All Home cinema systems Feeds

Arcam Solo Movie

tech.co.uk staff — 1205492345

Predictably, it was Sony that launched the first all-in-one cinema system in the UK in the early days of DVD, and quickly realised that it was shifting more DVD systems than stand-alone players and making much healthier margins.

The 'home-theatre-in-a-box' phenomenon has died down now, but it's still the most cost-effective and convenient way of getting DVD playback with surround sound into your home. As a purist fan of home cinema though, I have to conclude that they were all crap.

Compromised in both size and price, the HTB (Home Theatre in a Box) generally fails to deliver 'proper' home cinema sound through puny amplifiers and tiny plywood speakers. However, a British brand noted for its audio and video separates has come up with a new proposition that has changed my long-held opinions. It's an all-in-one system that uses high-quality components and allows you the freedom to choose your own speakers.

The Solo Movie 5.1 combines a high-performance DVD player with a DAB tuner and a powerful five-channel amplifier in one stylish machine.

Arcam wasn't the first to come up with the concept of a high-end one-box solution, but the alternatives, from Linn and Bang and Olufsen, are more esoteric compared to Arcam's very pragmatic approach. With a succession of cutting-edge DVD players and audiophile grade amplifiers under its belt, combining them in one box is simply a matter of engineering logistics.

From the front, the Solo Movie keeps a low profile and is only available in ninja-style black. Instead, the unit isdeep to accommodate the five discrete linear 50W amplifiers and massive toroidal mains transformer. It weighs a lot too - 7.5kg to be precise.

The Solo Movie has inputs for three other AV sources (potentially more) including Sky HD, which is controllable via the clever universal remote. An iPod cradle (the rDock) is an optional extra.

Top-end technology

Much of the tech associated with the DVD player comes directly from the company's £1,300 DV137, which means it can upscale video to 720p, 768p and 1080i.

It's based around the Zoran 8885 processor - the best on the market, currently. It also means you can play both Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio discs.

Since the company's birth 30 years ago, Arcam has been best known for its high-end audio, and sound quality was high on the agenda during the Solo's conception. As well as expensive audio DACs that handle the digital-to-analogue conversion, you also get both digital and analogue radio tuners on board to satisfy new and old school audiophiles.

Simplicity was also the watchword in the Solo's design. Despite the sophisticated technology inside, it is wonderfully easy to use. The ordinary-looking remote control is backlit and intuitively designed and while the onscreen graphics are dull, they are mercifully easy to follow.

Just be careful when choosing the video output resolution. Pick one that's incompatible with your display device and you're faced with the dreaded black screen, then it's a case of quickly hooking up a composite video lead to change it back again.

Picture of health

With all the excitement surrounding the hi-def formats, it's easy to forget how good DVD can look. The Solo Movie is here to remind us. Any budget DVD player can upscale to 1080i these days, but they usually make a hash of it. Image quality here is top drawer, with upscaled episodes of 24 looking crisp and contrasty.

You can, of course, hook up your own hi-def source to the Solo as there are two HDMI inputs capable of switching up to 1080i signals. However, they are not version 1.3, so there's no way of getting lossless sound. I would also have liked a third HDMI in, but the two-into-one component switching is pretty good compensation.

With Arcam's Muso speaker range not available during my audition I was free to choose another. I used my Miller and Kreisel array - which are often difficult to drive - with great success. Budget systems often claim outrageous power ratings, but Arcam's claim of 50W RMS to each speaker is genuine. There's plenty of volume and headroom on offer to achieve an authentic home cinema surround sound.

With all of my sources connected up, the Arcam is a joy to use as the main switching box ,and it looks great under the TV in place of the DVD player, amp and tuner. All this convenience makes me feel uneasy, but there is no compromise. All of the sources, particularly the DVD player, look and sound fantastic.

The puffed up press release proclaims it 'the world's best one-box home cinema system' and for once, I'm inclined to agree.

Sony DAV-IS10

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Sony's latest cosmetic quirk could land it a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The DAV-IS10 features the smallest satellite speakers ever seen on a home cinema system, each one being the size of a golf ball, so they can be discretely integrated into your room's décor. Despite their tiny size Sony insists they'll deliver the same sound quality you'd get from far bigger ones. This is a claim we'll put to the test.

The speakers are visually unremarkable, but incredibly well made, feeling weighty and robust. More exciting is the main DVD/amplifier unit, which is styled in a luxurious black gloss finish with classy, touch-sensitive controls along the top and a front-loading disc slot.

The system's powerful subwoofer is understandably a lot bigger than the satellites, given its bass-generating duties, but thankfully it's just as good-looking.

Features

The main unit's rear panel sports HDMI, component and composite video outputs, plus optical and electrical digital audio inputs to feed in sources such as a Sky+ box.

Also on the rear is a Digital Media Port, which lets you connect a variety of optional Sony-made adaptors for peripheral gadgets, which can then be played through the system. These include an iPod cradle plus network Walkman and Bluetooth audio adaptors to stream music to the system wirelessly.

