Loudspeakers

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Ed Selley  |  Dec 13, 2011  |  0 comments
Six shooter hits all its targets in style A package that goes one speaker better than the rest, says Ed Selley

In the same week when all six Star Wars films appear on Blu-ray with a brand, spanking new six-channel soundtrack, Acoustic Energy has launched the Compact Neo 6.1 system. This £850 setup matches the existing Neo subwoofer with six Compact One speakers.

Ed Selley  |  Dec 13, 2011  |  0 comments
Radiating power Danny Philips is impressed by the punch delivered by these slim Jims, and he can’t wait to get them up on his wall alongside his flatpanel TV

Finding the right speaker system to go with a wall-mounted TV can be tricky, but this one is built to deliver the same sort of dynamism and punch as full-size speakers, according to the makers.

Ed Selley  |  Dec 13, 2011  |  0 comments
Full-range frugal audio Danny Phillips auditions a 5-channel system that’s got legs

Danish brand Jamo has been exciting home cinema senses for years with killer audio kit that won’t break the bank. A case in point is the £260 S426 HCS3, a system that features a pair of 910mm-high S426 floorstanding speakers at the front, which isn’t something you’d expect for this price. They’re joined by a pair of bookshelf surround channels (S420 SUR) and a centre speaker (S420 CEN). The system doesn’t come with a subwoofer as standard, but you can add the SUB 260, which incredibly costs more (£300) than the rest of the package put together…

Adam Rayner  |  Dec 13, 2011  |  0 comments

Our younger readers might laugh about this, but in the olden days, there were businesses that existed that would rent you a TV. As long as you stayed signed up you always had the latest model – and when the TV died the rental company gave you a new one and you could dispose of the old one as you wished. Good for me – I was allowed to break them up in the garage.

Adam Rayner  |  Dec 13, 2011  |  0 comments

Reviewed here are the MilleniaOne and MilleniaSub products from Canadian brand Paradigm, sold as a money- no-object design, yet promoted as still costing way less than equivalent products for the level of technology. That said, the two and a half grand asking price is not peanuts.

Ed Selley  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
AE takes it to the Max Danny Phillips checks out an affordable 7.1 speaker array

Slapping the word ‘Max’ onto the end of your product name doesn’t automatically make it great, as anyone who’s tasted Pepsi Max can attest. But in the case of Acoustic Energy’s Neo Max system it seems entirely appropriate.

Mark Craven  |  Oct 30, 2011  |  0 comments
A chip off the old speaker block Mark Craven auditions the baby brother to an HCC-award winning system – and finds AV performance runs in the family

PSB, named after founders Paul and Sue Barton, isn’t a particularly well known brand in the UK. Yet this Canadian outfit, distributed in Blighty by home cinema specialists Armour Home, makes some pretty tasty surround sound speaker packages that are worth consideration.

Ed Selley  |  Sep 02, 2011  |  0 comments
Thumbs up for arena warriors Tannoy has updated its Arena range with the Highline 300. Ed Selley is seeing quintuple

Tannoy is among the elder statesmen of the British speaker industry, and the ethos of its Prestige range of speakers has gone unchanged for half a century, taking the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ dictum to a new extreme. More recently, the Arena series of sub/satellite packages has been Tannoy’s offering in this extremely competitive category and the Highline 300 LCR is newly released and tested here.

Adam Rayner  |  Sep 02, 2011  |  0 comments

Branding is funny stuff. We expect some gravitas with excellent products – being too flippant about something of high-quality tends to put us Brits right off. There’s been a huge fuss about chavs wearing Burberry and ‘devaluing’ the brand, for instance.

Ed Selley  |  Aug 26, 2011  |  0 comments

Quadral is not a UK household name. The German brand has been in business for nearly 40 years, but has only ever intermittently appeared in this country. Now the manufacturer is making a serious attempt on the UK market with its full range of products, of which the Chromium range is the second most pricey in the sizeable lineup. Tested here is a package comprising the £1,160 Chromium 50 floorstanders, £650 Chromium 30 standmounts, £410 Chromium 10 centre and £475 88DV sub. All parts are available separately.

Ed Selley  |  Aug 25, 2011  |  0 comments
Speech and sound thats fit for a king Danny Phillips auditions a speaker system with a musical provenance

Hi-fi buffs may already be familiar with Tannoy’s Definition speakers, a two-channel range first introduced way back in the mid-’90s and brought back to life in 2009 with an elegant new design for the contemporary market. That’s the very same system you’re currently ogling on these pages, but before you start checking the cover date we should assure you that there’s a good reason for turning back the clock.

Ed Selley  |  Jul 15, 2011  |  0 comments
Lofty high-risers Danny Phillips has his cockles warmed by this affordable set of floorstanding speakers and unusually capable subwoofer

Compact bookshelf speakers are all well and good if you don’t have much space, but for bigger, bolder home cinema thrills you’ve no choice but to make room for a decent set of floorstanders.

Ed Selley  |  Jul 15, 2011  |  0 comments
Mini the Minx Adrian Justins experienced the bite of this tiny terrier 5.1 sub/sat system

At first glance, the Minx looks no more remarkable than the speakers you get with an all-in-one home cinema system made by various Korean or Japanese mass market brands. But we need to look West rather than East in seeking a comparison: think Bose rather than Sony or LG and you get the idea.

Ed Selley  |  Jul 07, 2011  |  0 comments
Diamonds are forever Adam Rayner runs some old classics through B&W's 800 Series Diamond speakers – and finds new levels of enjoyment

The 800 Series from Bowers & Wilkins has for a long time been the weapon of utter perfection and choice for some of the world’s most demanding sound engineers – because monitoring what exactly you are making in a recording studio is crucial. You want utter fidelity, not a brash and boastful presentation that makes everything sound fabulous in the studio, but then leaves it all a bit damp and frayed around the edges when not heard on such flattering speakers.

Ed Selley  |  Jul 07, 2011  |  0 comments
Mighty miniatures Canton may be a company with a large reputation, but it understands small speakers, nonetheless. Ed Selley gets to grips with the dinky Movie CD 105

Canton has been making sub/sat packages for as long as the concept has been a recognised phenomenon. Its current Movie range features no fewer than 10 separate packages, of which the £500 CD 105 tested here is towards the lower end of the price structure – although there are less expensive models than this.

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