Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Home Cinema Choice

Sony has announced its first 42in OLED TV, the Master Series A90K, at CES 2022. Predictably, the brand believes this new, smaller screen size makes it a fit for gamers, but it will also target the wider UK telly-buying public – 42in sets remain incredibly popular. The TV, which features Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR silicon and Acoustic Surface Audio+ system, can be partnered with a new Bravia Cam that introduces gesture control and video chat functions, and 'recognises where users are sitting' in order to optimise picture and sound performance. Pricing is still to be confirmed.…

Priced £299, Technics' EAH-A800 headphones are a wireless noise-cancelling design using Bluetooth 5.2, allowing for hi-res playback (96kHz) via LDAC. Battery life is rated at an 'industry-leading' 50 hours. The cans' 40mm dynamic drivers are housed in Acoustic Control chambers to finesse bass performance and spatial detailing. Available in silver or black, they're compatible with the Technics Audio Connect app for user adjustment of NC mode and sound settings. www.technics.com…

Limited to 100 pairs and not due to arrive until Q4 2022, the Mark Levinson ML-50 amplifier promises a 'reference-level performance' and an aesthetic design that recalls some of the US marque’s legacy models. Under the hood, however, it’s the more recent No.536 amp that’s used as inspiration for the ML-50’s 425W-rated Class AB amplifier stage, with enhancements made to the power supply and audio circuits said to yield a lower distortion, higher dynamic output and wider Class A operation. Each fully balanced monoblock features Ethernet, RS-232 and 12V triggers for system integration, and debuts a new vibration-damping foot design. A glass panel in the top of the chassis allows owners a peek at the internal circuitry, with the option of having it lit up either red or white. www.marklevinson.com…

Bat’s entertainment! Nicolas Cage says that James Wan’s Malignant is influencing his portrayal of Dracula in the upcoming horror-comedy Renfield from Universal. Nicholas Hoult stars as the Count’s titular lackey, with Awkwafina also onboard the production, while The Lego Batman Movie’s Chris McKay directs. Waiting for Wick Bad news if you’ve been counting down the days until the May release of John Wick: Chapter 4. Lionsgate has pushed the release date back by almost a year to March 2023 in order to give the filmmakers more time to complete it. Sith happens Amandla Stenberg has been linked to the lead role in Star Wars: The Acolyte, an upcoming Disney+ live-action Star Wars series focusing on secretive Dark Side powers and set roughly 50 years before the events of The Phantom…

On the return of Velodyne subwoofers Hopefully they will make some ported behemoths! Robert Bays Welcome back Velodyne. A lot’s changed since you were gone. Stephen George What you're watching on your home cinema… Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse at home. Clifford the Big Red Dog in the cinema. Both pretty good movies. Lee Regan Cowboy Bebop on Netflix. I really enjoyed it, unlike most others. Shame it got cancelled, it had much promise for a 2nd season. Alex Russell Hacksaw Ridge on 4K BD and the Blu-ray of We Were Solders (please give this a 4K release!). Both films have amazing stories to tell. Stef Neo Watched Kill Bill: Vol. 1 for the first time since getting my new Q Acoustic 3050i speakers and wow! The musicality from them and the…

If you have £200k to spare and a room with space for 2m-high floorstanders, Estelon’s new Extreme Mk II loudspeakers might be right up your street. Upgrades on the high-end brand’s flagship model, the cabinets (made from a 'marble-based composite') combine two parts, the top section adjustable for fine-tuning the dispersion of its diamond membrane tweeter. Bass comes from a pair of 11in woofers in the lower cabinet, plus an 11in 'mid-woofer' sat above the 7in mid-range. Two-tone finish options include Bronze Royal [pictured].…

The consumer electronics industry used to have a structured calendar of hardware shows, some trade-only, some open to the public, some big, some small. But the Covid pandemic has put an end to that. CES went ahead physically this year (the 2021 event was 'digital'), albeit on a smaller scale than usual. Next in the calendar for UK tech lovers would normally have been the Bristol Hi-Fi Show in late February. Yet an announcement in December confirmed it had been cancelled for the second year in a row. More recently, ISE 2022, the Barcelona-based trade show for the custom install industry, was postponed from February 1-4 to May 10-13. A week later, the hi-fi focused Munich High-End show should take place, returning to its usual MOC stomping ground after a…