The unit features video upscaling to 720p or 1080i from the HDMI output, but not 1080p. It also plays a pleasingly wide range of disc types.

The main unit uses Sony's 32-bit S-Master digital amp and sound processing and will happily play back Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. You'll also find Pro Logic II processing and a whole host of Sound Field modes that apply different effects to the sound, including a specific setting for portable music devices.

Ease of use

Setting up the system is a breeze. The colour-coded speaker cables plug into the corresponding terminals on the back of the subwoofer, while the main unit and sub are joined together by a single umbilical cord.

Once you've hooked it all up, you can optimise the speakers for your room using the system's superb automatic calibration mode, which sets the speaker distances and channel levels in about 30 seconds.

Elsewhere, the unit's operating system is a delight, using a succession of clear and logical onscreen displays and a remote blessed with sensibly arranged buttons. There are two setup menus - Quick and Custom - which could come in handy if you only want to alter the basic settings.

Picture

The DAV-IS10 delivers high quality 1080i pictures from the HDMI output, as a blast of Fellowship of the Ring demonstrates. Every detail is captured, giving pictures a bold and punchy appearance that looks great, even on screens over 42in.

What's more, the system's video processing is also respectful of the movie's colour palette. The organic tones of the scenery are warm and vivid, yet perfectly natural and free of nasty MPEG noise.

Sound

It's hard to believe but those diddy speakers do generate the sort of neighbour-waking power that home cinema fans crave. Turn up the volume and the output is loud, dynamic and free from distortion, making the Mines of Moria sequence sound thrilling.

What's most impressive is that the system doesn't simply rely on the subwoofer for its power, although it does play its part, underpinning the action with dollops of brutal bass, but the midrange and top-end from these punchy satellites is given plenty of room, resulting in a well balanced soundstage.

Credit also goes to the rear speakers, which convey a great deal of sonic detail. Their sharp reproduction of delicate effects and subtle ambience heightens the creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere of the Moria scene, particularly as the hordes of snarling goblins swarm from the mine walls. Effects are also accurately placed and well separated, creating an engaging surround experience.

This is topped off by an excellent performance from the centre speaker, which allows dialogue to cut through the chaos and make itself heard.

The system's only real weakness is that you need to turn it up to near maximum to get the best results, and soundtracks lose much of their vigour at low-volume, but then who wants to watch movies quietly?

CD and MP3 playback are terrific, but considering the price we reckon Sony should have included SACD playback.

Value

Inevitably, the DAV-IS10's aesthetic innovations make it expensive compared to many other one-box 5.1 systems on the market, and at this price the lack of SACD playback and 1080p upscaling is a poor show.

But what you do get for your money is a stylish, living room friendly system that delivers powerful sound from its minute speakers - and on that basis it's well worth investigating.

Arcam AV9

tech.co.uk staff — 1204449500

If the thought of something 'British Designed' conjures up phrases like quintessential, unique and eclectic, then Arcam's AV9 will not disappoint. Conceived and built in the heart of Cambridgeshire, the company's latest high-end processor follows hot on the outputs of the well-received AV8, and approaches the home cinema game in a radically different way to rival Japanese mega-amps.

From the matt silver finish and love-it or hate-it green dot-matrix display, the physical design is Arcam through and through. The build quality is faultless, underpinning the brand's 5-year guarantee, and the case is constructed with Acousteel - a laminated sandwich of steel-sheet and rubber that damps vibrations that can affect delicate acoustic components.

The back panel has its charms too, with no less than five HDMI inputs. Sadly there is only a single HDMI output, apparently due to the cost, complexity and politics of maintaining the HDCP signal across multiple outputs. The HDMIs all have the bandwidth for full 1080p HD signal switching, as do the analogue component video connections.

Strangely there are no iLink inputs nor the ability to upconvert video signals. Then again, you do get no less than three subwoofer outputs allowing you to 'bass tune' a room with multiple subs (and of course create seismic scale explosions...). This is clearly an AV processor with a much bigger A than V.

Along with the stringent THX Ultra 2 certification, the AV9 offers high precision calibration down to 1/2dB per channel and delay distance measurement down to just 100mm. Of course, this means that the AV purist might want to implement some sort of neck brace to watch movies so they don't move their ears out of the precise 'hot-spot'!

Conversely, the technology that Arcam eschews - when almost every other manufacturer is clutching it to their ample AV bosom - is auto setup and Room EQ. No mic, no automatic system balancing routine and no electronic equalisation - parametric or otherwise. With the AV9 you get just pure sound... a philosophy that comes straight from Arcam's hi-fi heart.

Manual setup

Blowing the dust off the tape measure and sound-pressure meter, I initially configured the AV9 with the matching Arcam P7 multichannel power amp - perhaps the most likely pairing.

Setup is straightforward using the rather bland and functional on-screen display, accessible through the remote control or the front panel. The OSD is interlaced causing a switching pause if you are hooked up to a progressive display. This is fine during set-up but a pain if you are tweaking settings while playing a movie.

