LATEST ADDITIONS

Ed Selley  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  0 comments
Back to basics suits the bank Toshiba’s feature-light 3D deck fails to excite Danny Phillips

Toshiba’s Blu-ray players have never been cutting-edge affairs, but the company has wholeheartedly embraced 3D. The BDX3200 is its latest 3D-ready effort and with its £150 price tag should appeal to those on a budget – although Sony’s BDP-S480 costs the same amount and offers much more in functionality.

Ed Selley  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  0 comments
The God of VoD The BDP-S480 offers so much on-tap entertainment, you may never spin a disc

Sony’s BDP-S570 player was a runaway hit during 2010, hoovering up more awards than the clean-up crew at the BAFTAs – so this closely related follow-up has a lot to live up to.

Ed Selley  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  0 comments
Unconventional cool Samsung's ultra-thin deck is more proof of the brand’s style ambitions

This achingly petite BD player claims to be the world’s smallest Blu-ray player and it’s more of a lifestyle statement than a traditional AV component. Available in trendy silver or gloss black, it’s a remarkable example of ‘Harry Potter’ engineering.

Ed Selley  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  0 comments
Internet explorer Philips' newest deck offers a web browser and excellent media streaming

Philips has created a thing of beauty with its 7 Series 3D Blu-ray deck. Finished in a greyish-silver and sporting a sculpted lip with illuminated soft-touch buttons, it’s a real step up from the humdrum.

Anton van Beek  |  Sep 01, 2011  |  0 comments

It’s now ten years since Rob Cohen’s unassuming street racing flick turned Vin Diesel into a true action star and kick-started a new franchise for petrolheads all over the world.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 29, 2011  |  0 comments

Marketed as a straightforward action-thriller, Hanna is anything but your typical Hollywood flick. True, the storyline about a sixteen year-old girl (Saoirse Ronan) who, having spent her entire life being trained to survive and kill, goes on the run from a vindictive CIA chief (Cate Blanchett) sounds like standard blockbuster material. But director Joe (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) Wright takes its in a completely unexpected direction, using it as the springboard for a modern fairytale that seems as much in debt to the grotesquery of David Lynch or The Brothers Grimm as it does to the traditions and conventions of action genre it continually toys with. It’s the kind of brave, inventive filmmaking that is sure to divide audiences right down the middle.

Ed Selley  |  Aug 26, 2011  |  0 comments

Quadral is not a UK household name. The German brand has been in business for nearly 40 years, but has only ever intermittently appeared in this country. Now the manufacturer is making a serious attempt on the UK market with its full range of products, of which the Chromium range is the second most pricey in the sizeable lineup. Tested here is a package comprising the £1,160 Chromium 50 floorstanders, £650 Chromium 30 standmounts, £410 Chromium 10 centre and £475 88DV sub. All parts are available separately.

Ed Selley  |  Aug 25, 2011  |  0 comments
Speech and sound thats fit for a king Danny Phillips auditions a speaker system with a musical provenance

Hi-fi buffs may already be familiar with Tannoy’s Definition speakers, a two-channel range first introduced way back in the mid-’90s and brought back to life in 2009 with an elegant new design for the contemporary market. That’s the very same system you’re currently ogling on these pages, but before you start checking the cover date we should assure you that there’s a good reason for turning back the clock.

Ed Selley  |  Aug 25, 2011  |  0 comments
Hammer cracks volume nut Late-night volume changes can be avoided, finds Martin Pipe

This system uses Dolby Volume, which is a technology designed to intelligently ‘normalise’ loudness to avoid the annoying volume jumps familiar to late-night telly addicts, when broadcasters turn up the sound for adverts. The tech, which was modelled on psychoacoustic research conducted by Dolby, is integral to recent TVs, AVRs and this Volume Stabiliser.

Ed Selley  |  Aug 25, 2011  |  0 comments
True Blu server Kaleidescape’s market-leading networked playback system now embraces hi-def discs to great effect, as Martin Pipe discovers

In previous reviews, I have extolled the virtues of the impressive Kaleidescape networked AV system. Although highly expensive and intended for professional installation (bar the one-box Mini, since renamed the Cinema One), there’s nothing to beat its smoothly presented and intuitive method of selecting DVDs and CDs for playback. And now Kaleidescape has added Blu-ray to the mix...

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