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Oppo Sonica breaks cover and impresses!
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Hello/07/16 Time was a few years ago when even to get a full HD picture you would have to look high and dry for a decent deal, but in these times of Ultra HD, the state-ofthe-art is already seeing a tumble in sticker prices. We round off some of the best examples on the store shelves today to bring you the finest examples of 4K TVs (p46), some of them even with the coveted Dolby Vision HDR as a twinkling highlight of their spec sheet. It’s truly amazing how far we have come with video reproduction at home and how close we have gotten to the director’s intent of movie reproduction at home. There’s stellar gear scattered all across this issue in fact. From the new version of Audioquest’s much-loved DragonFly USB DAC (p21) to the brand new Oppo Sonica (p68) wireless speaker, small is no measure of performance these days. We’re also gearing up for the next edition of the What Hi-Fi? Show that is coming back to Bengaluru and this time, with even more hi-fi for you to audition and many exciting seminars to polish your knowledge. Hope to see you’ll soon, but until then, get your fix in the following pages…
Raheja Xion, 4th/5th Floor, Opp Nirmal Park, Dr B Ambedkar Marg, Byculla (East), Mumbai 400 027. email us whathifi.edit@haymarketsac.com Call us 022-23787500 / 23787400 EDITORIAL Editor Nishant Padhiar Deputy Editor Yatish Suvarna Editor (Web) Farhan Kapadia Editor-Special Projects Vaibhav Sharma Sr. Correspondent Kaizad S Billimoria Staff Writer (Web) Karan Lohan Sub Editor Shanth Swaroop Content Editor Steve D’Souza Deputy Art Editor Kritika Dayal Sr. Designers Sahaya Johnson, Sukhdeep Singh MARKETING Sr. Manager Kunal Marjadi Executive Jayson Lobo ADVERTISING Group Head Harvinder Pal Singh Chief Manager Amjad Khan Regional Head Amit Ahlawat (North) Managers Nackeeran (Chennai), Kanika Sood (Delhi) Asst. Managers Fatema Asif (Mumbai) Sr. Executive Rohan Tamhane (Mumbai) Advertising Co-ordinator Sonal Jain PRODUCTION Sr. Manager Sanjeev Govekar Deputy Manager Prasad Gangurde CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTION General Manager Gilbert D’Souza Head-Circulation Satish Kumar (North) Regional Manager P Vijayakumar (South) Asst. Manager Saravana D, Vimal Sharma Sr. Executive Ashok More (West) Executives Tapan H, Yogesh S, Anil Raghav Manager Subscription Mahesh Malusare Co-ordinator Rajesh Salian ACCOUNTS Finance Head Hital Vyas Manager Finance Amol Mahadik INTERNATIONAL Managing Editor Jonathan Evans Brand Editor Andy Clough Managing Director David Prasher Chief Operating Officer Brian Freeman Chief Executive Kevin Costello Chairman Rupert Heseltine Licensing Account Manager Isla Friend CONTACT Mumbai Raheja Xion, 4th/5th Floor, Opp Nirmal Park, Dr B Ambedkar Marg, Byculla (East), Mumbai 400 027. email us whathifi.edit@haymarketsac.com Call us 022-23787500 / 23787400 New Delhi A2/9, Lower Ground Floor, Safdarjung Enclave, Africa Avenue Road, New Delhi - 110029 Tel : 011-46020600, 32444090, 32969125 Fax: 011-46020633 Chennai M H V Pinnacle, First Floor 8/27 Govindu Street, T Nagar Chennai 600 017. Tel: 044-65446363 Telefax: 044-4212 3230
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www.whathifi.com July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 33
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
SAVE
“What we have here are two giants of the overear headphone market, wrestling for that space in your handbag or manbag.” Page 34
UP TO
54% RESPECTED VERDICTS
WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT HI-FI? Page 64 4 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
THE WORLD’S MOST
One of the best ★★★★★ A serious contender ★★★★ Worth a look ★★★ Disappointing ★★ Awful ★
CONTENTS
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THIS MONTH WE’VE THE DEFINITIVE WORD ON THESE FINE PRODUCTS CD PREAMP/POWER AMPLIFIER Quad Artera Play & Artera Stereo p16 DACs Audioquest DragonFly Black v1.5 p21 HEADPHONES Bowers & Wilkins P7 p36
9 WIRELESS SPEAKER
11 TURNTABLE
Perforated casing for a Bluetooth speaker?
A hi-fi alchemist that turns vinyl into digital
Sennheiser HD 630VB p37 RHA S500i p71 HIGH-RESOLUTION PLAYER iBasso dx80 p69 MUSIC STREAMER Marantz NA6005 p6 STEREO AMPLIFIERS Arcam SR250 p22 STEREO SPEAKERS Tannoy Eclipse Three
p12
Dali Opticon 6 p15 Elac Debut B5 p19 28 INSIDER
All the latest news and views from the AV universe
40 DACS
TELEVISIONS
Two of the finest, meet ringside for a few rounds
Panasonic TX-50DX700 p48 LG 55OLEDC6V p50 Samsung UE55KS7000 p52 Philips 65PUS8901 p54 Sony KD-75XD9405 p56 TURNTABLES Pro-Ject RPM 9 Carbon p11 ony PS-HX500 p8 WIFI SPEAKERS Oppo Sonica p68 WIRELESS SPEAKERS Creative Sound Blaster Roar 2 p71
58 HOW TO
68 OFF THE SHELF
Achieve TV nirvana with We get first dibs on the this expert set-up guide hottest thing in town!
BUYER’S GUIDE
FIND THE BEST KIT AROUND, FAST! Our verdicts on every product worth owning, p73
B&O BeoPlay A1 p9 WIRELESS STREAMER Audiostics Syncair p69
“The dust is finally settling on this new era of TV” July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 5
FIRST TEST
Marantz NA6005 | Music streamer | ₨57,900
Following the family tradition FOR Solid midrange; bold presentation; good file support;
If your firstborn grows up to be a professional sportsman and the second is hailed the next Bob Dylan, you’d reasonably expect the third in the brood to be an overachiever too. From the same gene pool as the Award-winning Marantz CD6005 CD player and PM6005 stereo amplifier, the NA6005 streamer has pretty high standards to maintain if it's going to give the brand’s 6000 Series Bronte sisters-style acclaim. It sits beneath the company’s midrange NA8005 and flagship NA-11S1 streamers but, skimming down its spec sheet, you wouldn’t necessarily get the impression it’s only entry-level status.
Traditional aesthetics A network connection gives you access to internet radio, Spotify Connect and music on your network, whether it’s stored on your laptop or a NAS drive, is an MP3, WAV or DSD file – the Marantz’s CS4398 DAC is
AGAINST Lacks attack; could be more dynamic; app is flaky
capable of handling WAV and FLAC up to 24-bit/192kHz and 2.8/5.6MHz DSDs. You can go down the wireless route instead by attaching the supplied wi-fi antennae at the rear. There’s another for Bluetooth, and built-in Airplay provides another offline streaming option. As far as physical connections go, there’s a USB input (for both playback and charging), optical inputs and outputs alongside a 6.3mm headphone jack and a single-ended analogue to connect to your amplifier. It's a solid, stout bit of casework, available in black or silver and featuring pretty much what we expect from Marantz machinery: legible white-on-black text display, straight-up directional buttons and the brand badge. Streaming may be a relatively modern phenomenon, but Marantz isn’t going to mess with its traditional aesthetics.
★★ ★ ★ ★ The NA6005 has a big reputation to maintain, and while it can't quite match its siblings, it is a decent, solid music streamer Having a dial to turn to scroll libraries would be more intuitive than pressing buttons, though, and looking at it next to the modern Pioneer N-50A we’d also prefer a splash of colour and album artwork. But it’s more than adequately functional and attractive and, considering its asking price, that does seem a little like wanting steering wheel warming and ventilated seats in an entry-level Ford. While handheld remotes are almost always preferential to on-unit control, rarely are they favoured over an app, the nucleus of the streaming experience. But sadly, that’s not the case here. The Marantz Hi-Fi Remote app (available free on iOS and Android) is pretty abysmal. Although it offers up an easier control method to browse music libraries, and gives you the opportunity to build playlists, and control any connected Marantz CD player and/or amplifier in one place, it’s unashamedly flaky.
"From the same gene pool as the Awardwinning Marantz CD6005 CD player and the PM6005 stereo amplifier, the NA6005 streamer has pretty high standards to live up to" IN DETAIL...
1 Attaching the two antennae at either side of the streamer gives the Marantz both wifi and Bluetooth functionality
1
1 2
3
2 We would recommend wiring the streamer to your home network, but there is wi-fi on board as well
3 Connect the streamer to a Marantz amp and both can be controlled by remote and the 'Hi-Fi Remote' app
6 | What Hi Fi? |July 2016
FIRST TEST
"Even though the Marantz NA6005 sometimes tests our patience more than our analytical ears, it proves itself a decent and solid introduction into streaming for anyone on a tight budget"
KEY FEATURES
SAMPLING RATE
SPOTIFY CONNECT
When it works, it’s fine. But all too often, using it is like visiting your nan, where you spend much of your time having to repeat yourself over and over. After a few minutes of inactivity, the app sometimes forgets where it is and what is playing, taking you back to your NAS drive’s root folder instead. It didn’t take long for us to revert to the physical remote, although we did find the iOS version on our Apple iPad Air slightly more reliable than the Android version on our LG G4.
Glass half-full The NA6005’s character offers all you might want from a glass of red on a bitterly cold evening: smoothness, body and warmth. With tonal balance kept in check, it’s easy to snuggle down to Ólafur Arnalds’ Eria’s Waltz: violins and pianos are comfortingly full-bodied, clear and fleshed out, and are able to move freely in a dynamic space that, while not especially nuanced, captures the composition’s principal peaks and troughs. There’s an undeniable self-assurance about the Marantz’s big, brazen soundstage as it delivers the psychedelic ambience delineating Pink Floyd’s Endless River album. It puts its foot into lofty guitar rifts and sprawling synths, and ensures any vocal is explicit and focused. Amid its standout midrange is a welcome knack for rendering instrumental textures. The fiddles and pipes defining Kate Bush’s
Jig of Life are tangible, while her enigmatic, uncharacteristically deep vocal is projected with a confident solidity, and enough expression to keep you interested in her narrative.
SYSTEM BUILDER
24-BIT/192KHz
STREAMING SERVICE Apple Music ★★ ★ ★ ★ ₨300/month Our favourite online streaming service comes highly recommended
BLUETOOTH
Sunday morning smooth You get the impression the Marantz can never really get into top gear, though, opting for easy listening, Sunday morning smoothness over outright snappiness and attack. In SBRTKT’s Wildfire, drum slaps lack thwack and the jagged bass synths that freewheel over the top feel like they need a kick up the backside. Even the zingy pitch-shifted keys that pinch at the soundscope now and again yearn for more dynamism, sounding a tad weary. You’ll have to throw a bigger sum of money the way of the Pioneer N-50A or Bluesound Node 2 to make a live recording of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir (24-bit/48kHz) sound open and lucid enough to be deemed pleasing, too. Even if the Marantz NA6005, with its operational app-based upsets, sometimes tests our patience more than our analytical ears, it proves itself a decent and solid – if a little safe – sounding introduction into streaming for anyone on a budget looking to finally embrace digital and introduce network features into their system. Although it's one star behind its siblings, the NA6005 turns out to be the Anne Bronte of the entry-level Marantz series.
AMPLIFIER Marantz PM6005 ★★ ★ ★ ★ ₨47,900 Looking for your first stereo amp? This talented Marantz should be on your shortlist
STEREO SPEAKERS Monitor Audio Bronze 2s ★★ ★ ★ ★ ₨42,000 With impressive insight and class leading build, these are truly complete speakers for the money
says
RATING ★★ ★ ★ ★ PERFORMANCE FEATURES BUILD
VERDICT The NA6005 is a well-furnished, solid-sounding budget streamer that simply needs a little extra boost
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 7
FIRST TEST
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay A1 | Wireless speaker | ₨18,000
Upholding B&O’s reputation FOR Weighty sound; lovely design; good battery life
AGAINST Sound lacks sparkle; not NFC-compatible
If the Band & Olufsen BeoPlay A1 came up in a round of Pictionary, it wouldn’t be long before contestants were calling out ‘lilo pump’ and ‘smoke detector’. With its perforated, circular dome-like casing and dangling B&O trademark leather strap, ‘crumpet with a jam trail’ would also be a reasonable punt. It has been over a year since B&O entered the portable Bluetooth speaker market with the A4-sized BeoPlay A2, which was something of a surprise considering the brand’s reputation for specialist, high-end products, and here we have an even smaller and more affordable speaker. If you’re wondering whether this price point has finally tested B&O’s reputation of delivering quality build and design, let’s nip that in the bud for you: it hasn’t.
on the way) which can also be used to pair two A1s together, to play in stereo or in unison for a multi-room set-up. There’s a built-in microphone for taking calls too, and B&O claims that the rimmed design on the speaker’s bottom edge aids vocal dispersion. A 2.5-hour charge offers an above-average 24-hours music playback at reasonable volume levels, so it should certainly outlast your smartphone. We pair through our LG G5 smartphone via aptX Bluetooth (the A1 doesn’t support NFC) and let the 20mm tweeter and 9cm driver go to work as we play Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ Peeling Off The Layers. It’s clear B&O has put its heart and soul into producing a sound that’s a million miles from your tinny smartphone speakers. The presentation is full-bodied and wide enough so you don’t have to turn the volume up to hear across the room.
No snags Unlike most portable speakers (including the BeoPlay A2), the palm-sized A1 – available in moss green or silver – is made of aluminium, with just a polymer base. It’s not just the weight – at 600g, it’s heavier than it looks – that indicates lavishness: it looks and feels lovely. The real leather strap, ideal for carrying the speaker to the park, attaching it to a rucksack or hanging it on a tree branch, only reinforces that. The design team’s brief was to come up with something that couldn’t snag a bag or have protruding buttons that could be accidentally pressed. It seems to have worked, for the compact, rounded A1 is smooth all round and largely unspoiled. Sockets, of which there are just a single 3.5mm input and USB type-C for charging, and embedded buttons for power, Bluetooth and volume spread neatly across the waistband. A circle symbol button, once pressed, will also reconnect it to the last paired device and continue playing where it left off, and B&O’s literature says it’ll gain extra powers with future updates. That could be through the BeoPlay app (available on iOS, with an Android version
★★ ★ ★ ★ Lilo pump or smoke alarm? The Beoplay A1's distinctive looks aren't quite matched by the sound, which is a little on the rich side
KEY FEATURES
aptX Bluetooth
A little subdued There’s decent heft behind drum rolls, and the A1 digs down deep enough to communicate the reverb behind some strikes – something the UE Roll, for example, struggles with. The midrange is propped up, the interplaying vocal solid and soulful as it snakes between the cadenced percussion. The treble is crisp yet unshakable – even with The Rapture’s Echoes it manages to avoid sounding like a cat scratching at a window – but it’s the other end of the frequency range that grabs you. The walking bass line in Timber Timbre’s Magic Arrow has surprising potency for a speaker of this size, and electronics are
24-hour battery life
600g
properly guttural. If anything, it’s a little on the rich side, so playing anything from Jamie xx or Massive Attack at a decent volume makes the A1 (and the table it’s sitting on) dance along with you. It’s not quite the whole package, though. Play the former’s I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) and you wonder where the A1 has left its party hat. Lacking the UE Roll’s sit-up-and-listen snappiness and rhythmic handling of the synthesized steel drums, it sounds a little subdued in comparison. But while needing to better imbue its solid sound with more sparkle and attack, the A1 does stand out amongst the plethora of quality in the portable Bluetooth speaker market with good looks, generous battery life and a clear, full-bodied sound. The Beoplay A1 may bring B&O’s entry-level price down, but it doesn’t drag its reputation down with it.
says The BeoPlay app can be used to pair two A1s together, either in stereo or in unison for a multi-room set-up
Rating ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND FEATURES BUILD
VERDICT It’s not the most thrilling sound, but the Play A1 is a solid performer that brings luxury into a lower price bracket
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 9
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FIRST TEST
Pro-Ject RPM 9 Carbon (with Ortofon Quintet Black) | Turntable | ₨2,00,000 (Approx.)