Powering up the combo, the first thing you notice is the exceptionally low noise floor. There is an inky silence pre-movie which sets the scene nicely and encourages a rather gung-ho initial volume setting... something you quickly notice as the AV9/P7 combo pins you to the sofa with a spleen-crushing SPL on the THX intro clip.

This pairing just ripples with power and passion and has more than enough warmth to add a cosseting smoothness that Arcam is richly famed for. It does action with rare presence and imagery, and the accurate control of up to three subs could well turn this combo into the system of choice for really, really big SPL home cinema.

Hooked up to a large speaker sets, Tannoy's biggest Dimension package in my case, the sheer impact and scale of the Arcam pairing is a visceral shock wave that goes effortlessly and gracefully loud without becoming remotely aggressive or shouty.

Switching the AV9's output to highly neutral Sony power amps, and then more lively Parasound models, reveals that much of the robust character of the original pairing is down to the P7. In fact, the AV9 is perhaps close to having no sonic character at all. It is sublimely neutral across its epic dynamic range and has a clarity that ekes out detail with a tenacity that precious few integrated AV amplifiers can manage.

Effects from the rears in particular seem to emerge from out of nowhere, with no precursor hiss or perception that there are speakers behind you. It is a supremely eerie effect with tense thrillers such as Panic Room, as every creak of a floorboard comes with breath-holding grip. Shock rear effects out of a silent soundtrack will make you spin round to check there isn't an axe-wielding psychopath hiding behind your cheeseplant every time. Superb.

For sheer dynamic range and clarity, Arcam's closest rival is perhaps Sony's flagship TA-DA9000ES AV-amplifier. Both have an impeccably clean and polished sound, but where the Arcam nudges ahead is that it manages to avoid Sony's starkness than can prove fatiguing.

When it comes to a heady day of back-to-back movies the Arcam will keep you on the edge of your seat from dawn to dusk. It is material, genre and format agnostic, simply doing a great neutral job and allowing the user to bias the overall sound with their choice of power amp.

The market is not exactly awash with processors at around this price, so direct comparison is quite tricky. As a combo the AV9/P7 is potent and accomplished but integrated models, such as Denon AVC-A1XV, offer better value in terms of both features and engaging (if not as neutral) home cinema sound.

But the AV9 is a processor with huge potential. Partner it with power amplification offering all the guts of the P7 but with added sparkle (say, Parasound's A21/A51 at £5,200) it is something very special indeed.

The lack of Room-EQ may deter some purchasers but the subjective benefits of such systems are a variable feast and that alone perhaps justifies its omission here. Arcam's philosophy of getting the basics right without recourse to digital jiggery-pokery will suit many and, in terms of being accurate, tonally neutral and well connected, the AV9 takes a lot of beating for music and movies. Thoroughly recommended. Richard Stevenson

Denon AVR-1907

Magazine Team — 1204375544

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on an HD disc is actually the second-most anticipated launch of 2007. Top of that exalted list is Denon's AVR-1907.

Why? Well, according to my mates in AV retail, many of whom actually have my credit card details on their mortgage documents, Denon's previous sub-£400 receiver was a proverbial hot cake.

In some shops the AVR-1906 outsold all other budget receivers ten to one - and rightly so, as it was a cracker, a first-class bargain. No pressure then.

The all-new AVR-1907 comes to the test bench promising more features, more power, and even better value - sort of. Number one point of contention is that the price has actually risen from £330 to £400, which is the wrong side of an inflation-busting 20 per cent increase. Ouch.

This is the 'full asking price', of course, and there are some damn fine deals to be had if it is purchased with a Denon DVD player as a package.

Power up

The good news is power is up - just. Output is up by 5W per channel to 85W, as verified by our Tech Labs... which should make absolutely no difference at all. However, there is no change to the basics. The chassis is identical, the setup, OSD and fascia are exactly the same and the decoding set is likewise verbatim. Indeed, you could count the changes from the previous model on one hand without needing your thumb.

Looking under the lid I am getting serious amplifier deja vu. But, hold the phone. Surely if you were going to implement any major upgrade from the previous model you would address the one and only gripe I had about the AVR-1906 - namely that it didn't have HDMI.

Of course, it's obvious! Well, not to Denon's engineers apparently, because the AVR-1907 remains stoically devoid of HDMI switching. Up against similarly-priced models from the likes of Onkyo, resplendent in their HDMI switching and in some cases HDMI upconversion, the budget king's crown is starting to slip.

So on the face of it, this year's model is a lot like last year's model. Underwhelming? Possibly, but let's take a moment of quiet, retrospective contemplation.

Just because it does not boast a wholesale change from its forebear does not necessarily render it a lemon - particularly when said forebear was a best-seller. The AVR-1907 still packs in decoding for every format you are likely to find on a DVD movie, sexy SHARC DSPs, 192kHz/24bit DACs, auto set-up with mic supplied and rear-back channels that can be reassigned to front bi-amping duties.

In addition, this model now offers rather sumptuous aluminium knobs rather than plastic, a connector for Denon's AD1-SR iPod dock (should you insist on doing that) and video up-conversion to component in the digital domain.