American Pie 2. Alien vs Predator. The A-Team. A Good Day to Die Hard. No, we aren’t trying to dream up the worst movie marathon imaginable – those are just four of the many, many films that arrived on DVD or Blu-ray with cover art boasting of ‘Unseen’, ’Extreme’ or ‘Harder’ (or, in the case of the Taken series, ‘Extended Harder’) cuts of the films contained therein. So what’s it all about? It all boils down to getting the film in front of the biggest audience possible at the cinema – and for major Hollywood studios that usually means chasing a PG-13 rating in the US, rather than the more restrictive R rating. There are two ways to achieve this: either cut any censor-baiting material or shoot toned-down alternate takes.…

Jet Li battles an evil version of himself and bumps into Jason Statham (back when he had hair) in this enjoyable 2001 slice of action cinema from former The X-Files writers James Wong (who also directs) and Glen Morgan. If the off-the-shelf HD master used for this latest UK Blu-ray is showing its age a little, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix still sounds fresh. In addition to a host of archival goodies, 88 Films has added an interview with Wong and an appreciation by film journo David West. MC…

➜ NO TIME TO DIE Daniel Craig’s concluding outing as James Bond is a mixed bag that delivers some of the franchise’s best action sequences, but gets bogged down in a convoluted plot and a running time of nearly three hours. It also achieves something no other Bond film has managed, giving its star a moving and emotionally rewarding send-off. The writing team has clearly been influenced by On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a movie that offered a more complex portrayal of Ian Fleming’s super-spy. This debt is reflected in No Time to Die’s opening credits and repeated use of the song 'All the Time in the World'. A MacGuffin involving a bio-weapon also partly explains why the film was delayed for so long. Plot-wise, we meet a retired Bond…

Despite some limitations caused by the visual effects techniques used to bring it to the bigscreen back in 1988, Robert Zemeckis’s brilliant hybrid live-action/animation noir pastiche brushes up nicely in 4K. It’s not the sharpest 2160p encode you’ll ever see, but there’s an obvious uptick in clarity over the old Blu-ray (also bundled here). Much more impactful are the greater tonal vibrancy and deeper black level brought about by the disc’s HDR10 grade. Sadly, the new Dolby Atmos soundmix isn’t as aggressive or playful as you may expect from a film that’s packed with cartoon action. AvB…

A hard-hitting mix of domestic abuse drama and exploitation shocker starring Superman II’s Sarah Douglas, The Brute (1977) has fallen so far off most movie buffs’ radars it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry. We have a suspicion that may soon change thanks to this terrific Blu-ray, which serves up newly restored presentations of both the uncensored UK version and the more explicit export cut, alongside superb extras including a chat track and interview with director Gerry O'Hara. AvB…

Tobe Hooper helms this 1995 Stephen King adaptation about a demonically-possessed piece of laundry equipment. Sadly, despite plenty of gore and a scenery-chewing turn from Robert Englund, The Mangler runs out of steam long before its titular machine goes on the rampage. A duff film, then, although Arrow treats it like a masterwork, serving up an excellent 1.85:1 Full HD encode and some brilliant extras including a trio of commentaries and a video essay about evil inanimate objects in King’s writing… AvB…

➜ ENCANTO Not your typical cookie-cutter Disney ‘toon, Encanto is more stage musical in waiting, with salsa-inflected songs, eight in all, written by Hamilton hotshot Lin-Manuel Miranda. With its singular setting it’s easy to imagine it debuting on Broadway or in the West End… and it probably will at some point. Officially the 60th animation from Walt Disney Studios, it’s also a curiously slim story, with a big cast but no villain, a distinct lack of drama, and more whimsy than wit. It’s remarkable not so much for its flawless animation, but its charmless execution. Directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush, Encanto is set in a magical ‘Casita’ in an enchanted Colombian valley, and centres on the multi-generational Madrigal family, who are bequeathed specific powers by an enchanted candle. Pretty…

