Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2023 i Home Cinema Choice

January is when I tend to watch the most films. Why? Because the evenings are cold and dark, and Santa Claus has so comprehensively emptied my wallet that I can't afford to do much else. I also have a recurring New Year's resolution to expand my cinematic horizons, although I usually just end up rewatching Fast and Furious movies. Speaking of movies, 2023 looks like being a welcome return to form for Hollywood, following three years of cinema closures, lockdowns, SVOD launches and the rest. Our roundup (p22) shows 'blockbuster season' starting early (mid-February for Ant-Man 3) as the major studios cram the slate with new titles, some held over from last year and beyond. True, many of them are sequels, but leave it to Christopher Nolan to blag a…

The Bristol Hi-Fi Show will throw open its doors this February for the first time since 2020, following cancellations in 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid pandemic. Organiser Audio T, a hi-fi/home cinema retailer with 12 stores across the England and Wales, says the show is making a 'triumphant return'. The venue is again Bristol's Marriott City Centre Hotel. Audio from A to Y Running from Friday February 24 to Sunday February 26, the Hi-Fi Show (previously known as Bristol Sound and Vision), is set to feature over 150 exhibiting brands. Those confirmed so far include Acoustic Energy, Arcam, Bowers & Wilkins, DALI, Jamo, JBL, Lyngdorf, Marantz, Musical Fidelity, Naim, PMC, Pro-Ject, REL Acoustics, Sonus faber, SVS, T+A, Triangle and Yamaha. The Pioneer and Onkyo brands, now returned to…

Brit loudspeaker brand Acoustic Energy has added an on-wall option for its entry-level 100 Series. The AE105 is available now priced £249 each, in black, white or walnut veneer finish. Measuring 12cm deep and 45cm high (or wide, if mounted horizontally for centre channel use), the speaker features a 1in fabric dome tweeter and pair of 5in cones, one a passive radiator, the other a bass/ mid driver – frequency response is a claimed 55Hz-26kHz. Acoustic Energy's tweeter is housed in the Wide Dispersion Technology (WDT) waveguide that graces all of the 100 Series models. The AE105 is supplied with cloth magnetic grilles, plus a rear mounting plate, template and wall spacers, but AE points out it can also be used sat on a bookshelf or cabinet. Look out for 5.1…

For some AV-Holics, it will be a sight for sore eyes – abrace of high-spec AV receivers from Pioneer. Once a stalwart of the UK market, the company ghosted these shores in 2019, only to now return thanks to a change in ownership. The recent history of Pioneer is rather convoluted (see HCC #334), involving joint-ventures, new distribution deals and ownership by Onkyo. All that perhaps matters now is that the Pioneer, Onkyo and Integra brands are owned by Premium Audio Company (PAC), an umbrella org that also has loudspeaker names Klipsch and Jamo in its stable. And UK distributor Henley Audio is bringing new Pioneer (and Onkyo) hardware to Blighty. Tricks and treats First out of the gate are the Elite-branded VSX-LX505 and VSX-LX305 receivers, priced £1,599 and £1,399…

After falling behind the AV tech curve with the original PS4 and Xbox One consoles, the latest games machines and PC graphics cards are back in the business of pushing TVs to their technical limits. None more so than when it comes to a critical gaming feature called variable refresh rates. Games have actually varied the number of frames per second they output at any given moment, as a way of managing graphics loads, for years. However, TVs traditionally run at locked frame rates of 50/60Hz, or with some premium models, 100/120Hz. So when they find themselves faced with incoming signals constantly varying refresh rates, pictures succumb to tearing lines running across the screen, and a choppy feeling to the gaming experience. Enter the latest generation (2.1) of HDMI, which…

KIT CHECKLIST SONY: VPL-VW590ES 4K HDR projector CINEMA BUILD SYSTEMS: 2.35:1-ratio Slim Screen ANTHEM: MRX 1140 AV receiver with ARC Genesis room correction TRIAD: 1 xRack Amp 700; 1 xRack Amp 300; 3 xInwall Silver/6 LCR; 4 xInwall Bronze LCR; 2 xInwall Bronze/6 Sub; 2 xInwall Bronze/4 Slim Sub; 4 xIn-Ceiling Bronze/8 Sat CONTROL4: EA1 controller; SR260 remote control; wireless dimmer keypads VICOUSTIC: Sound treatment NAIM AUDIO: Uniti Nova streaming amplifier BOWERS & WILKINS: 2 x702 S2 floorstanding loudspeakers A. Bigscreen gaming Okay, this basement cinema was designed primarily for movie nights and music sessions, but the owner also likes to go large with the games console too... THE TREND IN custom cinemas is to hide loudspeakers away, especially at the screen end of the room. Yet this basement-based system,…

