Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2024 i Home Cinema Choice

The first month of the year always comes with some downsides. Gloomy weather, failed 'New Year’s resolutions' and huge credit card bills to name three. But this January also brought some good news for the UK cinema industry, after four tricky years. The main story [p9] is that box office takings in 2023 were close to those happier, more profitable pre-Covid times. The success of Barbie and Oppenheimer surprised industry watchers, yet a breakdown of the numbers shows many other films (out of no fewer than 1,013 new releases) pulling their weight, from The Meg 2 to Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. For AV fans this is all good. A buoyant commercial industry leads to greater choice, more commitment to quality and improvements in technology, and eventually it filters…

Argyll February 2: James Bond meets Romancing the Stone in this action-comedy from Kingsman helmer Matthew Vaughn. Bryce Dallas Howard stars as an author whose latest spy novel puts her in the crosshairs of a shadowy syndicate of secret agents. Madame Web February 14: Dakota Johnson’s clairvoyant paramedic joins forces with a trio of powerful young woman in this addition to Sony’s shared 'Spider-Man Universe'. Fingers-crossed the end result is more Venom than Morbius… Dune: Part II March 1: Delayed from its original December release, the second part of Denis Villeneuve’s sciencefiction epic is almost here, with Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken among the newcomers joining the action.…

KEF has added a new entry-level model to its wireless loudspeaker stable. Available now, the LSX II LT is priced £899 – £300 less than the LSX II, which launched last year. An active stereo system, the LSX II LT features a pair of two-way speakers, each again using one of KEF’s 11th-generation Uni-Q drivers. Cabinet size remains the same, as does rated amp power. Much of the functionality is identical too, including HDMI and USB connectivity, Bluetooth, Chromecast and UPnP playback, and file format handling. Features removed from this more affordable model include wireless transmission between the two speakers, MQA support, Roon Ready status and 3.5mm analogue audio connection. uk.kef.com…

REGULAR READERS OF HCC will be familiar with custom install outfit Cyberhomes. Established in 2004, with its main office and demonstration centre in Thame, Oxfordshire and a second office in London, the company delivers multiple smart home and cinema installations every year – often scooping industry awards in the process. At its head are co-founders Ion Smith and Andy Mack, who met while providing broadcast installations for the BBC. Twenty years on, the pair still run the company, assisted by a growing staff including experts in automation (Control4, Lutron and Savant), networking, lighting control, home cinema, multi-zone AV and security. Cyberhomes also has in-house interior designers and, not always a given in the CI arena, carries out its own building and renovation work as well as installing and calibrating AV gear. In…

PJ HI-FI IN Guildford is the company responsible for this cinema built from scratch as part of a luxurious home extension. Hillside terrain allowed for a room that gets deeper toward the screen wall, and three well-spaced seating rows. Dolby Atmos was a must, says install chief Andy Taylor, as was keeping system hardware as discreet as possible 'while ensuring compromises weren’t made on audio performance.' A combination of Bowers & Wilkins speakers and subwoofers, plus Marantz SR8015 receiver (an 11-channel model) were selected. The LCR stage is delivered by three B&W CT7.4 models, built into a recess in the front wall alongside two CTSW12 12in subs. A 3.5m Scope ratio screen with acoustically transparent material, from Cinema Build Systems, was then mounted in front. A real-wall-mounted Sony VPL-VW790ES projector…

AT FIRST GLANCE, Dual’s CS 429 looks like most affordable turntables. It’s a belt-driven, unsuspended player in much the same vein as many competitors. The major difference is that it is a fully automatic design, a rare thing in 2024. As long as you have the means to put the record on the platter and press a button, the CS 429 will swing the arm over, drop it neatly into the run-in groove and let the side play. Then, when the side comes to an end, the arm is raised and returned to the rest without any further action from you. The deck is well finished, if a little dull to look at. Your finish options are black, black or black and, in a real nod to the old school,…

