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 • BEST BUYS AUDIO & AV • ISSUE 2023-#1

Revival Audio • We have recently received two very interesting speaker ranges; coincidently both are French.

Triangle Audio

Yamaha R-N2000A

HOW TO… FIX THE LITTLE THINGS • From little things, big things grow, and in a hi-fi context, fixing those small things can let your whole system perform to its full abilities.

BENQ X3000i • Don’t leave it only to the gamers: BenQ’s X3000i is a serious projector capable of handling movies and streaming — for all-round bigscreen entertainment.

EPSON EH-TW6250 • Epson combines Android-TV smarts with its 4K Pro-UHD pixel-doubling technology to deliver a versatile and powerful projector at a high-value price.

TCL 55RP630 • It’s the speed of the Roku interface which fascinates at first, but TCL’s TV also offers surprising value in the processing and facilities included for the price.

HOW TO… CHOOSE A PROJECTION SCREEN • Consider the projection screen at the same time as your projector, says Paul Kutcher, or the ‘wow’ factor could become a wimp factor.

ELEMENTI FIRE • Elementi’s home cinema speakers are not only different in themselves, they enable a change in home cinema design which brings several key advantages.

MARANTZ CINEMA 60 • Real home cinema requires a full room’s worth of loudspeakers, along with multiple channels of amplifier power to drive them. Marantz’s latest midrange ‘Cinema 60’ receiver brings the power — and a great deal more besides.

POLK MAGNIFI MINI AX • We were quite amazed by the movie sound performance from Polk’s little humpy-shaped soundbar, which sits below or in front of your television, backed by a rather special subwoofer tucked away wherever you can fit it.

HOW TO… COMBINE STEREO AND SURROUND SOUND IN ONE AV SYSTEM • How hard is it to create a best-of-both-worlds hi-fi and home cinema solution?

SONY HT-A9 • For years, surround systems have been too unwieldy for the modern lounge. Now Sony has an amazingly clever system that should make you think again.

YAMAHA SR-C30A • Yamaha’s small soundbars have done well on their own. The SR-C30 also brings a subwoofer, despite its price of just $399

HOW TO… CHOOSE A STREAMER • All the world’s music from a single box… Adding a streamer will update any hi-fi system with the ability to play from online subscription music services, internet radio and a whole lot more. But how to choose?

BLUESOUND • Bluesound continues to strengthen its wireless multiroom system with upgraded specifications and some clever new component concepts.

BOWERS & WILKINS 705 S3 • These solid ‘tweeter-on-top’ standmounts sounded nice enough in casual use, but it’s when you turn them up that you can really appreciate their quality.

ELECTROCOMPANIET ECI 6 DX MKII • Streaming offers a world of easily-accessible music. Smart amplifiers come with streaming built in, an increasingly popular and convenient idea. But it’s unusual to find such convenience in a relatively high-end amplifier. Norways’ Electrocompaniet shows that smart integration can be even more fun backed by big-time amplification.

MAGICO ASUB • Serious bass is best served by a subwoofer, and the best bass is served by a...