As the title of this post suggests, No, you should NOT click on that email link (or open that attachment).

Today my wife received an email that appeared to come from a friend, which is a common trick that I’m seeing more and more of these days. The malicious sender will blast out emails using the display name of one of your friends, possibly culled from Facebook, a compromised email account or another source. This is called social engineering, as a user is much more likely to trust an email from one of their friends compared to an email coming from some stranger or an unknown email account.

This email contained a link that, once clicked on an Android smartphone, downloads an APK (application installer) to the user’s phone. If installed, this APK would no doubt wreak immense havoc on the phone and most likely steal sensitive information such as usernames and passwords.

Here are a few tips and strategies that you can use to help protect yourself from these types of malicious schemes.

Who is the email REALLY from?

Most people only pay attention to the display name of the sender (eg; Wes Novack) and don’t scrutinize the actual email address. This is a weakness that scammers are trying to exploit with these type of emails. Make sure to look at the real email address behind the display name (eg; misterroboto@hackerville.com ). If you don’t recognize the full email address, then it is most likely a scam. Contact the friend who supposedly sent you this email before you open the message or click on any links inside of it.

What is the context?

If you receive an email with a hyperlink in the body of the email, with no explanation text whatsoever, there is a very good chance that this email is malicious. Were you expecting an email from this person? Do NOT click on the link or open the attachment in that email. Contact the friend and/or the email address who supposedly sent you this email and ask them to explain what the link or attachment is before clicking on it.

Do NOT install!

If you happen to click on a link from an email and it asks you to download or install something, do NOT do it! If it automatically downloads something, delete the downloaded file immediately and then empty your recycle bin (if applicable).

Do NOT log in!

One of the most common types of malicious email circulating the interwebs these days is the “phishing” scam. These emails contain a link to a website, and that website will APPEAR to be a site that you trust and use often, like Facebook, email, a bank website or another site that you login to regularly. This is almost always a scam. Scammers can replicate the exact look of a website that you trust using a different host name. Pay close attention to the actual URL (website address at the top of your browser) of the site that you are visiting before you divulge login information. With this type of scheme, the scammers will record your login attempts and they will then use the username and password that you voluntarily surrendered for accessing your real account.

You should NEVER log into a website after clicking an email link unless you are 100% sure that the domain name is the correct one.

For Android: Disable Unknown sources

If you have an Android device, go to Settings > Security > and then uncheck the option “Unknown sources”. This is disabled by default, but if it was turned on for some reason, you should turn it off unless you explicitly need it turned on. When turned on, this setting will “Allow installation of apps from sources other than the Play Store”. Keeping this turned off can protect you from accidentally clicking on and installing a malicious APK file that you accidentally downloaded.

Another tip for Android is to keep the Security setting “Verify apps” turned on. This setting will “Disallow or warn before installation of apps that may cause harm”.

In conclusion

A little awareness goes a long way. Be attentive to detail. Scrutinize email addresses and website URL’s. If you think something is fishy, it probably is. Err on the side of caution.

I hope you enjoyed these quick tips and security advice. Surf safely out there!

• $2 per DVD to convert to Standard Definition (‘SD’)
• $2 per Blu-ray disc to convert to High Definition with Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound (‘HDX’)
• $5 per DVD to convert and upgrade to HDX

There is an initial offer for $2 off your first conversion.

Once you secure digital rights in UltraViolet this title is available on multiple streaming services, not just VUDU, as UltraViolet is an industry standard. Streaming is available on iPad, computer (MAC/PC), Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Blu-ray Disc players with BD-Live support, and certain network enabled HDTVs.

The VUDU To Go app also allows you to download your digital copies for use offline.

The studios supporting the UltraViolet digital rights format include: Paramount Home Media Distribution, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Lionsgate Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

This is the fourth installment in the multi-part series What home theater is right for me?. So far we have covered the basics of what constitutes a home theater and then took a look at specific theater options for the movie buff and the gamer. In this installment we will cover the most casual home theater experience: the TV viewer.

The TV viewer

Isn’t everyone a TV viewer? Yes. But for this example we will constrain this definition to those who enjoy watching mostly broadcast television (including cable/satellite), and only occasionally watching a Blu-ray Disc and rarely plays video games. The TV viewer may mostly watch sports, Ellen, or late night dramas, so this is a broad category, but even still, a few tips are in order.

