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Description
Closer Than Ever: The Unique Six-Decade Songwriting Partnership of Richard Maltby Jr. and David ShireHow do musical theater songs actually get written? What enables some composer and lyricist partnerships to last for decades? Composer David Shire and lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr., two of the most gifted songwriters of our time, are revered among musical theater lovers for their ground breaking off Broadway revues Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever, as well as for the Broadway musicals Baby and Big. Rosenblum sets out to increase
How do musical theater songs actually get written? What enables some composer and lyricist partnerships to last for decades?Composer David Shire and lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr., two of the most gifted songwriters of our time, are revered among musical theater lovers for their ground-breaking off-Broadway revues Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever, as well as for the Broadway musicals Baby and Big. Rosenblum sets out to increase appreciation for Maltby and Shire's large and impressive body of work and establish their place in musical theater history. This book chronicles their sixty-six-year (and counting) partnership, giving full behind-the-scenes accounts of their musicals, interspersed with deep-dive analyses of standout individual numbers. Other well-known artistic figures who feature prominently in the Maltby/Shire story include Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, Michael Stewart, Francis Ford Coppola, Craig Lucas, Mike Ockrent, Susan Stroman, John Weidman, Charles Strouse, Garth Drabinsky, Adam Gopnik, Jason Robert Brown, and Jonathan Tunick.
Using his experiences as a Broadway conductor, music journalist, and professor of musical theater composition, as well as his long-term personal and professional acquaintance with both Maltby and Shire, Joshua Rosenblum is uniquely suited to chronicle their lives, careers, and creative output. The songwriters, both of whom are engaging and articulate in describing what they do, are quoted liberally throughout the book in exclusive interviews, creating the impression that one is spending time with two inspiring creative artists who happen to be great company.
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4.3 ★★★★★
Based on 1487 reviews
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 4
Superb, Crisp Surround Sound. A few issues.
INSTALLATION AND CALIBRATION
My previous Denon AVR which was older than 10 years did feature multi-channel sound separation but unfortunately may have had a capacitor fail because one of rear sound channels was no longer working and the AVR would go into a power-down/safe mode with flashing red power LED after a few minutes of use. Not really inclined to open the unit and attempt a self-repair involving soldering, I opted to upgrade the AVR to a newer Dolby Atmos-capable receiver, the Sony STR AN1000.
Installing the AN1000 into my existing home theater set up was relatively easy, if you don’t account for crawling and stretching out on the living room wood floor and reconnecting existing speaker wire and subwoofer connections. Once the speakers were all connected, I used the calibration microphone and stand that comes with the AN1000 to establish the relative sound fields for each of the speakers. The graphical user interface from the Sony receiver to my Sony 4k TV was quite helpful in double-checking the accuracy of the calibration settings, which were slightly off in a few cases – particularly the distance of the subwoofers to the TV which for some reason added about 12 feet when they were only about 2 feet from the TV. When calibrating the unit, it is important to have a measuring device to verify the distance and height of all of your speakers, the height of your TV screen and the height of your ceiling. My home theater set up is in my living room and adjacent dining room that together have a 19-ft cathedral ceiling, so the acoustics can be quite pleasing.
The other disconcerting thing about the graphical interface for the speaker setup was that it doesn’t give the user and option for smaller (bookshelf-sized) rear surrounds and only displays large speakers if your left and right surrounds are large. My front and side surrounds are large Sony tower speakers and given how my dining room is set up it doesn’t make sense to add additional tower speakers.
CONNECTING AN APPLE TV 4K – Lack of the Dolby Vision Support
I initially connected my AppleTV 4k set top box directly to the Sony AN1000 using an 8k-rated HDMI cable only to discover that the receiver would not pass through a Dolby Vision signal to the AppleTV 4k which display 4k SDR only. When I went online to see if this was a unique issue or whether other users had encountered this, I discovered that unfortunately this is a known issue that as far as I could tell that neither Sony nor Apple have yet to resolve. So, I was forced to reconnect the Apple TV 4k directly to the Sony TV once again. Sony claims to support Dolby Vision through the AN1000 but this is simply not the case unless there is a solution or work-around that they have published as of this writing that I have missed.
DISPLAYING THE SOUND FIELD BEING USED
The Sony AN1000 does have a nifty 360 Spatial Sound setting which comes in handy when watching older films whether they are streamed or from a Blu-ray player. That said whatever the current sound field being used is displayed on the front display panel of the receiver but is so small as to be unreadable especially considering that the user may be sitting some 10 feet away from the receiver and TV screen and not inclined to keep getting out of their chair to kneel down and get within a few inches of the receiver’s front display to see what the settings are.
