Humbled by Sound

I have a modest, but good 5.2 audio system. The truth is, I was pretty smug about it. But I recently had an opportunity to visit the upscale home of a fellow A/V enthusiast. Over wine, we were discussing the relative merits of different A/V gear when he asked if I would care to see/hear his system?

Yeah, sure. Let’s. We went to his dedicated listening/viewing room and I was greeted by a rack of Anthem monoblock amps, a suite of Steinway Lyngdorf tower speakers (which I was ashamed to admit I’d never heard of), and two SVS subs. He cranked it up and my jaw dropped. It was like the musicians were playing live, right there, in the room. I’d never heard anything like it. Not even close. Moral of the story: Stay humble, friends. Herb Goldman / Hollywood, FL

With regard to David Vaughn’s Tivo Edge DVR review in the April/may issue, the article was highly informative, even for someone who has owned several Tivo DVRS starting with the very first version. I’ve been waiting for my current, aging Tivo to die, but like David I did not care for either of the two most recent models. After reading David’s review, however, it sounds like the Edge DVR is just the ticket for me. As is typical with Sound & Vision, David tells it like it is, revealing the OEM manufacturer (Arris), critiquing the design of the earlier Bolt (whose wavy box design I also found totally impractical), and pointing out the lack of backlighting on the remote control. David’s step-by-step setup directions are clear and helpful, especially the warning about not inserting the Cablecard until the box has finished updating its software, and not before! I’ll certainly be buying an Edge when my current Tivo bites the dust— unless it outlives me, which is certainly possible!

Steve Bayle / via email