ONE OF THE many joys the 4K Blu-ray format brought with it when it landed in 2016 was the lack of region-coding. An entire world’s worth of releases became available to those who had never bothered investing in a multi-region Blu-ray spinner. Indeed, in this very issue we've highlighted two must-own US 4K releases from Arrow Video – Barbarella and The Warriors [p94 and p98 respectively] – that are unlikely to see a comparable release on this side of the Pond. Of course, as a UK magazine our focus in the Playback section is on UK releases. There are plenty of superb US 4K Blu-rays that never make it into these pages. So let me rectify that slightly by using this issue’s column to shine a spotlight on some of…

In the last issue you asked for our favourite disc buys of 2023 [AV Avenger, HCC #348]. Choosing a favourite isn't easy as I picked up quite a few including new and classic titles, mostly on 4K Blu-ray. For pure home cinema spectacle I don't think Avatar The Way of Water can be bettered. Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse was also very good in this regard. Older movies: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K release from Second Sight Films was superb, as was Arrow’s Alfred Hitchcock Psycho boxset. However, if asked to choose only one disc from 2023 I would probably go for Oppenheimer. Christopher Nolan’s film is great and it looks and sounds excellent on the 4K Blu-ray, which also has plenty of brilliant extra features. Finn Anton van Beek…

➜ THE EQUALIZER 3 Opening in media res with retired intelligence agent now vigilante Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) taking down an organised crime boss in Sicily, everything appears to be business as usual for this third and final instalment in director Antoine Fuqua’s bone-cracking Equalizer trilogy. However, what you actually get is a slightly more contemplative story, with McCall holed up in a quaint Italian town as he recovers from a gunshot wound, leading him to question his relationship with violence. Will he finally hang up his guns/knives/whatever-comes-to-hand and accept peace in this coastal idyll? Or will the fact the town turns out to be under the thumb of a gang of thugs with links to the Camorra lead our Bob back onto the path of brutal violence? What do you…

➜ REBEL MOON: PART ONE - A CHILD OF FIRE Zack Snyder’s long-gestating space opera, which touched down on Netflix just before Christmas, very nearly became a Star Wars project, and its influence is plain to see. Rebel Moon wears its inspirations on both sleeves. Just as George Lucas referenced the cliffhanger serials of the 1930s and '40s, Snyder returns the favour, with liberal dollops of Seven Samurai and Avatar thrown in for good measure. We're very much in Rebels vs Empire territory here. The fascist Imperium arrives at a humble farming colony on the moon of Veldt and demands it turn over its turnips to the evil Motherworld, leaving some thugs behind to keep an eye on the harvest. As it turns out, one of the farmers, Kora (Sofia Boutella),…

The Warriors ➜ Ultra HD Blu-ray, Arrow Video (US import) THE IDEA THAT The Warriors generated a storm of controversy when it played in US cinemas in early 1979 seems unbelievable today. As the film’s opening credits roll and the camera cuts between various street gangs decked out in their highly stylised outfits, all set to composer Barry De Vorzon’s sensational synth-infused soundtrack, it’s clear you're not about to witness an unnerving reflection of violent urban youth culture. It feels more like the first beats of a contemporary rock musical (something director Walter Hill would drill down into with 1984’s Streets of Fire). Rebels with a cause But back in 1979 The Warriors did scare some people. Mainly because the film had no real interest in adopting the traditional approach of…

FORGET 4DX, MOVE over IMAX – there’s a new king of immersive cinema, and it’s called Sphere. Even if you've been living under a rock, you'll have heard of Sphere. It dominates the Las Vegas strip (which in itself is no mean feat) as a monstrous orb with an ever-changing kaleidoscopic LED shell. Costing an estimated $2.3billion, Sphere is the most expensive entertainment venue in Vegas. Again, no mean feat. During CES, I obviously couldn't resist a visit to the venue. And it lived up to the hype. Even before you take your seat inside, the expansive atrium entertains with chatty interactive robots that play fun games with directional sound, holographic art and photo ops. There are five 'Aura' humanoid 'bots working the foyer. You can ask them what you…