Marvel’s Hawkeye [Disney+] This first solo outing for the Avengers' resident archer hits the bullseye, delivering some sensational action scenes amongst the quip-filled dialogue. Fantastic fun. HCC #327 Boss Level [Prime Video] Snappy dialogue, inventive stunt sequences and a lean 94-minute running time make this sci-fi/action movie from director Joe Carnahan consistently entertaining. Frank Grillo and Mel Gibson star. HCC #324 Kate [Netflix] This Mary Elizabeth Winstead assassin thriller has a plot you've seen before, but it’s delivered with action movie panache and vivid visuals that make the most of its Japan setting. The Atmos track plays it safe. HCC #325 Red Notice [Netflix] An A-list cast (topped by Gal Gadot, The Rock and Ryan Reynolds) and monster budget can't quite make up for this action-comedy caper’s mediocre script. AV…

Halo Infinite This new adventure for Master Chief takes the flagship Xbox first-person-shooter series into open-world gameplay territory, but loses none of the Halo charm. Play on Series X in both 4K/60fps and 120fps at 1440p. HCC #327 Hades The BAFTA-winning isometric action game – where arenas are randomly created every time you die – finally lands on PS and Xbox after dazzling on PC and Switch. Fun, addictive and smartly scripted. HCC #324 Life is Strange: True Colors Definitely not one for adrenaline junkies, this narrative-driven, third-person adventure story instead appeals thanks to its beautiful visuals, evocative soundtrack and sweet, measured writing. HCC #325 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart The best showcase yet for the PlayStation 5’s visual prowess and SSD memory tricks, this multi-zone platform shooter rips along…

Mae West in Hollywood, 1932-1943 Deluxe packaging, a cornucopia of bonuses and excellent transfers for ten of the 12 movies that 'blonde bombshell' Mae West made during her censor-baiting Hollywood career. HCC #327 Shawscope: Volume One A kick-ass Blu-ray boxset featuring some of the finest examples of 1970s Hong Kong action cinema. Eleven movies in total, all accompanied by various goodies, plus two soundtrack CDs and a 60-page book. HCC #327 Star Trek: Original 4-Movie Collection [UHD Blu-ray] The first four Trek movies beam down with out-of-this world 4K HDR visuals and a shuttlecraft full of extras. No object audio remixes, nor…The Motion Picture’s director’s cut. HCC #325 Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 2 [UHD Blu-ray] Six titles from the Columbia vault – including Taxi Driver and, er,…

Carlito’s Way [UHD Blu-ray] This 1993 thriller reuniting Brian De Palma and Al Pacino as partners in crime makes a welcome appearance on 4K. The 2.35:1 image looks gorgeous and the new DTS:X mix expands the soundtrack scale. HCC #326 The Seventh Seal [UHD Blu-ray] The BFI gives Ingmar Bergman’s celebrated 1957 historical fantasy a new lease of life with this beautiful 4K HDR encode. Extras include an insightful new commentary track. HCC #326 Misery [UHD Blu-ray] The 1991 adaptation of Stephen King’s claustrophobic thriller looks utterly gorgeous on US label Kino Lorber’s UHD release. Good selection of extras, too – although most are on the accompanying Region A-locked BD. HCC #327 Deep Red: Limited Edition [UHD Blu-ray] Dario Argento’s stylish 1975 giallo masterpiece looks fantastic on Arrow’s 4K platter,…

Focal Celestee, £1,000 Oh-so-high-quality wired headphones. There’s a level of performance ability here – detailed and musical, spacious yet thrillingly muscular – that dovetails with the Celestee’s premium build and price Meze Audio 99 Classics, £270 These wired cans look lovely and offer a level of audiophile fidelity you might reasonably expect from models costing twice as much. Not a bass beast, but that’s kinda the point Audio Technica ATH-Mx50BT, £180 Cable-free Bluetooth update of a wired design, with 45mm drivers and lengthy battery life (claimed to hit 40 hours). Sturdy and comfortable, and a great sound for the money Bowers & Wilkins PX7, £360 Plush noise-cancelling cans with B&W’s largest ever (43.6mm) driver design. A slick mix of comfort, feature set (including aptX Adaptive) and immersive, full-range performance Sony…