The system's 12-bit/216MHz digital video converters are claimed to give a much smoother and more lifelike component output from any video input. The AVR-1907 is also greener, with a frugal sub-1W energy consumption in eco-standby mode. That might go a little way to assuaging your guilt when it's drawing nearly half a kilowatt at full chat.

The AVR-1907 also comes with Denon's new double-sided remote control. Once you get used to buttons being on both sides (under a flap on the rear) it really is something of an ergonomic delight.

These fineries are merely the icing on what is a big, calorie-laden, full-fat cream-filled cake. I love this receiver for its no-holds-barred power and passion, and its commanding clout with any movie.

With an action flick it will thump out big explosions, effects and rocking soundtracks with an authority that leaves the competition sounding meek and mild.

For less than £400 it has no right to drive my huge Tannoy floor-standing speaker package with such machismo. It's no less at home switching to a less exotic sub-sat lifestyle speaker system (...the missus made me buy it - honest).

It offers rock-solid bass and a smooth top end that always checks higher frequency effects from getting spitty or aggressive at volume.

With either type of speaker partner, its naturalness with dialogue is impressive and the AVR-1907 eclipses more than a few receivers for intelligible, realistic voicing. It is blissfully free of that cuppy, chesty or nasal dialogue traits that afflict much of the budget AV receiver market and is equally punchy and controlled at low or mid volumes.

I found myself watching Pan's Labyrinth for the second time almost in a row simply because the Denon's sweet balance draws you right into plot and crafts that all-important suspension of disbelief.

At high volumes it's something altogether different. Just like its forebear, give it a good quarter turn of the volume knob and the amplifier that your mother would approve of throws off its sensible shoes and turns into a hard-core extreme-action monster.

With Casino Royale high frequencies all but leap out of the speakers and the bass grabs hold of your sofa and tries to shake the cushions off. The overall impact makes a mockery of the mediocre claimed power output, even with its alleged extra 5W, as the 1907 seems to have bags of grunt in reserve.

The lack of HDMI and the increased price makes the AVR-1907 less of an all-round bargain than its predecessor, but its still got it where it counts and weaves its magic with any film and almost any speaker attached to it. Sonically you would have to be bitter and twisted to find fault with the AVR-1907 at its price - not quite a killer then, but still damn dangerous.

Philips HTS6600

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This is the latest all-in-one to try to persuade us to live without rear speakers.

Philips' stylish HTS6600 comprises a central unit for spinning discs, a subwoofer housing all the amplification and two attractive stereo speakers.

It's a very handsome system at an attractive price, but will the touted 'Ambisound' technology really make us feel as if we're at the very heart of a full-on surround sound system?

Multi-format compatible

All of the standard functions are present, including a video zoom (up to 4x) and the usual trick-play features. Multimedia playback is impressive, with DiVX discs catered for and a video-on-demand code provided. MP3, WMA and JPEG files are also all welcome.

Disappointingly, you cannot play DVD-Audio or SACD discs.

This is also a standard DVD player, so no HD discs can be played. You can, however, upscale standard-def DVDs up to 1080i. It won't approach genuine hi-def quality, but when it's done well there should be a visible improvement.

Connectivity therefore includes the necessary HDMI output, as well as component video and RGB Scart as fallback options. The sub offers audio hookups, including an electrical digital audio input, for connecting external sources.

The speakers use a combination of 'psychoacoustic effects' and angled, full-range 2in drivers to create an illusory surround soundstage - or that's what the Ambisound blurb says, anyway.

The system will detect whether the incoming source is of multichannel or stereo nature and switch playback accordingly (although you can opt to engage multichannel Ambisound playback on stereo sources if you wish).

DoubleBASS promises to retrieve low-frequency information that is below the capability of the sub and reproduce it within the audible range, although it obviously won't be as deep.
Finally, for those who like a few frills on their audio, there are Action, Rock, Concert, Classic, Drama, Jazz, MTV, R'n'B, Gaming, Party, Cartoon, Lounge, Sports and News presets.

User friendly

This really is a very easy system to set up: you simply plug the subwoofer in, hook up the main unit and speakers using the cables and umbilical supplied and you're ready to proceed with the onscreen setup.

You can opt to mount both the main unit and the stereo speakers onto a wall, which would certainly make an arresting installation. For this test we stuck with the nicely designed stands.

The user friendliness is completed by an attractive, well thought-out remote control.

Strong images

The images via the RGB Scart are very good. We enjoyed a range of test discs with bold colours, fine levels of detail and no nasty artefacts. Trick-play functions work well and the zoom is effective, too.

A progressive scan signal via the component video outputs proves to be more stable than the Scart, we like the HDMI-delivered picture best, though. It comes over as cleaner and more precise.

For example, the stark, monochrome palette of the neo-noir movie, Good Night and Good Luck, is presented with crisp whites and deep, solid blacks.

Exuberant animation such as Finding Nemo proves the Philips is no slouch on saturated colour either.

Upscaling, however, does not deliver a noticeable boost to the image, so don't expect the disc player to work miracles with your DVD collection.