Carbon goes on a high-fibre diet FOR Solid and full-bodied; strong stereo imaging; design
AGAINST Needs more dynamic expression
★★ ★ ★ ★
If you’re the kind of person who gets drawn in by The Best Of… CD for ₨500, ‘with any purchase’ or puts 12 packs of biscuits in your trolley instead of the two you need to save ₨5, and you happen to be in the market for a new high-end turntable, you might be interested in one of Pro-Ject’s latest spinners. The RPM 9 Carbon can partner Ortofon’s MC Quintet Black moving-coil cartridge in a ₨2 lac (Approx.) package. Ortofon calls the cartridge its ‘best of everything’.
Some selfassembly is required but it's easy enough
The same, but different A successor to the RPM 9.2 Evolution, the RPM 9 Carbon uses the same guitar-pickshaped plinth, but this one is encrusted with resin-coated steel pellets for greater heft and rigidity. If the name weren't enough of a giveaway, Pro-Ject has also covered it in carbon-fibre to further reduce unwanted vibrations. Carbon-fibre has also been chosen for the tube on the inverted-bearing 9CC Evolution tonearm. Aside from the material’s intended sonic repercussions, its shimmery, speckled finish makes sense from an aesthetic point of view. The RPM 9 Carbon really is a sight for sore eyes and certainly looks a cut above its smaller siblings and the Regas that dominate midrange turntable territory. A new aluminium platter has also been fitted, featuring internal damping and a super-smooth vinyl top that Pro-Ject recommends using without a slip mat.
Right on the button The RPM 9 Carbon uses a belt-drive mechanism with an automatic speedcontrol switch, which saves you having to adjust the belt manually. That’s built into an outboard motor and controlled by a single button. Press it to start, again to change speed between 33⅓ and 45rpm (a blue LED flashes as it adjusts), and hold it down for a few seconds to stop it. While the Pro-Ject comes partassembled, it still requires a bit of work
from your end – see it as a labour of love. You need to screw the three feet on, mount the platter and outboard motor, and, with the help of a gauge, set counter- and balance weights. As long as you haven't forgotten to put the hefty clamp onto the spindle, you’re good to go.
Authoritative stance Like many Pro-Jects before it, the RPM 9 Carbon is unmistakably authoritative and full-bodied in its attitude, offering nothing less than a fulsome, yet composed, introduction to Pink Floyd’s The Wall. The commanding organs and theatrical riffs that open In The Flesh? sound big and solid, and the war effects and helicopters that drill through the instruments are vast and imposing. In the same breath, rippling electric guitars, dramatic drum rolls and Roger Waters’ echoed vocals assert themselves with a weighty confidence and strong stereo imaging, and there’s all the resolution and cohesion we expect from a turntable of this price. Leaving the clamp off dilutes the presentation’s sense of assurance and solidity somewhat, so we wouldn’t go without. While not the last word in conviction, the Pro-Ject is hardly coy. In Supertramp’s
“Cymbals slice with a degree of precision and tangibility that conjures the image of the Samurai sword decapitation in Kill Bill Vol 1”
KEY FEATURES
331/3 AND 45RPM
ELECTRIC SPEED CONTROL
From Now On, keyboards thrust through the soundstage with resolve, although we have heard more effervescent renditions in which Rick Davies’ fingers sound close to going through the keys. The bass line is taut and dynamic, while cymbals slice with a degree of precision and tangibility that conjures the image of the Samurai sword decapitation in Kill Bill Vol 1. The way the sweet melodic saxophone solo freewheels through the soundstage shows off the Pro-Ject’s dynamic range, although more expression wouldn’t hurt. And it’s not quite as quick on its feet as it needs to be to convey the jubilant pace changes in Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel. It has to be said, musically we’re left a little wanting.
Skill and class Although there are decks that can carry a rhythm track with more verve and dynamic articulacy, the Pro-Ject has plenty of sonic skill and aesthetic class to rationalise the money you'll spend to get it. For this price, it’s a fine turntable indeed.
says
RATING ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND FEATURES BUILD
VERDICT A solid and authoritative turntable, but one that could do with being more expressive
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 11
FIRST TEST
Tannoy Eclipse Three | Stereo speakers | ₨44,000
“No problem with having a good time“ FOR Articulate presentation; expressive midrange
AGAINST They need to be given space to breathe
★★ ★ ★ ★
Eagle-eyed readers will notice that it has been years since we’ve tested budget floorstanders we could recommend without hesitation. Most of them just sound bloated and unwieldy next to their smaller standmount siblings. They invariably offer lots more bass, but that’s worth having only if it's articulate and well integrated. Usually it’s not. So we’re pleased to report Tannoy’s new Eclipse Threes buck that trend, turning in an engaging performance that compares to the best standmounters at the price.
We position the Eclipses almost a metre out into our listening room with just a touch of toe-in to solidify the stereo imaging. Depending on your room you can go as close as 50cm to the rear wall without issue. But make sure you stay away from corners and sidewalls or the bass end becomes a bit boomy. While these towers aren’t unduly fussy, when it comes to partnering equipment, they will reward the good quality source and amplification. Something such as Marantz’s CD6005 CD player coupled to Onkyo’s A-9010 amplifier is a good choice.
reach, insight and authority, but at ₨45k we haven’t heard any rival do better. Tonally these speakers don’t sound particularly pure, but that’s not unexpected. At least they’re well balanced, and smooth enough to work well with a wide range of kit. This kind of unfussy nature is essential for budget speakers. We’re pleased by the Tannoy’s ability to organise detail too, and their refusal to get messy when things take a turn for the complex. They hold on to instrumental strands firmly and keep things composed even as volume levels rise. These towers aren’t perfect – no rival we’ve heard is either – but they’re enjoyable and informative while being easy to set up and partner. These things count for a lot at these price levels. As far as budget floorstanders go, these are the best we’ve heard in recent years.
Surprise package Once they're out of their packaging, you’d be hard pushed to find anything in these Tannoys to indicate a class-leading performance. These are very much budget boxes built down to a price, but within those restrictions they’re relatively solid and nicely finished. The price point also limits the choice of finishes. In this case there’s just one – Black Oak. There may be three drivers on show, but from an electrical point of view these are two-way speakers. The pair of 13cm coatedpulp mid/bass units cross over to the 28mm woven-polyester dome tweeter at 3.2kHz – a little higher than we normally see. Once you’ve attached the plinths – which give the 96cm-tall speakers greater stability – it doesn’t take much to get them singing. The plinths are essentially two plastic bars held on by screws. It’s short work to attach them and screw in the floor spikes.
Unfussy nature Once properly run-in – we leave them running over a weekend – these speakers turn in a fine performance. They’re agile, articulate and, well… just fun. Listen to Prince’s 1999 and it’s obvious the Eclipses have no problem when it comes to having a good time. There’s plenty of snap to the rhythm track, a good dose of attack and enough refinement at the top-end to prevent things turning overly harsh. Prince’s vocals are as quirky as ever with the Tannoys’ fluid and articulate midrange coming to the fore. We switch to Holst’s Jupiter and the Tannoys continue to impress. They deliver a good dose of scale and deliver the music’s huge dynamic swings with plenty of conviction. Spend more to buy the likes of the Award-winning Q Acoustics 3050 and you’ll realise more in the way of low-end
says
RATING ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND COMPATIBILITY BUILD
VERDICT Great budget floorstanders have been a rarity of late. These Tannoys are the most talented we’ve heard in years
SYSTEM BUILDER
CD PLAYER Marantz CD6005 ★★ ★ ★ ★ ₨47,900 A fantastic player and great value for money. Combines refinement and dynamics brilliantly
12 | What Hi Fi? |July 2016
AMPLIFIER Onkyo A-9010 ★★ ★ ★ ★ ₨27,000 If you’re looking for a musically captivating budget amplifier, the Onkyo A-9010 is a treat
TURNTABLE Pro-ject Essential II ★★ ★ ★ ★ ₨33,000 2015 Award-winner is an excellent entry-level turntable that gets all the basics spot-on
KEY FEATURES
REAR PORTED
90dB/W/m SENSITIVITY
96 X 27 X 29cm
FIRST TEST They may have the appearance of budget speakers, but these Tannoys certainly put in a class-leading performance
IN DETAIL...
Drive units integrate well, and they deliver an articulate midrange too
Plastic stabilisers are screwed on to the base for levelling and extra stability
It's single-wired, but at this budget price, that's not an issue
“Once properly run in – we leave them running over a weekend – the Tannoy Eclipse Threes turn in a fine performance. They’re agile, articulate and, well… just fun”
The Eclipse Threes come with cloth grilles to protect the drivers from dust – and fingers
Dealer Enquiry & Demo (North & West) Mr Amol Mbl +91986082114. E mail amol@decibelsaudio.com Audisee. HAL 2nd Stage, Bangalore Mbl. 9886056780. Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore Mbl. 9786444115 Metro Digital Media. Thykootathil Buildings, Kakkanad, Kochi Mbl. 9846598467. Bhairavi. Maithri Nagar, Jagathy Thycaud, Trivandrum Mbl. 9946422550 Audio Lounge. 5th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore Mbl. 9686882288. AV Professionals. Kalyani Nagar, Pune Mbl. 9890973900 Technosales. Amravati Road, Nagpur Mbl. 9970097368. Paud Road, Pune Mbl. 9860124888 Advance Tech Pro. Pancom Business Centre, Ameerpet. Hyderabad Mbl. 9502155222 Importer & Distributor Soniq HiFi. 9'th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore Mbl. 9108462895. Gemini Technologies. New Delhi Mbl. 9711155550 #2488 'C' Skanda Complex. N S Road near Nanjumalige Circle. Chamundipuram, Mysore 570004. E Mail - info@decibelsaudio.com. Office : +91821 2331331/4243131. Mbl +919972449911
www.decibels.audio www.davis-acoustics.com
FIRST TEST
Dali advises that you position the speakers parallel with the rear wall, rather than toed in
Dali Opticon 6 | Stereo speakers | ₨1,41,900
“Exudes confidence” FOR Bold and expressive; fine balance, with lots of low end
AGAINST Could be more delicate and refined
★★ ★ ★ ★
If this were a divorce court, the amount of control Dali exerts over its Opticon speakers could lose it a fair amount in damages. “We wanted to be in control of not only the design, development, construction and manufacturing of this speaker series, but also to keep as many of the parts in-house as possible and thereby have even tighter control over the quality,” it says. That painstaking concern for detail was rewarded with a four-star review of the enthusiastic Opticon 1 standmounters last year, and we’ve equally high hopes as we lift these similarly distinguished Opticon 6 floorstanders from their boxes.
are capable. The lows can rumble and the trebles are rich and soaring, all tied in by an energetic, but warm and composed midrange. There are four drivers at work here, but their integration is seamless. At no point do we notice any detachment among the frequencies, which is an achievement in itself.
Indispensible talents
Prime position The first thing you’ll notice, having removed the grilles, is an intriguing driver configuration comprising a pair of 16.5cm dust-cap-free woofers, built in-house using Dali’s wood-fibre composite (the random structure of which helps produce a rich sound and stop build-up of internal
“Eight seconds is all we need to gauge how infectious a listen this is going to be” resonance), and a combined soft dome and ribbon tweeter module promising wide and even dispersion of treble. The extra bass driver combined with the volume of its one-metre-tall MDF lacquered cabinet and the pair of reflex ports at the rear promises a lot of muscle for your money. Dali asks that you position the speakers parallel with the rear wall, not toed in, to lower distortion in the listening area and aid room integration – besides, that ribbon tweeter is designed to disperse sound evenly in front of the speaker. Other than that, it is largely a matter of experimentation, but we have ours about three metres apart, and about one metre away from the back and side walls of our listening room.
An infectious listen We're in an excitable enough mood to head straight for Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Fever To Tell album, and evidently these speakers are of a similar state of mind. Eight seconds – that’s all we need of the opening synthesizer motif of Rich to gauge these
Dali’s wood-fibre composite cabinet helps to stop any undesirable internal resonance speakers’ sass, the confidence and energy they exude and how infectious a listen this is going to be. For the next eight, our focus is turned to the drums that have now joined the fray, displaying a boldness of which Arya Stark would be proud. That pair of woofers are certainly pulling their weight. Karen O’s vocal retains its characteristic sharpness, but gains from support in the bass and midrange. The bass harmonics of Nick Zinner’s low-strung guitarline anchors the whole piece in uninterested, early-2000s guitar-music cool. There’s no let-up in attitude as the pace hastens with tracks like Date With The Night and Pin, and we get a commanding view of the tonal balance of which the Opticon 6
KEY FEATURES
We attempt to catch Dali off guard with Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne No2 in E-flat Major, but are welcomed by an equally confident and balanced performance. The Opticon 6s don’t ignore dynamics by any means, but still manage to give an energetic and uplifting rendition of this piece which can so often be made to sound dreary, pedestrian even. It isn’t the most delicate of performances, though nor does it delve as deeply as some competitors into vocal or instrumental expression. However, our main point of comparison here, the Tannoy Revolution XT6Fs, have what the Dali Opticon 6s don’t: extra precision in terms of rhythm and fine detail, greater front-to-back dimensions and the explicit vulnerability of the artist. They don’t have the body or the exuberance of the Opticon 6s, yet are no better or worse for it. The Dalis and the Award-winning Tannoys are going about the same task in different ways – it’s really up to you to decide how you want your music rendered. The Opticon 6s lose a star because they don’t have the insight of their Awardwinning rivals, not ignoring the fact they are more expensive. Make a list of indispensible talents for your next pair of speakers, and, if the words 'bold' and 'exciting' feature anywhere near the top of it, the Opticon 6s could well be the solution for you.
HAND-ASSEMBLED
says
RATING ★★ ★ ★ ★ RIBBON AND DOME TWEETER
SOUND COMPATIBILITY BUILD
OPTION TO BI-WIRE
VERDICT The Dali Opticon 6s aren’t the perfect all-rounder, but there are few more enthusiastic or entertaining speakers
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 15
FIRST TEST
Quad Artera Play & Artera Stereo | CD preamp/power amplifier | ₨3,75,000 (Approx.)
Twin Arteras make it an affair of the heart FOR Scale; connectivity; good organisation; bass weight
AGAINST Lack cohesion and insight; timing could be better
Take one look at Quad’s Artera range and we challenge you not to want to take a listen. The duo – the Artera Play CD player/ DAC/preamp and Artera Stereo power amp – is so beautifully designed that it’s a love-at-first-sight situation; we’re in love with the idea of them before we’ve even got to know them. They don’t have to come as a pair but they’re quite obviously designed to, so much so that we can’t see why you would consider buying one without the other. For that reason, we’re testing them as a system, so all you need to do is add speakers. There’s something of a nod to Quad’s history in the Artera range. Indeed, Rodney
into 8 ohms (250W in 4 ohms), so it should be able to drive just about any speakers. In the box with the Play is a remote that features all the usual playback controls, including numbers for skipping to specific CD tracks, and a handful of controls for source and menu options. These options include the ability to choose one of several digital filters – but more on that later. The Artera Play also features a fairly limited touchscreen interface that forms part of its circular display. It allows you to play or pause a track by tapping towards the top of it, or change source by tapping at the bottom. We hardly found need to use it, but the functionality is there should you want it.
