Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i Home Cinema Choice

Some things never seem to change, like perennial rivals LG and Samsung using the CES show to both insist their form of TV technology is superior (p22). At the same time, however, the home entertainment world is in a constant state of flux, with the fortunes of media formats waxing and waning, new product categories springing into life, and new brands arriving on the scene. And then you get the comeback stories. This issue we have reviews of hardware from both Pioneer and Loewe, two electronics manufacturers with long, respected histories that – for different reasons – withdrew from the UK market for a time. Loewe's Bild OLED TV (p52) shows the German company has lost none of its sense of style, while Pioneer's VSX-LX305 receiver (p48) proves the reborn…

Denon no longer sells BD players, but remains committed to physical music formats even while streaming marches on. Its new DCD-1700NE is a CD/SACD spinner with a styling reminiscent of its Blu-ray decks of yore, and features a proprietary drive mechanism, Texas Instruments DAC and AL32 Processing Plus upsampling. Optical/ coaxial outs allow it to be used as a transport, and the player will also handle hi-res music stored on DVD-R/W discs. Pricing is £1,299, with silver or black options available. www.denon.co.uk…

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania February 17: Marvel’s smallest superheroes meet the MCU’s biggest threat to date as they venture into the sub-atomic Quantum Realm and come face-to-face with multidimensional menace Kang the Conqueror. Phase Five starts here… Cocaine Bear February 24: Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. and Ray Liotta are among those fighting to stay alive when an American black bear goes on a cocaine-fuelled rampage in this horror-comedy from director Elizabeth Banks. Scream VI March 10: They might have moved to New York City, but the survivors of the most recent Woodsboro massacre are once again targeted by a mysterious new ‘Ghostface’ killer in this slasher sequel.…

KEF has introduced a Titanium Grey dressing for its KC62 subwoofer to better match its LS50 Wireless II active standmount speakers. The Carbon Black and Mineral White launch options remain; all three versions sell for a suggested retail price of £1,699. The sub, which debuted in 2021 (reviewed HCC #320), is an ultra-compact model with curved aluminium cabinet measuring a mere 25cm in all dimensions. It features a pair of 6.5in woofers mounted in a forcecancelling (opposed) configuration, but swaps a traditional twin magnet system for a bespoke overlapping voice coil ('UniCore') that enables its dinky dimensions. Power comes from a 2x500W amplifier with onboard DSP and 'Smart Distortion Control' technology. uk.kef.com…

Panasonic was the first manufacturer to publicly champion LG Display's new-high brightness Micro Lens Array OLED panel (see p22) at CES, with the announcement of the MZ2000, its new flagship flatscreen. The high-end hero, which will be available in 55in, 65in and 77in, also runs a proprietary heat management system, and an assortment of picture and audio processing improvements over its LZ2000 predecessor (see HCC #334). The custom MLA module used by the MZ2000 has been designated 'Master OLED Ultimate,' and claims a 50 per cent improvement in HDR peak brightness over last year's range-topper. That translates to HDR highlights of just under 1,500 nits. Panasonic staged a behind-the-scenes shootout with its predecessor, and from this evidence we can confirm the MZ2000 is indeed capable of significantly punchier highlights. Demo…

CES has long been used as a showcase for new flavours in immersive audio tech, although this LED-festooned soundbar from computer specialist Razer is aimed more at gamers than cinephiles. That said, there's an interesting story behind it – the Leviathan V2 Pro is the first collaboration between Razer/THX and Audioscenic, an 'innovator in 3D audio beamforming' hailing from the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at the University of Southampton. By combining THX Spatial processing with Audioscenic's beamforming knowhow and AI head-tracking marshalled by an integrated IR camera, the soundbar (set to sell for around €500) aims to deliver a 'personalised and immersive soundstage' regardless of the listening position. Virtual Headset and Virtual Speakers modes are on offer, the latter to replicate a 'full home theatre system'.…

ALTHOUGH BEST KNOWN, at least in the UK, as a purveyor of cost-effective screens, TCL clearly has its sights set on the higher-end of the market, plus projector company rivals, as it launches what it terms its XL Collection of mammoth displays. The company showcased new iterations of its C735K QLED model, up to 98in, but its main focus was on a 98in Mini LED set. The QM8 (pictured left) utilises the increased screen real estate to introduce 'at least' 2,000 local dimming zones with a suggested peak brightness of more than 2,000 nits. Behind the glass is a fourth-gen Mini LED implementation – TCL was first to market with the technology in 2018 – with improvements to its light control algorithm and Mini LED uniformity. The TV handles Dolby…

