And so it is that we turn our attention to another super high end home cinema leviathan. But rather than a processor, this time it’s the new installation-friendly AVR from Storm Audio. What does SA get right that the luxury competition doesn’t?
Developed in collaboration with JVC, the new ultraportable solution introduces K2HD technology to the line-up to help restore the source audio to its original master quality.
This week we ask if home theatre/home cinema is still a popular addition to homes or are people consuming music, movies, sports and TV in different ways in their living spaces. Is Home Cinema or Home Theater as we used to know it, now dead?
Can a ‘phantom’ centre speaker work as well as the real thing?
by Ian Collen
With several members happy with stereo speakers for their home cinema viewing, this discussion weighs up the pros and cons of a two-channel audio system against dedicated LCR and 5.1 set-ups.
Pre-orders for the 4K UHD RGB laser projector are now open, ready to offer a plug-and-play simplicity that can deliver 120-inch displays around the home.
Brosnan and Baccarin afford this cheap low-rent 'thriller' from Dead Calm's Phillip Noyce a distinctly YMMV justification for sitting through its amateurish hijinks.
Never have the words ‘Based on a True Story’ had such a profound effect on a generation…and never have they been such a lie, with the controversy around Stuart Rosenberg’s seminal haunted house classic proving to be almost as interesting as the story of the Lutz Family themselves. And with 88 films releasing the 1979 classic on a brand new 4K UHD, we can decide for ourselves what actually happened and what didn’t…
Thinking of starting your own DIY home cinema project?
by Ian Collen
This detailed thread covering an impressive room conversion offers a timely reminder that the forums can provide a wealth of inspiration and support for all manner of professional or personal AV projects.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) (Disney+) Movie Review
by Cas Harlow
The concert epic that shook the blockbuster landscape to the tune of a quarter of a billion, Eras is a thoroughly grand and impressively choreographed celebration of the sheer star power of Taylor Swift.
What are the best sources for watching 4K UHD content?
by Ian Collen
With most new TVs catering for 4K as standard, this thread discusses some of the best options for making the most of that premium UHD technology, such as the main streaming services and Blu-ray discs.
This annual update offers up some welcome refinements over 2K23, but with a few pre-existing flaws still pinning it against the ropes can the franchise once again be named king of the ring?
Shooting for Bottoms meets Pulp Fiction, this cheap, tonally awry, distinctly un-funny, try-hard, sack-full-of-dildos romp utterly misfires, clearly coming from the wrong solo Coen Brother, and both awkwardly and shamelessly wasting the talents of a couple of good actresses.
Samsung’s flagship soundbars have for generations now delivered the most immersive audio performances in the soundbar world with their huge amounts of power, four components (including real rear speakers) and massive channel counts. So, can Samsung’s new HW-Q990D - which sticks again at 16 channels - keep the improvements coming?
Lyngdorf MXA-8400 Eight Channel Power Amplifier Review
by Martin Dew
Lyngdorf Audio finally offers an 8-channel power amplifier to complement its MP- surround processors. That puts them right in line with its super high-end home cinema competitors. The MXA-8400 certainly looks the part, but does it sound like it as well?
Another month, another superb release schedule for little known gems from the boutique labels that continue to do the Lord’s work. This month, some hugely fun Asian actioners (and one sadly not so…), some brutal British kitchen sink dramas and Alain Delon being cool in knitwear. What more do you want? UPDATED WITH 6 COMPETITIONS!
After a long and uncertain three year wait, Denis Villeneuve's Magnum Opus continues with this epic second chapter in his staggering realisation of Frank Herbert's Dune - UPDATED WITH IMAX REVIEW.
AVForums TV, Display and Calibration Podcast - 11th March 2024
by Phil Hinton
This week we look at whether you should consider buying last year’s TV models instead of waiting for the 2024 versions and save yourself a lot of money doing so?
Where to watch the 2024 Oscar best picture nominees
by Andy Bassett
UPDATED with winners 11-Mar-2024: With the 2024 Oscar ceremony having just taken place, we look at the streaming services where you can quickly catch this year’s best film nominees so you can now 'agree to disagree' with the Academy's choices if you so wish.
Continuing her run of Netflix starring vehicles, Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown takes on a competently designed CG dragon in a flabby, frivolous piece of perfectly tolerable night-in entertainment.
The mainstream horror rut continues as Blumhouse follows up its last dull, dreary, multiplex horror with… another dull, dreary, multiplex horror. Who’d have imagined that?
Nuts and bolts Statham doing what he does best; it's trashy, it's hilariously OTT, but it's also a frequently viscerally satisfying piece of revenge action carnage. UPDATE - NOW ON SKY/NOW TV
7
Hi-Fi
LG launches portable StanbyME Speaker
by Ian Collen
Designed to work in harmony with its namesake lifestyle TV, as well as being a standalone wireless audio solution, the new stereo speaker features dual 20mm tweeters with a 20W output.
Starman (Columbia Classics Vol. 4) 4K Blu-ray Review
by Mark Costello
John Carpenter’s most emotional film still radiates charm and warmth despite its underlying tone of sadness and loss. And it's all the more beautiful on this stunning new 4K restoration from Sony as part of their ongoing Columbia Classics boxsets…
Sharply witty and sublimely satirical, and providing a much-deserved, tour-de-force lead for the excellent Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction is definitely worth catching whilst it's still on the Big Screen. UPDATE - Now on Amazon Prime UK.
Somewhat insanely, Guy Ritchie's created/written/directed TV spin-off to his 2019 movie of the same name is great fun, chock full of colourful characters, bursting with witty dialogue, and utterly bingeworthy.
8
Gaming
Baldur’s Gate 3 leads the BAFTA Games Awards 2024 nominees
by Ian Collen
Larian Studios excellent RPG is in the running for 10 categories, including Best Game, with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor also in for a potentially busy night.
Updating the original planar magnetic closed-back design, the new-gen model integrates a Quarter Wavelength Resonator Mask and enhanced Isodynamic Hybrid Array driver.
First announced last year, the floor-standing model finally takes its place as the biggest and most powerful loudspeaker solution within the 5000 series.
Astell & Kern has taken the company's considerable knowledge of digital and separated it from its portable players. Is the HC4 the best way to enjoy the A&K sound?
This long-awaited sequel to the 2020 remake of the original classic RPG adds a fresh twist, both in terms of its storyline and gameplay, but can it live up to the weight of expectation?
A loose adaptation of Alasdair Gray's novel, Poor Things is a perfect confluence of art and message, idea and execution, writing and design, Yorgos Lanthimos follows up his Oscar winning film 'The Favourite' with a bona fide masterpiece. UPDATE - Now on Disney+ in 4KDV/DA
This week Ed reports back on all the new Hi-Fi products launched at the Bristol Show and we discuss how to get started building a Hi-Fi System in 2024 and what you need.