★★ ★ ★ ★ KEY FEATURES
140W/CHANNEL 32-BIT/384KHz
SAMPLING RATE
DSD
“The duo is so beautifully designed that it’s a love-at-first-sight situation; we’re in love with the idea of them before we’ve even got to know them“ Mead, the man behind many of Quad’s classic hi-fi products from the ’70s to the ’90s, was involved in their design, which uses a sturdy combination of a textured aluminium front panel and thick glass top, with slim heat sinks on either side. Not only does this make them look the part, but it provides a rugged structure that minimises resonance. It also means the Artera Play can be stacked on top of the Artera Stereo without any notable effect on the sound.
Multi-faceted functionality The Artera Play is quite the box of tricks. It packs a slot-loading CD player, while also working as a DAC and preamp, with a whole host of digital and analogue connections to play with as a result. These include two each of optical, coaxial and RCA phono inputs, plus a USB-B for hooking up a computer. Outputs are covered by either balanced XLR or RCA pre-outs, as well a coaxial and optical out. The Artera Stereo supports its multifaceted partner by packing a whole lot of power into its compact dimensions. Quad rates it “conservatively” at 140W per channel
16 | What Hi Fi? |July 2016
At the heart of the Artera Play is the ESS Sabre32 9018 chip, a 32-bit DAC that makes its Quad debut in this product. It supports and futureproofs the unit to accept files up to 32-bit/384kHz as well as DSD 64/128/256, meaning there shouldn’t be anything you won’t be able to play.
Quad has been generous with its connections, which include a USB-B input for use with a computer
While the Artera Play looks to the future, the Stereo looks back, picking up a bit of sonic know-how with the latest iteration of the company’s Current Dumping topology. First introduced on the Quad 405 in the ’70s, Current Dumping is ultimately a way of combining the sonic purity of Class A amplification with the greater efficiency of Class AB. The aim is to produce a relatively compact, cool-running power amp that is capable of both power and finesse in spades.
The filter factor We use XLR cables to hook up the two components and then connect the Artera system to our reference ATC SCM50 speakers to see if Quad has managed it. We try a CD first and set about deciding what filter to use from a menu hidden under a long press of the remote’s ‘prog’ button. There is a choice of Fast, Smooth, Narrow or Wide – Fast is the default setting and is said to preserve the transient nature of the music, Wide is a ‘clean’ sound recommended for high sample-rate files, Narrow purportedly typifies industry standard characteristics with high jitter tolerance, while Smooth is recommended for use with acoustic recordings, owing to its natural, open sound. We listen to all four and settle on Wide as our favourite balance, even for CD-quality files. 'Fast' comes a close second, with a touch more drive and bite to its presentation, but can feel a bit unrelenting, particularly with more considered music.
Down to Earth We play a CD of the Gladiator soundtrack, and skip to Earth – a mournful song that comes in the movie after Maximus has just seen all his family murdered. Immediately it’s obvious that the Artera duo is capable of real size and scale – the available volume is massive, and it easily fills our testing room with a rich, wellbalanced sound. No part of the frequency range is emphasised or forward, making for the even-handed, neutral sound that Quad is well known for.
FIRST TEST
Viewed together, the elegant Quad units manage successfully to blend retro and modern design There’s a natural tonality to its sound too – instruments have real depth and believability in their character, and there’s a strong sense of separation. Even as more instruments join the arrangement, there is enough space in the presentation to give each one room to breathe and grow.
Confidence and composure Even in something as complex as Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring, the Artera duo is able to stay organised and composed, keeping a handle on the huge variety of sounds and tempos with a good degree of skill. There’s real solidity and confidence here too – sound is a touch leaner across the analogue inputs, but it’s otherwise a consistent character no matter your source. What the Artera duo doesn’t convey quite so well in Earth is the real sadness in the music, the deep sense of loss that is so apparent on more insightful kit, and that really connects and draws you in to the piece. This comes down not only to detail levels, which certainly leave us wanting, but also in how the music is all tied together. While the music's individual parts are well judged and realised, the overall presentation doesn’t prove quite as talented, and it lacks some rhythmic precision and dynamic expressiveness too.
The neat, fully numbered remote allows direct access to CD tracks
We connect our streamer to one of the analogue inputs and opt for something with more aggression to see how the Artera handles it. We play Black Skinhead by Kanye West and are impressed with not only the amount of bass grunt on offer here, but also the level of control the Artera keeps over it. Big, bold drum kicks hit with a decent amount of punch, while there’s plenty of clarity in the midrange for West’s manic vocals to shine. Once again though, the presentation in the end just falls short. This is a passionfilled rebel song, but that gets lost in translation. We don’t feel the anger and frustration in West’s voice or the music rising up in support as we know it’s supposed to.
rhythmic diffidence leave it sounding quite uninvolved and uninterested. That’s never good, certainly not at such a price. If you want big sound and functionality from a small system, the Quad Artera Play and Stereo could be worth a look but for us, it’s not quite the love story we’d hoped for.
A new approach
VERDICT A heavily featured source unit that oozes design flair, but it lacks the insight and dynamism we crave
We switch speakers to see if we can inject a bit more life into proceedings, changing over to a pair of Tannoy Revolution XT6Fs. It’s a better match for sure, their more forward character adding a bit of the missing drive and enthusiasm to the Artera duet, but it doesn’t change the way music all hangs together, which still feels lacking. It makes it hard to fall truly in love with the Artera as we'd like. Break a song down into its individual parts and the Artera does a lot right, but bring it all back together and those ungenerous details levels and the
says
ARTERA PLAY CD PREAMP RATING ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND FEATURES BUILD
ARTERA STEREO POWER AMP RATING ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND FEATURES BUILD
VERDICT A genuine powerhouse with weight and balance in good measure, but its sound lacks the ability to really draw us in
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 17
FIRST TEST
Elac Debut B5 | Stereo speakers | ₨25,500
Playing safe on a low-key Debut FOR Eloquent midrange; good timing; fine integration
AGAINST Resolutely smallsounding; lack dynamic punch
★★ ★ ★ ★
There’s a time and a place for innovation in the hi-fi industry, for tearing up the rulebook, for blank-sheet thinking and all the other exciting-sounding initiatives that indicate a break from the norm. There’s a time and a place all right, but the budget end of the loudspeaker market is probably not it. The need to bring a worthwhile speaker to the masses at an affordable price means there’s not much point (or profit) in going off-piste. That's why Elac’s Debut B5 standmounters look the way they do. To be fair to Elac, the Debut B5s are, in terms of showroom appeal, build quality and finish, entirely competitive. Exposed pins on the front panel for attaching the black, cloth grilles look a little prosaic, but the textured/brushed vinyl wrap (just one finish is available) adds a little more tactility than most rivals can muster.
Clean pair of heels They’re absolutely par for the course in terms of specification, too. The cabinet dimensions are utterly unremarkable for a product of this type. The deployment of a 25mm cloth dome tweeter (safe behind its fixed metal grille) and 13cm woven fibre mid/bass driver is fairly standard too. A rear-firing bass reflex port and single pair of chunky speaker cable terminals complete a predictable and sensible picture. So with configuration and build well up to the norm, all the Debut B5s need do is show the competition a clean pair of sonic heels and the job’s done. But, of course, the market is at its most competitive here – the likes of Q Acoustics, Monitor Audio and others are all vying to be your first system or micro-system speaker upgrade. And there's also the fact that a sum of around ₨25,500 – the price tag of these B5s – buys some startlingly capable efforts. Elac has its work cut out to stand out from the pack. Positioned reasonably close to a rear wall (where the Debut B5s’ swift and textured low end gains welcome body), toed-in just slightly towards the listening position and supported on some appropriately sturdy stands, the Elacs immediately reveal themselves as a well integrated, evenhanded and impressively rapid listen. Playing some late-period Johnny Cash (his version of U2’s One is poignant and authoritative, even if the Elacs do on occasion make his dentures all too
“A sum of around ₨25k buys some startlingly capable efforts, so Elac has its work cut out to stand out from the pack” apparent), the sound is sweetly communicative through the midrange and has just enough bite at the top end to prevent it becoming sugary. Switch to Kendrick Lamar’s altogether heftier King Kunta and the B5s’ powers of focus and integration come to the fore. This is a wide, busy and relatively dense recording, one that requires real midrange dexterity and detail to properly transmit the malevolence of the vocal.
Sinking their teeth in The Elacs are more than up to the task, following the sinuous bassline faithfully and giving Lamar’s complaints real expression. The whole thing motors along at a clip, the speakers demonstrating timing the equal of any of their price-point rivals. King Kunta also exposes the B5s’ relative lack of scale, and a rather pedestrian lack of drive. For all their sprightliness and ability to differentiate low frequency textures,
KEY FEATURES
85dB/W/m
there’s a palpable disinclination to sink their teeth into a beat and properly force the issue. Authentically dynamic recordings like Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue or Underworld’s Push Upstairs simply don’t have the attack or scale required, leaving the field open for the Elacs’ more assertive rivals to make their case.
Small-scale sound
Rear firing port
In terms of balance, integration and timing, the Debut B5s are among the best speakers around for the money. Their shortcomings, though – while hardly numerous – are significant. Ordinarily, speakers that sound as small-scale as this are physically pretty small too – which brings advantages of its own. The Elacs, though, simply sound smaller than they are, which isn’t that much help to anyone.
Dimensions (hwd): 32 x 20 x 22cm
says
Rating ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND BUILD COMPATIBILITY
VERDICT There is some real expertise on display, but these Elacs don't have the all-round game to worry the class leaders
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 19
Lounger Model : Quies
FIRST TEST
Audioquest DragonFly Black v1.5 | DAC | ₨18,000 (Approx.)
Small Fly spreads its wings It's even got its own leatherette, branded pouch
FOR More dynamic sound; detail; improved compatibility
Although caterpillars and butterflies are typically used to illustrate the process of metamorphosis, the evolution of Audioquest’s DragonFly is just as impressive a tale of transformation. Four years ago, the original DragonFly – a DAC and headphone amplifier crammed into the tiny proportions of a USB memory stick – elicited a response of pure delight mixed with ‘whatever next?’ It was conveniently compact, ingeniously simple to use and an undisputed sonic upgrade for our laptops. For this groundbreaking effort, it was named our Product of the Year in 2012. Two years later, its successor, the v1.2 (now discontinued), took the gong for its improved sound, and since then portable DACs have sprung up faster than daisies in spring. But Audioquest has figured out how to keep its edge in a cut-throat market, namely by improving compatibility and sound quality.
AGAINST 96kHz playback limit; no DSD support
retained: the headphone amp and analogue volume control, the LEDs that light up in different colours according to file size playback – green for 44.1kHz files, blue for 48kHz, amber for 88.2kHz and magenta for 96kHz. Sadly, that’s where it ends, as playback is limited to 96kHz, although it can downsample higher file sizes. DSD support remains another one for the wish list, too. A plastic cap slots over the key to keep the insides free from the crumbs at the bottom of your bag, and a cute leatherette pouch protects the plastic casing from coins or house-keys. As we stick both new and old into our MacBook Air, plug in our AKG Y50s and load up our hi-res music library, it’s clear their sonic differences are pronounced. Though clearly cut from the
KEY FEATURES
96kHz playback limit
Smartphone, tablet and laptop compatibility
Moving with the times The Audioquest DragonFly Black v1.5 is a more portable version of its predecessors – not in terms of its dimensions, which are exactly the same as its previous version, but in compatibility. While the older models’ power consumption limited their support to laptops and PCs, the adoption of a new Microchip microcontroller – which Audioquest claims draws 77 per cent less current than the Texas Instruments one in the v1.2 – makes it compatible with Apple and Android smartphones and tablets too. If you’ve been craving better quality music on the go, the v1.5 has you covered. You’ll need to buy a separate adaptor for portable devices, though, which could explain the DragonFly’s humbler price. Audioquest makes a DragonTail adaptor for Android devices, although any On-The-Go cable should work. Apple’s camera adaptor should play ball with iPhones.
same cloth – the v1.2’s strict balance, rhythmic intelligence and joie de vivre reveals itself in its successor – the v1.5 Black makes ground on the legacy sound with more insight and dynamic impetus.
Forward presentation The v1.5 has a clearer, more upfront presentation, making the v1.2’s seem a little shy in comparison. Taking flight with R.E.M.’s Pilgrimage, it’s authoritative with the thumping drums, yet quick enough on its feet to keep them pacing along with the agility intended. The DragonFly spreads its wings to deliver the space and openness needed to keep the elbows of the reverberating pianos, tuneful guitar lines and dainty chimes firmly tucked in. Michael Stipe’s longing inflections are bold, solid and nicely layered against the echoic backing vocals too, and there's generally more intensity than with the v1.2.
Happy playing in the stream USE IT WITH Apple Macbook Air A solid laptop choice for those who prioritise ease of use and build quality
We stream Band of Horses’ In The Drawer from Spotify and ambient electronics spread evenly about the soundstage which, despite the file’s lower resolution, is still ample. Elsewhere, electric guitars twang with texture, the chorus’ allied vocal harmonies are distinct, and it keeps a lid on the treble as cymbals take a battering. The original DragonFly was a groundbreaking product, which rightly won accolades four years ago. The Black v1.5 continues this commitment to better sound quality on a budget, but in an even more impressive packaging. Like the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, Audioquest’s DragonFly line has undergone a similarly remarkable metamorphosis – this is easily the best DragonFly yet.
says
Added, and addable, extras As far as accessories go, Audioquest also sells its own USB extender cable in case the DragonFly physically blocks any neighbouring USB ports on your laptop. There’s also an improved 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC chip too, and a desktop application through which the DragonFly can receive future software updates. The rest of the v1.2’s genetic make-up is
★★ ★ ★ ★
Rating ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND FEATURES
Best of both worlds: the Black v1.5 retains the orginal's size but broadens its compatibility and adds a 32-bit ESS chip
BUILD
VERDICT With improved sound, and Apple iOS compatibility, this is the best DragonFly yet
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 21
FIRST TEST
Arcam SR250 | Stereo amplifier | ₨3,27,000
“This could be all the amp you ever need” FOR Big, refined presentation; level of detail; video switching
AGAINST Lacks a little finesse by premium stereo standards
★★ ★ ★ ★
If you like kit to fit into neat product categories, Arcam’s new SR250 is likely to cause upset. It’s either a stereo amplifier with video switching capabilities or an AV amp that’s running several channels short. It's an interesting enough proposition that it won one of our Stars Of CES awards at this year's Las Vegas extravaganza. And, now that we've got our hands on one for review, we're intrigued to see just where such a product fits in to a busy marketplace. The SR250 has everything you would expect from an upmarket AV product (without all the power amp channels, of
only aims to minimise any room issues but also optimises the phase performance of your speakers. The tonal balance can be tuned to taste, too. The SR250 comes with a microphone, but you’ll still need to use a computer to do the processing. The relevant software (Mac and PC) can be downloaded from Arcam’s website. It’s not a difficult process, but we recommend getting the dealer to perform the set-up. It might cost you a bit extra but it’s worth going to the effort, because the Dirac system is one of the more convincing we’ve come across.
current integrated multichannel amplifiers. It’s well built too, rigid and nicely finished. The front panel is a model of simplicity, and it’s easy to operate thanks to the well laid-out buttons and clear display. This is a pricey amplifier – and feels it. If you don’t want to use the standard remote, Arcam also has a dedicated iOS app that covers the full range of the amp’s functionality. Once loaded the app is simple and easy to use.