KIT CHECKLIST CINEMA BUILD SYSTEMS: 3.2m-wide 2.40:1 acoustically transparent screen; fabric track JVC: DLA-NZ8 4K laser projector DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES: Vertical mirror mount EMOTIVA: 2 xXPA Gen 3 seven-channel power amps TRINNOV: Altitude16 processor WISDOM AUDIO: 3 xInsight P4m (L/C/R); 4 xInsight P2m (surround/rear); 2 xS90i subwoofers; 2 xSUB 1 subwoofer amplifiers TDG AUDIO: 4 xNFC 83A angled baffle in-ceiling speakers (heights) GIK: Acoustic treatments MADVR: Envy Extreme video processor PANASONIC: DP-UB9000 4K Blu-ray player SKY: Sky Q ZAPPITI: Reference 32TB media player APPLE: Apple TV 4K PROTOPIXEL: LED tape QMOTION: Custom motorised blind RAKO: Lighting hub SAVANT: S2 control processor SINEMAS: Ceiling and wall panels; custom seating DAYTON AUDIO: 3 xtactile transducers THE TEMPTATION IS always there to squeeze as many seats into your new movie room as possible. After…

The first products from this new endeavour are a brace of home cinema receivers in the guise of the VSX-LX505 (£1,599) and VSX-LX305 (£1,399). Both are nine-channel models, with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and IMAX Enhanced, plus HDMI 2.1 across six inputs that support HDR10+ and gaming features like 4K/ 120 and Variable Refresh Rates. The two AVRs are largely the same, although the costlier VSX-LX505 claims 180W per channel (8ohm, onechannel driven), compared to 170W on the VSX-LX305. Other differences are the VSX-LX505's ability to decode up to 11.2 channels, while the VSX-LX305 is limited to 9.2, and has reduced connectivity. However, both now include Dirac Live room correction, along with Pioneer's traditional MCACC room 'tuning' acoustic calibration software. More on this later. Purposeful Pioneer Despite claims by some dealers…

AV INFO PRODUCT: Integrated stereo amplifier with HDMI eARC and Dirac Live POSITION: Retro-styled, upper mid-range in NAD's lineup PEERS: Arcam SA30; NAD C 389; Naim Uniti Atom A POPULAR TREND among well-heeled car fans is ‘restomodding’. Here, an old car is restored in such a way that it continues to look like a classic car on the outside but underneath has many of the refinements of a more modern vehicle. This is a tricky thing to do on an individual level with hi-fi hardware, but in recent years many manufacturers have been hard at work doing something similar – only with new products. NAD's C 3050 LE (£1,800) is a case in point. Released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the audio brand, just 1,972 will be built and…

HOWEVER BIG AND affordable TVs get, they’ll never be able to compete on sheer screen size value with an affordable projector like Epson's EH-TW6150. Priced at just £999, it's the new entry point into Epson’s current 4K range – although its 4K capabilities are delivered by a diagonal half-pixel shift system of native Full HD optics. The TW6150 has appealing styling to go with its appealing price, its chassis finished in a living room-friendly gloss white and given rounded corners and edges. It stands taller than most rivals, places its lens within a black recess, and its sides feature an unusual combination of grilles and ‘corrugated’ finishes. The top of the unit houses sliding focus and zoom adjustments, the latter a very generous – at this price – 1.6x. Also…

Legacy connections RIP I have noticed that more and more TVs, if not all, have dropped component and composite connections from their range. While HDMI and USB is the preferred connection method these days, many of us who hold on to their beloved (and expensive) equipment are neglected in terms of connectivity. PCs and computers’ graphic cards have kept some sort of legacy connections like VGA, DVI-D, USB backward compatibility – despite the advance of display ports better than HDMI – but TV manufacturers seem to throw us under the bus by saving a few pennies. I have a mighty Denon AVC-A1 SR amp partnered with a Denon DVD-2900 player, a VU Duo 2 satellite receiver, and an EchoStar motorised satellite system. All offer scart connections as well as component…

➜ AMSTERDAM A story that encompasses disfigured WWI veterans, racism and a plot to overthrow US democracy may not seem like an obvious choice for comedy, but David O. Russell's film makes a fair go at it, thanks to a witty script and a trio of classy performances. Christian Bale and John David Washington play a pair of soldiers who hook up with Margot Robbie's nurse in Europe after the Great War, and once back in the United States find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy to follow the examples of Germany and Italy by installing a fascist dictatorship. The complex plot moves at a dizzying pace, helped along by a host of big-name cameos (including Robert De Niro, Mike Myers and Taylor Swift), but the tone is often inconsistent –…

Paramount ➜ All-region BD £30 Taylor Sheridan's TV sensation Yellowstone gets a prequel, and even those who have never bothered with that modernday series will be able to enjoy this poignant and brilliantly acted – but utterly uncompromising – warts 'n' all take on the Wild West. Spreading its 10 episodes across three discs, Paramount's Blu-ray release boasts exceptional image quality, with sharpness and detail giving the production a real lived-in appearance, supported by immersive Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtracks. Quality extras take the form of three lengthy documentaries and 10 episode-specific featurettes. AvB ★★★★☆…