While this type of viewer may just assume plugging in a TV and having their Dish Network technician show them how to use their remote, careful consideration and planning can greatly enhance your viewing pleasure.

Tips for the TV viewer

For many people TV has become a background noise. They might turn on the set jut to have something on while cooking dinner, or while watching the kids. Others may only sit down to watch a few programs throughout the week. These tips will try to cover as broadly as possibly how to get the most out of your TV.

In the previous installments we talked about which room to locate the gear, but for the casual TV viewer they will probably have a TV in their main living room and another in their bedroom or even garage or patio. (In all reality, these tips can also be used for the movie buff and gamer alike for these secondary locations.) Some of the same tips are still helpful.

The best way to improve TV viewing time is to improve the sound quality. TV speakers are so small, inefficient and low quality that the sound emitting from them is harsh and overbearing. The most economical way to fix this is by filling the room with diffuse and absorptive materials – rugs, bookshelves and seating.

We have also covered lighting in previous installments of this series. (Click back for detailed tips.) Controlling the light for reflections is still a consideration; use drapes and indirect lighting to provide the best picture detail. If you can see a reflection of yourself on the TV, or you see a lighting fixture or window reflected, you will want to move the TV to a different location or angle it differently.

What equipment should the TV viewer buy?

TV viewing may be during the day or night, so a bright LCD flat panel display is usually the best option. TV size is subjective at this point – Dancing With The Stars viewers might find a modest 46-inch size to be too much while sports fanatics would probably opt for the biggest set they can afford. We think a 40-inch size is the smallest set a living room could bear, and a 46-inch is a good place to start. In a bedroom a 40-inch is probably all you’ll likely need unless you do spend a lot of viewing time there.

3D programming is here and now in broadcast television (mainly in sports), but at this point it seems like something you will likely live without. Of course if you’re spending enough cash the set will be 3D enabled whether you use it or not.

With these parameters, we recommend selecting any TV at any price range from one of the main TV manufacturers to ensure you receive a warranty. These are Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, and LG. Vizio is a fine option if the warranty is not your concern. We also recommend looking at past year models. We found a great deal on a 46-inch LG on Amazon with internet streaming and 3D with an incredibly attractive bezel for $799, which should beat any current year model in performance at the same price point while also looking so much better.

As mentioned in the above section, improving the audio quality of your TV programs is the greatest enhancement to viewing. It will allow you to hear dialog and music clearly without necessitating high volume levels. To accomplish this we will provide a range of options for speaker upgrades.

Your TV will have analog or digital audio outputs which can plug directly into a simple speaker cabinet like the Zvox Zbase220 ($199.99). This is the easiest solution as the whole set up is contained in one box with only two wires – power and audio. This is also the cheapest option.

A step up from there is a pair of powered speakers, like these Audioengine 5+ speakers ($399), which provide incredible sound for the money. These speakers can also be used to play music in your home while you’re not watching TV, which makes them versatile. They’re also very attractive.

One of the most appealing speaker options is the Sonos Playbar ($699). This slim speakerbar will provide expansive audio for the TV while also connecting your own music collection and internet radio with the ability to add streaming audio to multiple rooms in your house. An iOS or Android app brings all of the features together in one place for elegant control of Spotify, Pandora, iTunes and more.

A more conventional option is a stereo receiver with a pair of unpowered speakers. One of the most compelling systems we have pieced together for this set up is a Marantz M-CR603 networked stereo receiver ($699) with CD player, AirPlay, DLNA, Pandora, Rhapsody and Napster paired with Pioneer SP-BS21-LR speakers ($129 or less). The Marantz offers integrated audio sources and a clean amplifier to power what are the most under-priced, over-performing speakers on the market, which will not only provide your TV with excellent audio fidelity but will also get your parties started, all for under $830. Adding a subwoofer to this set up only heightens this factor.

Now consider the sources. Every cable and satellite operator is offering a multi-room DVR. In our estimating the DirecTV Genie (or Google Fiber if you can get it) is the most fully featured, offering five tuners and RF remote options.

Conclusion

We will say it for a third time: upgrade your speakers. Everything from sports to PBS documentaries will be greatly improved. It has baffled our minds why people spend thousands of dollars to get the speaker upgrade in their new car and not spend a few hundred dollars upgrading their home sound system, which not only makes leisure time more enjoyable it can bring a party to life. We may even advocate spending more money on your speakers than your TV as you’re likely to use them more often.