“Music or movies? Arcam sees it as a music device first, with surround decoding and video-switching capabilities additional and significant bonuses” course). There are no fewer than seven HDMI inputs, all capable of handling 4K and HDR signals. These are ably backed up by an array of digital and analogue inputs. It would be nice to have a Type B USB to make a digital connection to a computer easier but, beyond that, we doubt there’s a stereo set-up where this Arcam will be found wanting. Initial set-up is the same as for any AV amp. Arcam is particularly proud of the Dirac room equalisation system – this not
Comparing the sound of the SR250 with and without Dirac is interesting, and easily done with just a press of a button on the remote. The EQ makes our reference system sound more tonally even and better in terms of precision and focus. Detail levels are improved too, with low level instrumental strands becoming easier to follow. It’s not totally positive news though. Dirac neuters dynamic expression a touch, making the music a little less exciting and less fluid. That said, our test room is a relatively balanced proposition, so makes less of the advantages of the EQ system than most other rooms would. If your listening space has some sonic issues, Dirac should help, though we would stop just short of calling it essential. The SR250 is a hefty unit, weighing in at a chunky 15kg. The casework mirrors that of Arcam’s
The circuit layout required for Class G amplification is complex and pricey – but delivers superior sound
22 | What Hi Fi? |July 2016
KEY FEATURES
Multiple power supplies Inside, you’ll find Arcam’s Class G power amplification, a circuit configuration that aims to deliver high-quality sound with low power consumption – pretty much the Holy Grail of amplifier design. The complexity comes from the use of multiple power supplies that are switched into use depending on the demands of the signal and output requirements. The SR250 delivers a claimed 90W per channel, with just over 20W of that in Class A. By the standards of premium stereo amps, 90W isn’t particularly striking – but listen to this amplifier in full flow and there’s no denying its muscularity. It doesn’t run particularly hot either. That’s not a big surprise considering the use of Class G technology, and the fact that the SR250’s casework has so obviously been designed with the cooling requirements of the company’s top-end multi-channel amplifiers in mind.
Stereo
Room equalisation
7x HDMI 2.0a with HDCP 2.2
Music or movies? At first we aren’t sure how to approach this product. Music or movies? Arcam sees it as a music device first and foremost, with the surround-sound decoding and video switching capabilities additional and quite significant bonuses. We like the SR250 once it’s up and running. We start by using the analogue
USE IT WITH PMC Twenty 23 speakers ₨3,12,200 They work just as well in stereo as in a 5.1 package.
FIRST TEST
It has the heft of a conventional AV receiver, and many similar abilities useful to the right buyer
Plenty of inputs, both digital and analogue, and video-switching capabilities – all in stereo only
outputs from our resident Naim NDS/555PS streamer. The SR250’s sound through the line stages is good, nicely detailed with plenty of body and punch. Prince’s 1999 comes through with a pleasing amount of insight and plenty of energy. It’s an articulate presentation with a good degree of clarity and precision. We’d like a bit more in the way of rhythmic skill and greater emphasis put on low-level dynamic shifts, such as those that convey emotions in a voice, but still we enjoy what we hear. There is clear evidence of Arcam’s Class G family sound here – the presentation is big, bold and powerful, but mixed with plenty in the way of refinement. You could listen to this amp for hours without issue. The digital inputs turn out to be similarly capable. The on-board digital-to-analogue circuit is talented, with the SR250 turning
out a stirring rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Marché Slave Op.31. There’s plenty of scale here, and we have no reason to question the Arcam’s authority or its ability to deliver wide-ranging dynamic swings. Crescendos hit with venom, yet at any half-reasonable volume the amplifier stays composed. Stereo imaging is crisp, and layered with care – particularly when the Dirac EQ is switched in. A change to movie soundtracks – old favourites such as Star Trek and Michael Jackson’s This Is It get an outing – shows off the SR250’s considerable talent. There’s plenty to appeal here, from the amp’s punch and authority to its pleasing insight. Action scenes from Star Trek brim with energy while there’s enough muscle to satisfy. Similarly, concert scenes from MJ are delivered with plenty of atmosphere
and cohesion that few multichannel amplifiers – outside some very high-end processor/power amp combinations, that is – can match. The SR250 even has subwoofer outputs if you want to add extra low-end heft to the sound of your stereo speakers. Just to be clear, there are no surround channels and no preamplifier outputs that allow the connection of a separate power amplifier to allow them to be separated. This is very much a stereo-only unit, despite the home cinema processing at its disposal. This, then, is a hard product to sum up. The SR250 could be all the amplifier you ever need. If you’ve got a stereo set-up for your TV then it’s a neat way to get the features you need in one convenient box. By stereo standards it’s a good-sounding product rather than a great one, but if you need video switching then there’s little out there that will do the job better.
says
Rating ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND FEATURES BUILD
VERDICT The SR250 is certainly a bit of an oddball but, for some people, its interesting feature set could be compelling
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 23
LG’S BRILLIANT NEW 4K OLED TELEVISIONS
The only home movie theatre option for the serious cinephile LG continues its steady march towards home HDR IMMERSION movie theatre supremacy with its new line of OLED 4K televisions. Made for the discerning cinema fan, with class-leading features you won’t find elsewhere, LG OLED televisions are your only upgrade to big screen perfection. Featuring WebOS, the world’s best Smart TV OS, these truly smart vslkGokyG Gk G} Blade Slim televisions make the ideal centrepiece for your stylish new villa. As you’d expect from the leaders in home entertainment, there’s enough vslkGokyG Gk G} technological brilliance here to please even the most demanding AV connoisseur. Take the new E6, OLED VS LED for example. Its 65 inch panel uses self-emitting OLED technology that creates deep blacks, and Billion Rich Colours tech which makes movies appear true to life. But that’s just the start. From Dolby Vision with HDR 4K and sound designed by Harman/Kardon, to the Magic Remote, LG TVs give you total immersion. Making them the only choice for the serious home theatre enthusiast who’ll never settle for anything less than the best. {t
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LG OLED has Dolby Vision with HDR 4K technology, which shows you every bit of the image, from the brightest to the darkest, without any loss of colour and luminance. Expanded contrast, deep blacks and astonishing brightness - that’s what you get.
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Unlike LED TVs, OLED televisions use self-lighting pixels which can be controlled individually. This helps achieve perfect black levels as there’s no light leakage. So viewers can enjoy infinite contrast, something not possible with normal LED televisions.
DOLBY VISION WITH HDR 4K
PERFECT BLACKS
CINEMATIC COLOUR
THE REALLY STYLISH ONE
LG 4K OLED TVs have Dolby Vision with HDR 4K to give you frame by frame image optimisation, expanded contrast, ultravivid colours and universal HDR playback. Exactly what the serious cinephile demands from his TV.
Driven by self-emitting pixel technology, OLED panels give you deep blacks and perfect colours at the same time. Thanks to this unique capability of LG’s OLED TVs, no matter what you’re watching, it’ll come alive like never before.
Your new LG OLED 4K TV displays real Cinematic Colour thanks to Billion Rich Colours tech that can easily go head-to-head with a high-tech digital cinema, making a cinema-grade experience possible in the comfort of your own home.
The gorgeous E6 uses LG’s new Blade Slim Design, which makes this OLED 4K set ultra-slim and ultra-chic. This bold new approach to making televisions means you get an aesthetically accomplished TV set for your luxurious villa.
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WEBOS MAKES YOUR TV TRULY SMART
ENJOY EASY SHARING
CLEAR AND CRISP SOUND
WATCH ALL THAT YOU WANT TO
WebOS 3.0 and LG’s Magic Remote team up to give you a Smart TV that’s completely intuitive. Even better, you can install lots of apps, turning your LG TV into a home entertainment centre with access to video streaming and social media.
Your new LG TV is the heart of your home theatre. Plug in consoles and Blu-Ray players, share your mobile screen with Screen Share, control your phone with the Magic Remote, get smartphone notifications on the big screen...
Audio is essential to a cinema-quality movie experience. That’s why LG’s OLED 4K TVs offer 2.2 Channel audio by Harman/ Kardon. Superb clarity and ample power makes everything come alive - from a whisper to an explosion.
With support for media streaming services, LG Smart TVs bring you a great way to enjoy great entertainment at home. Watch all your favourite TV shows and movies, including award winning Netflix originals, anytime you want.
INSIDER
Is this a record? Record Day 2016 UK again showed that vinyl remains a popular format, but can it really hope to compete with streaming?
INSIDER
Vinyl as a proportion of the album market in the UK Total vinyl album market value (ÂŁm)
Vinyl as % of total physical album market
2008
2.9
0.3%
2009
3.3
0.3%
2010
3.6
0.4%
2011
6.0
0.8%
2012
7.3
1.2%
2013
14.7
2.7%
2014
25.9
5.0%
2015
42.5
8.3%
Source: Official Charts
Total albums
26 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
INSIDER
R
CD vs Vinyl Number of units shipped in 2014 and 2015
ecord Store Day 2016 once again proved highly important to the independent record store scene in the UK. So armed with some recent stats and info from RSD 2016 we take a closer look at the current state of our favourite analogue music format. So how is vinyl doing in terms of sales? Well, the graphs to the right show how the format has grown over the two years, with just under four million extra units sold in 2015 than in 2014. The total value was up 32 per cent to $416 million, the highest since 1988. By comparison, CD sales dropped by roughly 20 million, although total numbers still dwarf those of vinyl. Whether it’s for the nostalgia, the way it feels in the hand or the album artwork, consumers are buying more vinyl. Surprisingly, it might not be about the music – an ICM poll from April 2016 found 48 per cent of people who bought records in March 2016 have yet to play them, and 7 per cent of those surveyed said they didn’t even own a turntable.
CD 143.8 million Vinyl 13.7million
2014
Vinyl revolution
Independent record stores have also benefited from the surge in demand, which is best represented on the annual Record Store Day. Every April, hundred of stores around the UK get their hands on exclusive pressings from various artists, which have punters queuing up CD 123.3 million Vinyl 17.4 million
“Let’s not forget that although vinyl sales are increasing, they’re tiny compared to the revenue generated from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music” outside for hours on end only to be told that they’ve sold out of their allocated numbers of David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World. Record Store Day has been a catalyst for vinyl sales in the UK, from just 75,000 albums sold in 2008 to 2.1 million in 2015. It’s claimed that LP sales are already up 64 per cent on last year, which is encouraging. But let’s not forget that while vinyl sales are increasing, they’re tiny compared to the revenue generated from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. In 2015, streaming was worth well over $1bn, making up 34.3 per cent of recorded music industry revenues. While there is no sign of the vinyl revival slowing down, the question of whether there’s enough life in the LP yet to be able to compete with the convenience of streaming in the longer term remains to be seen.
2015 Source RIAA
Top 8 Albums sold on Record Store Day 2016
1,400,000
Sales (units)
700,000
TA K E A L O O K AT O U R TO P F I V E P R O D U C TS
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
Year
1995
200,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
David Bowie The Man Who Sold The World
Vinyl sales 1995-2015
2,100,00
Motörhead Bad Magic The Jimi Hendrix Experience Smash Hits Ezra Furman Songs By Others Fleetwood Mac The Alternate Tusk The Damned 35 years of Anarchy, Chaos & Destruction Ocean Colour Scene Moseley Shoals T.Rex Born to Boogie
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 27
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RMC launches AV Cart
Standing tall and on a platform with a set of four interlocking wheels, the AV cart from RMC R-Tech is a nifty frame on which a TV, camera and other AV accessories can be mounted and yet made mobile. Particularly useful while making presentations, the RMC1500-60-1P has many size setting options to accommodate TVs ranging from 32in to 70in.
Go professional with the Harman AKG K-182 Launched at the Palm Expo 2016 by Harman Professional Solutions, these closed-back monitor headphones, the AKG K-182 rest at the top of the K-series range of studio headphones. The ₨14,129 headphone houses a pair of 50mm, high-sensitivity transducers for accurate sound production, even with mobile devices. The ergonomic design is also made travel friendly with 3D-axis folding and comfortable, replaceable ear pads for extended usage.
Projector with a green heart
The Ultra Short-Throw projector, XJ-UT310WN has been unveiled as part of Casio's eco-friendly line of energyefficient projectors. At ₨1,49,995, the projector houses a ‘Laser LED Hybrid Light source’ technology with a mercury-free design. The projector claims to consume 50% less electricity and has reduced power consumption for lower CO2 emissions. There’s even a standard 3-year warranty on the projector with a 10,000 hour warranty on the light source. 28 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
Absolute Sound launches Kii Three The Kii Three, whose main objective was to rival the performance of a floorstander while being a lot smaller in size, has been officially launched by its Surat-based distributor, Absolute Sound. The range is expected to be available with prices tentatively beginning at ₨10,39,990. What makes the Kii Three unique is that it’s claimed to be designed in such a way as to exceed the clarity of a full size sound system. Six channels of DSP, D/A conversion
(4 x 6.5in Woofer, 1 x 5in Midrange, 1in waveguide tweeter, all individually driven) and N-Core power amplification work behind the scenes for a Kii Three speaker. In the company’s own words ‘’ The AD/DA circuitry of the Three’s signal processing board is entirely inaudible, a feat not duplicated by the most expensive audiophile standalone units”. Weighing roughly 15kg, Kii Three seems well poised to redefine how one views size vis-a-vis performance when it comes to loudspeakers.
The What Hi Fi? Show heads to Bengaluru, once again! It’s the time of the year when the sixth edition of India's best audiophile gala that is, the What Hi Fi? Show, will once again regale lovers of all things Hi-Fi. Buoyed by the success of the event, not to forget the massive response by audiophiles that visited India’s biggest Hi-Fi gathering will once again be held in the glorious city of Bengaluru. With the venue still the same as last time ie. the glitzy Ritz Carlton. The What Hi Fi? Show will take place from the 19th to 21st of August 2016 and will witness dedicated setups of audio and video prowess on full display from a plethora of participating brands. What Hi Fi? Show, Mumbai, witnessed a huge response to live seminars where participants had a chance to learn and hear from industry experts on topics ranging from immersive audio to homeautomation. The What Hi Fi? Show, Bengaluru will take a huge step forward by organising a Certification Course in THX video! Be sure to grab this extremely rare opportunity by emailing your queries to nishant@
haymarketsac.com. The What Hi Fi? Show, Bengaluru is not far off. Clear your calendar and book your tickets now!
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INDIA’S FORAY INTO MUSICAL SURROUND One forges a trend that may enable more music in the Dolby Atmos format Although the audience for carnatic classical may be limited compared to Bollywood, it hasn’t deterred a passionate team of music makers from releasing what is India’s first-ever music disc with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Available in both DVD and Blu-ray versions, it’s the BD version that gets the height-channel love, but the packaging for both remains identical and explains the concept of the album in great detail. Director, P. Jayendra articulates why the producers chose to take the artist to a remote location, unencumbered by the confines of a typical indoor venue. No artist can completely detach from the environment if the expectations are implied in the form of a live audience and thus, One has been entirely recorded in an outdoor location. Singer T.M.Krishna, renowned for his command over the principles of carnatic music, sets himself free on a journey of ragas that spans more than two hours. The performance has been masterfully captured using seven microphones by National award-winning sound engineer, K.J.Singh and enhances the atmosphere of the Nilgiri hills by precisely placing ambient sounds of birds, rustling leaves and rippling water while anchoring the hair-raising vocal rendition in the front of the soundstage. Three 4K cameras have been used to film the performance, all the while causing minimal obtrusion to the singer so that he doesn’t get affected by any unnatural influences. The result is a soaring performance that is a joy to listen to even if you aren’t a classical music fan. The Blu-ray version is now available for ₨1500 while the DVD sells for ₨1250. Log on to onewithmusic. in for insights on this one-of-a-kind album.