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition CD Projekt Red ➜ PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC £34.99 We’re used to remakes and remasters in the gaming world, so it's not a shock to see a title of the magnitude of The Witcher 3 get a modern refresh. What’s less conventional is how much effort has been put into elevating its AV credentials. This is no mere re-release for current-gen consoles, with a higher frame rate to make it play better. It has plenty of bells and whistles to make it look better too. We’ll come to that shortly, but it’s worth noting initially that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition is effectively the same game as the 2015 classic released for last-gen machines. The downloadable expansions –…

➜ THE LAST OF US: SEASON ONE If you thought athlete's foot was bad, wait 'til you get a load of the fearsome fungi in this HBO do-over of the hit PlayStation survival horror game. The show’s Infected come in a variety of guises, from runners and stalkers to bloated boss-level uglies. It’s this variety of monstrosities that sets The Last of Us apart from The Walking Dead, to which it so obviously owes much. The horrors may be fantastical, but the show is grounded in a believable reality. What if the next pandemic can’t be treated by vaccines and the infected become murderous mutations? A government official asks a mycologist what they should do during the initial outbreak in Jakarta. ‘Bomb,’ is her chilling advice. ‘Bomb the city.’ In…

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 HDR10+) plus rocking and rolling Dolby Atmos soundmix of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley 'jukebox musical' will leave you all shook up. HCC #336 ★★★★☆ Jurassic World: Dominion -Ext. Ed. [UHD Blu-ray] Fun but bloated franchise capper stomps onto Ultra HD Blu-ray with the kind of epic 4K HDR10/ Dolby Vision picture and Dolby Atmos sound that the story’s set-pieces demand. HCC #335 ★★★★☆ Top Gun: Maverick [UHD Blu-ray] While…

Panasonic DP-UB9000 ➜ £850 ★★★★★ Supporting both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and incorporating useful image adjustments, this premium deck is at the leading edge of UHD BD playback. The build quality and provision of VOD apps heightens its appeal. HCC #292 Pioneer UDP-LX800 ➜ £2,200 ★★★★★ A phenomenal universal disc spinner, which adds audiophilegrade music playback to 4K BD talents including Dolby Vision support and metadata information display. Build quality is staggering. HCC #293 Panasonic DP-UB450 ➜ £200 ★★★★☆ Panasonic lowers the price for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ playback with this featurelite 4K deck – there's no Wi-Fi or VOD apps, or the brand's HCX processor to fine-tune imagery. HCC #303 Pioneer UDP-LX500 ➜ £1,000 ★★★★☆ Lacks the audiophile features (including the XLR output) of the UDP-LX800, but…

WE’VE ALL EXPERIENCED Dolby Atmos. The immersive sound format is the default in any cinema worth its salted popcorn, and it’s ubiquitous on home AV kit. Dolby Atmos routinely enlivens TV shows, music and games. We all love it, and for good reason. But Dolby Atmos live music is something else entirely. When it comes to concerts, it’s a new innovation, and there’s only one place on the planet you can experience it. I’m talking about Dolby Live, a stunning new concert venue in Park MGM, on the Las Vegas strip. This lush, four-storey venue boasts a bespoke Atmos sound system. I paid it a visit while over in the US for CES 2023 (see p22), and it blew my flight socks off. The 5,200-seat theatre is the first in…

➜News high lights FOCAL Vestia speaker range primed for home cinema systems ASTELL&KERN Do-it-all desktop headphone amp/player SONUS FABER Long-running Homage lineup revamped AT THE PLEX This month's cinema releases MERIDIAN AUDIO DSP8000 XE loudspeaker ROCKY: KNOCKOUT COLLECTION Pugilistic treats enter the 4K BD ring & MORE! Leica Cine 1 ➜ www.leica-lasertv.com Optical lens specialist Leica, known for its camera technologies, says it's a 'logical step' for it to enter the home projection market. Arriving this spring is the Cine 1, an ultra-short-throw model with 4K HDR DLP optics, triple-laser light source and onboard tuner/smart TV hub. Leica's proprietary LIO image optimisation, allied to an aspherical Summicron lens, promises pristine image reproduction and natural colours, while accompanying audio comes from an integrated speaker system with Atmos decoding. Pricing begins…

The Lost Boys (4K BD) Beautifully remastered 4K HDR visuals mean this '80s horrorcomedy classic is no longer lost in the shadows. The Rig (Prime Video) This spooky sci-fi puts a Scottish oil rig in peril from a mysterious entity, leaving Martin Compston (and slick 4K HDR) to save the day. Shadow Master (BD) The Crow meets Ong-Bak in an apocalyptic actioner bursting with bone-crunching brawls. Let’s get ready to rumble… Reacher: S1 (BD) As solidly made as its leading man, the punchy smallscreen adaptation of Lee Child’s novel Killing Floor is now on disc. Eight for Silver (BD) Writer-director Sean Ellis’s atmospheric and brutal period chiller will leave werewolf movie fans howling with delight.…

