatre receiver) decodes the encoding scheme (i.e. Dolby Pro Logic II for example). Decoding capabilities of an A/V receiver are built in. Most A/V receivers today can decode Dolby Digital and Digital Theater Sound (DTS), while higher-end receivers may also include DTS-ES or THX Surround. Today’s A/V receivers allow you to control the video source and other video options, but for sound you’ll need it to route the sound from different sources (TV, DVD, VHS), control bass, treble, and volume. You can amplify signals to the speakers, and modern A/V receivers also handle the all-important surround sound decoding.

5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 Channel Surround Sound Systems

Both Dolby Digital and DTS are 5.1 channel formats.  5.1 surround sound is a multichannel sound technology that produces five channels of sound in the left, right, center, left-surround and right-surround positions. These five channels are the minimum required to produce 5.1 surround sound. The .1 represents the channel for LFE (low frequency effects), which is usually sent to a subwoofer.

While 5.1 surround sound has been the standard for some time now, newer A/V receivers are capable of delivering 6.1 surround sound. 6.1 multichannel sound technology uses the same set-up as a 5.1 system, but it has the addition of a sixth speaker that takes the rear-center surround position (or back surround position) to provide a more 3-D sound. 6.1 surround sound uses extended surround sound formats, such as THX Surround EX and DTS-ES.

Moving forward, we now also have 7.1 surround sound, which splits the single rear-center speaker into individual left- and right-rear surround. These systems are not a true discrete 7.1 channel system as 7.1 formats don’t currently exist. In a true discrete 6.1 surround system, the back center surround position is separate from the surround left and surround right positions. A 7.1 channel system uses matrixed extended surround where the left-back and right-back (rear-center surround) multichannel are blended together and stored.

Common Surround Sound Formats

Dolby Surround

Dolby Surround is the consumer version of the original Dolby multichannel analog film sound format — Dolby analog and Dolby SR (Spectral Recording). When a Dolby Surround soundtrack is produced, four channels of audio information (left, center, right and mono) surround are matrix-encoded onto two audio tracks. These two tracks are then carried on stereo program sources such as videotapes and TV broadcasts into the home where they can be decoded by Dolby Pro Logic to recreate the original four-channel surround sound experience.

Dolby Digital

A standard for high-quality digital audio that is used for the sound portion of video stored in digital format, especially videos stored on DVD-ROMs. Dolby Digital delivers six channels in the so-called “5:1″ configuration: left, right, and center screen channels, separate left and right sounds, and a subwoofer channel. This is sometimes called surround sound or 3D sound.

Dolby Digital EX

Dolby Digital EX takes the Dolby Digital 5.1-channel setup one step further with an additional center-surround channel (reproduced through one or two speakers) for extra dimensional detail and an enveloping surround-sound effect. Feature films originally released in Dolby Digital Surround EX (the cinema version) carry the encoded extra surround channel in their subsequent DVD releases, as well as onto 5.1-channel digital satellite and TV broadcasts.

Dolby Pro Logic IIx

Dolby Pro Logic IIx is an extension of Dolby Pro Logic II technology. This sophisticated algorithm processes native stereo- and 5.1-channel material to produce 6.1 or 7.1 output channels. Dolby Pro Logic IIx expands choice in playback system configuration (allowing 5.1 , 6.1, or 7.1 playback channels) and, when incorporated into an audio/video (AV) receiver or processor it allows a convenient upgrade path from a traditional 5.1-channel sound system to 7.1 output channels.

Dolby TrueHD

Dolby TrueHD is the next-generation lossless technology developed for high-definition disc-based media. Features of Dolby TrueHD include the following: 100 percent lossless coding technology, up to 18 Mbps bit rate, support for up to eight full-range channels of 24-bit/96 kHz audio, and it is supported by High-Definition Media Interface (HDMI).

DTS

Short for Digital Theater Sound, it is a multichannel surround sound format used in both commercial and consumer applications. DTS was created by the company for which the technology was named, Digital Theater Systems (which is now called DTS as well). DTS is a competing technology with Dolby Digital.

DTS-ES

Short for Digital Theater Sound – Extended Surround. The 6.1 matrixed system enables cinemas to deliver extreme spatial effects that literally surround the audience. A rack mounting DTS-ES decoder creates a back-surround (BS) channel from encoded surround tracks, in typical theatre applications feeding a back-surround speaker array (configured as left-back-wall and right-back-wall for stereo operation). The system is compatible with all current extended surround formats and an auxiliary surround channel is also provided for other applications. ES modes can be selected via automation inputs or via the built-in DTS time code reader, which detects ES serial numbers for automatic DTS-ES playback.

TruSurround XT

TruSurround XT is the second generation of SRS TruSurround. Building upon its patented predecessor, TruSurround XT solves the problem of playing 5.1 or 6.1 multichannel content over two speakers (or headphones). TruSurround XT accepts input from up to a seven-channel (6.1) audio source and processing a two-channel output. When receiving multichannel content, TruSurround XT virtualizes the channels, creating “phantom” speakers that appear to extend all around the listener. When receiving mono or stereo content, TruSurround XT presents an expansive three dimensional sound field.