Last year’s figures are now in for the UK cinema industry, and the good news is that multiplex revenues increased by 8% compared to 2022. According to media analytics company Comscore, the total haul reached £978,528,029. Leading the charge were two summer giants: Warner Bros.’s Barbie earned over £87m, while Universal’s Oppenheimer accounted for £52.8m. Films from the same studios also rounded out the top four, with spring release The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Universal) making £50m and Wonka (Warner Bros.) racing to 45.9m by Jan 4, 2024 – the final measured date for 2023 releases – despite only landing in cinemas on December 8. Full recovery With UK and Ireland box office figures typically counted together in the film industry, Comscore reports that 2023 saw takings in the region…

February 5 Born to Fly Circle of Danger Das Boot: Season Four Lars Von Trier’s Kingdom Trilogy May December The Tourist: Season 2 The Wages of Fear 4K February 12 Footloose: 40th Anniversary 4K Dead Shot Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour Dream Scenario Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Limited Edition 4K [1978] Mudbound The Prince of Egypt: The Musical February 13 The Marvels 4K February 19 Beverly Hills Cop: 3-Movie Col. 4K Beverly Hills Cop 3 4K The Last Rifleman Patrick: Limited Edition 4K Slaughter in San Francisco Snapshot: Limited Edition 4K Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer Yakuza Wolf 1 & 2 February 26 An American Werewolf in Paris The Amityville Horror 4K [1979] Contagion 4K Steelbook Gold [1974] Hellraiser: Tetralogy 4K Lone Star 4K Lords of Misrule On the…

1 Suprema celebrations Sonus faber is celebrating its 40th birthday with the launch of the Suprema loudspeaker system. Described as 'the peak of luxury and the ultimate experience for audio enthusiasts', the setup consists of two 4.5-way tower speakers, two dual 15in subwoofers and an external electronic crossover. Naturally, such luxury comes at a cost, in this case £695,000. Don't need both woofers? A 2.1 system is available for £625,000. 2 Disc sales UK Blu-ray sales dropped 15.1 per cent (to £77.9m) in 2023, but another physical format enjoyed unexpected growth. With a rise of two per cent, music CDs achieved their first value increase in 20 years, helped by rising prices and deluxe editions. The actual number of CDs sold was still down, though. 3 Atmos 'bar boost Sanus is growing its…

SONY HAS TAKEN the wraps off dramatic new backlighting technologies that it believes will elevate Mini LED above OLED (even Quantum Dot OLED) in the picture performance stakes. Specifically, the company has developed new panel driver technology that it suggests will enable Mini LED screens to offer more dynamic HDR, delivered with greater precision. Intrigued, I travelled to Sony’s headquarters, in Osaki, Tokyo, for a closer look. Behind closed doors (with photography strictly limited) I was shown prototype display wizardry that I'm convinced will have enthusiasts rethinking their next choice in panel type. Light control The headline takeaway is that Sony seems to be strategically positioning Mini LED, not OLED, as the preferred display technology when it comes to bringing the creators' intent home. Toshiyuku Ogura, Sony Distinguished Engineer, told…

Leica’s Cine 1 is a UST projector with few peers. Boasting designer good looks, battleship build quality and a fully featured smart platform with Freeview tuner, it more than lives up to its 'Cinema TV' moniker. Can it really replace a monster telly? If you want to supersize your viewing without sacrificing style, I think it very much could. Unlike conventional projectors, ultra-short-throw (UST) models don't require a large room. Positioned just a metre or less from their target, you can cast an image 100in and above. Not only does this open doors when it comes to installation possibilities, it can lead to a tidier system overall; UST projectors go largely unnoticed until they're turned on, and you'll be free of lengthy cable runs. They're also often used with a…

When you think of multichannel audio the first thing that probably comes to mind are the surround (or height) channels, but in reality even the most active surround sound mix is primarily focused on the front of the soundstage. The main left and right speakers, along with the centre channel, do most of the heavy lifting by creating a wall of sound at the screen end of the room. So it pays to invest in bigger speakers that can handle the load, while also offering the added benefit of pulling double duty when playing music. All of which makes the 5040 5.1 speaker package (£2,475) with its relatively compact floorstanders, very interesting. Q Acoustics' system includes a dedicated 5090 centre speaker, two 5010 standmounts on surround duties, and the QB12…

