LATEST ADDITIONS

The Aventage range represents the current high-end in AVR design from Yamaha. Combining bomb-proof build quality with brilliant DSP, they are arguably the most exciting new home theatre arrivals from the brand since the launch of the outrageously over-specified RX-Z11 THX battle-cruiser back in 2008.

I don’t know if it makes me even more OCD than normal reviewers but I do tend to identify corporate personality amongst speaker makers, just like one does for car manufacturers. For instance, Lamborghini designs nutty and flamboyant exhibitionists’ rides and Bentley makes a different sort of posh to Mercedes. Likewise, the sweet-natured Canadian brand Paradigm tends – or tended – to manufacture speakers like Rolls Royce made engines.

Smart is still the big buzzword in the AV world. Slapping it on a product guarantees instant kudos, enticing buyers with promises of extra web content and clever networking tricks. It’s an approach taken by Samsung for the BD-E8500, whose ‘Smart PVR’ not only brings you all the usual TV trappings like twin Freeview HD tuners and a 500GB HDD, but also the company’s online internet portal as well as playback of 2D and 3D Blu-ray discs.

We’re increasingly living in a connected world. Last year, 400 of the world’s 600 million broadband homes deployed home networking technology. By 2015, upwards of 700 million homes will be running local networks. Small wonder then that TV makers have put the pedal to the metal when it comes to making Smart TVs.