Attempting to verify the sound field by using the included Sony remote for the receiver is not much help since it hardly ever displays the information. Using the Sony TV’s remote isn’t much better since the option in the audio setting it displays is “Dolby Audio” not “Dolby Atmos” or “Dolby Digital Plus” or other sound fields/codecs like “DTS”.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE - SOUND CLARITY AND SURROUND EFFECTS
Despite some of the aforementioned annoying user interface issues, the surround sound effects of the AN1000 when in Dolby Atmos or using the Sony 360 Spatial Sound setting is quite impressive and to my ear sounds much crisper than my previous Denon multi-channel AVR. Initially my subwoofers were putting out probably a bit too much thundering low frequency bass; so, I actually had to reset the levels on them down a bit. This was quite noticeable when playing the 4k UHD Dolby Atmos stream of Blade Runner, for example and some other action films with explosions and other pyrotechnics.
When playing the tornado scene from The Wizard of Oz, you really do get the sense that wind is whipping around you from every corner of the room. Other films that have been adept at incorporating Dolby Atmos will sometimes startle the viewer with offscreen sound effects that was made by another character that soon makes an appearance. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies are very good examples of this.
I also tested the AN1000 with different genres (classical, opera, jazz, rock) of music on Amazon Music and was quite pleased with the crisp, clear sound of instruments and vocals.
FINAL WORD
To say that the AN1000 has horsepower and can create a dynamic and immersive theater sound experience in an averaged-sized living room is an understatement. This is a feature-rich and powerful home theater receiver and for most living room/family room/bonus room situations, the Sony STR AN1000 will be more than suitable for what you will need to create an entertaining surround sound environment.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2024
★★★★★ 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I can see the stars and hear everything — this gazebo is now my favorite hangout spot! 😂
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I can see the stars and hear everything — this gazebo is now my favorite hangout spot! 😂
We set this outdoor gazebo up in the backyard and instantly it became the place to be. Whether we’re grilling, chilling, or hosting friends, this thing gives major outdoor-living vibes — like a backyard living room but without the weird couches. It’s spacious, sturdy, and feels like we basically just added a new room to the house… outdoors.
The weather protection and shade are awesome — it keeps the sun off without making it feel like a cave, and when the breeze kicks in under the roof it’s chef’s-kiss perfect for summer evenings. We’ve got lights and music tucked under here, the whole patio feels like it finally has personality, and I swear we spend more time out here than in the living room now.
If you want a backyard setup that says “party, relaxation, and maybe a nap later,” this gazebo delivers. Big enough for company, easy to decorate, and it makes every outdoor moment feel way more intentional — like you meant to create an oasis out there.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Glad I pulled the trigger on this.
I was researching many similar A/V Receivers and reviews for all were about the same I felt. Some would keep the first one they bought (around 1k range or less) and others would return them and buy a different brand that was in the price same range.
I was able to buy this model for the cheaper price that has popped up at $565.94 (before tax). I read a review at Cnet Best AV Receivers for 2024. I normally use a grain of salt when reading reviews at sites like Cnet but since I couldn't find what I felt was a real end user consensus of go with this one not that one I then based my purchase off this line from the Cnet review "If you're spending under $1,000, there are four main receivers to choose from -- the Sony STR-AN1000, the Yamaha RX-V6A, the Onkyo TX-NR6100 and the Denon AVR-970H. All offer excellent performance, so the short answer about which to buy is whichever is available for the lowest price." That stuck with me since I did get this for cheaper than the Onkyo TX-NR6100 (a brand I would consider first).
If I had more in my budget I might have gone with the more expensive Onkyo TX-RZ50 due to it's great reviews as well but this Sony STR-AN1000 does have a bunch of future proof features that I wanted.
So far I am impressed with the Sony STR-AN1000 and have not seen any downside. I did pair this system with Klipsch Reference Series 5.2 Home Theater Pack with 2X R-625FA Floorstanding Speakers, R-52C Center Channel Speaker, 2X R-41M Bookshelf Speakers (as found on Amazon). That also comes with 1xReference R-12SW 12" Subwoofer. So far it has been great!
Based on my research I would recommend you buy Oxygen Free Pure Copper wire instead of slightly cheaper 2 Core Parallel (Stranded CCA) Copper Clad Aluminum Wire Strands (for example). The cheaper ones that aren't pure Copper that may not deliver as well. That is going to be based on your own personal experience but I suggest spend once for something and not twice.