➜ HARDWARE MARANTZ Nine-channel home cinema amplifier JBL Entry-level 5.1 speaker set PHILIPS OLED807 TV dazzles in 77in guise BANG & OLUFSEN High-end Dolby Atmos soundbar PERLISTEN R Series floorstanding speaker array SAMSUNG Mid-range 55in LCD TV MARTINLOGAN Affordable subwoofer with ARC room correction MORE! Boasting a laser light engine claiming a 3,200 Lumens output and featuring Sony's best-in-class X1 Ultimate processing, the VPL-XW7000ES is a 4K HDR projector designed for high-ticket home theatres. We fire it up for an audition on p52. All prices quoted are approximate and may have changed…

AV INFO PRODUCT: High-end single-box Dolby Atmos soundbar POSITION: B&O's flagship, above the Beosound Stage PEERS: Devialet Dione; Sennheiser Ambeo SOUNDBARS DON'T COME any more premium than this 18kg whopper from Danish design honcho Bang & Olufsen. Rather than shoot for the mainstream, the brand has gone seriously upmarket with a component that's as uncompromising as it is exhilarating – the Beosound Theatre looks like no other soundbar on the market right now, and it doesn't really sound like anything else either. Design is obviously a talking point. Available in a variety of finishes, the most 'affordable' iteration features a smart fabric grille. Our sample had a more expensive slatted oak wood grille, which channels Scandi furniture design. This cosmetic uplift comes at a price though, because while the fabric…

IN THE PREVIOUS issue of HCC we looked at the 4K Blu-ray release for the 1920 silent flick Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (aka The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). A film long celebrated for its influence on cinematography, amongst other things, it's been woken from its somnambulist slumber (okay, that's a spoiler) by the Eureka label for an Ultra HD outing more than 100 years after it first spooked audiences. According to my colleague Anton van Beek, the picture quality on its new disc is great, too. Better than you might have ever imagined such a vintage feature to look (although I am becoming more used to the powers of restoration – John Ford's Straight Shooting, a release from 1917, scrubbed up superbly via 4K for a Full HD BD…

Buying 4K BDs before they go! I was interested in Mark Craven's Digital Copy article in HCC #336. A year ago I went 4K and started buying UHD Blu-rays. Initially the choices were simple, as I simply bought my favourites. But I see that in the last year I have bought 100 discs, mostly at £25 each and worst of all the Blu-rays that come with them as well as the ones I already have go in the bin, not least because I know of no one else with a Blu-ray player. In fact it gets doubly worse because since the end of 2007 I have ripped all my films to hard drive. The current sweet spot is 16TB at about £275. So that’s £450 including the backup. I can…

Craig's list Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery ➜ Netflix Daniel Craig's super sleuth Benoit Blanc is back for another ensemble cast murder mystery, this time streaming on Netflix following its multimilliondollar deal with writer/director Rian Johnson. See p96 to find out whodunnit. Only joking... All prices quoted are approximate and may have changed…

Monitor Audio's 'Installation' amp range has four new models, all designed to allow 'more channels to be placed into less space than ever before'. The compact IA60-4 (£1,150) and IA125-4 (£1,650) support four-channel outputs, rated at 60W and 125W respectively, but use Power Share technology to enable a singlechannel 250W feed if desired. Need more grunt? Step up to the IA750-2 (£2,150, 2x750W) or IA750-4 (£3,150, 4x750W). The new quartet are pictured here atop the 12-channel IA60-12. HCC ONLINE… For breaking AV news, blogs, features and reviews visit www.homecinemachoice.com Follow us on Twitter @hccmag Like us on Facebook facebook.com/homecinemachoice…