Improved soundstage

The audio performance is a bit of a letdown at first. You can tame the subwoofer to stop it from taking over, though, and this improves the sound considerably.

Dialogue, is handled very well and subtleties of soundtracks are well picked out. However, the subwoofer is noisy in operation, emitting a distracting sound similar to a PC's cooling fan.

There is also a very annoying glitch that sees audio drop out when re-engaging play after pausing. The video rolls on, but there is no sound for two seconds, which can mean you miss some dialogue.

Finally, it must be said that although the Ambisound technology does produce a wider soundstage than a standard stereo TV, it does not come close to mimicking the presence of surround speakers.

It also highlights a very flat and muffled performance when the system is in two-channel stereo mode, where quality seems to be lost. This means you'll probably limit your viewing and listening to the multichannel setting.

There is plenty of volume and you certainly get a more immersive audio experience than just using your TV's speakers. The subwoofer certainly has impact at the very bottom end of the soundstage.

Value for money?

The HTS6600 is a decent bet if you want something compact that does a better job than TV speakers but aren't too fussed about achieving genuine surround sound.

This system comes agonisingly close to getting an overall four out of five, but the foibles of a noisy sub, sound dropout after pauses and the fact that Ambisound doesn't live up to its claims, keeps it down to three stars.

This is a very neat and, effective setup, within its own limitations. It just doesn't really perform as a surround sound system and it would perform best as a secondary installation.

Pioneer RCS-9H

tech.co.uk staff — 1202910276

The Pioneer RCS-9H offers recording and versatile speaker placement in addition to its typical one-box system capabilities.

What's more, it combines the best of both recording worlds by featuring DVD-R/RW and 80GB hard-disk recording. Phew! And despite all this functionality, Pioneer has kept the main unit discrete and simple.

The one of thing the RCS-9H doesn't have is a component video output for the very best picture quality to your flatscreen, but we found pictures via its RGB Scart were more than enough to please us; in fact they are almost irreproachable. Recordings are almost as impressive, and still watchable in the lower-quality recording modes.

Like Pioneer's DCS-323, the RCS-9H incorporates the brand's 3-Spot Surround technology - for 'pseudo' surround when the speakers are placed at the front of the soundstage only. And it provides a big, enjoyable sound, whichever layout you opt for.

This is one of the most flexible setups we've seen at this price point.

AIVN V-88 Wi

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Once upon a time there was a speaker brand called Duo Acoustics. It never really changed the world (or bothered giants like KEF et al) but it produced some nice (and affordable) kit.
Then the company morphed into AIVN, and is now into its second generation of high-end speakers.

I unboxed these babies under no small amount of pressure. Apparently the brand is on tenterhooks to see just how its products do in this review. This is because, despite the fact that its operation can be visited by appointment to hear any system, and that it offers a seven-day free trial for any prospective buyer for those who cannot get to visit them, good word of mouth is key to generating a buzz about its boxes.

AIVN only sells direct to the public. This rankles with its rivals, who will advocate the necessity of buying equipment from a specialist dealer network. But AIVN's approach is perhaps indicative of how every aspect of home entertainment is now changing.

Of course, the other supposed benefit of a direct-to-public sale is that the company can keep prices low. With no dealer margin to support, these speakers come in at less than £1,300 for the 7.1 set tested, and under a grand for the 5.1 system. It seems remarkable given the physical impact these boxes have. I confess that when taking them out of the pack, it proved difficult not to feel a frisson of excitement. This is a gorgeous-looking package, and I'm not the only one to think so.

All those who have passed through my lounge during their audition did a double take - and thought they must have cost a fortune. There is something very sexy about piano black and rose wood...

Wireless

The AIVN 88s come with active wireless rears or can be custom-ordered with regular passively-driven rears. The set includes one pair of pretty stands. If you want more sets of stands, they go for £140 a pair.

The tweeters sit behind a sturdy, metal mesh grille. With the four surround speakers, a loading tube is built into the top of the speaker. Their skinny cloth and wood grilles are held on by hidden, embedded Neo magnets. The AIVN logo itself is inlaid into the black shiny finish on the front - it'll only be seen when these grilles are off, which I'd recommend.

The rear of each of the five speakers bears one set of very good-looking gold-plated binding posts. The reflex ports are curvy gas-flowed things and you can see some wadding inside the speakers when you peer up the ports.

The speakers' main drivers sit beneath the tweeter in the front baffles, lined with a conical ring of black anodised aluminium. Chrome trim, echoed around the tweeter housings on both sats and centre products, gives them a particularly pleasing finish. I suspect they wouldn't look out of place in an oil sheikh's palace - and are all the better for it.

Cable-phobes will be pleased with the V-88Wi wireless speakers, which come with a transmitter. Like the Crystal Audio system recently examined, they use 2.4GHz. Unlike the Crystal Audios, the wireless is not added-on but is built-in. You power them up and they receive their music via the transmitter at the front end, plugged into the rear channels' outputs.

Robot wars

My current favourite demo disc is Transformers. The Dolby Digital (and DD Plus track on HD DVD) represents the current state-of-the-art in action-orientated sound design. With monstrous use of the LFE and dramatic front/back/side pans it's the perfect torture test for any home cinema.

