Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2024 i Home Cinema Choice

Pin-pointing the birth date of Blu-ray (see p24) can be tricky. Certainly, the first discs appeared in 2006, but excitement about a hi-def alternative to DVD had been brewing for years – and you could already buy Blu-ray recorders in Japan. It wasn't so much born as evolved. The consensus view in AV is that Blu-ray, and its 4K iteration, will be the last of the physical film formats. Streaming movies and TV has taken hold to the point that any disc-based 8K video upgrade would be seriously niche. That’s not to say that the 8K flatscreens made by the likes of Samsung and LG are foolish endeavours, though. Advancements in generative AI upscaling (p114) are blurring the lines (or the opposite, in fact) between one image resolution and another.…

ANYONE LOOKING TO buy a house in the North Yorkshire village of Whitley, which sits just south of the M62 and roughly midway between York and Doncaster, might consider it somewhat light on amenities. There’s just the one pub, and no shop. Well, there is a shop, but it’s not one where you could buy a pint of milk. Yorkshire AV was founded by Lee Proctor in 2020. Formerly a communications executive and with a lifelong passion for hi-fi and home cinema, he started the business in the midst of the pandemic, working from home selling mostly hi-fi hardware. The venture took off quickly (there were plenty of house-bound music fans looking to buy new gear that year) and it soon became obvious he needed to move to dedicated premises.…

DUBBED THE 'RAZORLIGHT' cinema by UK installer The Big Picture, due to its lighting effects, this five-seat den marries a 9.4.6 sound system to wall-filling 4K visuals from a Barco Bragi projector. Begun during early 2021, when Covid restrictions were still in place, the project originally entailed remote consultation and design work, which added an extra level of complexity to what was already going to be a serious install. Making use of the roof space in an external garage/outbuilding, the build required the construction of an entirely new room to be fitted with in-wall speakers and subwoofers, automated control/lighting, plus acoustic treatments. One key aspect was planning the space – and seating layout – around the room’s sloped ceiling. Twin rows were ruled out, due to headroom concerns for the…

You might be familiar with the German audio brand Ascendo for one thing: subwoofers. The company is the proud maker of The 80 (see HCC #343), an 80in single-figure-Hz beast, and plenty of other ultra-premium designs. But it’s also a speaker maker aiming for home cinema heaven with its Passive on-wall series. As with its subwoofers, this Ascendo range dreams big, peaking at the 15 Pro, a 32.5kg model designed primarily for LCR duty in 'large theatres'. But there are smaller options too that – when paired with one of its more 'down-to earth' subwoofers – facilitate an immersive setup that needn't be a) stupidly expensive or b) only fit for a barn. Okay, the issue of price still needs addressing, because the system here will cost £12,900 all in.…

EPSON WAS ONE of the first brands to see the potential living room appeal of UST projectors, so hopefully its most affordable laser UST model, the £2,299 EH-LS650, will benefit from all that experience. This unit isn't as glamorous as AWOL Vision’s LTV-3500 Pro, even if you go for the white version instead of the more conventional matt black; the LS650 doesn't make as much effort to embellish the rectangle-with-a-light-slot-on-the-top look that’s at the heart of every UST design. It’s large and robustly built, though, and still fits a 20W-rated speaker system into its back edge. Remarkably, considering it’s £4,700 cheaper, the LS650’s claimed specifications push beyond those of the AWOL Vision model. Claimed brightness is a whopping 3,600 Lumens, while (dynamic) contrast is reckoned to be a monumental 2,500,000:1.…

THE TOP DOG in JBL’s retro-themed Authentics wireless speaker range, the 500 is a hefty, high-powered music system that plays loud with impressive bass extension. If you want delicate hi-fi, look elsewhere. This big boy is bad to the bone. Launched at IFA 2023, JBL’s Authentics 200, 300 and 500 models unashamedly embrace the company’s heritage, most obviously channelling the L100 loudspeaker popular in the early 1970s. But there’s nothing vintage about the feature spread. All three are Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi enabled, with Chromecast onboard. Unusually, there’s also dual voice assistant support, so you can flirt with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa on the same device. Inside is a 96kHz/24-bit DAC for hi-res audio. The Authentics 500’s performance is crisp and tight, capable of huge dynamics. It’s particularly…

ONCE THE UK left the EU, my limited awareness of the ins and outs of supranational politics shrank even more. So I am indebted to the European technology writers who were aware, earlier this year, that new amendments to EU regulations had initiated a production, import and export ban on UHP lamps, the type used in lamp-based projectors. Naturally, this news has led to plenty of chatter in the AV world, partly because it comes with so many wrinkles. One of these is that the ban isn't due to come into effect until early 2026, giving projector manufacturers and retailers time to realign their businesses, and current owners of UHP-based projectors notice to stock up on replacement bulbs. The impetus for the ban is environmental. UHP lamps contain mercury, which…