Le Eco is leading the way for audiophiles
Mitashi introduces an Android-powered smart TV Mitashi has expanded its smart TV range with the addition of a new, 65in model. This Full HD set offers a DLED Super Slim panel, built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet, three USB ports, three HDMI ports, a 500000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and supports 27 video file formats. The MiDE065v22 FS is based on Android 4.4 Kitkat, which runs on a quad-core processor with 512MB RAM and 4GB storage. Mitashi is also including an Air Mouse for easier control. Other features include Google Play Store support, Agile Remote compatibility, an audio output of 10W X 2 and screen mirroring. Mitashi is also giving a 3-year warranty with this television, which will retail at ₨98,990.
While there is enough talk about Apple ditching the 3.5mm jack on its next iPhone, its Chinese competitors have already gone one up and promised us better sound forever. Both the Le 2 and Le Max2 will be the first smartphone duo in the world to feature the patented CDLA (Continual Digital Lossless Audio) and its custom earphones featuring this tech will be given free to customers of the new phones but would sell for ₨1990 otherwise. The advantage of this tech is that the DAC (Digital-to-Analog) conversion will happen in the headphone connector instead of inside the smartphone where it is more prone to noise and interferences from the radio circuitry built in. It will also allow for more power going into the earphones and this could potentially mean louder, clearer and a more robust listening experience, especially while streaming live content. Since the headphone connector is a USB-C connector, this tech may also be backward compatible with other new-gen smartphones that allow music playback through their USB-C ports. It might be time to bid adieu to the humble AUX. July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 29
INSIDER
OPPO DIGITAL LAUNCHES SONICA WIFI SPEAKERS Feature-rich WiFi speaker raises the bar for Hi-Fi and Multiroom speakers
In collaboration with Jay Multimedia, Oppo Digital India recently launched the Oppo Sonica – Oppo’s first WiFi speaker with a bevy of features built in. Held in Mumbai under a weather dominated with overcast clouds with rain threatening to pour down in torrents; Sonica couldn’t care less. The launch event was attended by wellwishers from across the hifi fraternity; integrators, distributors and dealers. All at the event witnessed a keynote from Mr. Christopher M. Vick, Sr. Product Manager from Oppo Digital, USA. Mr. Christopher covered topics like Oppo Digital’s profile, its plans for India and then discussed in detail the thought
process, the features and the various aspects that resulted in the Sonica. Mr. Yash Parwani, CEO of Oppo Digital India followed Mr. Chris and officially unveiled the Oppo Sonica. Mr. Satish Parwani, MD of Jay Multimedia wrapped up the keynote as the floor was thrown open for all attendees to test the many Sonica WiFi speakers on display. Also on display were prominent and pioneering products from Oppo Digital like the planar magnetic headphones like PM-1, PM-2 and PM-3 along with the HA-1 headphone amplifier and DAC. The Oppo Digital Sonica was well received by all and sundry, as the Sonica made many a fan with its performance.
The launch event was attended by well-wishers from across the Hi-Fi fraternity; integrators, distributors and dealers 30 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
INSIDER
Christopher M. Vick
Sr. Product Manager, Oppo Digital, Inc, USA The Sonica wireless speaker comes at a time when a lot of established loudspeaker brands already have their offerings in the market. How do you differentiate yourself? We're able to differentiate ourselves in the market by providing very high quality products at a reasonable cost. We pride ourselves on developing products that meet or exceed our customers' expectations. Specific to Sonica, one would be hard pressed to find another wireless speaker that contains its feature set for the price: Wi-Fi multi-room capabilities, Apple AirPlay, Bluetooth, DLNA compatibility, 24/192 file decoding capabilities of formats such as FLAC, WAV, ALAC, or AIFF, the ability to play back music files from a connected USB hard drive, and finally the inclusion of an AUX input for compatibility with source devices in your home that don't necessary have network capabilities. Other wireless speakers may offer just some of the features listed above, but with Sonica you can have them all in a single product. Sonica will also be firmware upgradable with Dirac room correction capabilities in the very near future. Oppo Digital has been synonymous with making quality hi-fi products. Has Sonica been designed entirely in-house or with help from other OEM brands? Sonica is really a global endeavor, utilizing the resources of our product design team in the US, our industrial design team in the UK, our manufacturing and engineering resources at the OPPO factory in China, and the acoustic design team led by Igor Levitsky, who splits his time between his home in Canada and the Philippines where Sonica's drivers are manufactured and where final assembly is completed.
Multiroom is tricky to get right. Does the Sonica rely on its own mesh network or works through the local Wi-Fi router? It's more like a combination of the two. The connection to a home network in general (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) is necessary for communication between the Sonica app and speakers, and also necessary to allow streaming from DLNA servers present on the network. However, the speakers communicate and transfer audio data between themselves using their own mesh network. This ensures excellent streaming performance even if something else on your network is taking up a lot of bandwidth. Do you think Oppo is ready to get into the large format retail stores in India? Is online retail big for you? Speaking for the US market, we primarily sell directly to our customers online, and for us online retail is the majority of our sales. However, different markets may demand different approaches, and I believe that Sonica can certainly benefit from being featured in a retail environment for customers to have a hands on experience before they decide to buy. The product box for Sonica is already well-suited for a retail environment, with its attractive and informative color packaging that is in stark contrast to the utilitarian, brown cardboard box packaging that is traditionally used.
105D had been on the market for two years because we felt that we would not be able to release players that would provide enough of an upgrade over these models, and we opted instead to hold off on a refresh until we could release a true 4K UHD player.
You don’t leverage the popularity of Oppo mobile phones within your personal audio products. Is there a specific reason for this? That's true, and this is because we operate independently from each other. Of course, being sister companies we often collaborate and share resources, and the name recognition that OPPO Mobile has been able to achieve in the Indian market will undoubtedly help raise awareness and interest in OPPO Digital's products. Ultimately though, OPPO Digital is directing its products at a different market entirely: the premium Audio-Video market.
Oppo has limited SKUs in its portfolio. What is the general timeline for releasing new products?
It's different for every product line, but I think the general answer that can apply to each category, whether it's the universal players, personal audio products, or the Sonica speakers, is that the products are released once they're ready. We don't necessarily have a strict timeline in place for refreshing a specific product line or releasing a new product. In terms of our universal players, we historically saw a refresh every two years or so. However, we did not refresh the universal players after the 103D and
How big is a market for Oppo for its high-end headphones and do you see it growing exponentially? I think we will likely continue to focus our efforts on providing our customers with sound quality and functionality that shoots above its price point, and we've been especially happy with the sales of the PM-3 headphones and HA-2 headphone amplifier and DAC, even more so given that we are relative newcomers to the personal audio market. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you certainly don't have to worry about a $3,000 + headphone from us.
Sonica is really a global endeavor, utilizing the resources of our product design team in the US, our industrial design team in the UK, our manufacturing and engineering resources at the OPPO factory in China July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 31
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PALM EXPO 2016: IT’S A WRAP FOLKS
The country's premier B2B pro Audio, Video and Light expo gets bigger than ever
The Palm Expo 2016, predictably saw people from all walks of pro audio and video throng the now-hallowed grounds of the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC), Mumbai from the 26-28 May 2016. Notorious for swelling and achieving juggernaut proportions, now in its 16th edition, The Palm Expo typically broke records across various parametres. The overall attendance saw a 20 percent jump this year, even though the Music-expo which was co-located with the Palm Expo till now, was excluded this year. A staggering 22,366 visitors that included delegates from countries like USA, UK, UAE, Australia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Thailand, Qatar and Oman made this year’s Palm Expo an even bigger event than last year. Given the constant growth in the Entertainment Event and Music Production industry, an increase in visitors was expected. But to avoid just anyone walking into the Palm Expo, the organisers decided to make the entry a paid one to make sure only the target-audience turns up for the event. It’s interesting to note that the record for most attendees was broken under these conditions. The Palm Expo saw 183 direct exhibitors showcasing a smorgasbord of brands, distributors, dealers and manufacturers over a covered area of about 24,336 Sq.m. at the Bombay Exhibition Centre; this in itself was a 15 percent increase from last year, space-wise. With 74 new exhibitors this year, the total number of brands on display numbered over 500. Besides the usual spaces for showcasing one’s brands, uniquely created spaces 32 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
like ‘the Open Air Line Array Demo’, ‘The Harman Live Arena,’ and other arenas that gave an opportunity for a brand and it’s products to shine uncumbered definitely earned brownie points with visitors and exhibitors alike. Rest assured, the Palm Expo will only keep going from strength to strength.
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PHES5 TLAO UNC 1 1Cowon Plenue D ₨27,000 With a 24bit/192kHz Stereo DAC with a S/N ratio of 123dB, the Plenue D also sports a nifty 2.8in display and a claimed 100 hour battery life. If you’re looking for options for a hi-res player, look no further.
Straight to the top of your wishlist
2 2 Cyrus Soundkey from ₨TBC Cyrus has joined the micro DAC fray and turned to Kickstarter for funding with a goal of £50,000. If you want your phones and tablets sounding better, you'd better get a word in. Early Bird and VIP packages available.
3
3 AUDEZE SINE ₨39,990 With claims of being the world's first on-ear planar magnetic headphone from a brand that is pretty much known to be an authority on planar magnetic technology, there’s no doubt regarding its performance. This will definitely be a stunner.
5 Xbox One S from $250 Microsoft has updated its Xbox One console. We don't yet know what the 'S' stands for, but it might be 'smaller'. We're more excited about 4K compatibility, which means this will be the world's most affordable UHD Blu-ray player.
5
4
4 iBasso DX80 ₨32,500 A sturdy form factor with an intuitive UI, the iBasso features Dual CS4398 DACs and supports Native DSD 64 and DSD 128 formats, and is a blast to use. How do we know? Well we tested it, of course. Head to Pg. 69 for details.
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 33
HEADPHONES
Taking it
personally
This is about just you and your music. So which premium over-ears are the best matchmakers?
Sennheiser HD 630VB ₨39,990
HEAD TO HEAD
34 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
E
verybody deserves good music wherever they go, and it is our firm belief that a good pair of headphones makes every journey better. What we have here are two giants of the over-ear headphone market, wrestling for that space in your handbag or manbag. In one corner we have former Award-winners the Bowers & Wilkins P7s, which have previously inspired us to say things such as, “some of the best over-ear headphones you can buy”. They face off against a brand-new challenger from Sennheiser, which has just celebrated 70 years in the headphone game and is keen to shake things up with a radical new approach. An old favourite versus a flamboyant newcomer. Who will come out on top?
HEADPHONE HISTORY Sennheiser first surfaced in 1945 under the name Laboratorium Wennebostal, a moniker understandably soon abbreviated to Labor W. It began making microphones and, soon after, amplifiers and preamps. The Sennheiser name came in 1958 and 10 years later the company developed the HD 414 – the world’s first open headphones. In 1965, John Bowers started handassembling loudspeakers in the back of the Worthing electrical shop he ran with his friend Roy Wilkins. That was the beginning of an enduring dynasty, but it wasn’t until 2010 that the company produced its first headphones, the leather-clad P5s.
Bowers & Wilkins P7 ₨33,000
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 35
HEADPHONES
OR COMFORTABLY SUPERI
Bowers & Wilkins P7 ₨33,000 FOR Detailed, balanced, clear sound; compact; comfortable
AGAINST Cable could be longer for easier use at home
★★ ★ ★ ★
Headphones come in all shapes and sizes, but it’s always easy to pick Bowers & Wilkins out of a line-up. They’re essentially the same gorgeous design, shrunk or enlarged depending on the occasion, and made with the sort of quality that leads you to coo over them. The B&W P7s are the company’s biggest and most expensive pair of headphones to date, sitting above the P3 and P5 cans. But where both of these models rest on your ears, the P7s have been designed to envelop them. If you’re after superb-sounding on-ears and portability is priority, these B&Ws could be your best buy of the year. That’s right: after scooping the 2013 Award for Best Headphones in their price category, they remain a benchmark for a host of new arrivals. We start with rapper Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s Thrift Shop and it’s hard to ignore the P7s’ enthusiasm. Full of panache, they capture the fun of the
and the brushed metal caps on the ear cups, mean the P7s exude class – like an executive leather armchair for your ears. The earpads are lovely. Their sheepskin leather is ultra-soft, rivalled only by the memory foam they contain. Clamp force is nicely judged: there’s a good seal, with a grip just strong enough to make sure they don’t fall off your head – but they never squeeze. They’re a comfortable wear, although your ears may get a little warm over longer listening sessions. When you’re done listening, the ear cups fold inwards on aluminium hinges, making them easy to stick in a bag, or the supplied quilted carry case.
Big-speaker sound
IN DETAIL...
You can fold the P7s’ earcups under the headband for storage in their carry case
track with impeccable timing. The playful lyrics are clear and focused, and the sporadic instrumental quirks in the song pass in and out with purpose. A bold bassline is hard-hitting too, taut and controlled enough to avoid veering into boomy. When it comes to balance, the P7s are close to perfect. Skip to another track Wing$ and the P7s overflow with detail – even when the song crashes into its uplifting beat, the P7s stay level-headed.
The crucial difference
Remove the magnetic earpads and the drive unit is revealed beneath the grille
36 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
Up against the pricier Sennheiser HD 630VBs, the P7s hold their own. The Sennheisers have a fancy rotary dial for variable bass, but B&W’s grasp of tonal balance is such that we never feel the need to adjust the bass. The B&Ws also boast tighter timing and wider dynamic range than the Sennheisers – traits that make the P7s a more engaging listen. The P7s are elegant, brandishing a simple, yet classic, black and metal partnering. The attention to detail is what really impresses here. The white stitching on the black leather headband,
KEY FEATURES
WEIGHT 290g
IN-LINE MIC AND REMOTE
1
2
3
Their large size (don’t worry, they’re not too big) has allowed B&W to design a driver suspension more similar to that in a conventional speaker. If you peel off the magnetic earpads, you can see the 4cm drive unit through the grilles. B&W claims this new piece in the headphone puzzle has greater precision and control, and having spent some time in the P7’s company we find it hard to disagree. The headphones come with two choices of cables, one with an in-line mic and control for Apple devices and another without. The 3.5mm end fits into your portable device, while the 2.5mm jack feeds into a similarly sized socket under the left earpad. At 1.2m, neither cable is particularly long though, so you’ll need to make sure your sofa sits close enough to your source if you are using the P7s in the home. We’ve long been fans of B&W’s approach to headphone design, and the P7s are truly something special. They might be B&W’s most expensive cans yet, but we think they’re worth every penny.
4
CABLE 1.2m
says
RATING ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND COMFORT BUILD
VERDICT Our 2013 Award-winning headphones remain untouched by newer competition at this price
HEADPHONES
A NEW SONIC DIRECTI
ON
Sennheiser HD 630VB ₨39,990 FOR Detailed sound; variable bass; fine build quality
AGAINST Could do with more vim and vigour; fixed cable
★★ ★ ★ ★ IN DETAIL...
You can trust Sennheiser to pull something different out of the hat. After all, this is the company that celebrated its 70th birthday by releasing a headphone/amp system costing nearly half a crore housed in a block of marble. You don’t get that level of bling with the Sennheiser HD 630VB headphones, but nonetheless they offer something we didn’t expect: ‘VB’ stands for Variable Bass. These are closed-back, over-the-ear headphones, apparently aimed at audiophiles on the go, and with an adjustable bass boost. You read that correctly: we just used ‘audiophile’ and ‘bass boost’ in the same sentence. Fans of Sennheiser’s existing HD 600-series headphones will notice this is a radical break from tradition. In the past they have been prestigious audiophile headphones with open backs, designed for use in the home. They certainly never condoned messing with the bass either.