Overall, the sonic characteristic of AIVN's V-88 system is best described as analytical and aggressive. The metal cones really chop the details out, and they never once lost imaging as the film steps up into a channel-hopping miasma of sounds. The bit in reel one, when an unauthorised helicopter arrives at an airbase only to reveal itself as a disguised aggressor-bot thing - and duly proceeds to blow everything up - is monstrously entertaining.

The sheer attack and power these enclosures can create is immediately impressive. There's no shortage of taut, fast LFE. Once set, the subwoofer delivers a rigid bass substrate for the action. Those looking for a system seemingly born to belt out high-octane action movies need look no further.

The subwoofer stands on steel feet above the floor and is ported to the rear, with simple phono inputs and a phase control knob. There's nothing extra, though, like speaker inputs or pass-thru sockets. Crossover frequency and volume are selected via the natty six-button remote. You can mute the woofer or switch it off from the remote, too.

This sub has a 12in driver, driven by a 180W amplifier. The front drop bears a small display with two simple ladder indicators. In frequency mode you'll be looking at the crossover frequency as the blue lights go up; in volume mode, the higher up, the louder.

There are no mentions of any protection circuitry for the sub in the company-provided blurb. Although it really works well within its limits, you can sail past those limits and deep into distress sounds of overload all too easily. This may be due to the deep-breathing design sounding so good. It's too tempting to wick up.

This is impressive, as 180W isn't really offering much headroom compared to some mad-amp subs on the market. I suspect that this is the same amp used in the wireless sats but without the controls. However, for the price it is astonishing, and if you are not a hooligan and want genuine quality for your cash, then this sub is well worthy.

The system is also reasonable with multi-channel music. One of my stock trials is Boys II Men's Yesterday, which was delivered with an engaging 'sitting on the stage amongst them' ambience. The track requires realistic vocals to work and it's horribly easy to hear if something is amiss. While lacking some high-end subtlety, it's always entertaining.

Give 'em a try

This good-looking 7.1 array is well worth an audition. It looks gorgeous and if your budget is limited I would have no qualms pointing action-movie-loving buyers in their direction, or even the 5.1 equivalent.

Panasonic SC-PTX7

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While movie viewing is the main use for home cinema systems, most people use them just as often to play CDs. Panasonic has taken this idea to the next logical step by building a system that rips CDs onto an 80GB hard disk, enabling you to create your own music library.

The system can also play DVDs, of course, but the focus on music explains why this is a 3.1 system, as opposed to full surround. The centre speaker is cleverly integrated into the front pair, reducing the amount of clutter, while the presence of Dolby Virtual Speaker technology means you can still enjoy a 5.1-channel effect.

Features

First up on a long list is 1080p upscaling via the HDMI, making this a perfect partner for plasma and LCD. Media compatibility is also comprehensive - the Panasonic will play back DVD-Audio and every recordable DVD format, as well as DiVX, MP3, WMA and JPEG files.

The rear panel sports a very impressive range of connections. As well as HDMI, you'll find an RGB Scart, component, composite and S-video outputs for video playback, as well as analogue and digital audio inputs to hook up external sources and record them onto the hard disk.

They're joined by an Ethernet port that can be used to access the internet and download song and album names from the Gracenote CD database. But automatic track naming isn't limited to CD ripping. When recording songs from external sources, the system can retrieve track information using Gracenote's MusicID system, which recognises songs from their waveform pattern.

The LAN port also enables you to transfer MP3 and WMA files from your PC onto the built-in hard disk (which can hold up to 39,000 songs in AAC LP mode) or stream the content live. What's more, invest an additional £100 in the SH-FX570KE-K Bluetooth USB receiver and you'll be able to stream music wirelessly from your PC.

The front panel offers even more connectivity. There's a USB port for hooking up flash drives and devices, alongside a 3.5mm 'Music Port' for portable audio players.

Another nifty feature is Music Shuffle, which categorises your songs into different moods by analysing the tempo and beat.

Ease of use

With so many features on board, the system takes a while to master, but the excellent interface makes it easy to quickly get your head around it.And while the remote seems cluttered at first, a few minutes in its company reveals it to be very intuitive - plus the buttons are separated into different sections and clearly labelled.

Accessing hard disk content couldn't be easier. You can select songs by artist, album, track or playlist using a very clear menu. And thanks to the Track Manager menu it's easy to edit tracks after ripping. You can divide, combine, rename and convert songs from space-greedy LPCM to more efficient AAC.

If you've already installed a home network, integration is simple. We plugged the system into our internet router via LAN and it was ready to download track details without any complex setup.

Picture

The inclusion of the HDMI output with its 1080p upscaling pays dividends here. When viewed on a full HD plasma, the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD looks so crisp you might be fooled into thinking it is hi-def. Textures and fine detail are presented with absolute precision.

Colour reproduction is also out of this world. George Lucas' psychedelic landscapes are wonderfully warm and strong and there's no colour bleed, only sharp edge definition.