THe original posting for this information can be found here:

http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Computer_Science/2005/surround_sound.asp

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Tired of struggling to hear the dialogue in your TV shows and  movies?  Your Center Channel could be the culprit…….

Here are some good thoughts and tips excerpted from this informative home theater blog:

Center Channel Speakers: Part 2 – Home Theater Forum and Systems – HomeTheaterShack.com

Look around the local retailers and web dealers for speaker systems. You’ll find most 5.1 speaker systems build a center speaker that matches the other speakers in the system, about the same size drivers etc. Some speaker systems will give you the option of larger front speakers. For home theater this isn’t necessary, although larger speakers with larger woofers can produce deeper bass the speaker should be set to “small” in the receiver. The small setting means that sounds below the crossover frequency will be diverted to the subwoofer. A typical crossover is 80Hz. So, the front speaker won’t produce any of the lower bass instead those sounds will be diverted to the subwoofer. If you have a competent sub in your system the effect of setting your speakers to the “small” setting will produce more bass. We won’t delve too much into bass management, that’s another topic. Suffice it to say that for Home Theater it’s a good idea to set all your speakers to “small” even if you like to switch it back for dedicated two channel (music) sources.

The center speaker arrived back in the days of Dolby Pro-Logic. Dolby Pro-Logic was the improvement on Dolby Surround that had a problem with hard to hear voices. By giving the midrange its own dedicated speaker dialogue in film could now compete with splashy sound effects and musical scores that dominated the front and rear speakers in a surround system.

The center speaker is responsible for reproducing sounds in the range from about 500 to 5000 Hz. This isn’t a hard limitation of the center channel just an estimate of the midrange. In a 5.1 system the center channel can receive sounds from any frequency.

There is a lot going on in that center channel. Not just voices but a lot of sound effects too. Virtually anything that goes on front and center to the camera’s perspective can be heard through the center channel. A frail center speaker will rob explosions, gunfire and all those other splashy effects of the bang they should have, despite the big sub and giant front left and right speakers.

One of the most common complaints when you have a center speaker that isn’t up to the task is muted voices. Dialogue gets drowned out when the action or musical score gets loud. Chances are the center speaker isn’t able to produce enough midrange or the midrange has some dispersion problems which can be associated with the speaker’s build.

Sound Speaker Build Quality

One of the classic “cheap” center speaker builds is the MTM (midrange, tweeter, midrange) build. This is a two way design. One tweeter sits between two woofers. Since this design has no midrange it’s already off to a bad start. To make an effective center channel speaker of this design is a challenge to the speaker’s builder. The design opens you up to acoustic dispersion problems called the lobing effect.

Lobing is a bend in a circle. The circle of sound from your speakers should converge on the audience. But if your center speaker is exhibiting lobing it’s difficult to accurately judge the sweet spot. The net effect is the midrange suffers.

Look for a center channel speaker that has a midrange and tweeter stacked on top of each other with woofers on either side. This is a three way design and isn’t usually found in the most budget speakers. Most manufacturers only build their top end center channel speaker in the desired three way design.

Think of it this way, a center speaker should include a midrange! A real center will make a dramatic difference for movies. For two channel music (CD, MP3 etc) it can only serve to fill in the central soundstage, not exactly a critical job if you have well positioned front speakers. But, if you’ve upgraded a two channel stereo to 5.1 surround for Home Theater and skimped on the center speaker reasoning you’ll upgrade it later, you might be wondering why some soundtracks seem robbed of oomph and sometimes dialogue is a bit thin. Well, later is now.

We at Roberts can match your needs to a center channel correct for your home theater system.

It’s time for Dialogue to actually  be heard again!

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At last, Mr Kramer finds an iPod dock to knock his socks off. And at a decent price, too.

After what seems like an eternity of reviewing either complex things or even worse (lots of complex things all at once), I was really looking forward to testing something simple and with as little functionality as possible. What could be simpler than an iPod dock? So the first thing out of the deepening “to be reviewed” pile was Pro-Ject’s Dock Box Fi.

This tiny box is part of Pro-Ject’s growing range of “Micro High-End Components,” as the company’s website puts it. I’m not sure I’d agree with the “High-End” but the “Micro” part is right on the money. These things are palm sized miniature audio ingots and the range covers everything from the well known phono stages to pre and power amps, CD players, tuners and of course, iPod docks.

At first I thought the “Fi” in the model name was a vaguely clever allusion to hi-fi. After all, the Dock Box Fi is meant to be a high-quality “audiophile” iPod dock but there’s an almost identical model called the Dock Box Vi. Vi? I didn’t even want to go there, but a look at the box showed that the Fi is a fixed output model, while the Vi is a variable output model designed to drive a power amp directly.

Construction and Features

At 103 x 36 x 103 (H x W x D), the Fi really is small but at almost 600 grams, it’s a lot heavier than expected, especially if you’re thinking of the ubiquitous cheap plastic docks. There’s not much to the product, just a bent metal case and a thin faceplate.