Brand loyalty or mix and match? Hi. I have had a wonderful (non-4K) Samsung TV for many years now which has given me great service and wonderful pictures to boot. Time has come to get into the 4K world as I have been buying most new films on 4K discs and watching the Blu-ray copies until such time arrives for an upgrade. As much as I love reading the reviews of new gear each month there is a plethora of screens, 4K players, and soundbars and one can get lost in the vastness of choice, especially from so many manufacturers. I have been thinking about the Panasonic TX-55MZ2000 (which is about as large a screen that my modest living room can warrant), the Panasonic DP-UB9000 4K player, and the Samsung…

➜ THANKSGIVING One year on from a Black Friday shopping riot that ended in tragedy, the residents of the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, find themselves the target of a masked murderer. Can Jessica (Nell Verlaque) and her friends uncover the identity of the killer? Or will they become unwitting guests at a twisted Thanksgiving dinner? Developed by childhood friends (director) Eli Roth and (writer) Jeff Rendell, Thanksgiving is the culmination of their dream of a holiday slasher based around the one major US celebration that never received one during the genre’s 1980s heyday. The pair previously brought the idea to screens as one of the fake trailers that played with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse in 2007, and now – like Machete (2010) and Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) before…

The Conan Chronicles ➜ Ultra HD Blu-ray, Arrow Video [US import] FOR MOST PEOPLE, their first exposure to the barbarian warrior Conan came with the character’s 1982 feature film debut. Costing around $23m to make, Conan the Barbarian grossed over $70m at the global box office, in the process launching its leading man, former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, on the path to Hollywood superstardom and laying the groundwork for an entire cinematic sub-genre, the sword and sorcery picture. However, Conan had already enjoyed plenty of adventures before then. The black-haired, sullen-eyed barbarian possessed of gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth had in fact made his debut in the December 1932 issue of pulp magazine Weird Tales, in the prose story The Phoenix on the Sword, written by Robert E. Howard. Pulp hit…

Optoma has refreshed its 4K HDR laser projector lineup with the UHZ55, a brightly specified home entertainment model. A replacement for the projector specialist’s earlier UHZ50, this newcomer claims a punchy 3,000 ANSI Lumens output – alongside a 2,500,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio – courtesy of Optoma’s DuraCore laser light source. HCC has had an early look at the beamer, and it appears bright enough to be used in a room with some moderate levels of ambient light (Optoma describes it as ready for 'lights-on viewing'), while really shining in dark theatre conditions. Screen mirroring Compact at 337x119x265mm (whd) and weighing just 5kg, the UHZ55 is suitable for coffee table screening sessions or a more permanent ceiling mounted install. Connectivity includes three HDMI inputs, one with eARC support, plus USB ports…

As well as unveiling its new KC92 model (see p7), KEF has announced four subwoofers that refresh its single-driver Kube series and apparently showcase 'the undeniable power of bass to transform the sonic experience'. In order to meet different budget, room size and system requirements, the new lineup features designs based around front-firing 8in, 10in, 12in and 15in drivers. All sport the same gloss-black cabinet finish, and are compatible with KEF’s optional KW1 wireless adapter for those who would rather not run a cable connection. Cubic bass Priced £1,149, the Kube 15 MIE is the top dog in the range, and mounts its 15in long-throw woofer in a sealed cabinet measuring roughly 50cm in all directions. Low-end reach is rated down to 20Hz. Naturally, the step-down Kube 12 MIE (£849),…

LINN Celebrating its 50th year of trading, Linn took over one of the larger ground floor rooms in the regular Delta by Marriot hotel venue to show off its flagship wares. Fronting the system was an example of the ultra limited edition LP12-50 turntable – aesthetically tweaked by ex-Apple honcho Jony Ive and very likely the only one most of us will ever see – plus a pair of Linn’s whopping Klimax Solo 800 monoblock amplifiers rated at 400W/8ohm each, tethered to a Klimax DSM streamer/preamplifier. Looming on either side were the Scottish company’s range-topping 360 speakers, which feature four-way driver configurations with active 8.5in woofer pairs, and can be bought in various finishes including the gorgeous Single Malt here. The price for this setup reaches into six figures (the…