AS A 'HI-FI person' I'm no stranger to devices that perform one function. It’s a cornerstone of the hi-fi separates approach and it ironically gets more pronounced the more expensive the equipment becomes. Even with this taken into account, Tangent’s new Ampster TV II is a fairly unusual thing. Compact power Closely related to the Danish company’s long-running Ampster II, this unit again is based around a Class D integrated amplifier rated at 50W per channel, inside a compact all-metal chassis. It’s more than up to the job of powering similarly priced speakers (bookshelf and standmount designs are obvious partners), and you get a set of sturdy speaker terminals, that put some rather more expensive models to shame, to connect them. But while the Ampster II has a selection of…

NO DOUBT YOU'RE aware of the 'vinyl revival' but did you know that CD is also on the up? Well, that’s the rumour anyway, and some hardware brands do seem to be thinking along those lines. Hegel’s Viking CD player arrives some seven years after the company’s Mohican model, which it described at the time as its last CD player. The idea here is therefore to go one step further and extract even more audio goodness out of the format. And it is just CD – the Viking offers no Super Audio CD playback, which at £4,500 might strike some as being parsimonious. Upgrades over the Mohican are numerous. The front panel display is now an OLED type, and the slot-loading drive mech and laser pickup are both new. The…

WHILE HISENSE MIGHT have ambitions towards the high-end TV market these days [see p25], it certainly hasn't abandoned the budget sector where it first made its mark. The 43in 43A6KTUK tested here sells for just £229, despite carrying a full smart TV system, Dolby Vision HDR playback and a potentially contrast-friendly direct-lit VA-type LCD panel. But do its promising specs flatter to deceive? The 43A6KTUK’s design strikes a more premium pose than its price would suggest. Three sides of its screen boast a strikingly slim frame, while the slightly chunkier bottom edge makes a statement out of its extra bulk by extending forward as well as down. The slimness of its bezel is very much not repeated by the 43A6KTUK’s rear, however, which sticks out a relative mile. This means it’s…

'IT’S DEAD!' IS a term I have heard all my life about many things. Most recently, it’s been popping up over and over again regards physical movie media. Then Oppenheimer came out on 4K Blu-ray and sold out all across the US in only a few days. People were crossing state lines to try and find a copy, and as always, the eBay scalpers kicked in with copies going for $500 to $1,000 for a very short period of time. So if the medium is dead, then why did it go crazy, and who was buying it? Let’s sort some things out: physical movie media is far from dead. What has happened is that discs have transformed from a mainstream medium to a collector’s medium, and it’s selling very well –…

➜ INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY Join Harrison Ford for one last adventure as Indiana Jones in a rollicking romp that, although a box office bomb, does at least improve on 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Steven Spielberg vacates the director’s chair, leaving it up to James Mangold (Logan, Ford v Ferrari) to handle a story filled with action and fan-pleasing callbacks, as the treasure-hunting pensioner races around the world alongside his sticky-fingered goddaughter (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) to stop a former Nazi scientist (Mads Mikkelsen) getting his hands on an ancient device… Picture: Captured digitally at 4.5K with Arri Alexa LF and LF Mini cameras, and finished as a 4K digital intermediate, Indy’s final adventure swings onto UHD disc looking as enticing as buried treasure. Image clarity is…

LOOKING FOR A NEW TV? Our Top 15 guide is here to help TOP 15 Televisions Panasonic TX-55MZ2000 ➜ £2,699 The most striking Panasonic OLED to date, the MZ2000’s sensational colour depth, excellent multi-format HDR support and superior Atmos sound system make for a formidable flatscreen that offers a real upgrade over its 2022 predecessor. HCC #345 TOP 5 New releases Barbie [4K BD] This 2023 box office hit is dressed to impress on Warner’s 4K Blu-ray release – smashing the patriarchy has never looked or sounded so good. A smattering of lightweight extras don't reflect the film’s insane success, though. HCC #347 Oppenheimer [4K BD] From the reference-grade 4K HDR10 visuals and DTS-HD MA 5.1 sonics, to the superb array of quality bonus features, filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s fingerprints are all…