Chiefly designed for custom theatre/multiroom installations, albeit still fitted with front-panel VU meters that you won't want to hide in a rack room, the MI502 is a stereo power amplifier from high-end American brand McIntosh. Fitted with (removable) rack ears and adopting a 2U chassis, the amp employs a quartet of Hypex Class D modules, in a balanced/bridged architecture, for a claimed power output of 500W per channel into 8ohms. McIntosh's 'Loudspeaker Guard’ clipping protection, and ‘Sentry Monitor’ short circuit detection system, are onboard, with amp status signified by the unit's front LEDs. Connections are a single set of speaker binding posts (as opposed to the AutoFormer 2/4/8ohm outputs found on McIntosh's tube amps), plus unbalanced stereo phono input and balanced XLR. A 12V trigger supports automated switch-on from a…

The Homage range from premium Italian speaker manufacturer Sonus faber has been revamped, with a quartet of new models arriving in 2023, including a centre channel for AV environments. The high-end lineup has been part of the company stable since 1993 and the first-generation Guarneri standmount. That name lives on in the new fifthgeneration Guarneri G5 (£13,000) that's joined by the Serafino G2 (£22,000) and Amati G5 floorstanders (£30,000), and Vox G3 centre (£14,000). All sport the curved ‘lute’ cabinet designs the brand is known for, in a red, wenge or graphite finish. Says Sonus faber's Chief of Design, Livio Cucuzza, of the Homage range: 'The most complex, but also exciting moment for a designer is when he is called upon to improve a timeless icon.' Italian stallion Rustle up…

ADLP (Digital Light Processing) projector uses millions of microscopic mirrors to create its image, and if that sounds like the stuff of a madman’s dreams, that madman was Fritz Fischer who literally sketched his concept onto the back of a cigarette packet while commuting to work. This idea evolved into the Eidophor projector, which was capable of beaming a video source (as opposed to film) onto a huge screen. Introduced in 1943, its approach wasn’t exactly the same as the Digital Micro-mirror Device (DMD) used today, but the basic principal was very similar, with the light source bounced off a large mirror and through a colour wheel to create the image. The first DMDs were produced in 1987, and are composed of microscopically small mirrors in a matrix on a…

Chinese projector brand Xgimi has been an aggressive player in the home entertainment market in recent years, with a catalogue ranging from 4K ultra-short-throw models (such as the Aura, reviewed HCC #333) to portable bigscreen solutions. The MoGo 2 Pro, unveiled at CES 2023, falls into the latter camp, being a compact, battery-powered entry-level model with a 1080p resolution (albeit with HDR10 playback). Perhaps most noteworthy is its debut of Xgimi's newest generation of Intelligent Screen Adaptation (ISA) technology. Intended to streamline installation so 'everyone can enjoy a cinematic experience', ISA 2.0 speeds up operation of Xgimi's automated 'Obstacle Avoidance' and 'Screen Alignment', and adds auto-keystone correction and auto-focus via a 3D time-of-flight (ToF) depth perception module. Look out for ISA 2.0 on higher-spec Xgimi models in the future.…

Available soon priced £1,299, the Bar 1300 is JBL's most advanced soundbar system yet. As with previous flagships, it features wireless surround enclosures that charge their internal batteries when connected to the main 'bar, plus a wireless sub. A new addition to a range that includes more affordable one-box Atmos models, the Bar 1300 finds JBL expanding the channel count to 11.1.4, with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X decoding onboard. Arranged along the front of the soundbar are six racetrack drivers and five tweeters, handling L/C/R and side-firing arrays for surround channel info. There are then four 2.75in upfiring drivers, plus one on each surround speaker, which also have frontfacing bass/mid tweeter arrays and passive woofers. That's more than 20 drivers in total, including the 10in unit on the Bar 1300's…

Doom Universal, 4K BD When pioneering 3D first-person shooter Doom first exploded onto computer screens in 1993 it changed the videogame market forever. Safe to say, this 2005 film adaptation didn't have anything like the same impact, but providing you're happy to leave your brain at the door there's fun to be had with this schlocky Aliens rip-off that sees Dwayne Johnson's 'Sarge' lead a squad of marines to a research facility on Mars overrun with nightmarish monsters. A late highlight has the film ape the videogames as it switches to a first-person viewpoint for an exciting run-andgun sequence. Rampage Warner Bros, 4K/3D BD Not even the dream team of Johnson and director Brad (San Andreas) Peyton could nail this 2018 take on the classic '80s arcade game. There, gamers…

