In these days of 9.2.4 Dolby surround speaker set-ups and wireless speaker sets, it’s easy to lose sight of some of the basics. The fact remains, when it comes to great sound, nothing does the trick like a good pair of floorstanding speakers. They’re the solid bedrock upon which you can build the stereo system of your dreams.

Floorstanding speakers have been a cornerstone of home audio systems for decades. Also known as tower speakers, they are able to deliver a big and full sound that’s difficult to match. Even as more complex home theatre systems have become common, they remain the go-to workhorses that arguably provide the most important part of surround sound. Or at least,… they should be.

It’s rather interesting how a generation that never touched a turntable in their lives is falling for the technology.

It got us wondering: word is that the vinyl industry is booming, but what does that mean in numbers and how much has the technology changed?

Our new man Deano is an avid audiophile with a massive love for vinyl. He’s having a good look at the industry and the technology in his first blog.

A lot of noise has been made lately about the rise, development, benefit and cost of 4K projector technology. But projector bulb technology (LED, Laser and traditional lamps) and display technology are the bones of a home theatre projector and should not be forgotten in making a choice for your new home theatre projector.

Once you start digging, acronyms start flying: DLP, 3LCD, LCoS. Different technologies have implications on performance, common issues and cost, so it’s time to dust off the whole LCD vs DLP argument.

It’s not the first time we’ve grumbled about the war on formats going on in the home entertainment world. It’ll be no surprise that we can announce a new one: two types of high dynamic range (HDR) video technologies – HDR10 and Dolby Vision. 

We’ll dive into the differences between the two in a minute but, before we do, we should review what HDR is and how it ended up with two different formats.

This week’s blog is rooted in frustration.

It baffles us that in this day and age, many high end (and not so high-end) AV devices still rely on IR (infrared) or RS-232 (a serial computer protocol that dates back to 1970 and that was for instance used for the first computer mouse) for operating these devices. I mean… really?

It seems my own frustration is shared by many of you out there. Time to have a dig at what IR is about and how we can work as best as we can with the dinosaur technology behind AV remote controls.

An awesome Home Theatre at an affordable budget, with the wet weather we had over the weekend, we were very Read More

Many people assume that the only way to improve the sound they hear from their speakers is to change something around in your system. A new DAC? Sure, that might work. A better amplifier? If you can afford one, absolutely! Amplifiers are important in your AV system. Perhaps a new pair of speakers altogether? Definitely an exciting idea, but there could be a much simpler solution to this problem.

An often-overlooked fact is that aside from the technology inside a pair of speakers, slight alterations to their positioning within a room can make dramatic improvements to the overall sound.

If you can’t tell, we’re big fans of vinyl and we think you might be, too. There is just something incredibly satisfying to the act of watching that arm go down and listening to music that is full of soul.

A report on Forbes says vinyl sales are at a 28-year high. To put this into perspective, vinyl sales last year were higher than those of ad supported music streaming services like Spotify. Seriously!

This trend has led popular artists like Adele and Taylor Swift to release their albums on the vintage format.

But whatever your reason for starting a record collection there are a few things to know before you dive down the rabbit hole. We break it down for you. 

No one in his right mind would argue that true (native) 4K projectors are cheap.

There is no denying that the Sony’s VPL-VW5000ES is a truly amazing projector.  But at a price of more or less $80,000, it’s not for the average Joe. Admittedly, there are much cheaper true 4K’s around, but they still remain well outside most New Zealand customers budgets.  

A decent 1080p projector by contrast sits around the $3,000-$5,000 mark. 4K resolution may make a glorious image, it’s hard to justify this difference in price for most of us. The main reason for that, is that 1080p chips are much less costly than 4K chips.

But -and here’s the good news- until the price of true 4K comes down, there is some excellent compromise to be found in pixel shifting.

We Kiwis are a lot smarter than we give ourselves credit for.  I know, it is quite a statement, but I keep having jaw dropping moments when I look at the amount of talent we hide in all corners and nooks of the country. And it goes well beyond the number 8 wire ingenuity.

A great example is the Perreaux products. If you are a seasoned audiophile you will be familiar with the brand. If not, it’s about time you get to know them.