Taking centre stage Wilson Audio Mezzo CSC ➜ www.wilsonaudio.com The ideal partner for Wilson Audio’s over-engineered floorstanders, the Mezzo CSC is the US company’s premium centre channel, priced from £22,998. For that considerable outlay you get a four-driver design, complete with adjustable Convergent Synergy Carbon tweeter module, 7in mid-range and twin 8in woofers, wrapped in a handcrafted cabinet hewn from Wilson Audio’s proprietary X material, and featuring a bespoke crossover network. Two stand options are available (the speaker weighs 90kg!), plus choice of colour finishes including the Crimson upgrade here. 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…

The Exorcist With 2023 flick The Exorcist: Believer now on disc, what better time to revisit William Friedkin’s original on 4K Blu-ray? The Great Escaper Michael Caine’s cinematic swansong, based on a true story, is a moving exploration of ageing and the lasting trauma of war. Marvel’s What If…? S2 Happy Hogan doing Die Hard is one of many highlights served up by the second series of Marvel’s multiversal animation. Creepshow: S4 Another fun mix of scares and chuckles courtesy of the horror anthology show, with its sixepisode fourth season now on BD. Kung Fu Cult Master Jet Li and Sammo Hung’s zany 1993 wuxia epic comes out fighting on Blu-ray with a new restoration and edifying extras.…

Austrian-based audio manufacturer Musical Fidelity has launched a new flagship DAC as part of its high-end Nu-Vista range of separates. Priced £9,999, the Nu-Vista DAC is touted as 'the pinnacle of digital-to-analogue conversion', and is ready for audio file formats to 768kHz PCM and DSD512, plus MQA. As with all other models in the Nu-Vista line, which first arrived last year, the DAC features nuvistor valves in its balanced analogue output stage, and incorporates Musical Fidelity’s custom 'Super Silent' power transformer and 'industrialgrade' power socket. Under the lid of its full-size, 21.5kg chassis (available in black or silver), the unit runs a pair of ESS 9038Q2M DAC chips, which are fed by rearpanel inputs including USB, coaxial and optical, and I2 S – the latter for use with a forthcoming…

Announced at CES [see p24], the Aria Evo X is Focal’s latest speaker series, and an update of the Aria 900 platform of 2013. 'High-fidelity audio that is expressive while accessible' is how the French manufacturer describes its mid-range ambitions. The line consists of five models, all benefiting from new-to-Aria technologies including Focal’s M-shaped inverted dome 'TAM' tweeter and tuned mass damping driver surrounds. Bass and mid-range units throughout use the company’s now recognisable Flax cone material. From top to bottom Priced £3,999, the Aria Evo X N°4 floorstander is the series' top dog, and features a three-way driver configuration with twin 8in woofers. Below it is the £3,499 Evo X N°3, which actually uses three bass drivers, but trims them down to 6.5in. A third tower model, the Evo…

Sinful return Paul Verhoeven is re-teaming with RoboCop writer Ed Neumeier on the erotic political thriller Young Sinner, the director’s first US film since Hollow Man. Verhoeven says the script is 'a more innovative version of movies like Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct.' Scream stalls Following the loss of Scream VII’s two lead actresses last year, director Christopher Landon has also abandoned the troubled slasher sequel. Announcing the news on social media, Landon described it as 'a dream job that turned into a nightmare.' Ouch. Dune not quite done Denis Villeneuve has revealed he’s almost finished the script for his third Dune feature, an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1969 novel Dune: Messiah. However, with three other scripts in development, it may not be the filmmaker’s next movie.…

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The Color of Money Walt Disney, Blu-ray Sequels may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Martin Scorsese, but the filmmaker gave cinemagoers one in 1986 with this belated follow-up to the 1961 Paul Newman movie The Hustler. A huge fan of Scorsese’s Raging Bull, Newman personally wrote to the director asking him to take the reins on The Color of Money, which features the acclaimed actor back in the role of pool-shark 'Fast Eddie' Felson, tutoring the cocky young pool hotshot Vincent Lauria (a perfectly cast Tom Cruise). Despite the success that greeted the The Color of Money upon its release, the film has never been given its due on disc. Disney’s Blu-ray in particular is a total dud, from its flat and…