John Archer: The experienced TV tester cut his teeth as an early HCC staffer Jon Thompson: Film producer and post-production expert delves into Hollywood and AV Steve May: HCC’s former Ed. is one of the UK’s most respected AV journos Anton van Beek: Our avid movie watcher and disc collector cut his teeth on Total DVD Richard Stevenson: Former Editor of the UK CE trade journal ERT Ed Selley: Audiophile Ed mixes his home cinema passion with a love of vinyl Steve Withers: Movie fan, display calibrator and object-based audio obsessive…

UK distributor Karma-AV has added Perlisten Audio to its stable. The American brand, founded in 2016, is the first in the world to produce loudspeakers that meet the new THX Dominus specification, and its home cinema-centric S Series includes floorstander, bookshelf, monitor, in-wall, centre and surround/angle/height models. While a fresh endeavour, Perlisten co-founders Daniel Roemer and Lars Johansen are both audio industry veterans, the former previously working for pro/OEM outfit MiTek Corporation, and the latter having positions with Jamo, Klipsch, Harman and M&K Sound. The company name apparently alludes to the concept of 'Perceptual Listening'. The S Series is the result of a five-year process of 'advanced modelling, measurement and listening' and 'developing transducers, electronics and software entirely in-house', we're told. The flagship model is the S7t floorstander, priced £16,000.…

Honest Thief (BD) Liam Neeson enlivens this familiar but fun action-thriller about a bank robber trying to go straight. Parks and Recreation (Blu-ray) A welcome HD upgrade for the hilarious and uplifting US sitcom, backed up by a raft of bonuses. The Rare Breed (BD) Comedy! Romance! Cute bulls! This 1966 James Stewart western has all that, plus an exclusive new video essay, on Blu-ray. Tehran: S1 (BD) Reminiscent of 24 at its best, this tense and twisty Israeli spy series recently made the jump from Apple TV+ to BD. The Suicide Squad (4K BD) James Gunn’s anarchic and goofy supervillain spectacular blows us away with rich 4K visuals and a killer Atmos soundmix.…

Moonfall February 4: The moon is on a collision course with Earth after being knocked out of its orbit in what we expect will be a typically silly but spectacular disaster movie from The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 helmer Roland Emmerich. Death on the Nile February 4: Kenneth Branagh again directs himself as detective Hercule Poirot in this follow-up to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. Joining the whodunnit fun are Gal Gadot [pictured], Annette Bening and Tom Bateman. Uncharted February 11: Tom Holland takes time out from playing Spider-Man to bring Indiana Jones-wannabe Nathan Drake to the bigscreen in this take on the popular PlayStation videogame franchise.…

January 31 Ghostbusters: Afterlife Anaconda Collection Azor Black Cat [1991] Censor: 2-Disc Limited Edition Dune 4K [2021] Last Night in Soho 4K No Man of God Raging Fire 4K Vienna Blood: Season 2 Your Name 4K February 07 Belladonna of Sadness 4K Catwoman: Hunted Don’t Go Into the House: Ltd Ed. Eternals 4K Legendary Weapons of China Wayne’s World Wayne’s World 2 February 14 Blood of the Vampire Jungle Trap + Run Coyote Run The Responder Shaolin Mantis February 21 Love Affair Bartleby Crazy Thunder Road Dick Johnson is Dead Galaxy of Terror The Indian Tomb Lies and Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol Night of the Demon [1980] The Proposition 4K Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon Written on the Wind Young Guns II February 28 Becoming Cousteau Caveat Escape…