Black level is also impressive, while MPEG2 decoding artefacts are nowhere to be seen.

Sound

Head straight for the opening space battle and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the sheer power that's on offer. Explosions and the thumping drums of John Williams' score are given real clout by the surprisingly muscular subwoofer, while the rest of the soundstage is clear and unobstructed.

Using the Twin Centre technology dialogue successfully appears to emerge somewhere in between the two front speakers. The only let down is the Dolby Virtual Speaker, which spreads out the soundstage well, but doesn't project surround effects very effectively and proves an inadequate alternative to surround speakers.

Music playback is superb. The competent front speakers breathe life into the sweeping strings, driving rhythm section and heavenly vocals of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, while the subwoofer's solid bass propels it along nicely - provided you keep the H.Bass and sub levels to a respectable level.

Songs ripped to the hard disk in LPCM sound every bit as good as CDs, so there's no compromise in quality. DVD-Audio playback is also crisp and dynamic but the lack of rear speakers means you miss out on the full multichannel experience.

Value

The £800 price tag is heavy for a DVD system - particularly one that's not even full 5.1 - but with so many features on board and exceptional performance there can be few complaints. Panasonic should be applauded for creating a system that does so much more than just play DVDs.

LG HT902TB

1201790836

Considering the vast number of AV products we've reviewed over the years, it's understandable that it takes something genuinely amazing to take our Test Lab by surprise. Step forward LG's HT902TB: a mighty all-in-one system that leaves jaws dropping in its wake.

Features

How such an audaciously priced system (a mere £270) can deliver so much while costing so little money simply beggars belief.

Amazingly, this bags you a full all-in-one home cinema solution complete with DVD player, 5.1 speaker set, and multi-channel amplification. What's more, the front and rear speakers aren't the puny little cubes you might expect, but rather full-sized (over 1m tall) floorstanding affairs that promise a level of audio delight far beyond what you've any right to expect for such a low price.

As if all this wasn't enough, the entire package's design is little short of dazzling, with a delightful high-gloss black finish unifying all the various elements to seriously stylish effect.

The only trace of inelegance in the whole package is the subwoofer, which looks a bit brutish compared with the slender chic of everything else. But then a bit of brutishness in the bass department is often a good thing, sonically speaking. You can always hide the sub behind a chair or under a table if its chunkiness proves overly offensive.

Shifting our attention to the HT920TB's connectivity, it's pleasing to find it sporting an HDMI through which the system can output your DVDs upscaled into 720p or 1080i. There's no 1080p, but this is easily forgiveable on such an affordable system.

Scart and component video output options are also on hand. Additionally, you're provided with a digital audio input, so that an external source like a PS3, Xbox 360 or SkyHD box can reap the benefits of its audio talents.

Heading into the HT920TB's menus, it has to be said that the feature finery rather dries up. The only discoveries of note are a test tone facility (to help you balance the speakers correctly) and an adjustable audio delay (to help out in the event that your display introduces some lag between its pictures and sound).

Still, all the things we've so far described are already enough to make the HT920TB better specified than we'd have dreamed possible for just under £300.

Ease of use

Here again the HT920TB does the business. 'Building' the tower speakers, for instance, is a simple case of sliding a top part onto a bottom part, with no screws required. The speaker cables are all colour coded so that you marry the right speaker to the right output, and the onscreen menus - while ugly as hell to look at - are at least foolproof to use.

Finally, the remote control puts in a better performance than most when it comes to handling the multiple disciplines inherent to any all-in-one system.

Picture

Considering we've been singing the HT902TB's praises from the rooftops, we'd forgive you for thinking that making such a fuss about the picture is a mistake.

But, the LG's pictures really aren't all that great when compared with the very best standalone budget disc spinners - such as Denon's awesome DVD-1740. That criticism made, they're certainly decent enough by the standards of rival affordable all-in-one systems.

The main problem here is the amount of fizzing noise in the picture. It's not truly horrific, but if you're using the HT920B with a large TV or projector, you'll certainly notice the frailties. And it persists even if you upscale the picture to 720p or 1080i.

On a more positive note, colours are reasonably rich, motion is fluid enough, and overall the picture is quite sharp, especially when it's being upscaled.

Sound

The speakers that partner the DVD deck are so slim and affordable that, despite their 'tower' style, we didn't expect them to be up to much. How pleased we were, then, to have that particular preconception blown clear out of the water.

Particularly astonishing is how clean and detailed the soundstage is. The speakers avoid distortion even at loud volumes, and manage to portray lots of subtleties, especially in the treble register, without sounding tinny or harsh. And they do this while also delivering a really open, richmid-range that does vocals proud.

Transitions from front to back and steering from left to right, meanwhile, are smooth and believable thanks to each channel having exactly the same speaker design, while lower frequencies are delivered with authority by that big old bass bin. Yet the sub still blends with the towers really very well considering this is such an affordable system.

All in all it's nearly impossible to fault the HT920TB's audio given how little it costs.

Value

LG could have quite comfortably charged twice as much for the HT920B and we'd still have recommended it. It's quite simply the bargain of the year so far.