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A ROOM WITH some innovative storage, this project from Yorkshire-based company Yorkshire AV was its first to feature loudspeakers and subwoofers from Perlisten Audio, the American manufacturer that entered the home cinema arena in 2021. Flagship S Series models, all Certified THX Dominus, were chosen for the job of delivering a 9.3.6-channel Dolby Atmos system. The rest of the specified hardware is equally high-end, with amplification and processing/room correction coming from Trinnov Audio separates, and sources comprising a Kaleidescape movie server system, Oppo Ultra HD Blu-ray player, Apple TV 4K streaming box, and Sky Q. The cinema's front wall hides the L/C/R speaker stage, and houses a 16:9 ratio Reference screen from Screen Excellence. 4K HDR images are delivered by a Sony VPL-XW7000ES projector (see p52), mounted in a purpose-built…

AV INFO PRODUCT: 9.4-channel Dolby Atmos AV amplifier POSITION: Second from the top of Marantz's new-look lineup PEERS: Denon AVC-X6700H; Yamaha RX-A6A John Wick is on the hunt (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, 4K Blu-ray). The aforementioned needle drop, featuring Slovakia's Cappella Istropolitana chamber orchestra, provides a glorious accompaniment to the symphony of violence about to unfold, and any preconceived notion that a Marantz AV amp is too refined to do justice to genuine cinematic mayhem is quickly dispelled. Automatic weapons discharge all around me, and the transients are fast and fabulous. My ears ring. Now this is what you call music! Turn up the Wick The heavily armed agents of The High Table are swarming The Continental hotel, but they don't stand a chance. Wick has access to…

GREEK TRAGEDY Daniel Craig faces a Med murder mystery in Glass Onion p96 EXPLAINING WHERE THE 55A84K fits into Sony's current TV scheme of things is no easy task. First we need to clear up that it's a traditional 'White OLED' (WOLED) design, with white sub-pixel, not a new Quantum Dot OLED set. This should mean that its pictures are (probably) not as bright or richly coloured as Sony's A95K QD OLED (HCC #337) – although at £1,299, the 55in model tested here is a great deal more affordable than its same-sized A95K sibling. More confusingly, we also have to explain how the 55A84K relates to the A90K and A80K OLED ranges that flank it. You'd think the A90K designation would indicate that those models were more high-end. That's not…

THE BU8500 IS the most premium LCD model in Samsung’s current range that don’t use Quantum Dot colour technology. Instead, it features Samsung’s Dynamic Crystal Colour system – amore traditional filter-based approach, but one that still claims (in conjunction with the TV's Crystal 4K processor) to deliver a billion different tones. Selling for £649 at the time of writing, the 55in 55BU8500 is £150 cheaper than Samsung’s entry-level 55in Quantum Dot set. Such a gap makes it look potentially fair value, while its ‘AirSlim’ design and neat, central desktop pedestal (there's a BU8000 variant, with dual feet) also help it look pretty for a mid-range model. AV INFO PRODUCT: 55in edge-lit 4K HDR LCD TV POSITION: In the lower half of Samsung’s TV range, but its most premium non-QLED PEERS:…

AS I WRITE this, I am listening to a digital file, streamed from my NAS, via the Roon music management platform, into a DAC and from there to an amplifier driving a pair of speakers. There are any number of EQ and DSP options open to me in Roon but every single one of them is bypassed or switched off. I know that my speakers' response in my room at my listening position is not ruler flat. And do you know what? I don’t care. The sound I’m hearing is one I’ve honed and tweaked over time. It’s close enough to 'neutral' to make testing equipment a practical proposition, but it’s one that also reflects the listening experiences of your common or garden UK lounge. Importantly, it also allows for…

➜ BEAST  Since leaving his native Iceland and setting up in Hollywood, director Baltasar Kormákur has become something of a specialist in survival thrillers. However, whereas Everest (2015) and Adrift (2018) were both inspired by true events, the filmmaker’s latest foray into the man-versus-nature genre is an original story – although anyone who has sat through M.J. Bassett’s DTV double-header of Rogue (2020) and Endangered Species (2021) may question just how original it really is. Following the death of his estranged wife, Dr. Nathan Samuels (Idris Elba) takes his teenage daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries) on a holiday to South Africa in an attempt to reconnect with them. However, a trip into the wilds, with old family friend Martin (Sharlto Copley) as their guide, becomes a…