Marvel Studios' comic book adaptation Eternals – starring Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Lauren Ridloff [left] – is scheduled for a 4K Blu-ray debut on February 7. As usual for a Disney release, only the 4K platter gets the Atmos soundtrack, but the accompanying Blu-ray houses extra features including a commentary track from director Chloé Zhao and VFX artists Stephane Ceretti and Mårten Larsson, plus two featurettes, deleted scenes and a gag reel.…

The 4305P is the first powered model to be added to JBL’s Studio Monitor speaker range. Comprising two cabinets with 1in horn compression drivers and 5.25in woofers, the system claims a total 300W amplification and partners its digital inputs (USB, optical, network and Bluetooth) to a 24-bit/192kHz, MQA-certified DAC. Additional features include a 'bass contour control', subwoofer pre-out, and Chromecast/Apple AirPlay 2 support. Price is TBC, but should be around £2,000. www.jblsynthesis.com…

Another 48 Hrs. The initial workprint of this action-comedy sequel was 145 minutes, but it was studio-hacked to 95 minutes shortly before its 1990 cinema release. A version of Another 48 Hrs. that isn’t full of plot holes and continuity issues could be great. But we'll probably never know. The Magnificent Ambersons Orson Welles’ 1942 period drama was re-edited by studio RKO following disappointing responses from preview audiences, cutting a large chunk of footage and replacing the original ending. Hopes remain that a print of Welles’ long-lost director’s cut may still be tracked down somewhere in Brazil. Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair Tarantino’s original 215-minute cut of Kill Bill is more than just the two films stitched together, boasting an extended anime sequence and the full-colour version of the…

Panasonic typically lures movie fans to its 4K screens with cinematic image processing offering judiciously judged contrast and peerless colour accuracy. But for its JX850 line, the brand has taken a different tack, accommodating sports and gaming fans with Bright Panel Plus technology for punchy daylight viewing, and unapologetic image smoothing. This gives it the feel of an all-rounder, and effectively positions the JX850 as a tempting alternative to upper-budget 4K LED flatscreens from rivals Samsung and LG. That’s not to say it doesn't also have Hollywood on its mind, with Panasonic speccing the brand’s much vaunted HCX Pro AI processor, and including FilmMaker mode with Intelligent Sensing, to give your movie nights a leg up. A size for everyone Available in 40in, 50in, 58in and 65in guise, this feature-heavy…

We were considering upgrading from Sky Q by signing up for Sky Glass, following Steve May’s excellent preview [HCC #326] and recommendation of flipping the concept on its head and using the Sky Glass streaming puck with our home cinema system (which has a 55in Panasonic OLED TV, Denon AVC-X3700H amplifier and Focal Sib Evo Dolby Atmos speaker package). We required a new second TV for the bedroom and upgrading from Sky Q to Sky Glass by purchasing a Sky Glass model as the second TV seemed the next logical step. That was until our Sky Fibre broadband went down for three days! With no internet this made us realise how reliant on the internet Sky Glass is, especially without the recording function that we have with our Sky Q…

1. Go big. Set your camera to take images at the largest possible size, and at the highest resolution. Don't worry about cropping or resizing – we will make them print-ready. 2. Get in focus. Make sure your photos are as sharp and clear as possible. If you have one, use a tripod, or place your camera on a flat, steady surface and take pictures on a delay. The sharper they are, the bigger we can print them. 3. Let some light in. While we tend to watch movies in the dark, our cinema systems look their best when they are lit. If you can shoot with natural daylight, do so. If your room doesn't get a lot of light (a garage conversion, for instance) then switch on whatever lights…

It doesn't bring anything new to the gangster movie genre, but this feature film prequel to The Sopranos is a gripping, violent and tragic tale of divided loyalties and dysfunctional families. Warner’s 2160p HDR10 encode delivers a nicely textured 2.40:1 image, albeit one sometimes held back by the use of diffuse lighting. A street shootout and seafront murder both get the most out of the Atmos soundtrack. Extras on the BD are limited to three deleted scenes and two Making of… featurettes. AvB…