➜H a r dwar e BOWERS & WILKINS 700 S3 5.1 speaker system PANASONIC Mid-range LZ1000 4K OLED TV PIONEER Nine-channel AV receiver with Dirac EQ LG Flagship S95QR soundbar system ASCENDO SV-12 ported 12in subwoofer EPSON Affordable 4K HDR LCD PJ SAMSUNG Rotating(!) Sero QLED TV NAD Retro-styled integrated streaming amp & MORE! Luxury brand Loewe returns with its Bild series OLED TV, which offers an audio upgrade path, slick stand/ mount options and built-in 1TB HDD. We audition the 55in model on p52 All prices quoted are approximate and may have changed…

IT MAY HAVE escaped your notice, but there’s been a boom in vertical content. While mainstream programmes remain wedded to a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio (or derivations thereof), social media is unapologetically embracing the portrait format. TikTok and Snapchat are routinely consumed vertically, as befits the mobile form factor – but do they hold their appeal on larger screens? Samsung seems to think so. The Sero, one of its lifestyle TV models (a stablemate of The Frame and The Serif), is able to rotate between vertical (9:16) or landscape (16:9) at the touch of a solar-powered button. AV INFO PRODUCT: Hybrid vertical/ horizontal aspect ratio 4K TV POSITION: Part of Samsung’s Lifestyle screen portfolio PEERS: None, nada, zilch All about that base Everything about this screen is different. The set’s…

AS WE REPORT in our CES roundup (p22) there's been something of an explosion in ultra-large TVs of late. Screen sizes that once would have seemed outlandish (85in! 98in!) are now treated as simply another step up. Making all this possible are advancements in panel manufacturing techniques, but it does make me stop and think: is there really a market for TVs this big? I'm sure there is, however niche, because there will always be people willing to pay whatever it costs to have the next big thing, even if the next big thing is so big you would need to rearrange your entire house to accommodate it. But aren't displays approaching 100in what projectors are for? Glance at some of the promotional material from the likes of TCL (pictured)…

➜ THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Writer-director Martin McDonagh is reunited with his In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for the touching and melancholic comic drama The Banshees of Inisherin. In 1923, as the Irish Civil War plays out on the mainland, a remote island community off the west coast of Ireland bears witness to a much smaller and more absurd conflict when Pádraic (Farrell) learns that his lifelong friend Colm (Gleeson) suddenly wants nothing to do with him, actually threatening to cut off one of his fingers every time Pádraic bothers him. What follows is a poignant (and very funny) exploration of friendship, loneliness, grief and depression; an impeccably written and performed black comedy that blends pathos and humour in a way that only McDonagh knows how. Superb.…

➜MAGIC, MYTH & MUTILATION: THE MICRO BUDGET CINEMA OF MICHAEL JMURPHY, 1967–2015 One of the great pleasures of the boutique Blu-ray scene is the work these labels have done to raise the profile of filmmakers who have largely gone under the radar of most movie fans. Indicator’s new Myth, Magic & Mutilation: The Micro-Budget Cinema of Michael J Murphy, 1967-2015 boxset is the ultimate example of this: a 10-disc celebration of a British auteur who made some 30-odd films across five decades, yet remained little known even among cult film aficionados. A genuine DIY filmmaker, Murphy’s ultra low-budget films largely fall into three genres: psychological thrillers, mythical actionadventures and horror. With several of his earliest efforts now lost, Indicator’s set offers the most comprehensive collection of Murphy’s work possible –…

➜ Netflix The work of 19th century American poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe has proven fertile ground for filmmakers over the decades. However, rather than adapt one of Poe’s stories (yet again) for the screen, writer-director Scott Cooper instead adapts Louis Bayard's 2003 novel The Pale Blue Eye, which puts the man himself at the heart of a macabre murder investigation. Set amidst the bleak environs of the West Point Military Academy during the winter of 1830, the film stars Christian Bale as August Landor, a bearded, world-weary retired detective hired to investigate the murder of a cadet who was found hanging from a tree in neighbouring woodland with his heart missing. Needing assistance with his inquiries at the academy, Landor enlists another cadet, the eccentric Edgar Allan Poe…

Paradigm Founder Series LCR/40B 5.0 ➜ £7,500 ★★★★★ Relatively compact models in Paradigm's Founder Series make a big impression – the sound here is all about precision, control and superior dynamics. Excellent. HCC #325 TOP 5 On-demand 1899 [Netflix] Dark creators Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar are back bending minds with this creepy, horror-inflected, seafaring mystery. Spectacular Atmos sonics only add to the Lost-style fun. Binge it now! HCC #337 ★★★★★ Troll [Netflix] Hugely enjoyable Norwegian kaiju flick from director Roar Uthaug wraps up the familiar giant monster mayhem in elements of specifically Nordic mythology. Rampaging action and rock-solid VFX. HCC #338 ★★★★★ Prey [Disney+] Dan Trachtenberg's brilliant back-to-basics Predator prequel sends the dreadlocked alien to North America in 1719, and pits it against a young Comanche woman determined…