Need for Speed Unbound Electronic Arts/Criterion Games ➜ PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC ➜ £70 It's been a while since Criterion Games has developed a Need for Speed title – nine years, in fact – but we're sure glad it's back. ...Unbound has all the hallmarks of its critically acclaimed racing games of the past, such as NFS Hot Pursuit and BurnOut Paradise, yet brings plenty that's new to the table. That's not least due to the graphical style. As with most openworld racing titles, the cars and locations are almost photo realistic, but all characters – including your customisable avatar – are cellshaded and cartoon-like. There are also cartoon effects layered on top, such as smoke coming from the wheels, and anime-alike exclamations when you pull off neat…

➜ SMILE  When a new patient at her psychiatric hospital commits suicide in front of her, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) begins to experience an escalating series of terrifying occurrences – all involving familiar faces smiling at her in an unnatural, menacing manner. The horror sensation of 2022, Parker Finn's Smile – based on the writer/director's 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept – cost $17m to make and has taken over $215m at the box office (partly aided by some clever guerilla marketing). Not bad for a somewhat unoriginal film that takes inspiration from the likes of Ring and It Follows, and adds a heavy-handed side order of mental health concerns. Still, Smile is an intense flick that delivers enough skilfully crafted shocks and scares to keep horror-heads happy. Picture:…

ON DEMAND ➜ GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Writer/director Rian Johnson’s second outing for Daniel Craig’s dapper detective Benoit Blanc presents a very different mystery. If 2019's Knives Out was a darkly comedic reworking of Agatha Christie mystery tropes, this sequel veers toward screwball. The characters are uniformly outrageous and dialogue more pithy than a Greek orange grove. Blanc has been invited to an idyllic Agean island, seemingly at the behest of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Ed Norton), where he finds himself once again surrounded by an ensemble cast with the means and motives to commit foul play. Central to the whole farrago is Janelle Monáe, as Andi Brand, Bron’s erstwhile business partner. She’s joined by Kathryn Hahn (politician), Dave Bautista (gun-toting, mens activist YouTuber), Leslie Odom Jr (scientist),…

The 4K Blu-ray player market has been nearly dormant for quite a while. Samsung has withdrawn, while LG, Panasonic and Sony continue to sell the same product lines year after year. Yet new decks have still arrived, such as those from French-owned Reavon (see HCC #324), while the latest is the UDP800 from Chinese newcomer Magnetar Audio. Available online for €1,599 from distributor Archisoft (which also handles the Reavon and Zappiti brands), the player is a full-width and heavyweight (8kg) model with a 'universal' tag, meaning support for DVD, DVD-Audio, CD, Super Audio CD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray. Both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ formats are supported. Steel yourself Contributing to the deck's premium price tag is its physical build. 'Achieving exceptional audio and video performance requires high-quality chassis…

AWARD-WINNING SUBWOOFER WORTH £979 TO BE WON THIS ISSUE WE'VE teamed up with SVS and its UK distributor Karma AV to give away an SVS 3000 Micro, the audio brand's ultra-compact and ultraimpressive award-winning subwoofer. Worth £979, this bijou bass-maker sells in both piano gloss white and piano gloss black finish – and the competition winner will get to choose which one to have. Double bass Described by SVS as 'like a magic trick', the 3000 Micro is designed to bring the US company's trademark bass performance to a smaller enclosure than ever before. Its smartly styled, structurally reinforced MDF cabinet measures just 27cm deep, 28cm high and 30cm wide, and mounted within, in a dual-opposed configuration, are two 8in aluminium cone woofers on inverted surrounds to boost excursion potential.…

FELINE SCARED? Idris Elba has a holiday from hell in thriller flick Beast p88 We don’t often review different screen sizes from the same TV range. Yet here we’re making an exception for Philips' 77OLED807, a monster OLED whose screen measures – as you can probably guess – 77in from corner to corner. This is a whole 22in more than the 55in 55OLED807 we looked at previously (HCC #333) – enough to remind us that something magical happens when you get a screen above 70in or thereabouts. This is where you feel like you’ve crossed from merely watching TV to enjoying a genuine 'home cinema' experience, and might have you wondering why anyone bothers with a projector and screen combination. That's not meant to throw shade on the 55OLED807, which…