Leos Carax helms this beautifully bonkers musical melodrama written by Ron and Russell Mael (aka art-pop band Sparks). Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard star as a provocative stand-up comedian and his opera singer wife whose lives are turned upside down by the birth of their daughter (played by various puppets). Shot in 6K and finished at 4K, this 1080p transfer looks ravishing, rich in colour and detail. The lively DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix hits all the right notes, too. The sole extra is a 16-minute Q&A with the Mael brothers. AvB…

As the fourth season of Cobra Kai streams on Netflix, what better time to revisit the franchise’s formative film outings in 4K? The remastered UHD presentations of The Karate Kid (1984),…Part II (1986) and…Part III (1989) all sport attractive 2160p HDR10/Dolby Vision encodes that are a huge step-up from the older Full HD platters also included here. The Dolby Atmos remixes are pretty effective too. Exclusive 4K extras include deleted scenes for the first two films and a chat-track for …Part II. MC…

A heady mix of theological and psychological concerns wrapped up in an epic saga of teenagers piloting massive mechs and battling giant ‘Angels’,…Evangelion is one of the most celebrated and popular anime series ever created. Released to mark its 25th anniversary, this five-disc Blu-ray boxset includes impressive new restorations of all but one of the 26 episodes from the original 16mm sources (Episode 16’s negative was lost years ago), plus the Death(True)2 and End of Evangelion theatrical releases. Complete animatics for 11 episodes are among the numerous vintage extras. AvB…

First released on Blu-ray on these shores in 2014, Michele Soavi’s 1987 slasher about a madman in an owl mask slaughtering a group of actors locked in a theatre returns with a new 4K restoration. While the fundamentals of the 1.78:1 encode appear sound, the encoding sadly leaves a little to be desired, resulting in some crushed blacks. English and Italian LPCM 2.0 soundtracks are included (the earlier disc only featured the former), as are new interviews with Soavi and actors Giovanni Lombardo Radice and David Brandon. AvB…

It must have seemed so obvious on paper. A streaming series about everyone’s favourite Star Wars bounty hunter? Who wouldn’t want to watch that? In practice, however, things aren’t so simple. For all of his popularity, Boba Fett was never really anything more than a guy in a cool-looking set of space armour who didn’t actually do much in the films before being devoured by the Sarlacc inhabiting the Great Pit of Carkoon. Picking up from Fett’s return from the dead in the second season of The Mandalorian, this seven-episode limited series splits itself between two time-lines. The first follows his ongoing attempts to take control of Jabba the Hutt’s former criminal empire with the aid of fellow returning character Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). The other deals with the aftermath…

The Mitchells vs. The Machines Energetic and very, very funny animated feature boasting imaginative and striking art design and a ridiculously active DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix. BD extras are hilarious too. HCC #327 Fast & Furious 9 [UHD Blu-ray] This new entry in the series ramps up the lunacy, both in terms of plot and set-piece spectacle. The 4K BD looks superb, but it’s the sonic bombast of the Atmos track that steals the show. HCC #326 The Suicide Squad [UHD Blu-ray] Captured digitally at 6K and 8K and finished as a 4K DI, this superior, gore-splattered sequel arrives on disc with a stunning native UHD encode. Extras and soundmix impress too. HCC #327 Jungle Cruise [UHD Blu-ray] Emily Blunt and The Rock are all charm in this Disney adventure…

Dog Cop 7: The Final Chapter A bonus short on Sony’s Mitchells vs the Machines Blu-ray, this is animation at its simplest (the canine hero is a sock puppet) and funniest. We'd happily watch an entire series. HCC #327 The Consequences of Your Actions: Creating Spiral While the Saw spin-off disappoints, this hour-long doc continues the franchise’s tradition of strong extra features – and is more interesting than the film itself. HCC #324 Twisted Tale: The Unmaking of Spookies Excellent, candid Making of… doc charting the troubled production of this 1980s cult horror. Also joined on 101 Films' BD by the VIPCO: The Untold Story documentary. HCC #321 Aquarius Releasing: An Appreciation An extra on 88 Films' release of The Tough Ones, this is a fascinating look at American distributor…