The launch of the eight-channel MXA-8400 amplifier in September 2023 filled a yawning gap in Lyngdorf’s range. Until then, its customers had to stack multiples of its two-channel SDA-2400 amps to drive a home cinema speaker array. A model with more built-in channels was needed to get in line with competitors. The result is the MXA-8400, first teased in 2020 when company founder Peter Lyngdorf showed off a glass-topped prototype at ISE in Amsterdam. Then Covid took hold, supply chains of source components dwindled, and the project went into hiatus. It wasn't until recently that the amplifier started to roll off the production line. Lyngdorf, headquartered in Skive in Denmark, produces a small selection of electronics components, spearheaded by its MP line of AV surround processors [HCC #346]. The company…

WHAT DO YOU get for under £100? Well, presumably not much these days. But if there’s one company maximising a price/performance proposition, it’s Cambridge-based Majority. The Teton Plus is a 2.1 soundbar/wireless subwoofer combo that hits the sub-ton price target and offers solid performance for the money. Although a mid-tier model in Majority’s mountain-themed range (which peaks with the Everest 5.1 pack), the Teton Plus is a tidy and full-featured soundbar system. The 81cm-long main 'bar is handsome and well-built, and should complement any flatscreen display in the 40in-65in range. The subwoofer, a vertical type measuring 28cm high, is also pleasing to the eye and will slot easily to the side of a TV cabinet. A decent remote control is included, alongside wall-mounting hardware for the soundbar and 3.5mm/RCA cables,…

THIS SOUNDBAR HAS been around for a few years now, which suggests Denon nailed it from the start. While the design and features aren't going to set the world on fire, anyone looking to upgrade their TV audio at a sensible price will find it ticks a lot of boxes. The DHT-S216’s compact, low-profile cabinet will sit unobtrusively under TVs up to 55in, and the 2.1-channel system inside is based around dual mid-range drivers and tweeters, plus two built-in, downward-firing subwoofers. Connectivity is pretty good with an HDMI ARC port and an HDMI input, along with an optical digital input, an aux input, and an output for a separate sub if you fancy boosting the low-end. However, wireless connectivity is limited to Bluetooth, so there’s no Wi-Fi or smart functionality.…

LATE LAST YEAR loudspeaker brand Magico announced a set of £450,000 loudspeakers. That’s the sort of price tag that boggles, although those familiar with the company might just shrug, as its top-of-the-range offering is close to £1m. Not long after, Sonus faber announced a £695,000 package [see p13], but at least this comes with a couple of subwoofers. These launches piqued my interest, because it confirmed that the 'high-end' in hi-fi is still a thing, even while the budget arena is booming. Music lovers have never had so much choice. It’s a different story in home cinema, where 'high-end' can refer to a £2,000 soundbar or £5,000 AV receiver. Indeed, ask me to name the most costly AVR I can think of and I'd struggle to get beyond McIntosh’s gorgeous…

The Last of Us Part II Remastered Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment ➜ PS5 ➜ £45 (or £10 if upgrading from PS4) It’s no surprise that Naughty Dog would want to remaster its The Last of Us sequel. Not only is the HBO TV show a massive success, the original Part II was released just before a console refresh and so, while the PS5 could run the game with a little more flair, it makes sense to use more of the machine’s grunt on a native version. The studio has done similar before. Indeed, The Last of Us Part I has gone through two remastering phases – once from PS3 to PS4, and then an almost completely overhauled, reworked version for PS5. You don't get quite as big an upgrade this…

➜BABYLON 5: THE COMPLETE SERIES Spinning a story of warring God-like aliens and the aftermath of their conflict across a five-season run, at a time when most TV shows favoured standalone episodes instead of ongoing arcs, the ambitious Babylon 5 (1993-1998) had a profound impact on shaping the future of television drama. For the most part it also remains a bloody good watch, so strap in and prepare for a return visit to mankind’s last best hope for peace… Picture: This US show’s once-pioneering use of digital VFX over practical models was always going to be a hurdle when it came to bringing the show to Blu-ray, and so it proves. Upscaled from SD, the low-res VFX shots (including digital opticals utilising live-action elements) look every bit as smeary and…