NEW ENTRY Marantz Cinema 50 ➜ £1,700 ★★★★★ Knockout AV amp rings the changes with a gorgeous brandnew look and plenty going on under the hood – including a forward-leaning spec, excellent connectivity and a superb all-round performance. HCC #338 Anthem MRX 740 ➜ £2,800 ★★★★★ Premium price for a seven-channel AVR, but the MRX 740 adds 11-channel processing, ARC Genesis room EQ and HDMI 2.1 upgrade path to a sound performance that mixes power and delicacy. HCC #321 Primare SPA25 ➜ £4,000 ★★★★★ HDMI 2.0 connectivity may not be state-of-the-art, but if that doesn’t matter then Primare’s nine-channel, Dirac-equipped Class D AV receiver must be heard. High-class hardware with heavenly looks. HCC #337 Denon AVR-X1700H ➜ £600 ★★★★★ Entry-level X Series AVR goes one up on its…

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K ➜ £50 ★★★★★ This streaming dongle brings 4K HDR (HDR10+; Dolby Vision) and Dolby Atmos to your movie den. Voice control aids search, while a quad-core processor yields quick load times and stream optimisation. A little stunner. HCC #295/#326 Bluesound Node ➜ £550 ★★★★★ Preamp/DAC now includes HDMI eARC, a smarter control system and upgraded processing. As with earlier generations, it's a winning mix of comprehensive features and beguiling sonics. Perfect for adding music to your system. HCC #324 Audio Technica AT-LP5x ➜ £350 ★★★★★ Our favourite affordable turntable. Easy to set up with in-built phono stage and USB for PC hookup, plus 33/45/78rpm speed control, the LP5x has good pitch stability and a rhythmic, energetic sound. HCC #318 Lumagen Radiance Pro 5348…

High-octane sequel Top Gun: Maverick finished 2022 as the year's highest earner at the global box office – but has since been eclipsed by sci-fi sequel Avatar: The Way of the Water. The Tom Cruise vehicle, which was released in cinemas in May, soared to US receipts of $718m, coupled to $770m in international markets, for a total haul of $1.48bn by Dec 31. James Cameron's Avatar sequel, only released on Dec 16, has already surpassed it, however. Current numbers, according to the IMDb's Box Office Mojo tracker, put the motion-capped blockbuster at over the $2.1bn mark worldwide, buoyed by more than $1.5bn of ticket sales outside the US. Such dizzying numbers mean Avatar: The Way of the Water now stands as the fourth highest-grossing movie of all time (unadjusted…

February 20 Aftersun Days of Thunder The Golden Child Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit 4K King Kong: 90th Anni. Ed [1933] Magnificent Warriors: Ltd Ed Marathon Man The Phantom [1996] To Catch a Thief Young Sherlock Holmes February 27 Training Day 4K Dead for a Dollar Fatal Attraction Flashdance Hell of the Living Dead 4K King Creole Martin: Limited Edition 4K Munich The Quiet Man Rocky: The Knockout Collection 4K The Sisters Brothers: Ltd Ed 4K Sleepy Hollow The Sons of Katie Elder The Two Jakes Young Guns & Young Guns II March 6 Ark of the Sun God 4K D-Tox Fill ’er Up with Super The Man on the Roof The Naked Spur Pump Up the Volume Rock-A-Bye Baby Walking the Edge Westworld: Complete Series 4K Wreck [2022] March 13…

LG Signature M3 LG wasted no time at CES obliterating any notions that 2023 is going to be all about Quantum Dot OLED, with a new panel proving its venerable WRGB OLED TV technology has plenty of life in it yet. The biggest – literally – star of LG's show was its new Signature M3 series: a range of super-sized (77in 83in and 97in) OLED TVs capable of receiving audio and video signals up to 4K/ 120Hz completely wirelessly. This feat, dubbed Zero Connect, is achieved using a separate RF transmitter and connector box (controllable by voice commands), with the M3 then adopting an ultra-slim, wall-mount friendly design to capitalise on its freedom from the usual physical connections. Picture quality subjectively appears to be identical to LG's regular OLED TVs…

Audio tweaker Dirac is taking aim at unruly in-room bass response – and physical acoustic treatments – with its new Dirac Live Active Room Treatment. Described as taking a unified approach to home theatre sound, rather than addressing speakers independently, the tech 'leverages Dirac's expertise in MIMO mixedphase impulse response correction' to enable 'spatial optimization.' If that all sounds like gobbledegook, the Swedish corp also likens it to active noise cancelling – 'using the system's own speakers to actively cancel out unwanted wavelengths originating from other speakers.' The result, apparently, is dramatically reduced LF decay times for clean, tight bass. The new platform will debut on StormAudio AV receivers. Models ordered after January 1st can receive a free firmware update this spring; for those bought earlier a $299 license fee…

