Best Buys – Audio & AV

This is a new company but is headed up by people with plenty of industry experience, with the founder having spent many years with Dynaudio and Focal. At this stage the range is miniscule, comprising of two pair of speakers along with their matching

On the other hand, Triangle has been manufacturing speakers for 40 years, and their two new models have been released to celebrate this fact. Both are anniversary editions of existing models from their popular Esprit range, and both are more than a s

Our respect for Yamaha’s Premium Series of product is well documented. This is a range that can hold its head high among the best audiophile brands on the market. To date their amplifiers have been very purist in their approach – but with the new R-N

You do everything properly when buying your system. You read product reviews and make a shortlist, visit your local dealer to listen to your options, and buy the kit you liked the most. It’s all come home and been connected with care, and yet somethi

UHD PROJECTOR BenQ headlines this as a ‘console gaming projector’, part of the company’s ‘X’ gaming series. And it has gaming features, yes, but it’s equally suited to more general entertainment, coming as it does with consumer 4K resolution, HDMI in

HOME CINEMA PROJECTOR As the last stage of a home entertainment chain, home projectors are a little like loudspeakers, turning an electrical signal into something you can perceive. So you need a source as well: a Blu-ray player or a digital TV receiv

4K UHD ROKU TV Beware playing with this television, even trying it out. It will spoil all other televisions for you, because of one simple but defining trait — it’s so fast. If you’ve ever fumbled with your remote to get the big game or your favourit

The idea of projection on a big screen is an enticing one, and when considering options many people will pay most attention to the projector choice. Since today these are loaded with technologies, you will want the latest options and best specificati

HOME CINEMA SPEAKERS It’s rare to encounter a new brand which not only brings fresh and competitive product to the marketplace, but which also suggests a way of doing things differently. But that’s the fundamental ethos behind this new Australian bra

NETWORKED AV RECEIVER Choosing an AV receiver is just about the hardest job in the world of AV shopping. There’s so much that they do, even if you won’t need it all. It can be hard to separate them. You should, of course, do so by listening. And by l

SOUNDBAR & SUBWOOFER We hesitate to even call this a soundbar — it’s not ‘bar’-shaped. Indeed Polk’s MagniFi Mini AX is full of surprises. Just be careful with the name, however: Polk also has a plain MagniFi Mini, and a MagniFi 2, a Magnifi Max, a M

What do you want in your main living area — great music, or great TV and movie entertainment? In most homes, for most people, it’s the TV that takes centre-stage, and if you’re lucky enough to have the space, money and marital understanding to set up

SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM How can you get surround sound in the lounge? Two choices, really: either you get the traditional home cinema system of big AV receiver and speakers all over the room, or the more convenient soundbar, a compromise solution that

SOUNDBAR + SUBWOOFER Small soundbars can be very useful, and doubly so if they don’t need a subwoofer. They can then be the perfect thing for a bedroom TV or a rumpus-room TV: anywhere you want audible sound better than a TV, but not a full-on room-b

Streamers are the newest breed of hi-fi component — a separate source like a CD player or a turntable, but instead of playing physical discs they specialise in going online and playing music from free and subscription streaming music services like Sp

WIRELESS MULTIROOM SYSTEMS Most of our reviews examine a single piece of hi-fi or AV in isolation. But that’s hardly a fair approach when much of the existential value of a product resides in being part of an ecosystem that extends throughout the hom

STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKERS The 800 Series is Bowers & Wilkins’ flagship range, so that a new 800 Series heralds new flagship technologies and advanced materials that extend the art of loudspeaker making. A new 700 Series, on the other hand, shows how ma

STEREO AMPLIFIER / DAC / STREAMER Picture the experience. You’re relaxing on the sofa, with a tablet on your lap, and you’re scrolling through your favourite music. You find an album you want to hear, press the play button, and music emerges. This is

SUBWOOFER A pair of Magico’s latest top-of the-range M9 speakers will cost you around one-and-a-quarter million dollars, depending on the prevailing exchange rate with the US, where Magico loudspeakers are made. That’s the bad news. The good news is

STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER & LOUDSPEAKERS March Audio is based in Albany, WA, where it designs and builds electronics and loudspeakers. These already include the Sound+Image award-winning P452 stereo power amplifier — now updated as the P422, including a

Why do some people buy standmount speakers while others buy floorstanders? Why do manufacturers make both? If the floorstanding versions are bigger and more expensive, is it just a question of having the budget? So many questions. But you’re right to

STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKERS Revival Audio is a new loudspeaker maker, from picturesque Mulhouse, Alsace, France. Its co-founders are industry stalwarts, and they are using technologies which they believe will allow it to find a place among the great many

SMART MUSIC SYSTEM Rather than review the Ruark R2 Mk4 Smart Music System in our usual listening rooms, we decided to set it up in a master bedroom. It’s that sort of product — ideal for a study or secondary space, and very much looking the part for

FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKERS We’ve seen several pairs of standmounting speakers so far in this issue of Best Buys Audio & AV, but if you’ve just been been through our ‘floorstanders vs standmounts’ guide and have come down on the side of full-size cabi

The P421 is March Audio’s first Purifi-based mono-block amplifier. Milled from solid aluminium with a tough anodized treatment, it features the new Purifi 1ET400A technology, Bruno Putzeys’ development of his previous Hypex Ncore designs, enabling ex