LATEST ADDITIONS

As I listened to Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith play funky jazz, on a dusted down Super Audio CD, it struck me that perhaps the most compelling reason to invest in the Magnetar UDP800, a deliciously well-specified 4K Blu-ray player, is not for its video performance, which is unquestionably mighty, but its sublime audio. This audiophile-grade BD player is triggering my dopaminergic neurons, and I'm loving it.

Panasonic has taken the wraps off a five-strong line up of OLED screens, and two new LED models, at a showcase event in Berlin.

As naming protocols go, a Reference product designation based on the number of years you have been in business has limitations… Yet there is very little else limited about REL's No.31, which hit drawing boards 31 years after founder Richard Lord created his first sub with a high-level input for stereo systems.

Fast-forward through all the boring R&D, testing and development stuff, and the No.31 is a fully-fledged £7,000 beast of a subwoofer...

Sony has dumped inefficient lamps and gone all-in on lasers for its projector lineup, with no fewer than five native 4K models using amplified light photons to generate their images. The top model – the VPL-GTZ380 – is a beast of a beamer that can generate a blinding 10,000 Lumens, but comes with an equally painful price tag of eighty grand. Naturally, the majority of home cinema owners will look at the other four – likely beginning with the entry-level VPL-XW5000ES, which is suggested can deliver 2,000 Lumens and sells for £5,999.