Amazon has expanded its licensing agreement with NBC Universal to provide a larger catalog of back seasons though Prime Instant Video, the video-on-demand service provided free of charge to Amazon Prime subscribers.

New additions include the NBC series Grimm, USA Network series Suits (a personal favorite), and Covert Affairs. These titles add to the existing NBC Universal titles Smash, and Syfy dramas Alphas, Eureka, and Warehouse 13.

Later this year NBC’s engrossing thriller Hannibal (the most boundary pushing drama on broadcast television), and Syfy’s Defiance will be available.

Amazon is also expanding Kindle FreeTime Unlimited to include animated series Curious George and Land Before Time.

I’ve seen so many different videos walking through the replacement of a broken screen for a Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone. Enough that I felt I could succeed. I did not.

A couple months back I was taking my phone from my pocket and it fell in just the right spot that the protective case didn’t stand a chance; perfectly on the corner at an angle where the case wasn’t covering it. The cracks were unsightly and spread from that corner up about a quarter inch into the display area, but mainly obscured the permanent soft buttons. I put a membrane on the screen to avoid finger tip irritation and researched how to replace the glass.

It seemed so simple.



A smartphone’s touchscreen is made up of three layers: The LCD membrane, the digitizer, and the protective glass screen. Each layer is glued to the next with a transparent adhesive. To replace the broken glass, the adhesive has to be heated up and then scraped off with a plastic tool. The glass should separate from the digitizer and the new glass should be pressed in place with new adhesive.



The glass had to ship from China, so it took about three weeks. After I received the glass – which came with tools – I did even more research to make sure I wouldn’t mess it up. But apparently my mechanical skills aren’t very good.



It started out well. I had my wife’s hair dryer out, and the glass was coming up just fine. The broken pieces came off in the corner, but as I edged my way around the sides it became clear I may not be working on the same layer in both sides. Part of the problem may be that the Galaxy Nexus has a curved screen so the lower side is about 1/16th inch and the top is less than 1/32.
And then maybe it’s because I cut my finger on the broken glass so I lost my patience…



Whatever it was, while I was using the tool around the edges and warming the glass with the hair dryer, the glass appeared to be separating as I had seen in the videos. The adhesive was becoming opaque where it was being pulled on, and then the glass came off! Along with the entire digitizer… and the little golden lead was separated from the board.

The end result was the broken glass was still attached to the digitizer, and all three layers now have huge cracks.



In conclusion: My home project to repair a cosmetic problem ended with my only phone becoming a waste. And all I have to show for it is a bloody finger and a blow to my ego, mixed with the stress over not having present funds to replace the phone.

I have been on a bit of a podcast kick lately, subscribing to a multitude of shows and then listening to them from my Android smartphone while I am on the go. I use the Google Listen app, which is no longer supported, but there are many free alternatives out there if you are looking for an Android podcast app.

One of the most annoying problems that I have been running into while searching out good podcasts is that many of the shows that I am interested in make it extremely difficult to find their subscription/feed URL, or they don’t even have a subscription URL at all! In the latter case, I argue that they should not even be called a podcast.

Let’s define podcast

The Wikipedia page for Podcast currently leads with this sentence: “A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of audio radio, video, PDF, or ePub files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device.” Emphasis mine.

Merriam-Webster defines podcast as “a program (as of music or talk) made available in digital format for automatic download over the Internet.” Emphasis mine.

As you can see, one of the primary components of a podcast is the subscription/syndication/automatic-download feature. If you call your show a podcast, you had better damn well make sure that your listeners can subscribe and allow for the automatic delivery of new shows to their preferred listening device. This is a simple thing to do these days with RSS and other tools, but alas, some old media folks still just don’t get it.

And now for a few examples. I tried to subscribe to Marc Victor’s Attorney For Freedom audio show, but there is no subscription or feed URL to be found. This show is part of the “Doublewide Network”, whose website exclaims “Welcome to the Future! Arizona’s FIRST Digital Network! Internet radio and internet television!” Pro-tip: the future now is show subscriptions and automatic downloads. Make it happen Doublewiders. The network was founded and is run by radio broadcast veteran Dave Pratt. I have messaged them asking for a subscription URL for the Attorney for Freedom show but have not received a response.

I was also interested in checking out Shane Krauser’s Liberty Storm show, but once again we have a “podcast page” that has no subscription or feed URLs. Again I messaged them asking for a subscription URL and did not receive a response.

These old media guys really need to get with the program and setup proper feeds if they want their shows to catch on and build listeners.