Panasonic SC-HT1500

tech.co.uk staff — 1198076251

The SC-HT1500 is Panasonic's new flagship system, and combines sophisticated looks with impressive features. Panasonic was one of the first brands to incorporate recording capabilities into its home cinema systems, with a range of 'packaged' separates combining a DVD recorder, surround amplifier and speakers.

But the SC-HT1500 is the first 'one-box' (rather than separates-based) Panny system to incorporate both DVD playing and recording facilities inside one stylish unit. The main unit boasts a pleasing silver, half-mirrored front panel, and despite its considerable capabilities there are few buttons and controls adorning its sleek fascia.

The accompanying speaker package comprises four floorstanding satellites and a more compact centre speaker that can be placed on top or below a TV. The satellites are perched on top of attractive chrome stands, but their assembly is incredibly fiddly, making installation frustratingly time-consuming.

The subwoofer is nicely finished with a chrome-effect bass port surround, but is portly due to the fact that it contains the system's surround sound amplification. All speaker connections are made at the back of the sub, which is connected to the main unit via an umbilical-type cable.

Features-wise the SC-HT1500 is one of the best-equipped systems around - in particular, its dual DVD-RAM/DVD-R and hard-disk (HDD) recording capabilities make it an extremely flexible model. The 80GB HDD can provide up to 142hrs of storage, and DVD-RAM/DVD-R discs up to 8hrs. Surprisingly however, there's no DVD-RW disc compatibility.

There are four recording options to choose from. XP (the highestquality mode) provides up to 17hrs HDD and 1hr disc storage, while SP gives 34hrs and 2hrs, LP 68hrs and 4 hrs and EP (the poorest quality mode) 142hrs and 6hrs respectively. There's also a flexible recording option that automatically selects the appropriate recording mode to utilise the space available.

Best PALs

Panasonic's TimeSlip feature allows you to watch a TV programme while it's still being recorded, and VideoPlus ensures you don't have to programme individual start and stop times for recording analogue TV programmes: it simply requires you to enter a numeric programme code (usually found in TV listings).

Playback of pre-recorded DVDs should be just as impressive as recordings, as the SC-HT1500 can deliver top-quality PAL progressive scan images to a suitably-equipped TV (via component video outputs). An RGB Scart and dedicated S-video and composite video outs are also available, while the front panel incorporates a set of audio/video connections to enable you to hook up a camcorder or games console.

Unfortunately however, there's no front DV input for transferring digital camcorder material. When it comes to audio, the Panny includes Dolby Digital and DTS decoders to take care of 5.1 DVD soundtracks, while Dolby Pro-Logic II is on-board to convert stereo TV broadcasts and CDs into near-digital surround sound. And multichannel DVD-Audio playback adds to the SC-HT1500's already impressive versatility.

Setup is straightforward, with the built-in analogue TV tuner automatically tuning and storing channels. The Direct Navigator lists and manages the details of all recordings made onto the HDD and DVDs, and there's a set of editing features to manipulate and erase recordings.

Recordings made onto both the hard-disk and discs are generally of a very high standard. The only problem we observed was a slightly exaggerated colour palette, which makes skin-tones look ruddy - TV presenters look like they've spent too much time in the sun! However, bypassing the Panny's internal tuner and connecting a digibox via the RGB Scart delivered more natural results.

Recordings made in both XP and SP modes showed no significant differences from the original broadcasts. Even with the two longest, and therefore lowest-quality, modes (LP and EP), recordings were far superior to those made on a VCR - despite a softness to the image and occasional digital artefacts.

The SC-HT1500's playback of prerecorded DVDs is up to Panasonic's usual high standards. We gave our new Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back DVD a spin and found images to be very enjoyable. Colours were particularly striking, but images also had good depth and detail and an almost cinematic quality that is very easy on the eye. Skin-tones were natural, and even subtle textures and details visible.

Things are almost as pleasing when it comes to surround sound. The upright speakers may be difficult to assemble and larger than most, but they produce an extremely coherent, easy sound that makes them worth the extra effort. Surround sound from our test movie's remastered soundtrack was well-controlled, and the placement of effects behind the listener precise.

The subwoofer meanwhile sounds reassuringly powerful, while also being able to cope with subtleties - but it does need to be set to its maximum output level for the very best results. Our only minor niggle is that, while dialogue through the centre speaker is clear, selecting the centre focus mode (to bring dialogue to the fore) has a tendency to give it a more sibilant edge, which can make Yoda's voice sound even more unnatural than usual!

The good news doesn't stop with movies however, as the Panasonic also puts in a good performance with CDs. It provides an open and detailed CD sound, while DVD-Audio discs are similarly well-handled. With both HDD and DVD-recording capabilities, the Panasonic SC-HT1500 is a flexible all-in-one home cinema system.

Its stunning looks, versatility and strong all-round performance certainly make it an extremely attractive option. The only thing stopping us from telling you to rush out and get one right away is its price. You get a lot of bang for your buck, but £900 is still a lot of money for an all-in-one solution of this calibre.