Best Buys – Audio & AV

Best Buys Audio & AV is loaded to the gills with authoritative reviews on all types of hi-fi and home theatre products, from wireless speakers to valve amplifiers, AV projectors and streaming computer audio – it’s a must-read for those looking to assemble or upgrade their home entertainment systems. By publishing easy-to-read, well researched reviews, Best Buys Audio & AV provides at-a-glance summaries together with detailed reviews by Australia’s most experienced hi-fi and AV teams from Sound+Image and Australian Hi-Fi magazines.

Best Buys – Audio & AV

WHAT DO YOU WANT? • We’re about to head into extended reviews of some of the world’s best audio and AV equipment. You may find you want it all, and we wouldn’t blame you. But a few qualifying questions should help you get the right stuff for the job.

BENQ X300G SMART GAMING PROJECTOR • This compact 4K XPR projector is so easy to set up you could move it around the home as you wish. It’s specialised for gamers, but it’s a good all-rounder too.

EPSON EH-LS650B ULTRA-SHORT-THROW SMART STREAMING LASER PROJECTOR product focus • Ultra-short-throw projectors bring a new level of convenience to bigscreen projection, especially when they also come with built-in smart streaming, speakers, and here a particular bonus in Epson’s dedication to sustainability.

LEICA CINE 1 - 100 CINEMA TV • Germany’s Leica moves from photography to cinematic magic with this upmarket ultra-short-throw ‘Cinema TV’. It proves a beauty, both outside, and on the screen.

TO SEE THE LIGHT, FIRST FIND THE RIGHT SCREEN • Different screen surfaces exist to service different scenarios. Understanding the differences will allow your projection system to perform at its best, writes Visual Fidelity’s screen guru Paul Kutcher.

JBL AUTHENTICS 500 SMART WIRELESS SPEAKER • Halfway between hi-fi and party playback lies the Authentics 500, a range-topping smart wireless speaker with impressive abilities and a rather enormous sound.

MARANTZ CD50n + MODEL 50 NETWORKED CD PLAYER WITH HEOS + INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER • The traditional hi-fi separates of CD player and amplifier are raised to another level by the inclusion of full streaming and multiroom abilities inside the disc spinner.

HOW TO… CHOOSE BETWEEN SEPARATES & AN ALL-IN-ONE • It turns out we need to declare an inherent bias on this question, having found seven reasons to sway you one way, and less than a handful the other.

DENON DP-3000NE + DL-103R TURNTABLE + CARTRIDGE • With more than 50 years of experience in the art of producing direct-drive turntables, Denon here delivers a new and sophisticated vinyl spinner, which came equipped with a cartridge which is an old favourite.

ADVANCE PARIS • GROUP OF THREE — INTEGRATED / PRE-POWER AMPLIFIERS & ′ALL-IN-ONE′

BLADELIUS ASK INTEGRATED STREAMING AMPLIFIER • You want a taste of the high-end of hi-fi, where music comes alive before your ears? Here we go. And with streaming and vinyl options, this Swedish amp aims to do it all.

MUSICAL FIDELITY A1 STEREO INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER • As if to accentuate the variety of the hi-fi world, here’s a brand-new reinvention of a classic amplifier from the 1980s, in nearly its original form. Was 1980s’ hi-fi something to get excited about? From this performance, it’s a yes.

YAMAHA R-N1000A SMART STEREO AMPLIFIER • With streaming, radio, HDMI for TV playback and multiroom abilities built into this amplifier, you might only need to add speakers for a full system. But there are plenty of inputs if you want to build a bigger system.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT SPEAKERS? • Different types, different styles, various sizes, and of course widely-differing prices: how do you start narrowing it down?

BOWERS & WILKINS 805 D4 SIGNATURE STEREO LOUDSPEAKERS • The...