Shows with an iTunes link and no subscription feed URL

Another annoying trend that I have run into is that some podcasts will only list an iTunes URL. Protip: there is a massive contingent of potential listeners out there who do not use iTunes! For these cases, I use Feed Flipper, an excellent little free web app that will convert an iTunes show URL into the actual RSS subscription URL for you to use.

Have you noticed old media online shows that are missing subscription options? Run into other annoying podcast related situations? If so, let us know about them!

The casual gaming market has exploded in popularity in recent years, largely fueled by smartphone proliferation along with Internet connectivity becoming more and more accessible throughout the country and the world.

One of the most popular type of games in this surging casual gaming category are word games. Examples of word games include the time-tested and well loved classic, Scrabble and the relative newcomer Words with Friends, which is a smartphone hit.

With more and more people playing word games, the demand for word finder tools has spiked in recent years. This is evident by the increasing search volumes for related terms such as “scrabble cheat” and “scrabble word finder”.

To fill the need, Blog My Brain has released a Scrabble Word Finder widget that any site owner or blogger can now easily embed on their website to provide a word finder tool to their visitors.

Blog My Brain touts the following benefits (and more) for their Scrabble Word Finder widget:

1. Embeddable into existing sites, so users don’t have to leave the site they are on.
2. Encourages repeat visitors to your website who use the Word Finder. Happy visitors are repeat visitors.
3. Increases visitor time spent on your website, allowing for additional content and feature discovery on your site.
4. Possible increased website rank on search engines and other measurement sites, due to increased traffic, longer visitor duration, repeat visitation, etc.

The Scrabble Word Finder widget has a standard dimension of 250×250 and can be embedded inside an individual post or in a sidebar. Of course, they recommend that it be embedded in a website’s sidebar so that it can be viewed across all pages within a particular site.

I have embedded the Word Finder widget below this sentence, so feel free to give it a try!

For more information, check out the Word Finder Widget Demo & Code.

This is the third part in the multi-part series What home theater is right for me?. The first part explored the basics of what a home theater consists of and how we’re constructing these realistic home theaters. The second part pieces together an affordable home theater for a movie buff. This episode will explore the unique needs for a video gamer.

The gamer

Ostensibly the requirements for a gamer are no different than the movie buff; but the gamer’s system is more fantasy. A movie system is a perfectly sensible luxury sedan while the gaming system is an over-the-top sports car, and for good reason.

A gaming system doesn’t reproduce a world created by a film director but is a partnership between a gaming studio and the gamer. The 100% CGI graphics and immersive gameplay don’t have to play by the same rules; a movie uses a “fourth wall” where the audience is observing the action and a game uses first-person or third-person action controlled by the audience in colorful, fantastic environments unlike anything found in nature.

Tips for the gamer

Gaming is a social event so you will want to locate the home theater in a room large enough for several people. You will also want a clear 6-feet in front of the TV at minimum to allow for Xbox Kinect, PS3 Move and Wii game play. You will find an area rug or carpeting will be ideal to not only provide traction and comfort for full-body game play, it will also help with sound quality.

Large rooms create an echo-chamber effect. This means there is a primary and secondary reception for each sound. The primary sound comes from the speaker and the secondary is reflected off of surfaces (wall, ceiling, window, floor). This causes the sound to be harsh and muddles sounds together so there is less intelligibility. Harsh sounds also sound louder than they really are, and many people keep turning up the volume to increase intelligibility as the primary sound can mask reflected sounds better at high volumes. To reduce reflections, use plush furniture, throw pillows, fill bookshelves with books, put canvas paintings on the walls, or use professional sound absorption panels. Some panels come with printed graphics on them or allow for custom graphics so the absorptive panels look like paintings and not like acoustic control. When decorating your room you may consider this option over buying generic canvas or paper prints. (Hint: Not only does it make your sound system sound better, it even helps when you have a lot of people over for a party so everyone isn’t having to speak over each other.)

Considering your gaming system is likely in the largest room of your house or apartment, this is most likely a multi-use room. Unless you’re a lazy bachelor (don’t be that guy), you should appoint your room to be comfortable and attractive. Interior designers use a rule of five lighting types: natural light from a window, overhead lighting from cans or chandeliers, diffuse lighting from floor lamps, upward lighting from table lamps, and indirect lighting reflected off a picture. We won’t go through a whole lecture on that now, just look into interior design tips for lighting, the same rules apply for video gaming. Just keep light from directly reflecting off the TV.