BY 2000, DVD was established as one of the great success stories of consumer electronics. A mere two years after its UK launch, it had revolutionised how many viewed movies at home and, unlike its enthusiast-only analogue LaserDisc predecessor, had pushed the idea of home cinema into the mainstream. DVD offered practical benefits – durability, compactness and ease-of-use – alongside outstanding picture quality (relative to VHS) and multichannel audio. It also spoilt movie lovers with special features and heralded the arrival of 'just add TV' all-in-one systems. But no sooner had film fans begun throwing away their VHS tapes and LaserDiscs, another revolution was underway. DVD’s problem, if you can call it that, was that it was almost old-fashioned from day one. High-definition TV had been available – albeit expensively…

Heading up a trio of new premium subwoofers from British brand Monitor Audio, the Anthra W15 arrived at my home cinema via a puce-face courier struggling under the weight. It came in one of the smallest boxes I've seen for a 15in sub, suggesting a model with the density of a small star, plus instant appeal for anyone turned off by the trend of big-driver bassmakers having equally gargantuan cabinets. Out of the packaging, the W15’s shape is a perfect cube measuring 439mm per side, and therefore barely much bigger than my incumbent 12in woofer. The sealed 25mm-thick MDF cabinet adds a 36mm-thick front baffle for increased solidity, while extensive internal bracing with supporting spars adds further mass to the design. Chuck in the 15in driver and 1,400W Class D…

NO MANUFACTURER HAS pushed the 'UST projectors can replace TVs' line harder than Hisense. In fact, for years now it’s sold UST PJs partnered with ambient light rejecting (ALR) screens as 'Laser TVs'. For the PL1, though, it does away with the included screen in order to offer a standalone unit at a tempting price. Aesthetically the £1,599 PL1 is quite pleasing. It’s compact by the standards of the genre, and combines a brushed finished on its top with a felt cover over the speakers built into its rear, and side-mounted metallic grilles. Therefore, the main sign that the PL1 is operating in cheaper territory than its rivals is the relatively low claimed peak brightness from its 'X-Fusion' laser DLP optics of 2,100 Lumens. This raises questions over its ability…

FOR THE STREAMING element of this new top-flight DAC/network player, Audiolab has moved away from the DTS Play-Fi platform found on some of its more affordable products and instead sourced a new module that’s enabled far greater functionality and file type support, plus a slick, intuitive control app. Hook up the £2,499 9000N to your AVR or power amp (it has both XLR and RCA outs, plus its own volume control), then your network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and music is at your fingertips. The app integrates streaming platforms (including hi-res Tidal and Qobuz), TuneIn radio, and UPnP playback. File handling goes all the way to 768kHz PCM, DSD512 and MQA, all processed by the 9000N’s ES9038PRO eight-channel DAC stage (which offers a choice of different filters for sound tuning).…

AN HOMAGE TO legendary anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, these groovy-looking earbuds from Final Audio allow you to subtly proclaim your love for Japanese pop culture while listening to your favourite Godzilla podcast or City Pop playlist. There are actually three iterations of this earbud to choose from (dubbed Unit-01, Unit-02 and Mark.06), each colour coded to one of the mechas in the series. The EVATW(06) we tested test has a tasty blue and orange colour scheme, signifying the Mark.06 model in the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series (which is highly recommended). Anime detailing on each bud doubles as a tactile control for track navigation. While these are not noise cancellers, they do have a generous battery life upwards of nine hours. The charging case is larger than most, but it…

A RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT that Disney US is closing its home entertainment department, which deals with physical media, might have led you to think there'd be no more discs from the studio in that market. Yet House of Mouse content isn't going away – Disney has penned a deal making Sony Pictures the exclusive licensee of all Disney media for sale in physical form. New titles will be mastered and manufactured for disc by Sony, and it will be able to license titles from the Disney back catalogue for sale on disc too. Now, is this a good or a bad thing? Well, it’s both, but ultimately the former. Changing fortunes Love it or hate it, Disney has been king of the hill for many years, although recently it’s been putting…

➜ SHOGUN This new version of James Clavell’s best-selling doorstopper novel is as sharp as a Katana – it’s not so much a samurai hack 'n' slash, more a boiling shabu-shabu pot of drama, intrigue, violence and gasp-out-loud action sequences. It’s 1600, and Japan is on the brink of civil war, as rival clans jostle uneasily for supremacy. Into the mix comes John Blackthorne, pilot of the trading ship Erasmus, which runs aground on the misty shores of a Japanese fishing village. His crew enslaved, Blackthorne finds himself a useful pawn between the scheming warlords. The story, penned by Rachel Kondo and Top Gun: Maverick scribe Justin Marks, plays out largely in Japanese with subtitles, as we view the alien landscape through Blackthorne’s cultural confusion. In many ways, the sheer…