Manhattan T3 Freeview Play 4K, £80 Do you need an HDD PVR in the streaming era? This Freeview Play box loads up catchup via a responsive UI, offers welcome Watchlist functionality, and is ready for 4K HLG HDR Sky Q, £subscription Sky’s new top-tier product offering dazzles with its image-rich user interface, wireless multiroom skills and recording flexibility delivered by the PVR’s 12 tuners. Now supports 4K content Humax Aura, £varies The PVR honcho teams up with Google for this Android-powered triple-tuner Freeview Play machine in 1TB (£250) and 2TB (£280) flavours. 4K HDR capable, it uses voice search and slick UI to make operation a joy. Humax DTR-T4000, £subscription This YouView-based PVR is required to get BT Sport’s new Ultra HD channel – available to those with BT fast…

KEF LS50 Wireless II, £2,250 At the top of KEF’s LS50 collection, you'll find this revamped active stereo system that blends lush looks and great connectivity (including HDMI eARC) with sparkling sonics. JBL Charge 5, £160 JBL’s battery-powered, portable Bluetooth speaker stalwart continues to impress in its fifth-gen iteration. IP67 waterproof rated and built to last, it packs a surprisingly potent performance from a small chassis Denon Home 350, £600 Denon’s HEOS speaker range is reborn and this six-driver model is a fine flagship. Its sound is expressive and dynamic, with real mid-range drive, and the HEOS streaming platform remains super-slick Klipsch The Fives, £830 Active stereo pair with horn-loaded tweeters, 4.5in midbass drivers and a claimed 160W power plant. Dynamic performance is backed up by extensive connectivity including HDMI…

➜ NEWS HIGHLIGHTS PANASONIC LZ2000 OLED flagship to debut 77in screen size PERLISTEN AUDIO The world’s first THX Dominus loudspeakers ESTELON Cost-no-object Extreme Mk II floorstanders AT THE PLEX This month’s cinema releases NEWS X10 The hottest news stories in bite-sized chunks ETERNALS Mystic Marvel movie makes its 4K move & MORE! Polk has unveiled its first Dolby Atmos soundbar. The Signa S4 combines a wireless 6in subwoofer with slim soundbar enclosure incorporating a front-facing driver array with dedicated centre channel, plus two upfiring Atmos units. Bluetooth, HDMI eARC, optical digital and 3.5mm analogue connections are provided for kit hookup, while sound tuning options include Polk’s bespoke VoiceAdjust DSP and Night Mode. Pricing is £320, which the US brand reckons offers 'unbeatable value'. HCC ONLINE… Like us on Facebook facebook.com/homecinemachoice…

Described as 'a completely new design' rather than an 'upgrade' on the previous generation – including a switch to HDF cabinets and new bass/mid and tweeter units – Acoustic Energy’s latest 100 Series features the 1002 bookshelf [pictured], floorstander (1092), centre (1072) and active subwoofer models (1082) with prices ranging from £229 to £599. All are available now in black and walnut veneer finishes (plus a white option for the bookshelf speaker). A larger 1202 floorstander will arrive later. www.acoustic-energy.co.uk…

1 Not your usual headphone amp Priced £1999, Astell & Kern’s ACRO CA1000 is a headphone amp and digital audio player combi, complete with a tilting 4.1in touchscreen and a volume wheel the brand says has been ‘inspired by space-age exploration vehicles.’ Beneath the lid is an ESS ES9068AS Quad DAC handling 384kHz/32-bit and DSD512 conversion. A four-step gain setting for the unit’s quartet of headphone outputs should give confidence to owners of 'power-hungry' cans. Connections include optical, coaxial, USB and Bluetooth. 2 Music for two Music streamer Qobuz has announced a new Duo tier that enables two separate accounts under the same subscription – as long as the users live in the same property. Pricing is £18 per month for the hi-res Studio Duo tier, and £23 for Sublime…