Like the P7s, the Sennheisers fold inwards to maximise their portability
Everybody twist
The HD 630VBs, by contrast, are begging to be messed with. The side of the right earcup is a rotary dial, which operates like a volume knob: twist clockwise for more bass, anti-clockwise for less. Sennheiser says this gives you a difference of +/- 5dB at 50Hz. The fun doesn’t stop there. A rubbery circle in the middle of the dial also houses smartphone playback and volume controls. It is Android- as well as iOS-compatible. We encounter no problems receiving play/pause and volume up/down privileges with phones from LG, Samsung, Sony and Motorola.
How to get noticed
In contrast to the B&W P7s’ understated elegance, the 630VBs sport bold material choices – blue synthetic leather, red cloth (in the lining) and chunky aluminium. Would you wear these out and about? They’re designed for portable use, although we might think twice about taking them out on the morning commute. There’s no getting past their chunky appearance (fat Cybermen come to mind) and at 400g they don’t qualify as featherweights. Then again, they’re comfortable. They don’t clamp down too hard and the earpads provide a good seal against the outside world. The build quality is
exemplary. It also helps that the earcups are hinged and can fold in on themselves. Our only real reservation about the design is the cable, which is fixed into the right earcup. That means you can’t replace it if it breaks, or if you just fancy a longer one for home use. At this money, we think that’s a shame. We’ve seen headphones with ‘bass boost’ before, but nothing with this level of finesse. The bass adjustment here is very subtle – bass weight creeps up but the rest of the frequency is mostly unaffected. Turn it to maximum and the sound thickens up considerably. For us the sweet point was usually about halfway.
The bass and smartphone controls are in the right earcup, leaving the left blank KEY FEATURES
WEIGHT 400g
BASS ADJUSTMENT
says
Upper class, middle class
Forget about the bass for a moment and the treble stays on the pleasant side of crisp, never hardening even when you crank it up. The midrange, however feels a little recessed – we feel vocals and guitar strums could be more forthcoming. We like the clarity of the sound, and detail levels are good too. Imaging is impressive and there’s plenty of space – it’s not obvious that these are closed-
back headphones. If there is a flaw in the audio performance, it is the ability to engage. The sound never fully grabs you. The HD 630VBs are well featured and give a competent, amiable performance. But B&W’s P7s have tighter timing and wider dynamics – even without variable bass – making for a more entertaining listen than the Sennheisers, and in our view that’s what really counts.
RATING ★★ ★ ★ ★ 3.5 mm JACK PLUG
SOUND COMFORT BUILD
VERDICT Variable bass makes for an unusual Sennheiser experience, but not one that can match the best at this price
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 37
HEADPHONES
TEST WINNER
Bowers & Wilkins P7 ₨33,000 ★★★★★ The Sennheisers grab your attention, but it’s B&W’s traditional values that win the day here
W
e weren’t expecting such an interesting fight. Both pairs of headphones are fine performers from venerable audio companies, but the B&W P7s and Sennheiser HD 630VBs are different beasts that go about their business with different tactics.
SYSTEM BUILDER
Understated virtue
What the B&W P7s offer is elegance, simplicity and focus. They are smaller and more portable. Their design is understated, using a classic combination of black leather and chromed metal. They’re classy without looking pretentious, fit for Economy and First Class alike. They don’t have features to show off, besides the ability to swap cables. This reserved approach means B&W could spend more energy on sound quality, and it shows. The P7s remain some of the best headphones we’ve heard for the money. By contrast, the Sennheiser HD 630VBs are loud and proud. From the chunky design to the blue leatherette earpads, everything about them is bold and attention-grabbing. Then there’s that rotary dial for variable bass, the mobile control buttons and the fact that they are universally compatible across iOS and Android. It’s an impressive feature list, although we feel the sound could have had more attention. It’s a fine performance, but not class-leading.
SMARTPHONE iPhone 6S ★★ ★ ★ ★ from ₨62,000 Still our top smartphone choice for all things audio/visual – and a breeze to use to boot
DAC Chord Mojo ★★ ★ ★ ★ ₨39,990 This small wonder offers a hugely informative and dynamic sound, plus it’s portable
Total build ₨1,34,990
On sound alone, the Sennheisers are no match for the B&Ws. Make no mistake, the HD 630VBs excel in clarity and detail, as well as a spacious presentation. But even with the variable bass they do not accomplish the excellent cohesion of the P7s.
The P7s are proof that you don’t have to be the newest, smartest or best-featured to come out on top
The HD 630VBs also could be more engaging, a quirk we put down to rhythm, dynamics and a slightly recessed midrange. The P7s exploit this weakness, using the occasion to show off their impeccable timing and hard-hitting dynamics. The P7s are the more rounded, entertaining option.
The bottom line
We also ought to consider the price. The B&Ws cost ₨33,000 while the Sennheisers cost ₨39,990. It’s a considerable margin, and while we are tempted by the Sennheisers’ features, we find ourselves sticking with better sound quality for less.
TEST WINNER
HOW THEY MEASURE UP B&W P7
Sennheiser HD 630VB
Foldable
Yes
Yes
Jack plug
3.5mm
3.5mm
Impedance
22 ohms
23 ohms
Cable length
1.2m
1.2m
Detachable cable
Yes
No
Weight
290g
400g
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 39
DACs
TO
The rise in the popularity of digital music and the quest for better sound performance have seen the humble DAC become an essential piece of hi-fi kit
HEAD TO HEAD
40 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
DACs
WHAT’S ON TEST? Arcam irDAC-II, ₨75,000 (Appox.) Anyone wanting a sonic upgrade for their digital library, on their laptop or hi-fi, should consider this a viable contender for their cash Chord Mojo, ₨39,990 A large slice of the Hugo’s performance for a fraction of the cost means that, until now at least, nothing else in its price band had got a look in
T
hanks to the exponential rise in the popularity of digital music, a digital-to-analogue converter has become the crux of any half-decent system. Its life’s purpose is to convert your digital files into analogue waveform, so that they can be output through your headphones or speakers. They are everywhere – built into smartphones, tablets and computers – but not all are born equal. As a broad rule of thumb, the better the DAC the better the sound quality, and this quest for better performance has seen the dedicated standalone DAC market explode to astronomical levels in the past five or so years. If your budget is as healthy as ₨50,000, you might as well look to two of the biggest and most decorated DAC purveyors: Arcam and Chord. At least one of these has appeared in almost every Awards issue since the first inclusion of the DAC category in 2008. Here, the Chord Mojo – the brand’s entry-level DAC and our current Award-winner – battles it out against Arcam’s successor to the multiAward-winning irDAC: the imaginatively named irDAC-II. Get your digital library at the ready, it’s game on!
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 41
DACs
NO MID-LIFE CRISIS HE
RE
Arcam irDAC-II ₨75,000 (Approx.) FOR Expansive soundstage; solid bass; vast file support
No celebrating its 40th birthday by trading the family Volvo for a two-seater Porsche. Instead Arcam has averted a midlife crisis by refining its successful DAC line. The irDAC picked up Awards for two years before the Chord Mojo arrived in 2015. So Arcam has struck back with a successor to the irDAC: the irDAC-II. Although the irDAC-II is from the same gene-pool as its predecessors, changes include new internal circuitry, a headphone amplifier stage and the adoption of an ES9016 Sabre DAC. The headphone-output stage has been taken from Arcam’s flagship A49 amplifier, and aptX Bluetooth (by way of antennae) replaces the USB type-A input found on the irDAC. Last, but not least, there’s now DSD128 support through the asynchronous USB input, as well as PCM support up to 24-bit/384kHz. There are also two coaxial inputs capable of handling files up to 192kHz, and two optical sockets limited to 96kHz. As for outputs, there are fixed and variable analogue sockets so you can choose whether to hand over volume controls to another component in your system. The irDAC-II is well equipped around the back, leaving its front to bear the 3.5mm headphone output. The irDAC-II is the size of a chunky book and similar in shape too. It’s solid in your hand and, while more practical than plush when it comes to aesthetics, is well finished. Buttons adorn the top, making it a tactile, hands-on unit.
AGAINST Lacks get-up-and-go; beaten for rhythmic precision
★★ ★ ★ ★ “Maintaining the sonic signature of Arcam’s amps, the irDAC-II has plenty of muscle”
Two input buttons mean you don’t have to skip through all six inputs. There are another two for volume, although we’d prefer a dial or knob for more intuitive control. Along the front, a light for each input turns from red to green when a signal is detected. When Bluetooth is selected, press the two optical input buttons at the same time to initiate pairing.
KEY FEATURES
Dragging its heels
Maintaining the traditional sonic signature of Arcam’s amplifiers, the irDAC-II has plenty of muscle. In Ray LaMontagne’s Part One – Hey, No Pressure (24-bit/96kHz), guitar riffs have just the right amount of edge, with detail in every corner of the Arcam’s expansive soundstage. It’s a weighty presentation, but there’s also the space, clarity and precision to ensure his strained vocals and drum strokes are just as articulate. As we move to Michael Jackson’s Working Day and Night (24-bit/96kHz),
IN DETAIL...
BLUETOOTH
24-BIT/384KHz
SAMPLING RATE
the Arcam isn’t quite as rhythmically snappy or musically fluid as the Chord Mojo, having a slightly looser hold over the nippy track’s 129-beatsper-minute tempo. We can’t help but feel that the Arcam drags its heels a little, lacking the verve and sense of convincing enthusiasm to get us toe-tapping along quite as avidly as we’d like. Roll up the red carpet. It’s safe to say that the Arcam irDAC-II won’t be quite as well decorated as its ancestors, lacking as it does a little expression and losing out to the Mojo in absolute transparency. Yet it’s still a recommendable, and welcome, third iteration to one of the most successful DACs we’ve seen, and anyone wanting to boost the sonic performance of their digital library from laptop or hi-fi should consider it for a serious audition.
says
RATING ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND FEATURES BUILD
The irDAC has power and volume buttons, making the tidy remote less necessary
42 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
The irDAC-II is well equipped around the back. At the front, there’s a 3.5mm jack
VERDICT The Arcam irDAC-II is a well equipped and solid performer, but in the Mojo, it’s up against tough competition
DACs
RS NOTHING ELSE MATTE
Chord Mojo ₨39,990 FOR Subtle, dynamic sound; fine rhythmic drive; portable
Does anyone need a DAC with an upper sampling rate limit of 768kHz? We doubt it. But get past that headline-grabbing spec and it’s obvious the Mojo could be the perfect solution for those who crave Chord’s expensive Hugo but have stuttered at the hefty price. The name is short for ‘Mobile Joy’. Quite. Unlike many rivals, Chord doesn’t use off-the-shelf DAC chips inside its converters, instead using programmable processors loaded with proprietary software. The Mojo uses the latest and most powerful processors, in theory making it Chord’s most capable DAC. The Mojo’s build quality is terrific. The aircraft-grade aluminium casing is beautifully machined and finished to an extremely high standard. But we miss Chord’s usual extravagant detailing, which has been discarded to meet this entry-level (for the brand) price-point.
Unstoppable momentum
The control layout is minimal, with three ball-like buttons taking care of power and volume level. There’s no display, but the power button lights up in different colours depending on the sampling rate (red for 44.1kHz, green for 96kHz, pink for DSD). Similarly, the lighting behind the volume buttons changes according to level. It seems confusing at first, but soon becomes second nature. The Mojo is barely larger than a credit card, and looks toy-like next to desktop rivals like the Arcam irDAC-II. Still, while it doesn’t have the luxury to double up
AGAINST Runs warm and gets hot when charging the battery
on inputs, there’s space for essential connections. (Micro) USB, optical and coax, though the latter takes the form of a 3.5mm jack, and a second USB connection (for charging only) are included. Inputs are auto-sensing, with USB taking priority. Outputs are limited to a pair of 3.5mm headphone jacks. Chord claims an output of 35mW into 600ohms, rising to 720mW into 8 ohms – enough to drive most headphone and pre-amp sections. Once up and running, this a fabulous performer. We listen to Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions on DSD and are gripped from the opening bars of Too High to the end of the album. There’s plenty of detail here, and the kind of insight into the recording that nothing we’ve heard up until the Hugo can better.
IN DETAIL...
★★ ★ ★ ★
“It’s the Mojo’s ability to organise information into a cohesive whole that stands out” KEY FEATURES
32-BIT/384KHz
SAMPLING RATE
8 HOURS BATTERY LIFE
But it’s the Mojo’s ability to organise all that information into a cohesive whole that stands out. It delivers the hard-charging rhythm track of Higher Ground brilliantly, communicating the song’s unstoppable momentum with the enthusiasm we crave when listening through the more laid-back Arcam. While the Arcam serves up a bigger, more spacious sound, the Mojo conveys a good sense of power and scale when required, applying more finesse to make the most of the subtler passages too. When the piece is demanding, the Mojo remains composed, with every note given the space and attention it deserves. The Mojo offers a large slice of the Hugo’s performance for a fraction of the cost, and that means nothing else in its price band gets a look in. Even at ₨40k, the Mojo is something of a bargain.
says
RATING ★★ ★ ★ ★ SOUND FEATURES BUILD
Despite the Mojo’s size, Chord has found space for plenty of essential connections
The buttons light up in different colours depending on sampling rate and volume
VERDICT The Chord Mojo delivers much of the sound performance of the £1400 Hugo, but at a fraction of the price
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 43
A WORLD OF CONTROL AT YOUR FINGERTIPS AUTOMATION AND LIGHTING CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR HOMES, OFFICES, HOME THEATRES AND MORE
INDIA’S FIRST COMPREHENSIVE AUTOMATION COMPANY
www.raylogic.in
INTEGRATION FOR AUDIO-VIDEO I MULTIMEDIA I LIGHTING I CURTAINS I FANS I AIR CONDITIONERS I SECURITY
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HEAD OFFICE: Unit 6, 3rd Floor, Hi! Life, PM Road, Santacruz (West), Mumbai – 400 054, Maharashtra TEL: +91-22-60021570 EMAIL: info@raylogic.in
DACs
TEST WINNER
Chord Mojo ₨39,990 ★★★★★
The Arcam puts up a strong fight, but for musical performance there can only be one winner
D
ACs come in all shapes and sizes – if this versus match tells us anything it’s that – and like most products, the right one for you is likely case-dependent. If you’re after something versatile that can slip into almost any system, whether that be laptop-based or a more traditional hi-fi set-up, a desktop DAC as well equipped as the Arcam irDAC-II may be just what you need. Its digital and legacy connections – aptX Bluetooth being the icing on the cake – are certainly desirable, especially if you aren’t sold by portability or the convenience of a laptop-powered set-up. Arcam’s open, brawny and refined signature sound is something we’ve come to know and love in its DACs and amps alike, and it reveals itself in the irDAC-II whether you’re playing a high-res song from a laptop or streaming a 320kbps online playlist from a phone. Slipping it into your hi-fi system? The handheld remote will no doubt come in handy too.
SYSTEM BUILDER
HEADPHONES Grado SR325e ₨26,000 ★★ ★ ★ ★ Open-backs with a rare level of transparency
Like the Arcam, the Mojo will play almost anything – DSDs and PCM files above and beyond 24-bit/192kHz – but it does so with more razzmatazz, a tighter grasp of rhythms and freer dynamics. It packs a lot of the sonic talents of its big brother, the Hugo, into a more compact box. Only when you consider that the Hugo is an Award-winner in a higher price band can the enormity of that achievement be realised. The Chord and Arcam may be different beasts in terms of functionality and design, but ultimately performance is king. Musically, the Mojo is in a league of its own, and that’s enough to push the irDAC-II into second place.
All that razzmatazz
It’s hard to wholeheartedly get behind its campaign though, when it pulls up short of the attack and rhythmic propulsion set by the Chord Mojo, its almost physical opposite (batterypowered, portable, sparse connections).