QD OLED was a big talking point for Samsung at CES. It unveiled two new models for 2023, the S90C and S95C, which promise to be considerably brighter (are you sensing a theme?) than anything we've seen yet from an OLED TV. The top dog is the S95C (55in, 65in, 77in), distinguished from the S90C by its One Connect box, and advanced OTS+ sound system with integrated height drivers for Dolby Atmos content. Samsung says the QD panel in the S95C is capable of 2,000- nit peaks, up from 1,500 on its first-gen QD designs. Also looking good at the show were Samsung's latest Mini LED Neo QLEDs. These benefit from upgrades to its Neural Quantum Processor and Shape Adaptive Light Control. While Samsung continues to ignore Dolby Vision, it…

KIT CHECKLIST BARCO: Balder CinemaScope 5K (5,120 x 2,160) laser projector SCREEN RESEARCH: Acoustically transparent 2.37:1 ratio fixed projection screen LUMAGEN: Radiance 4K video scaler/processor KALEIDESCAPE: 6TB Strato 4K media player/server PANASONIC: DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray player ANTHEM: MRX 1120 AV receiver (11.2-channel); MCA325 three-channel power amplifier PARADIGM: 3 xCI Pro P5 (LCR); 6 xCI Pro P1 (surrounds); 4 xCI Pro P80-R (heights); 6 xDefiance X10 subwoofers VICOUSTIC: 6 xdiffusion panels; 8 xabsorption panels; 4 xCinema Round Premium reflection/reverberation treatments DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES: Port Hole Glass WYRESTORM: HDMI extender kit RTI: XP Series processor; touchpanel controllers MINIDSP: DDRC-24 room correction processors DEFINITELY SITTING TOWARDS the 'large' end of the pro install spectrum, this cinema project from Hertfordshire-based Prestige Audio spreads 21 individual seats across three rows in a room measuring 11.5m…

AV INFO PRODUCT: 12in ported active subwoofer POSITION: The baby of Ascendo's expansive lineup of active/ passive woofers PEERS: Monitor Audio Silver W-12; Klipsch SPL-150 ASCENDO IS A German high-end speaker manufacturer that has been rocking some serious and occasionally bonkers designs since 1999. From sane and sensible beginnings with sub/sat speaker arrays and subsequently its own Room Tools EQ software, the company has continued to push the envelope of speaker design, often with a bulldozer. The fully active, DSP-controlled, LEDilluminated Ascendo Live 15 speakers kicked out one of the very best sounds of the Munich High End show a couple of years ago (in my humble opinion), and the brand has recently built upon its bonkers SMSG50 50in subwoofer with, well, 30 more inches. Yes, Ascendo's new The 80…

AV INFO PRODUCT: Premium Dolby Atmos/DTS:X soundbar system POSITION: Top of an extensive range of LG 'bars PEERS: Samsung HW-Q990B; Sony HT-A7000; JBL Bar 1300 SOMETIMES COMPETITION REALLY can be a healthy thing. Just as the perpetual ding dong between LG and Samsung has done much over the years to advance TV technology, in recent times it has also worked its magic on the premium soundbar market. The latest evidence of this rapid soundbar advance is LG's S95QR. This £1,699 flagship model partners its main soundbar unit with a sizable wireless subwoofer and two substantial, multi-channel wireless rear speakers. This quartet combines for a 9.1.5 channel count, with an amplification claim of 810W. The uniqueness of the S95QR's channel configuration comes from the '.5' part, which describes the system's use…

WITH BOTH WARNER Bros. and The Walt Disney Company turning 100 in 2023, I’ve been looking forward to seeing how these two Hollywood giants’ centennial celebrations would be reflected in their home entertainment releases. After all, when Universal Studios celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012 it did so with a series of 13 major film restorations and long-awaited Blu-ray debuts. We can debate the actual pros and cons of each of Universal’s 100th anniversary restorations another day. The point is that the studio used its centenary to bring some of its classic titles to the format for the first time. Might Warner Bros. and The Walt Disney Company do the same? The first of those certainly appears to be following suit, announcing UHD BD boxsets of the Christopher Reeve Superman…