UK manufacturer Majority has launched a Dolby Atmos soundbar, and as part of its sustainable ethos will plant a tree for every unit sold in partnership with reforestation organisation Ecologi. The Majority Sierra 'bar sells for £180 and features front-facing stereo drivers and dual upfiring units, plus two passive radiators to add bass weight. Despite its affordable nature, the connections roster includes USB for music file playback, Bluetooth and 2-in, 1-out HDMI switching with ARC. www.majority.co.uk…

Many AV brands like to claim they've got a ‘statement' model at the top of their TV lineups. Few, if any, deliver on this claim as comprehensively as Philips does with its 65OLED+986, a product that’s one part premium TV, one part high-end sound system, and one part style icon. It’s far removed from the plastic-wrapped budget bigscreens you'll find in the supermarket aisles, and has the price tag to prove it. The first unusual thing about this £4,000 65-incher (there’s no other size available) is that it’s a floorstander. An impressively heavy-duty brushed aluminium floor plate provides the base for an equally robust and shiny pole mount, onto which are fixed a huge external speaker enclosure as well as the TV’s OLED panel. The speaker enclosure is almost as…

Cancelled after just one nine-episode season, this latest smallscreen adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel (two earlier TV movies were released in 1980 and 1998) packs in the sex and drugs you'd expect from a modern take on the set-up, but struggles to sell the horrors of its supposedly utopian society and ends up coming off like a Westworld wannabe. While this three-disc Blu-ray set contains no extras, the immaculate 2.00:1-framed encodes excel at highlighting the show’s lavish production design and crisp photography. MC…

➜ CANDYMAN [2021] Up-and-coming Chicago artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is short of inspiration for his latest work until visiting what remains of the city’s Cabrini-Green projects. Here he is introduced to a story about a hook-handed killer ghost who appears to those who say his name in the mirror five times. However, as Anthony’s obsession with his new subject grows, so do the number of dead bodies as the 'Candyman' urban legend starts to spread again. Released in 1992, Bernard Rose’s Candyman (based on the Clive Barker short story The Forbidden) was a bold, smart and chilling horror that ranks among the decade’s finest genre films. Wisely ignoring the weak sequels that followed in the original’s wake (1995’s Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and 1999’s Candyman: Day of…

Arriving in a box big enough to house an entire Phase of the MCU, this UHD upgrade of David Lynch’s 2001 surrealist masterpiece certainly catches the eye. Thankfully, it makes an equally huge impression on your home cinema, with its 4K restoration and HDR10/Dolby Vision grading revealing copious depth, detail and vibrancy in the film’s stunning visuals. Despite not taking the chance to create a new Atmos mix, the restored DTS-HD MA 5.1 track delivers a tactile, bass-rich experience. The 4K disc also carries over all of the extras from the 2016 BD. AvB…

Adapted for cinema by Jean Cocteau from his own novel and directed by a young Jean-Pierre Melville, this 1950 film about an unhealthy, obsessive relationship between a teenage brother and sister feels like a tug of war between its two auteurs, but is nonetheless a fascinating and affecting drama. Sourced from a 4K restoration of the original 35mm negative, the BFI’s 1.37:1-framed BD picture is appealing, despite a hint of digital ‘de-noising’. Extras include two audio commentaries and a 28-page booklet. AvB…

The shadow of The Shining looms large in Brad Anderson’s 2001 cheapo chiller about a small clean-up crew hired to remove the asbestos from an abandoned mental asylum with a sinister history. One of the first films to be entirely shot on 24p digital HD video, this UK Blu-ray debut probably represents the best the film can ever look. Second Sight’s double-disc Limited Edition is also stuffed with new and legacy bonuses, including commentaries, interviews, documentaries and a video essay. AvB…

Horror legend Barbara 'Re-Animator' Crampton shines in this horror-comedy about a preacher’s wife whose neglected life is suddenly turned on its head when she’s bitten by a vampire. A smart, witty and blood-strewn look at middle-age marital malaise, Jakob’s Wife is a low-budget treat that brings some fresh blood and a new perspective to the vampire genre. In addition to a fantastic 2.00:1 Full HD encode and atmospheric DTS-HD MA 5.1 sonics, this Blu-ray packs nine deleted scenes and a brief Making of… featurette. AvB…