What equipment should the video gamer buy?

Sticking to the automotive parallel above, the gamer system is the sports car of home theaters. Even the most “uncompromising” sports car is just a compendium of compromise. A car’s frame had to be strong but light. The engine has to be powerful but not too powerful. Aerodynamics have to be efficient but with enough downforce to keep the car on the ground. Because this series is building home theaters on a realistic budget, we’ll start with the first compromise: Screen size.

We’ve discussed putting the TV in what is typically the largest room of the home where a 65-70 inch TV should be used in a movie theater setting. Not only are we making a compromise because the room is multi-use and a huge screen would dominate the space, but a smaller screen size will provide the features we’re looking for at a lower price.

What features are the gamer looking for? We discussed a plasma screen for movies, and we am tempted to recommend one here, but we’re compromising because the big room has more lighting and games don’t rely on realistic flesh tones (or realistic tones of any type, leaning towards the fantastic), an LCD television will work best. LCD provides higher light output at the expense of black levels.

We also did not mention 3D technology in the movie theater, and the recommended display did not support 3D. We’re of the opinion 3D movies are best seen in the cinema, and we were making compromises anyway so that one went by the wayside. However, 3D gaming is compelling because gaming is user controlled the 3D effects aren’t distracting and do provide an immersive world. First person games provide an especially high level of 3D depth. With this in mind we pick a 3D TV.

Passive 3D provides a benefit over active 3D for gamers, so we recommend a passive 3D TV. The first benefit is the cost of glasses: inexpensive. Even fashionable passive glasses are cheaper than uncomfortable and expensive active shutter glasses, and passive glasses can be worn to the cinema. But the main reason we want passive 3D is for multiplayer. LG Electronics provide special 3D glasses in pairs specifically for gaming where both glasses have different polarity so side-by-side multiplayer gaming can be presented fullscreen or both players while preventing opponents from viewing each other’s whereabouts. Most passive 3D TVs have this ability just by modifying two pairs of glasses, removing the right lens in each and placing them in the other frame. The 3D setting on the TV will be “side-by-side.”

The 3D TV we’re recommending is the LG 55LM7600 at $1,499. This set is 55 inches with passive 3D and comes with 6 pairs of glasses.

Because we’ve invested so much in the video portion of this system the audio portion will be a compromise. The game theater surround sound audio will be 7.1 where the movie theater was 5.1 because many more games have 7.1 soundtracks than movies. The Onkyo HT-S9400THX 7.1 channel home theater systems for $779 fits the bill nicely.



We can talk about which sources this system should feature, but it should be fairly obvious. These sources have already been mentioned: Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Obviously we’re nearing a transition in models to the new Xbox platform, the PS4 and the Wii U is already on the market. We will take no part in the fanboy wars over which system is best, just know that picking one over the other declares certain character flaws.

This whole system should cost $2,278 and provide immense pleasure. Save $631 by choosing this Vizio 3D TV instead, sacrificing picture quality and warranty but none of the features.

In this post I will be covering some of my experiences with the VIPRE Internet Security software suite. I started out by checking the VIPRE product webpage and found that they require an email address in order to download the free 30 day trial. I submitted my email address and then immediately received an email from GFI software (the manufacturer) asking me to confirm my email address in order to download the trial software.

I clicked on the link to confirm my email address and was taken to a software download page. During this process, GFI software also asks you if you’d like to receive additional emails from them.

I downloaded the executable and then proceeded to install the software. VIPRE Internet Security automatically detected that my notebook PC running Windows 7 had Microsoft Security Essentials installed. It informed me that this software would need to be removed to prevent conflicts. I then gave VIPRE software the permission to remove the Security Essentials software for me and it uninstalled the program. Afterwards, VIPRE software notified me that I needed to restart my computer in order to complete the installation.

After rebooting, the installation continued. Below, you can view one of the many VIPRE installation screens presented during the install process.

Once this initial installation process came to an end, VIPRE notified me that I would need to reboot the machine in order to finalize the installation. I rebooted and then VIPRE Internet Security was fully functional on my PC.

I really liked that VIPRE detects existing security software on a PC that could be conflicting, and is able to then uninstall it for the end user at the correct time. Often times when you are switching to a new Antivirus or another security product, it is unclear when you need to uninstall the old product, which could cause installation issues or leave your PC in an unprotected status, if even for a short while. VIPRE handles this part of the process very smoothly.