Looking For a new AV AMP? Our Top 10 guide is here to help All prices quoted are approximate and may have changed HCC RATINGS KEY… Top 15 Televisions 01 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 02 Sony XR-55A95L ➜ £2,499 Sony’s latest Quantum Dot OLED TV carries a premium price, but the panel and processing upgrades make it worthy of its top-flight status. Make no mistake: this is a very fine 4K flatscreen. HCC #347 03 Philips 55OLED808 ➜ £1,299 Mid-range 4K OLED TV has no problem holding its own against newer screen technologies with its Ambilight…

Engineers at KEF have revisited the force-cancelling dual-driver approach of its earlier KC62 subwoofer (HCC #320) and gone bigger for the KC92. Priced £2,499 and available now in gloss black or gloss white, the new sub mounts two 9in aluminium/paper cone drivers onto a single over-lapping voice coil, resulting in a compact 33cm-wide cabinet. Independent 500W-rated Class D amps drive the pair, in conjunction with bespoke 'Music Integrity Engine' DSP. See p12 for more KEF bass news… 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…

Danish loudspeaker manufacturer M&K Sound has launched its first model to be certified THX Dominus. Described as its 'most powerful reference loudspeaker produced to date', the IW500 also kicks off the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Ticketed at $4,999 in the US (with UK pricing still to be confirmed), M&K’s new speaker is designed for left, right and centre channel use, with a symmetrical driver layout supporting horizontal installation as well as vertical. Mounting in-wall is aided by its sealed cabinet, with a depth of just 9.8cm made possible by 'capacitive coupling' in the speaker’s crossover network. By hitting the premium THX spec, the IW500 is ready for rooms up to 6,500 cubic feet in volume, and with a viewing distance up to 20 feet. In other words, it’s not meant…

1 Eco record British speaker giant PMC has invested in a UK company spearheading a plant-based alternative to the environmentally damaging PVC used to press vinyl records. Evovinyl, from Evolution Music, is made from sugar cane and, according to PMC boss Peter Thomas (above, right), 'sounds every bit as good as traditional records… Everyone in the hi-fi industry should get behind this.' 2 Vinyl inflation Sticking with vinyl, the format’s increasing popularity has seen it added back into the Office of National Statistics' inflation calculating shopping basket for the first time since 1992. Meanwhile, the ERA has been calculating the average UK prices for physical video media, with 4K Blu-ray coming in at £24.32, 'standard' BD at £11.82 and DVD at just £7.76… 3 Bricks 'n' mortar down …However, recent…

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Godzilla x Kong: …New Empire Out now The fifth film in Legendary Pictures' bonkers and often brilliant MonsterVerse features the titanic twosome joining forces in the aftermath of 2021’s Godzilla vs Kong. Described by returning director Adam Wingard as the equivalent of a kaiju buddy-cop film, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire digs deeper into the mysteries of the Titans, Skull Island and Hollow Earth – so knowledge of the previous movies will help – and pits the creatures against new simian baddie Skar King and the ice-spitting lady lizard Shimo. Fresh cast members include Downton Abbey alum Dan Stevens, who previously worked with Wingard on his 2014 thriller The Guest. If Toho’s Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One didn't completely scratch your kaiju itch, this bigger-budget blockbuster probably will. Civil War…

After a period of absence, Pioneer wants to return to its former position as one of the main AV receiver brands. And what’s the best way to go about this? By launching an all-singing, all-dancing 11-channel model to compete with the similarly specified amps of its rivals. Enter the VSA-LX805. This Pioneer flagship ticks all the boxes, with support for Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, IMAX Enhanced and – if you've updated the firmware – Auro-3D (including the excellent Auro upmixer). There are streaming options galore too, with the sometimes clunky DTS Play-Fi joined by Apple AirPlay 2 and Chromecast. It’s also Roon Ready, which is unusual for an AV receiver but good news for those who have shelled out on Roon to manage their music listening. The VSA-LX805 sells for £3,099,…

The LTV-3500 Pro is the first product we've tested from US brand AWOL Vision, but we're now confident it won't be the last. Sure, at £5,999 this UST beamer is comfortably the most expensive contender in our roundup, but it does a fine job trying to justify it. A suitably premium tone is set right away by its general design. The glossy dark grey finish and striking mix of hard angles and soft, flowing arcs and curves is as distinctive as it is elegant, and build quality is excellent. The LTV-3500 Pro carries a built-in stereo sound system that promises 36W of total oomph, and can handle Dolby Atmos soundtracks. Connectivity, meanwhile, comprises an impressive three HDMIs, two USBs, a LAN port, and 3.5mm analogue and optical digital audio hookups.…