I did not buy any banana clips to use with this receiver but I also forgot how much of a pain it can be unscrewing the caps and having to thread the speaker wire. SO I might suggest that if are on the fence about such a purchase.
We only use Blu-ray or internet based streaming options with our setup through a Chromecast Ultra. I tested my Blu-ray of Ghostbusters Frozen Empire. The intro with the thunder and lightning could be felt and heard just like what I would expect in real life using this receiver and speaker setup. The system has no issue sending 2160p 4K HDR content through to the TV and of course the 5.1, Dolby Atoms, etc through as stated for support in documentation.
I have not taken the system beyond a volume for 40 for testing different audio sources as I am breaking in the new speakers but the delivery really starts jumping up at about 34.
I decided to switch from using sound bar systems to a full A/V Receiver and proper speaker setup due to sound bar systems underdelivering (even at the higher prices) or killing themselves due to trapped heat (I am talking about my personal experience with LG). Yes the initial cost is more but there is a difference between hearing what you are watching and experiencing it and longevity of product.
I plan to keep this setup of mine for as long as possible and do not currently anticipate any need to replace short of conditions out of my control. I would recommend based on pricing or your personal preference of brands.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2024
★★★★★ 3
TERRIBLE Home Theater AVR, Difficult to Use
TERRIBLE Home Theater AVR. I bought this based on the many very high level reviews and recommendations available on multiple sites. What a mistake. This unit is very difficult to use, and that is made even worse by Sony's BS proprietary insistence to not let their remotes work with any other brands of equipment except their own!
After setup, I find there is no default input selection after startup of the AVR, not even the commonly seen default to the last used input. What this means is that EVERY TIME I want to use any audio or video unit with this AVR, I must first use the AVR remote to select the input, THEN put it down and find a different remote to use for whatever unit I want to watch. What a PAIN in the rear!
The next totally unacceptable issue is that every time an input is changed, there are about 5 odd low-frequency thumps from the speakers - this has NEVER happened before with other AVRs and the same equipment, so this problem is very specif to this horrible amplifier.
Other irritants are that the AVR display shows many almost meaningless things that are of no particular value, but they have removed ALL indications of what speakers are currently active for whatever input is being received. In addition to that, this AVR does not properly decode some input types that it is supposed to support (based on using format-specific test files).
Another issue is that the input setting on my smart TV for this AVR does not stay Active while the TV is using a different input, despite the fact that the amplifier is always on, and the TV audio output IS constantly using the AVR for the speakers. This is somewhat related to the first problem I noted - since the TV does not think that the AVR is turned on, I cannot use the TV to select that input; I have to GO BACK to the nasty Sony remote just long enough to change inputs AGAIN, then put down that remote and switch to another. Again, I repeat that this behavior has NOT occurred with other AVRs tested in this Home Theater, only this one, and it makes life miserable. Even when I turn on a different connected device that uses HDMI Control to turn on the AVR, this brain-dead unit will NOT switch to that input after it powers on - I still have to manually make that switch with the Sony remote!
Another issue is the inability to use a normal coax or balanced FM antenna input on this receiver - they give you a little single wire antenna that uses a strange miniature plug that is totally worthless in my area - cannot pick up a single station! And there is no way to connect my outdoor antenna like I have been able to do with every other receiver!!!!!
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Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2025
★★★★★ 5
Sounds great and the 360 spatial sound mapping is amazing.
I was very happy with my previous AVR, but when it failed I took the opportunity to get up to date and after some research I settled on this. I am so happy I did.
The positive reviews were not lying. This AVR sounds down right amazing considering the price point. Love the Chromecast feature as well as the Spotify integration.
However, it's the movie audio that really shines. After the very short calibration, their 360 spatial sound mapping when switched on really makes such a huge difference. Most of us will not be able to make a dedicated theater room, so this do the corrections for speaker placement is next level. Not to mention their virtual speaker placement technology. I don't know how it's done, but when I 1st used it, this thing had me amazed at sound placement from areas where the sound should be coming from, but I know I had no speaker there.
Even the short calibration was impressive. At the end of the process it knows not only where you are in relation to listening position, but it also knows exactly where each and every speaker is relative to each other in the room including their height. Remarkable. OCD me verified the measurements which you can displayed, with a laser measuring tool.
Now my biggest issue is that I now feel the need to go through all my movie collection to hear the difference.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2024
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