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AV INFO PRODUCT: 10in active subwoofer with ARC EQ POSITION: Middle model in the five-strong Dynamo series PEERS: MA Silver W-12; SVS SB-2000 Pro; REL T7x THE MIDDLE MODEL in MartinLogan’s five-strong Dynamo series of active subwoofers, the 800X is a svelte little box of joy subtly finished in a satin black with Poirotlike abilities to reveal greasy fingerprints – have a cloth handy. The film noir styling continues to the chunky feet, complete with spikes and seamlessly integrated rubber spike covers for hard floors. Core specifications are right on the money, with the sealed enclosure featuring a 600W peak-rated Class D amp, a single 10in driver (terminated with an inverted surround, said to reduce air turbulence), and both line-level and speaker-level analogue connections. There's then Bluetooth connectivity…

THE DISASTER THAT is streaming just took its first high-profile scalp. Bob Chapek was removed as CEO of The Walt Disney Company in November, and one of the reasons for his departure is surely the $1.5bn loss at Disney's direct-to-consumer (DTC) division, the home of Disney+, Hulu+ and others. In a twist worthy of one of Disney’s reboots, the legend that is Bob Iger has been brought back to sort out the mess the company is in at the moment. It's interesting that most of the issues and disasters that befell Chapek seem to be time bombs left by Iger from his previous reign. Iger was a master for the first half of his 2005-2020 tenure, but the second half was plagued by interference from major Disney shareholders. The term…

Welcome to the AV-Holic Hall of Fame – introduce yourself! Hi. I'm John Morris, 50 years old, and a car sales executive. How long have you been into home cinema, and what was the first setup you had? I have been into home cinema for as long as I can remember (and mainly because of your publication!). My first bedroom setup was a Sony 20in widescreen telly, and a Yamaha 3090 AV receiver, which was one of the first Dolby Digital amps – or AC-3 as it was called back then. From then on I was totally obsessed with having my own proper cinema, with projector, etc. One of the main reasons being the ability to watch at any time without annoying anyone. Your cinema featured in HCC #183, over…

THE SUMMER OF 2007 saw the much-hyped arrival of the first of Michael Bay's live-action Transformers movies. While that film would go on to score over $700m at the box office, for many who went to see it at the cinema the real talking point was the mysterious trailer that played in front. The two-minute teaser kicked off with home movie footage of people at a party in New York City, interrupted when the building is jolted by what seems to be an earthquake. The revellers head to the roof and witness a massive explosion in the distance, before rushing downstairs and out onto the streets where they're greeted by the torn-up head of the Statue of Liberty flying through the air and crashing down. And that was it. There…

➜GEAR GUIDE TELEVISIONS From entry-level LEDs to flagship 8K monsters BLU-RAY PLAYERS Which deck rules the roost? PROJECTORS It's time to blow up your video! AV RECEIVERS 5.1, 7.1, 11.2 – we've got all the options covered SPEAKERS Killer surround sound setups for all rooms and budgets PVRs Including super-slim Freeview boxes and Sky Q AND MORE! All prices quoted are approximate and may have changed TOP 15 Televisions Sony XR-55A95K ➜ £2,399 The Japanese giant’s debut Quantum Dot OLED flatscreen adds a little extra refinement and balance to the technology's colour and contrast charms. Immersive sonics come via Sony's Acoustic Surface system. Style and build quality dazzle too. HCC #336 TOP 5 New releases Elvis [UHD Blu-ray] The hyper-kinetic native 4K HDR imagery (in both Dolby Vision and…

WILL THE AVATAR sequel usher in a new generation of 3D TVs? I’ve been pondering this since seeing James Cameron’s mega-budget sequel. The original Avatar, which as we all know proved rather popular in theatres when released in 2009, led to a new generation of 3D in the home. For a while, it was next to impossible to buy a premium TV that wasn’t 3D enabled, and a slew of BDs were released on the format. Rival TV brands championed different 3D formats, active and passive, each claiming theirs to be better. Then the 3D bandwagon ran out of gas. Still, stereoscopy is nothing if not persistent. It’s a cyclical trend, and the Avatar sequel might well herald its return. I put this to LG, the OLED innovator. LG Display…