Musically, the Chord Mojo is in a league of its own – and is a worthy winner of this test
LAPTOP Apple MacBook Air (13in) ₨80,900 A fantastic base for any laptop-based system
STREAMING SERVICE Apple Music ₨300/month ★★ ★ ★ ★ Our best go-to streaming service
Total build ₨1,47,190
TEST WINNER
HOW THEY MEASURE UP Chord Mojo
Arcam irDAC-II
Dimensions (hwd)
2 x 6 x 8cm
4 x 20 x 13cm
USB in
Yes
Yes
HDMI in
No
No
Headphone outputs
2
1
Finishes
1
1
Wireless
No
Bluetooth
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 45
TELEVISIONS
ROUND-UP
STATE OF THE TV ART The 4K Ultra HD circle is complete. Here’s the how, the why and the which of how to get it into your life
46 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
TELEVISIONS
F
inally, it seems, we’ve reached the tipping-point. After what seemed an aeon, the 4K TV stars have at last aligned – the content is available on disc and via streaming services, the disc players are coming on stream and the displays (both TV and projector) are getting better (and more affordable) all the time. So is now the time to take the 4K plunge? Over the next 16 pages we’ve reviewed five new contenders for your 4K TV money, demystified the associated jargon and explained how to get the very best from your new television. Worried about 4K? It’ll be okay.
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 47
TELEVISIONS
HIGH TECH REACHES LO
W E R D OW N
Panasonic TX-50DX700 ₨91,008* FOR Intuitive OS; insightful picture; HDR and Ultra HD
AGAINST Lacks a bit of subtle detail
The TV industry has been riding a wave of progression for the last year or so: 4K has begun to dominate TV ranges and shop floors, Ultra HD Premium certification is finally ‘a thing’ and already HDR (High Dynamic Range) is no longer exclusive to flagship models but is filtering down to humbler screens too. As an example of that, Panasonic has four new ranges – no fewer than 10 tellies – with 4K and HDR support this year, and this 50in TX-50DX700 belongs to the entry-level, along with 40in and 58in versions.
Selected specs
The TX-50DX700 is without the Studio Master HCX processor, enhanced speaker system, or THX and UHD Premium certification that litter the specification sheets of the higher ranges. But for ₨91,008*, it doesn’t leave you feeling hard done by – unless 3D is a must, as it’s a no-show here. Instead, you get a 4K panel that supports HDR, meaning it is Ultra HD Blu-ray-ready, and an all-encompassing Firefox OS smart experience. Panasonic is also highlighting the range’s ‘Switch Design’: two adjustable feet can be fixed near either end of the screen or, to accommodate narrower stands, more centrally a couple of feet apart. Pointing ever so slightly inwards, they do look a little like they belong to a Some basic controls are tucked behind the screen opposite the connection panel
KEY FEATURES
bashful bird on a rather awkward perch, but at least the company is thinking about practicalities. There’s probably more silver in the TX-50DX700 than in Real Madrid’s trophy cabinet right now – the silver feet meet a silver half-finger-width bezel, and even the remote is silver. It’s very tasteful, and while it’s clear Panasonic hasn’t put the TX-50DX700’s frame through the toughest weight-loss regime – it’s thicker than some of the latest sets we’ve seen from Sony and LG – it’s still a pretty slim, streamlined design. Lifting off a plastic shield on the textured back panel uncovers a plethora of connections, including three HDMI inputs (two are 2.0 spec’d for use with 4K Blu-ray players, one of which is also ARC-compatible); three USB inputs (one meets the 3.0 standard); and an optical output for, say, a soundbar.
Catch up and scroll back 4K
Adjustable feet
50in screen
KEY FEATURES
INPUTS: 3.5MM
BATTERY: YES, 12 HOURS
NFC: YES
48 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
★★ ★ ★ ★
You can get online via ethernet cable or, if you don’t want wires trailing from your router, wi-fi and an app market lets you download apps to your heart’s content too. Panasonic continues its collaboration with Mozilla Firefox OS for another year – while the open platform is no more in smartphones, it lives on in the TV. We’re pleased Panasonic has stuck to last year’s guns, as it remains one of the more intuitive, foolproof systems we’ve seen. Three ‘decks’ (Live TV, Apps and Devices) make up the home screen, and any app, webpage or piece of content – Netflix, Google’s homepage or BBC One HD, for example – can be pinned to it for easy access. Shortcut heaven. A shortcut button on the remote opens up Netflix and we give martial arts sequel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny (in 4K) a whirl. It’s hard to say which strikes us first: the Panasonic’s impressively sharp, spanking clean picture or the film’s dizzying inadequacy. But we’ll concentrate on the former. We are now much more accustomed to how good 4K content looks than we were 12, or even six, months ago, but still it shouldn’t be taken for granted – especially on a TV as good as this. The Panasonic uses the sharpest tool in its shed to etch the edges of
swords and brickwork of temples, and lends splintering shards of ice and snow real precision as they fly towards the camera.
Colourful contrasts
There’s a pleasingly enthusiastic palette to enjoy – opulent samurai clothing and colourful oriental upholstery are rich and deep, but mostly faithfully so. Contrast is good too, the Panasonic diving deeper into blacks than the film’s director does into slow-mo effects (and that’s saying something). It extracts decent detail in dimly lit scenes too. Courtyard swordplay scenes are smooth and stable too, even if the TX-50DX700 needs a slight helping hand from motion processing modes in its picture settings. We’d like better layering and depth when it comes to the surreal landscapes though, and we’ve seen similarly priced sets better distinguish foreground and background detail – fighters against a forest backdrop and Chinese lanterns floating down a river, for example. What about HDR, you say? Right now, there are three ways to watch 4K material in HDR: via Ultra HD Blu-ray, Netflix or Amazon – although the TX-50DX700 isn’t yet compatible with the latter’s HDR content, which accounts for most of what’s available at the moment. Panasonic says support is en-route via an imminent firmware update, but it’s something to bear in mind if you’re shopping for a new telly.
HDR streaming
Season one of Marco Polo is one of the few ways to enjoy HDR material on Netflix, and on the Panasonic an ‘HDR’ logo appears on the app’s interface, indicating the TV’s compatibility. On a non-HDR set, this logo is absent. While the Pana’s rich hues and meticulous insight makes for a compelling watch, the overall picture isn’t quite as impressive as we hoped. Gold armoury isn’t as resplendent and costumes not as intricately shaded as they could be. The Panasonic’s rich colour palette reveals itself again as we play a Blu-ray of American Hustle, in everything from *Approximate price in rupees
TELEVISIONS
Christian Bale’s mahogany velvet jacket to Amy Adam’s ginger hair. It’s a crisp picture that fills the Panasonic’s screen with sharp, well etched lines and fine insight. Would a bystander walk past and think the TV is upscaling as much as it is? Doubtful. Escape To The Country in standard definition is our last port of call and, while lines become notably softer, it’s a good upscaling performance in general. Colours remain solid – countryside greens are as bold as red-brick buildings. It’s worth fighting for the centre spot on the sofa with the TX-50DX700, though as, off-axis, the picture looks noticeably more washed out, with edges not as defined and colours not as deep as they are when you’re looking headon. We find the screen’s glossy (as opposed to matte) quality is fairly reflective too, which can be distracting in well-lit rooms. The Panasonic’s sonic balance and body, perhaps something to do with its
“Ultra HD Premium certification is finally ‘a thing’ and already HDR is no longer exclusive to flagship models but is filtering down to humbler screens“
The neat, slim, multi-function remote’s silver finish matches the screen’s bezel
reasonable physique, is pleasantly surprising – we aren’t left wincing during sword contact and broken windows. All we would say is that in a medium-tolarge room you’ll need 75 per cent of the TV’s volume capacity. Thankfully it doesn’t sound like it’s overexerting itself pushed that high. 4K, HDR, UHD Premium… the implementation of these superior picture technologies and formats have certainly caused a bit of a hoo-ha, with some uncertainty surrounding their definition and packaging. But now the dust is finally settling on this ‘new era of TV’, it seems we’ve come out the other side with well-specced, future-proofed tellies, at decent prices, ready to make the most of the new and exciting content
that’s now emerging. The Panasonic TX-50DX700 is one of them and, despite making us sit tight for support for Amazon’s HDR material, puts Panasonic’s 2016 range off to a solid start.
says
Rating ★★ ★ ★ ★ PICTURE SOUND FEATURES
VERDICT A solid, future-proofed, well specified performer that proves just how accessible 4K and HDR now are
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 49
TELEVISIONS
AS LEGO M D LE FF RU N U D N A D E H AS POLIS
AN’S HAIR
LG OLED55C6V ₨2,99,900 FOR Dolby Vision and HDR10; rich, punchy hues; WebOS
At CES earlier this year, LG was competing with Samsung and Panasonic to announce the world’s first UHD Premium-certified TV, but the Korean giant was even keener to get in first with Dolby Vision, Dolby’s own end-to-end HDR solution and the alternative to the HDR10 standard adopted by both videostreaming services and Ultra HD Blu-ray. LG is currently the only TV brand supporting the format, with US manufacturers Vizio and TLC covering the other side of the pond. At the moment, Netflix streams Dolby Vision alongside HDR10. Universal, Warner Bros, MGM and Sony Pictures are all in talks to include the system.
AGAINST Edges can appear over-etched
KEY FEATURES
Compatible format
Although the two HDR standards could have waged an ugly format war and given potential TV buyers a headache, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. With LG tellies, it’s not a case of either/or. It’s both. LG’s 4K OLED range, very much the talk of the TV town last year, continues to dominate the company’s 2016 line-up, and the OLED55C6V belongs to the next-to-bottom C6 range. Passive 3D support differentiates it from the lower-ranging, flat-panelled B6 series. Physically, OLED arrived very much as a curved phenomenon – it was some time before LG took the iron to the technology LG manages to keep the OLED55C6V slimline, even when there’s tech to pack in
Dolby Vision and HDR10
OLED
KEY FEATURES
INPUTS: 3.5MM
BATTERY: YES, 12 HOURS
NFC: YES
50 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
– but that’s been turned on its head. The OLED55C6V and its 65in brother are the only curved OLED screens in this year’s eight-strong line-up. Clearly weight-conscious, the top half of this screen is among the slimmest we’ve seen – more like a smartphone than a TV – and even the protruding power pack below keeps things relatively slimline. The ‘floating’ stand we saw on some of LG’s models last year, where transparent acrylic connects the base plate to the panel, makes a welcome return too, this time in a more discreet black finish. Since its introduction in 2014, WebOS has been the darling of TV software platforms and continues to gain our affection in its latest 3.0 version. It’s just as slick and intuitive, but now has a greater focus on content discovery. Two new tabs – My Channel and My Content – are now part of the colourful cardlauncher home menu, offering shortcuts to your favourite channels and content.
A wizard idea 4K
★★ ★ ★ ★
LG appears to have named WebOS’s three new features while on a day trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The first of these is Magic Zoom, which lets you magnify anything on the screen, pause and screenshot it if necessary – goal-line technology in your living room? Quite. Magic Mobile Connection offers a straightforward way of connecting your smartphone to the telly via the LG TV Plus app, so you can share content as well as pair the telly with Bluetooth devices via your phone. Lastly, the upgraded Magic Remote is now more geared to control set-top boxes thanks to the addition of power and EPG buttons. Otherwise the smart wand – combining an on-screen cursor with physical buttons – is much the same. Taking centre stage is a search button for rummaging content across live and scheduled TV, YouTube and video-streaming services. Amazon and Netflix join Google Play on the apps front. Multi-view lets you watch two sources side-by-side too, so you can keep an eye on the football scores while watching the latest Mission Impossible. And a music player app – in
the form of a widget that can be moved around the screen – can play music files on your network or an attached device, even when the TV is off.
The quest for perfection
LG promises Perfect Black and Perfect Colour from its OLED TVs and, though it may just be marketing lingo, we can’t argue against the former. Its self-lighting pixels provide truly lights-out blacks. Sceptical? Stand it next to a turned-off TV and see for yourself. It’s a stretch to label the LG’s colour reproduction ‘perfect’, as it sits on the rich side of neutral. But while it might not be the most natural palette we’ve encountered, there’s no denying that its full, lush hues are stunning – especially with HDR material. Netflix plans to have more than 150 hours of HDR programming by the year’s end, available to anyone with an Ultra HD subscription, but for now we have to settle for the first series of Marco Polo which the LG plays in Dolby Vision. You may have run the THX Optimizer disc over your picture, but upon detecting HDR content (a small banner on the top right-hand corner flags when it does), the telly kicks into specific picture settings: with Vision, it’s Vivid, Movie Bright or Movie Dark – the last of these is the most likeable and gives you the most leeway for tinkering with individual picture settings.
Luscious landscapes
The picture is clean, detail spills from every pixel and outlines are needlesharp – if a little over-etched at times. You don’t have to be watching a Wes Anderson movie for colours to explode on the screen: a glistening armoury, sunbeams in subtle gradations and the opulent interiors of temples stronger than the warriors who inhabit them. The LG’s meticulous depth perception and layering of mountains, lakes and deserts really capture the vast openness of the shots of rugged Kazakhstani landscapes, too. We switch to Mad Max: Fury Road on Ultra HD Blu-ray – plugging the Panasonic DMP-UB900 player into one of the LG’s three 4K- and HDR-ready HDMI inputs – and, upon detecting its
TELEVISIONS
HDR10 layer, the LG offers you Standard, Bright or Vivid HDR modes. Standard is our preference as it’s the most adaptable; we take contrast down a notch and turn on a small degree of motion processing to smooth out minor blur. The result: an action-packed car chase that’s as polished and unruffled as Lego Man’s hair. The richly hued reds, oranges and yellows that help give the film its graphic-novel look are a visceral assault on the senses. Fire burns bright just pixels apart from the jet-black bars, and red flares and truck lights are luminous against the night sky. If there’s so much as a glint on a tooth, the LG clocks it. As we move down to 1080p Blu-ray, we’re still treated to the crispness, texture and dynamism that makes you want to expand your collection. Despite the mammoth upscaling task, the picture looks clean, attentive and no longer second best to anything produced by a good Full HD TV performance.
“The richly-hued reds, oranges and yellows that help give Mad Max: Fury Road its graphic-novel look are a visceral assault on the senses“
LG’s Magic Remote technology has been designed to work with set-top boxes as well as with the TV
Even with standard-definition programmes, the LG bends over backwards to keep as much picture noise at bay as possible. Edges are a little smudged, but it looks respectable. Thanks to LG’s partnership with Harman Kardon, the OLED55C6V sounds more full-bodied than its physique suggests. It can’t match a good soundbar or surround package, but it’s perfectly listenable and there’s no shortage of clarity or volume. If 2015 was the year of 4K, this is the year of HDR. Everyone is getting on board, and while content is likely to remain touch and go until the year’s end, the OLED55C6V (which may as well have ‘future-proofed’
stamped across its forehead) is waiting with open arms. If this is LG’s middleof-the-road offering, we can’t wait to see its flagship models.
says
Rating ★★ ★ ★★ PICTURE SOUND FEATURES
VERDICT LG continues its fine form with this impressive-looking, future-proofed 4K OLED screen
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 51
TELEVISIONS
LET’S GET READY TO PA
RTY
Samsung UE55KS7000 ₨2,99,900* FOR Subtle performance; good definition; natural colours
AGAINST Sound could be more substantial; no 3D
Towards the end of 2015, Samsung had a massive party. We don’t know this for certain, but we reckon it’s a fairly safe bet. When you dominate the entire TV category at the What Hi-Fi? Awards, you probably don’t go home that evening and look at etchings. It stands to reason the team must have celebrated long and hard before taking a well-deserved holiday, perhaps. Or maybe not. As we take a first look at one of Samsung’s 2016 TVs, we get the distinct impression that the next day in the lab was pretty much business as usual. Instead of getting complacent, the company’s very next product to arrive in our test rooms is evidence of yet more hard work.