THE AURA PRETTY much put XGIMI on the home entertainment map when we first tested it in September 2022 (HCC #333), and it’s proved such a hit that it’s still going strong on the market today. But has time and competition caught up with it? Well, it still looks cute for a UST projector that now sells for a very reasonable £2,199. A two-tier design creates the illusion that it’s slimmer than it actually is, and its silver top edge adds a premium touch. A felt cover on its rear hides an integrated speaker system designed by Harman Kardon. The Aura’s DLP-based optics are illuminated by laser lighting, with a claimed peak brightness of 2,400 Lumens that sits between the blazing light levels of this roundup’s AWOL Vision and Epson…

THIS AFFORDABLE TURNTABLE from JBL looks rather lively but, under the distinctive (and from my perspective, quite cool) exterior is a well specified machine. The Spinner BT has electronic speed selection, a built-in phono stage (which you can switch out of the circuit if you'd prefer to use an external one, perhaps in your AVR), and can even output your music over aptX HD Bluetooth. The supplied Audio-Technica AT91 moving magnet cartridge isn’t the most sophisticated thing going (they sell separately for £25 approx) but is capable of a respectable performance and you could always upgrade at a later date. You also get a lid, albeit one with a slightly weird frosted finish. Another version of the Spinner BT is available with gold rather than orange detailing. Sonically, this deck…

Should I import The Abyss? Following the scrapping of The Abyss 4K Blu-ray release in the UK by the BBFC (with the rat sequence not being edited out at its request) a lot of UK fans of the film have no option but to import a copy from the US. I personally contacted the BBFC over its reluctance to support a release of the disc in the UK, and recevied the same response as your magazine. Now, The Abyss’s Ultimate Editon 4K Blu-ray is also bundled with Blu-ray discs, which I believe are region coded to the US. I have a Panasonic DMP-UB900 4K Blu-ray player. Is there a way to make this multi-region to play the Blu-ray bonus discs included in The Abyss’s US Ultimate Edition? Or can I…

➜ AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM Given the critical drubbing that greeted Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom when it played cinemas over Christmas, you'd be forgiven for thinking it’s one of the worst movies ever made. Far from it: it’s simply another intentionally overblown and goofy live-action cartoon based around a superhero (a well-cast Jason Momoa) with the ability to talk to fish. So if you enjoyed 2018’s Aquaman (as we did), you'll probably have a good time with this one. Picture: Shot using Panavision’s Millennium DXL2 8K digital camera and finished as a 4K DI, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s native 2160p encode makes a real splash on your home cinema setup. Presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio screened in IMAX cinemas (rather than the 2.39:1 version prepared for…

Arcade Action Bigscreen home entertainment isn't just about movies anymore. Rik Henderson checks out a videogame vying for time on your home cinema system… WWE 2K4K 2K games/Visual Concepts ➜ PS5; Xbox Series X/S; PC; PS4, Xbox One ➜ £65 Visual Concepts hasn't had an easy ride since it took over development duties on the official WWE games. Its first title flying solo on the series was a mess, with a litany of bugs matched by some of the worst-looking character models yet. It was tweaked a fair amount through patches, but the damage was largely done. Thankfully, each subsequent release since the misstep that was WWE 2K20 has shown significant signs of improvement, leading up to this year’s outing, which isn't just the best WWE game in the last few…

➜PATHS OF GLORY Eureka brings us one step closer to having all of director Stanley Kubrick’s films available on Ultra HD Blu-ray with this 4K upgrade of his harrowing 1957 anti-war flick Paths of Glory. Set during the First World War and based on a popular novel by Humphrey Cobb (itself inspired by real events), the film features Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, the commanding officer of a regiment of French soldiers involved in a suicidal assault on a heavily defended German stronghold. When the attack fails (despite his own superior trying to 'motivate' the French troops by shelling their own trenches), Dax ends up defending three soldiers facing death after being court-martialled for cowardice. Picture: Based on a 4K restoration of the original 35mm camera negative, Paths of Glory…

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS looking like the final nail in the coffin of 8K broadcasting – which means now could be the best time ever to buy an 8K TV. To be fair, hopes that the elasticated waistband of our broadcast ecosystem might expand to accommodate 7,680 x 4,320 pixels were pretty thin anyway, but the sheer upheaval and cost that would entail seems pointless in the face of AI. I can hear studio executives breathing a sigh of relief. A few years back, when calls for an 8K roadmap were rousing, it was seen as the nut to crack when it came to persuading buyers to climb further up the screen size ladder. But AI has changed all that. NASA-level number crunching and neural networking is now providing a different…