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Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
Return of the King The first universal 3D Blu-ray player from Cambridge Audio is something very precious indeed, says Steve May

If I were building a Blu-ray player, I suspect it would look a lot like Cambridge Audio’s Azur 751BD. It would be 3D compatible (just in case), offer network media streaming for sound and vision (because frankly that’s essential) and it would be compatible with my treasured, but sadly not growing, collection of DVD-Audio and SACDs.

Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
3D is just the start For a Smart Blu-ray player the LG BD670 is decidedly scruffy, but, says Steve May, beneath its lacklustre facade lies a feast of functionality

JG is currently embroiled in a Smart TV war with rival Samsung for dominance of the net-connected landscape. In both TV and Blu-ray, the pair are going head to head with similarly monikered portals (Smart TV and Smart Hub) stuffed with comparable apps and streaming video content.

Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
A Sony for the boracic lint Danny Phillips advises potential buyers to find another £20

Sony’s bottom-of-the-range Blu-ray spinner offers a lot in performance and specifications for its meagre £130 ticket, but misses out on a couple of the key features that its BDP-S480 sibling brings to the party for only £20 more. With that in mind, it’s only worth considering if you’re really hard up, or are looking to upgrade your bedroom setup.

Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
AE takes it to the Max Danny Phillips checks out an affordable 7.1 speaker array

Slapping the word ‘Max’ onto the end of your product name doesn’t automatically make it great, as anyone who’s tasted Pepsi Max can attest. But in the case of Acoustic Energy’s Neo Max system it seems entirely appropriate.

Adrian Justins  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments

The majority of TV screens are sold on the basis of their picture quality and how thin they are, so until somebody manages to make slim speakers with as much sonic clout as the traditionally lumpy woofers and tweeters, there’s a need for devices such as this one.

Mark Craven  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
A chip off the old speaker block Mark Craven auditions the baby brother to an HCC-award winning system – and finds AV performance runs in the family

PSB, named after founders Paul and Sue Barton, isn’t a particularly well known brand in the UK. Yet this Canadian outfit, distributed in Blighty by home cinema specialists Armour Home, makes some pretty tasty surround sound speaker packages that are worth consideration.

Adrian Justins  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments

The SB-100 claims to deliver a 5.1 experience through the magic of its so-called 3D sound feature, despite not being equipped with digital inputs or any kind of surround sound decoding. The only sockets are one set of stereo phonos and dual 3.5mm line inputs. Analogue signals are processed by circuitry licensed from Sonic Emotion and delivered to your ears via the SB100’s room-filling multiple drive units. There are six full-range tweeters and a 20W subwoofer that offer a combined 80W of power output, which is four times as powerful as most TV screens’ built-in speakers.

Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
Ultimate plasma Hallelujah! Panasonic has super-sized its high-end NeoPlasma display. Steve May basks before the glory of a 65in VT30

Size does matter. Both my wife and the Swedish au pair tell me this constantly, particularly when it comes to our home cinema.

Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
Do-it-all screen for 3D film fans Steve May checks out a mini version of Samsung’s high-end LED TVs

Samsung’s Series 9 TA950 drew big crowds when it was first unveiled at the 2011 CES. A hybrid 32in Freeview HD 3D TV and PC monitor, it’s a leading-edge screen for your desktop that offers all the functions of the brand’s high-end LED TVs. The design is inspired, with a panel that’s effectively suspended above its pedestal via a swooping right-hand bracket. This tilts backwards for a relaxed viewing position. Slimline 7W stereo speakers fire forwards from the front of the super-thin pedestal, while inputs are ranged along the rear. Just as on the brand’s regular TVs, the TA950 sports Samsung’s Smart Hub apps and IPTV portal, home to the BBC iPlayer YouTube, LOVEFiLM and the new and exclusive Explore 3D content channel.

Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
Sharp follows the yellow-rich road The brand’s latest offering combines much-improved 3D talents with ‘four-colour’ technology to startlingly good effect, says John Archer

Despite the best efforts of a lab-coated George Takei in Sharp’s ‘Quattron’ TV ad campaign, the brand’s unique four-colour technology hasn’t fired the imagination of Joe Public as much as was hoped.

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