Q. I am buying a new 65-inch TV and need a soundbar. I currently have an older ZVOX on my 43-inch Samsung and have been more than pleased with the sound quality. I am thinking of something with wireless surround speakers. What do you recommend?
—G.R., Los Gatos, California
A. ZVOX does not offer wireless surround speakers, so you must look elsewhere. All of the Samsung soundbars with wireless surround speakers are outstanding, and what I use in my own living room. They range from $899.99 for the HW-Q910B to $1,899.99 for the HW-Q990C. The HW-Q990C offers some of the the very best sound you can get short of a pricey component system. samsung.com
The $899 Polk MagniFi Max SR is another great option. For those looking for a value but without surround speakers, sometimes Polk Audio will have refurbished samples of their MagniFi Mini available for $149.99. It has a very small footprint and a very big sound, provided by its innovative sound dispersion technology and a wireless subwoofer. polkaudio.com
The demise of Digital Photography Review: I have written this column for over 20 years and this is the saddest news I have ever had to report. Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com) is closing down, and as of April 10 the site will be locked and no new content will be added. More ominously, the site states “The site will be available in read-only mode for a limited period afterwards.” That is a businesslike way of saying the site and all its content will soon disappear for good.
Amazon is responsible for this. They purchased the site in 2007 and now that it does not fit in their business plans, they are going to erase it. This is despicable given the cost of keeping the site available in static form is infinitesimal to a company of Amazon’s size.
Surely Amazon can be a good corporate citizen and keep the site up in read-only mode, for the good of everyone? It would be wonderful if a white knight came in and saved DPReview, but that is looking less and less likely. Online commentators are calling the upcoming site deletion “cultural vandalism” and “book burning.” I am with them and in terms of book burning, in the realm of photography it is like burning the Library of Alexandria. The significance of dpreview.com to the industry and photographers everywhere cannot be overstated. There are in-depth camera reviews going back to 1998 along with a comparator that allows you to compare test scene images from almost every camera they have ever tested. There are also forums with sample images and discussions containing millions of pages of content. Despite only being around 25 years old it is probably the most important and comprehensive photographic resource that ever existed.
If these is a takeaway from all of this, it is about big companies taking things away. That is a lot easier for them to do today than in years past when we relied on physical books, magazines and packaged media for reading and entertainment. While I enjoy streaming and it has a place and a purpose for those who enjoys television, movies and music, I have long been a proponent of physical media for the image and sound quality as well as its immutable nature. I have more to say about this and will continue the discussion in a future column. In the meantime, be warned and if there are movies, TV shows and music that are near and dear to your heart, get yourself a hard copy. It may not be there for you tomorrow.
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