I also like the visuals of VIPRE Internet Security software. The screens that make up the user interface and the feature selection areas are well organized, easy to browse through and they make it a breeze to locate options that you might be looking for.

Those who are looking for a comprehensive security solution will be happy to see that VIPRE provides just about all the security functions that one could hope for. This suite of software includes; Active Protection (real time scanning of new files and objects for viruses and other malware), automated full system antivirus scanning on a schedule, automatic updating, a firewall, detailed usage reporting and logging, a secure file eraser, a browser history cleaner and a PC explorer to find hidden files.

Give VIPRE Internet Security a try yourself by taking advantage of the 30 day free trial. For more information, visit vipreantivirus.com or click on the Sponsor button below.

UPDATE: After running VIPRE Internet Security for a few days, I had to uninstall it. The VIPRE software was bringing my Acer Aspire 1410 laptop (Dual Core 1.2GHz Intel SU2300 CPU, 4GB of RAM) running Windows 7 to a crawl and constantly spiking CPU and memory.

A common problem people face with their home theater systems is the subwoofer setup. The most mystifying is why a surround sound system is set up and then the subwoofer turns off and you can’t figure out why no sound is being produced. It can be really disappointing after spending so much money on their audio system, especially with an expensive subwoofer. There are two common reasons for this, and even if you haven’t noticed it you may want to read on and try out your own system – you may be missing out on something.

Automatic room calibration

Most audio/video receivers produced today have automatic room calibration (ARC). Even inexpensive home-theater-in-a-box systems have this feature now. Room calibration sends a variety of test tones through each speaker channel to account for speaker distance, speaker levels, equalization and other factors. This is a helpful feature as no two rooms or setups are alike. However, there is a common problem with auto calibration that causes the subwoofer to shut off: speaker size.

In a standard 5.1 channel system the .1 is the Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel, while the remaining 5 channels are full-range channels. Home theaters, however, seldom have full-range speakers instead using small satellite speakers with the low frequencies being sent to the subwoofer at a set crossover point (usually 80Hz or 100Hz). But isn’t that what the LFE channel is? No. The LFE is a discrete channel and there aren’t a lot of soundtracks with this channel in use (and those that do affect the second reason we’ll address later).

Automatic room calibration doesn’t know what type of speakers are in use and will send tones through the speakers to learn what the frequency range those speakers will support. Speaker manufacturers know how these speakers are going to be used but they don’t build internal crossovers in their speakers to cut off lower frequencies because this will create weird, unnatural sounds. Furthermore, even with these crossovers a speaker should be able to produce sounds above and below the actual reproduced sounds to sound natural and to play at high levels. As a result, the ARC tends to set even small speakers to the “large” size and therefore does not crossover those speakers to the subwoofer. Considering most of the low frequencies are going to emanate from the main speakers you can see how this would be a problem; no low frequencies sent to the subwoofer means no sound from the subwoofer.

To fix this problem: Run the ARC program to set EQ, speaker levels, etc. When complete enter the manual speaker set up to ensure all speakers are set to “small” and the subwoofer is present.

Auto standby

Every standalone subwoofer has an audio sensing input with an auto standby setting to provide power savings. The problem with this is when there are no low frequencies the subwoofer shuts off; and this is a problem because most soundtracks don’t have low frequencies for most of the movie making the subwoofer shut off a lot. This is really distracting in some soundtracks where there are dynamic transient sounds. A crime thriller, for example, is largely dialog-driven but when the bad guy pulls out a gun the gunshot might activate the subwoofer but too late for the sound to have its full effect – and shortly after the sub will shut off again.

When the speakers are not set up correctly and only the LFE channel is in use the subwoofer will turn on when you turn the system on and will simply shut off until an LFE is active, which is hardly ever if at all.

What I find effective is to turn the subwoofer off when not in use and turn it on when in use with the auto standby feature turned off. Of course if your subwoofer is not easily accessible or you’re otherwise lazy, you can opt to leave the subwoofer on. If you have a power conditioner with switched outlets you can use that switched outlet along with triggers from the receiver (using the always on outlet) so the power conditioner will turn the subwoofer on automatically when the system is on and off when off. Some subwoofers have 12V triggers onboard which can allow the receiver to trigger the subwoofer without the power conditioner necessary (though I recommend power protection always).

With these two considerations, you should not have these subwoofer problems.