If the Moody Blues' most brazen, brave, and bold November 1967 mixture of conceptual rock and broad classical arrangements known as Days of Future Passed both saved their career and opened newer doors of sonic perception for them (and us) to walk through, then their mind-expanding July 1968 follow-up, In Search of the Lost Chord, truly cemented their position as purveyors of some of the headiest of mixes to essentially usher in a new era of progressive music. Indeed, the magnificent Moodies' late-'60s and early-'70s stereo mixes are often credited with helping to sell the true advantages the then-burgeoning FM format had over AM radio in the United States.

On April 8, Aerosmith delivered a 90-minute performance for the ages inside the THX Certified Park Theater at the Park MGM in Las Vegas during their Deuces Are Wild residency. Our exclusive VIP section review shows how the combined powers of THX, L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology, the MIXhalo live-audio mixing platform, and 1MORE THX Certified triple-driver in-ear headphones all helped make it happen.

The latest 4K DLP projector in BenQ’s CinePrime series of home theater-focused models is available starting today.

PRICE $18,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Fantastic HDR performance
Reference-level optics
Industry leading contrast
Minus
Some dynamic contrast-related artifacts
Noticeable fan noise in High lamp mode

THE VERDICT
JVC’s second-generation 4K beamer sets a new high bar for projector HDR performance. Add industry leading contrast, reference-quality optics, and exceptional usability and you have a projector that punches way above its price point.

It took a while, but JVC has finally updated its full consumer projector lineup to native 4K (4,096 x 2,160) resolution. Just over two years ago, Sound & Vision reviewed the company's first native 4K model, the $29,995 flagship DLA-RS4500. For this review I am going to cover the flagship model from the new range, the DLA-NX9 (also available as the DLA-RS3000 from JVC's professional division). At $18,000, the NX9 isn't exactly a casual purchase, though it does deliver some new features at a price point we haven't seen before from JVC.

The U.S. will continue to lead the way in smart speaker adoption as the category explodes around the world — especially in China — with an installed base that’s expected to grow 82% in 2019, according tech research firm Canalys.

Parasound has announced plans to deliver its most-affordable integrated amplifier/digital-to-analog converter (DAC) early this summer.

If you’re hungry for new vinyl and somehow missed the festivities around Record Store Day this past Saturday (hey, it happens), fear not: A few hundred new releases are catalogued for perusal on the excellent website, RecordStoreDay.com.

I stopped at the Mr. Speaker’s booth to say hi to the owner Dan Clark, who I respect immensely for his tireless efforts in pursuit of good sound. Dan has some awesome technical chops and I always learn something interesting when chatting with him, and he always has great sounding setups at his booth.