Up front you get a power LED and a remote sensor. Round back things are less stark but this is no home theatre receiver; two RCA outputs, a 16v power socket for one of Pro-Ject’s chunky wall warts, an S-Video output and a mini USB input. As soon as the iPod is docked, it starts charging and there’s no option to defeat this (as if that matters). The USB port allows you to connect the iPod to a computer to sync files.

On top, you’ll find Pro-Ject’s brilliant dock connector. Why brilliant? Instead of using one of those plastic things with a bag full of fiddly inserts, the Dock Box range has a sliding metal brace that is adjusted using a small thumb screw until it’s tight against the back of the iPod. This means the dock can easily fit most any iPod and that the back is firmly supported, so you can operate the controls without the iPod flexing scarily back and forth. You shouldn’t need to work the iPod’s controls much because the fully featured remote control will do most of the work for you.

Internally, the Dock Box Fi has been designed with audio quality in mind, so it features a discrete buffer, surface mount components for short signal paths and a low impedance output stage. Theoretically, the iPod’s output goes through an initial amplification stage and then it’s off to the amplifier, but at a low impedance. The Dock Box Fi acts as a buffer stage and it seems to work.

Sound Quality

I hooked the Dock Box Fi up to my Yamaha A-S2000 (used as a preamp), Viganoni and Viganoni Sachem monoblocks and Theophany M5 Series 2 floorstanders. Then I set my 80Gb iPod Classic on shuffle and went out for a while to let the system settle in. When I wandered back in, Beck’s ‘Paper Tiger’ from Sea Change was playing and I did a double take because I thought the CD player was on. It sounded really good, with a real sense of scale on the strings and a nice texture to the vocal. It didn’t sound like the feeble offerings that some iPod docks spew out. This was something I could live with.

Tony Joe White’s ‘Ice Cream Man’ from The Beginning sounded unfeasibly good considering the source, with depth to the soundstage, serious resolution to the guitars and a gritty roughness to the close-miked vocal. When the guitar on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s ‘Life By The Drop’ from The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan shuffled on, I thought that this little dock sounds a lot better than it has any right to. Lots of crisp detail, good bite to the strings and again, that depth in the soundstage.

A high point was when ‘Every Planet We Reach Is Dead’ by Gorillaz (from the excellent Demon Days CD) blasted out into the room at high volume after some mellow acoustic guitar. I literally blurted out “No way!” There was no overly bright treble, no compression and no desire on my part to turn the volume down. Just big throbbing bass, huge detail and a veritable wall of smooth enjoyable sound that had me nodding along.

Listening to most of Nils Lofgren’s Acoustic Live was a pleasure, with excellent decay to the highly detailed, clear guitar notes and plenty of energy and extension to both top and bottom. This just didn’t sound anything like an iPod running into a stereo system, and every time I walked back into the room with the Pro-Ject playing, the sound quality caught me unprepared. In short, what we have here is high quality sonics from a three hundred dollar source that sounds like it should cost a lot more.

Negatives

Negatives? None! A minor point to note is that the output level from this unit was a little low and I had to crank the volume slightly higher than usual. This is only an issue for those with low gain passive preamps or 3-watt amps, and you know who you are.

It’s not the last word in hi-fi and comparisons to my excellent Marantz SA8260 SACD player showed why the Marantz has been in my system for so long. This is hardly a fair comparison and it would be churlish to detail every area where the SA8260 has an edge. Suffice to say that the SACD player gives more of everything, everywhere but it bloody well should considering both its reputation and the price differential.

Conclusion

All of the above results were achieved with 256Kb or 320Kb files. There was nothing fancy involved, no high-res files, no flashy cables and no isolation platforms (unless you count the carpet I’d dumped the dock on because the rack was full).

I don’t recall the standard Dock Box that I reviewed last year sounding quite so accomplished or composed. It’s been ages since I heard Arcam’s rDock but I’m pretty sure that it didn’t blow me away like this.

At the price, Pro-Ject’s little Dock Box Fi is absolutely beyond reproach. You can buy cheaper docks; in fact you buy all kinds of badly made tat for next to nothing, but they won’t sound as good as this. It’s way ahead of a 20-buck 3.5mm to RCA cable, which was only good at turning my iPod into an insomnia cure. A Wadia i170 iTransport accessing the iPod’s digital stream and a good DAC would be the audiophile choice at over twice the rate (and it needs a DAC) but this little gem floated my boat in a big way.

Demanding type that I am, what I really want is for Pro-Ject to hack the iPod’s digital stream Wadia style for not much more money than the Dock Box Fi, but this version will do in the interim.

Impressive? Too right. I had a total blast with my iPod on shuffle feeding this superb little device. While it won’t replace my cherished Marantz SA8260, this is the best sounding iPod dock I’ve heard yet. Respect! ASHLEY KRAMER

MR Kramer’s article can be found here:

http://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/index.php/2010/10/pro-ject-dock-box-fi-ipod-dock-review/

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