Studiocanal Cult Classics Studiocanal is expanding its Cult Classics lineup with brand-new restorations of the mind-bending, slyly humorous 1973 British sci-fi-thriller The Final Programme and the quirky, impossibly catchy 1988 German musical Linie 1. The distributor is bringing both films to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on these shores on February 20, and to mark the releases we have two sets of both Blu-rays to be won! Question: The Final Programme is based on a novel by which British author? Answer: A) Michael Rosen B) Michael Moorcock C) Michael Morpurgo Douglas Sirk Classics The Criterion Collection celebrates the work of Douglas Sirk with UK Blu-ray debuts for the filmmaker’s 1950s Technicolor masterpieces Magnificent Obsession and All That Heaven Allows on March 13. We have one pair of the two Blu-rays to…

'SOMETIMES AN ACTOR becomes a star in just one scene,' wrote noted film critic Roger Ebert four decades ago in his 'thumbs up' review of Walter Hill's 1982 action-comedy 48 Hrs. He was, of course, talking about Eddie Murphy, the stand-up comedian who had shot to fame on Saturday Night Live and was then making his first feature film appearance. And Ebert wasn't wrong. The scene in question sees Murphy's Reggie Hammond – aconvict released from prison for 48 hours to help cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) snare two escaped criminals – pretend to be a cop himself and start throwing his weight around in a 'redneck bar' full of urban cowboys. It's an iconic sequence, one that takes place roughly half-way into the film, but which Hill purposefully left…

JVC DLA-NZ7 ➜ £11,499 ★★★★★ An absence of direct competitors, awesome native 4K HDR10/ HLG/HDR10+ playback, and an expansive feature-set (including 8K e-Shift) make JVC's ‘entry-level’ laser projector hard to beat. HCC #334 JVC DLA-NZ9 ➜ £15,800 ★★★★★ This high-price 4K/8K e-Shift model delivers an unparalleled performance, long-life laser lighting, cutting-edge processing (incl. dynamic tone mapping) and HDMI 2.1 connections. But is it £4,000 better than the NZ7? HCC #329 Samsung LSP9T ➜ £5,000 ★★★★★ The top dog in Samsung's The Premiere range of UST models has a formidable spec, including HDR10+ playback, triple-laser light illumination, 4.2-channel audio and a slick smart hub. Best in class. HCC #318 Sony VPL-XW5000ES ➜ £5,999 ★★★★☆ This native 4K laser light projector may cut a couple of corners (no 3D playback…

SVS SB-1000 Pro ➜ £550 ★★★★★ The budget sub to beat. SVS adds its EQ app to its entry-level range, and squirrels a new 12in driver into a cabinet that's barely any bigger. There's bass extension and power to spare – factor in the price, and the SB-1000 Pro becomes irresistible. HCC #322 REL S/812 ➜ £2,300 ★★★★★ A fine update of REL's upper-tier Serie S, with a new driver design, punchier amp and revised signal filtering delivering a powerful, poised performance from a glamourous cabinet with stacking potential. HCC #305 SVS SB16-Ultra ➜ £2,500 ★★★★★ A 16in driver and 1,500W amp combine to give SVS's flagship sealed sub real appeal. Goes big and low but remains tight and fast. HCC #270 Perlisten D215s ➜ £8,100 ★★★★★ Hefty,…

Samsung HW-Q990B ➜ £1,399 ★★★★★ An ‘evolution not revolution’ approach ensures this fantastic flagship 11.4-channel soundbar system continues Samsung’s tradition of powerful, detailed and immersive Atmos sonics, only now with even sweeter highs and lusher lows. HCC #336 Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar ➜ £2,200 ★★★★★ The audio specialist's debut soundbar makes a dramatic entrance. 13 drivers, including 4in woofers, create a cinematic soundstage, with impressive immersion via Atmos, DTS:X and Sennheiser's Ambeo processing. Big and bold. HCC #302 JBL Bar 2.0 All-In-One ➜ £150 ★★★★★  Affordable and stereo-only, this compact HDMI ARCequipped 'bar earns its keep by sounding powerful and purposeful, and being blissfully simple to set up and use. HCC #306 Philips Fidelio FB1 ➜ £699 ★★★★★ Premium single-box Dolby Atmos/DTS:X audio solution is a real head-turner. Audio…

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…

KEF LS50 Wireless II, £2,250 At the top of KEF's LS50 collection, you'll fi nd this revamped active stereo system that blends lush looks and great connectivity (including HDMI eARC) with sparkling sonics ★★★★★ JBL Flip 6, £129 Thanks to its fulsome soundstage, this latest iteration of JBL’s wildly popular portable Bluetooth speaker offers a near perfect combination of form and function. Pair with a 'phone and take it wherever you go ★★★★★ DALI Katch G2, £330 Second-generation Katch wireless speaker looks every bit as slick as its predecessor, but now boasts aptX HD and AAC Bluetooth functionality and a bolstered 30-hour battery life. A superb performer ★★★★★ Klipsch The Fives, £830 Active stereo pair with horn-loaded tweeters, 4.5in midbass drivers and a claimed 160W power plant. Dynamic performance is…