We’ve mentioned earlier that we are very excited about the amount of affordable speakers that do an amazing job considering their price tag. A modest budget no longer means you have to put up with bad sound.

If that is you, one of the options that is on the table is the ELAC Debut speakers (and soon the updated 2.0 Debuts), but also the Emotiva Airmotiv speaker series. 

Rapallo recently started a YouTube Channel  discussing new AV products, new AV Technology and some AV how to tips. 

One of the first topics the Rapallo guys decided to discuss is the Emotiva Airmotiv speakers unboxing and specs. 

When Rapallo moved to our Polaris Place location a few years ago, it was a first step in the transition from being an online store towards becoming a hybrid shop. We added a demo room and started inviting customers to come and see us, check out AV products,  and engage in a conversation about what we can do to help them achieve their AV goals.

Our design and installation services significantly increased in demand and we started looking at home automation as part of the solutions that we can offer our clients.

And Rapallo kept growing. We are now a busy AV shop. And it’s fair to say that we now have seriously outgrown our Polaris Place offices. 

Just this morning, a Munich High End article announcing new MQA hardware and software partners as well as the use of the format for CDs tumbled into our mailbox. Coincidence has it that we had a conversation with one of our Rapallo customers on the very same topic just yesterday.

We took it as a clear sign it’s time to write a blog on the topic and explain what the big hooh-hah is about. 

There are a few certainties in life when it comes to AV installations. One of them is that most people find it a bit daunting to mount their new flat-screen television on a wall. Not only do we know because of the amount of times we have people ask to do it for them, but also because an old(er) blog on the topic is one of our most popular blogs… ever. We do understand the appeal, though. I mean, just compare these two photos and tell me you prefer the second set-up.:-)Time to update that old blog, we say!

If you’ve figured out what wrong with the weather, make sure to let us know, because we sure have been puzzled about the on-and-off-weather last week. While it is a great excuse to get out of garden weeding and lawn mowing, we did enjoy some chronic binge-watching in our home theatre. Yes, that’s where you can find us, whenever some switch-off time is in place…. If we have your drooling, we have you exactly where we want you. But is it achievable to have a high performing set-up that you can be seriously proud of if you have a very modest budget? We say it can be done and we’ll show you how. We put together a 5.1 full home theatre set-up that is excellent value for money. We’ve recommended variations of this set-up (everybody’s situation is different) to several of our customers on many occasions and so far every single one has landed a very happy customer email in our inbox. (We love getting those, so keep them coming!)

When we wrote our Sony VPL-VW260ES true 4K projector review last week, it kind of caught our attention that the whole UHD Blu-ray lingo is a bit of a mine field. And then there are other important parameters that seem to come along with it like colour gamut, colour bit depths, colour subsampling, HDCP, HDMI and HDR. Huh…

We’ve so been waiting for this: a true 4K projector that was affordable to the average Joe, who is determined to put his money towards an awesome home theatre, rather than a boat upgrade.At just $7,999, the VPL-VW260ES is the least expensive native 4K projector that has been released in NZ so far. Hands up if you’re surprised we did a happy dance when we found. Since its release we’ve been heavily testing the precious magical box.And what do we have to say about the Sony VPL-VW260ES, you’re asking?

Shopping for an AV receiver is a little bit more complicated than setting a budget and sticking with it. In these day and age reading up on specs, streaming features and performance may only be the start of your journey.An AV receiver may look excellent on paper, but it is what it does in your personal set-up that really counts. You may have the best of the best, but do a half job at setting-up and you have wasted a truckload of money on air. Enter the room correction system that come with your AV receiver to help you out.

Setting up a home theatre -dedicated or not- is a pretty big project. One that requires planning and researching, but also time for proper set-up. To get the most bang for your buck when assembling an audio or audio/video system, it’s important to make each piece of equipment and the room all work together as a team. Simply buying good pieces of equipment isn’t enough, and the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. While we understand that no situation is ideal, that rooms may have multiple uses and that compromises need to be made, some errors are just too sad for words.We sum up the things you want to do in order to avoid those common goofs so you can enjoy every moment of the precious pennies and time spent.

After a few weeks of serving our home theatre lovers, it’s time to indulge our friends, the Rapallo audiophiles.We thought we would have a chat about phono stages, after we called the Edwards Audio Apprentice MM phono stage Rapallo’s pick of the week. If you’re into vinyl, upgrading your phono stage can provide one of the most dramatic improvements to sound quality.