One billion colours
This is the Samsung UE55KS7000. It is the junior member of Samsung’s elite SUHD squad, which sits at the top of the range. Or if you prefer, at the bottom of the top tier. Or the far end of the VIP table. But however we look at it, that translates as a lot of top technology for less of your money. And by top tech, we mean a 4K Ultra HD resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels for starters, plus High Dynamic Range (HDR). It has a 10-bit panel and a peak brightness of at least 1000 nits (one nit is the brightness of a candle). It also uses the BT.2020 (very wide) colour space. The external One Connect box houses most of the inputs (four HDMI, three USB), which helps make the KS7000 a reasonably slim set
All of which means the KS7000 qualifies for a UHD Premium sticker, the industry standard for serious TV specs. On top of that, Samsung has liberally sprinkled its own magic. The KS7000 uses ‘Quantum Dot’ technology, another name for the Nano Crystal tech we first saw in 2015. That promises over a billion colours, which is 64 times more than conventional rivals, according to Samsung.
Boundless enthusiasm
KEY FEATURES
4K
HDR
Screen size 55in
KEY FEATURES
INPUTS: 3.5MM
Then there’s the design, which is certainly not rushed. A ‘Boundless’ frame (which roughly translates as a very thin bezel) means there’s not much to distract you when you’re looking at the screen. It’s a slim set, thanks to the edge-lit LCD panel and the external One Connect box, which houses most of the inputs (four HDMI, three USB). A 360-degree design means every effort has been made to ensure the TV looks pretty the whole way round. This means there are no visible screw holes, for example. It certainly looks neat, which is something of a bonus, even if we don’t know anyone who deliberately walks around the back of their TV to seek out imperfections. Here’s something new: the feet don’t require the usual screwing that accompanies most televisions. All you do is slot them in until they ‘click’. Or at least that’s the theory. On our review unit, one foot clicked into place but the other would not catch, and fell out as we lifted the TV. It’s not an issue in situ, although we wish there were an option to position the feet closer to the centre of the screen. Not everyone can live in an enormous showroom with huge benches for the TV to sprawl across.
Getting smart BATTERY: YES, 12 HOURS
NFC: YES
52 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
★★ ★ ★ ★
A word on the smart stuff. Last year, we felt Samsung’s Tizen-based operating system was aesthetically similar to LG’s lovely WebOS interface, but in practice lacked its rival’s smoothness and refinement. Samsung appears to have taken this criticism on board, and the revamped interface is a huge step in the right direction.
Everything still revolves around a pop-up bar, which houses all the apps and menus – only this year it is a lot more intuitive to click around, thanks to a nice layout and handy shortcuts. It’s much faster, too. Waiting time is the death of any operating system, and thankfully it has been minimised. The Smart remote control has been redesigned too. It has the usual problem of being a little on the simplistic side, but it is more ergonomic and nicer to handle than Samsung’s previous efforts – and the most important keys, for volume and channel control, are pleasant to use. Time to play. We begin with 4K, streamed from Netflix and Amazon. The picture is as sharp as you like, but we’re impressed by the TV’s subtlety too. It doesn’t have the artificial, etched quality you get with shop demonstrations. There’s enough definition to count the individual raindrops on a windscreen, plus the clarity needed to make out the accompanying condensation.
Retina-melting dynamism
Then there’s 4K on UHD Blu-ray, provided by a Panasonic DMP-UB900. This has the advantage of High Dynamic Range (HDR), and we are very impressed by the contrast offered. UHD Premium certification does not always mean retina-melting levels of dynamism. The KS7000 doesn’t have the outright impact of the flagship Panasonic TX-65DX902, for example, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. What you get, as with the level of sharpness and clarity, is remarkable subtlety. Instead of solar brightness and abyssal blacks, you get fine increments of shade. Shadows offer different levels of murkiness. You can quite easily make out the outer part of a shadow (the penumbra, for those in the know).
Adding a sense of depth
The same subtlety applies to colour. Skin tones are realistically varied, even around the awkward contours of chins and cheekbones. The same applies for paint on cars, with the sunlight bouncing off it at a variety of angles. The subtle colours not only make for a more convincing image – it also helps to add a sense of depth.
*Price for Indian equivalent model: UA55KS9000K
TELEVISIONS
“The UE55KS7000 is the junior member of Samsung’s top-of-the-range SUHD squad. That means a lot of top technology for less money”
There’s no 3D here, as Samsung has decided to kill off the feature. Though little-used and largely unloved, this will be frustrating for anybody who has a 3D Blu-ray collection. We move on to Blu-ray for a bit of 1080p high definition action, and the KS7000 proves to be an excellent upscaler. There is the expected drop-off in quality from the 4K feed, but the TV does a good job with Fargo of defining tyre tracks on snow, as well as Steve Buscemi’s teeth, while retaining the subtlety of contrast and colour. Even without the benefit of HDR, clothing is rendered with strong dynamism and convincing depth.
If we had to pinpoint an area of weakness, we would probably nominate the sound. While it’s nicely balanced and has a decent weight, never approaching the sort of hardness we’ve heard from many slim TVs, it is not the most substantial-sounding set. It’s more than good enough for everyday viewing, but if you’re after a fuller movie experience, we might suggest some reinforcement in the form of proper speakers, or at the very least a soundbase or soundbar.
Sound reinforcement
Watching standard definition broadcasts is somewhat fuzzier, as expected, but we’re impressed by how well the KS7000 copes. It is perfectly watchable – despite the massive drop in detail, sharpness is impressive, and there’s little evidence of picture noise.
It’s party time Samsung includes two remotes, one ‘smart’. Or use an app on your phone
Samsung won five of our Awards last year, including the coveted TV Product of the Year gong. But it certainly hasn’t let that success go to its collective heads, nor has it rested on its laurels. Instead it
has made use of its momentum – and the result is nothing is nothing short of spectacular. If the UE55KS7000 is anything to go by, Samsung may be gearing itself up for another spectacular blow-out at the end of this year.
says
Rating ★★ ★ ★ ★ PICTURE SOUND FEATURES
VERDICT Samsung has built on last year’s momentum – and in the KS7000, the result is nothing is nothing short of spectacular
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 53
TELEVISIONS
MOSTLY TV, PARTLY PRO
JECTOR
Philips 65PUS8901 ₨3,72,500* FOR Vibrant, sharp picture; easy to use; Ambilux is fun
AGAINST Black depth is lacking; motion issues; price
The Philips 65PUS8901 has a 65in screen with 4K resolution, it comes with popular streaming apps ready to go, and will be compatible with HDR (High Dynamic Range), albeit after a software update later this year. It’s a premium screen too, ranking high in Philips’ line of 2016 TVs, and sells for a cool ₨3,72,500*. Essentially, this Philips TV ticks every box for a modern TV. And yet, none of the things listed above is this screen’s highlight. The highlight is the immersive, picture-extending, madscience concept of Ambilux.
How it all began
Ambilux is an evolution of Ambilight, a feature of Philips TVs for more than a decade. Ambilight uses LEDs that mimic the colours on the screen, casting a soft glow of light around the TV. The idea is to create a more immersive experience by extending the picture on screen. Ambilux turns that concept up past 11. Instead of LED lights, the 8901 uses nine tiny projectors that display the screen’s image onto the wall behind the TV. It’s more dynamic, there’s more motion and detail, and you can pick out characters and objects. It sounds and looks bonkers, but it’s ridiculously good fun. What makes it more than a flashy gimmick is that Philips recognises the effect might be distracting to some, so The Ambilux effect is produced by nine small projectors behind the screen
KEY FEATURES
3840 x 2160 resolution
GoogleCast
Ambilux lighting
KEY FEATURES
INPUTS: 3.5MM
BATTERY: YES, 12 HOURS
NFC: YES
54 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
★★ ★ ★ ★
every aspect of Ambilux is customisable. You can adjust the intensity, the size of the halo, the colours, and even tone it down to a gentle mood light. You get plenty of different modes, too – ‘Extreme’ and ‘Tunnel’ are best for intense gaming, while the gentler ‘Dome’ effect is more suited to watching TV. But it doesn’t respond only to pictures. Ambilux works with music as well, with various patterns pulsing according to the beat. Our favourite is the fun-packed ‘Retro’ mode. At first, Ambilux is distracting, so you might want to turn it down to its gentlest setting and then work your way up. But, just like the more sedate Ambilight, once you turn it off you’ll wonder why your TV’s picture has suddenly shrunk. You’ll also start to wonder why every TV doesn’t come with Ambilux.
Android at your service
Philips’ smart portal continues to be powered by Android TV. The simple homepage design is easy to navigate, even if it isn’t the most interesting or dynamic of interfaces. An upgrade to Android 6.0 is due later in the year, which promises a cosmetic touch-up and swifter actions. Until then, the neat arrangement of apps, services, recommended content, inputs and TV settings is easy to get acquainted with. Streaming fans will be happy to hear Netflix is ready to go straight out of the box. But you’ll have to wait for a software update to get Amazon’s video app (which should coincide with the HDR update) and even longer for the remaining catch-up TV services. Scrolling through the smart interface and Philips’ labyrinthine picture settings isn’t entirely smooth, with some lagging issues cropping up. It’s responsive for the most part, though, even if it does sometimes get confused when we click too fast on the remote control. If you’re familiar with Philips’ TV remotes, you’ll appreciate that they include a QWERTY keyboard at the back, which makes typing in wi-fi passwords and YouTube search terms so much easier. The 8901’s remote has a D-pad that’s also a touchpad, although we do find this can get in the way when you’re
pressing the buttons as normal. On the plus side, you could probably defend yourself against a burglar with the new remote: it’s a big, hefty slab.
A vibrant experience
So how does the Philips TV actually perform? Much like the Ambilux feature, the 65PUS8901’s picture is a vibrant burst of colour. The primary colours of The LEGO Movie (on Blu-ray) pop out, and the bold yellows, vivid oranges and deep blues are exciting to see. This Philips is an impressive screen. Each brick is etched out sharply, and there’s a good amount of detail to keep your attention. This eye-catching quality is even more evident when watching a 4K stream on YouTube or Mad Max: Fury Road on 4K Blu-ray. The picture is searingly bright (sometimes a little too glaring), but the 8901 uses that resolution to show off the dust and grit in those insane car chases with admirable clarity. Where the 8901 starts to lose its grip is with motion. Whether it’s a slow pan or a fast-paced action sequence, you can see faint judders and hiccups around the outlines of objects. You can activate the motion settings to smooth things over, but we find it looks too processed, too artificial – and still doesn’t fully stabilise the motion handling.
In search of subtlety
Furthermore, dark scenes on the Philips don’t have the intensity of rivals such as the Panasonic TX-65DX902B or Sony KD-75XD9405. Blacks simply don’t go as deep on the 8901, which has a knock-on effect across the picture. Colour gradients aren’t very subtle and you won’t see much detail in shadows. That robs scenes of their layered quality because the space between a character and the background isn’t clearly defined. The net result is that it all looks rather flat and undramatic. Skin-tones don’t have too much variation, either, with the characters in Fargo all having a pinkish complexion that has nothing to do with the Minnesota cold. The pitch-black space scenes in Gravity also expose uneven patches of backlighting. On the positive side, the 8901’s
*Price for Indian equivalent model: 65PUT8609/98
TELEVISIONS
upscaling is more than decent. Daytime telly on standard definition is perfectly watchable. The sound isn’t half bad, either. Dialogue is clearly heard, and there are no tinny or harsh edges. It’s fine for watching Countdown, but if you want a more expansive sound for films we’d suggest a soundbar or ’base such as the Dali Kubik One or Geneva Model Cinema.
“The highlight is the immersive, picture-extending, mad-science concept of Ambilux. It sounds and looks bonkers, but it’s ridiculously good fun“
No distractions
From the plain black bezel to the skeletal feet, everything about the 8901 is minimal. Philips says this is to ensure that nothing distracts you from the 65in picture and the Ambilux experience. The TV is slim and well built. But there are some practical caveats. It’s large, with stand feet that are far apart so you’ll need a wide support. And if you’re really invested in Ambilux, be prepared to rearrange your furniture. For the full experience, you’ll need a large, blank wall space behind the TV, preferably flat.
The substantial remote has a D-pad and QWERTY facility
Positioning is crucial: the TV has to be exactly 24cm away from the wall for the tiny projectors to give their best show (brackets for wall mounting are available). That fuss is worth it if you’re committed to Ambilux. And that’s the crux of the Philips 65PUS8901: you’ll be buying it for Ambilux, not for its picture quality. This is a decent screen, but its motion, backlighting and subtlety issues mark it down, especially when rival screens offer far more detailed and accurate pictures. And the final nail in the coffin? It costs ₨3,72,500*. Sure, you’re paying for that Ambilux technology but it’s a lot to fork out for a middling 4K picture, especially as the stunning 4K
HDR Panasonic TX-65DX902B costs much less. That said, Ambilux is an effective, immersive, fun feature that might just, for some, tip the scales in this TV’s favour.
says
Rating ★★ ★ ★ ★ PICTURE SOUND FEATURES
VERDICT A pricey screen with a vivid – albeit uncompetitive – picture, but the Ambilux feature is a novel highlight
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 55
TELEVISIONS
STARK CLARITY AND DA
RK DETAIL
Sony KD-75XD9405 ₨3,64,900* FOR Generous smart offering; HDR; motion-handling; design
Let’s cut to the chase: the daddy of Sony’s 2016 TV line-up is a movie-lover’s dream come true. The flagship KD75XD9405 is a lounge-dominating 75in flat LED-backlit TV that supports Ultra HD and HDR through streaming and physical formats as well as active 3D. If that isn’t enough to lose you in AVcentric reverie, perhaps the fact that it looks stunning will be. Sony has opted out of the UHD Alliance’s UHD Premium certification scheme announced earlier this year, instead running with its own 4K HDR logo. But the company claims the KD-75XD9405 meets the organisation’s stringent specifications, which focus on the colour depth, brightness range and black level required to display HDR content to its full potential.
AGAINST Nothing we can think of
deeper TV design. But that doesn’t mean it’s piled on the pounds – far from it. The top is only the width of three or four beer mats and the bottom, where all the brainpower is crammed, sticks out only a few extra centimetres. This screen can be wall-mounted, if you feel your plasterwork will hold the 39kg weight, but plonk it on a tabletop and it won’t go anywhere thanks to a sturdy base plate stand, which is slightly raised and has a removable back cover so cables can feed discreetly underneath it and be hidden from sight.
All set for Ultra HD KEY FEATURES
On the bright side
The company also claims that with the help of X-tended Dynamic Range PRO – processing that guides light towards specific areas of the screen – the KD-74XD9405 achieves three times the brightness gamut of a conventional LED-backlit set. While Sony’s XD93 range exclusively features Slim Backlight Drive – its attempt to deliver the desirable contrast of full-array local dimming in a slimmer design – the flagship goes all-out with full, and even, LED backlighting in a All four HDMI inputs are 4K-ready and carry 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 certification
4K
HDR
75in screen
KEY FEATURES
INPUTS: 3.5MM
BATTERY: YES, 12 HOURS
NFC: YES
56 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
★★ ★ ★ ★
It’s win-win for those already investing in an Ultra HD Blu-ray player, as all four HDMI ins are 4K-ready with 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 certification. There are three USB inputs too but, now there’s much more 4K content available to stream, we make more use of the LAN socket – a more stable way of getting online than using wi-fi. We’re pleased Android’s smart platform returns to Sony TVs in much the same form for a second year running – even if it doesn’t quite have the simple charm of rival systems such as Panasonic’s Mozilla Firefox or LG’s WebOS. Menus are generally comprehensive and easy to follow, the home page comprising a neat list of sections headed by recommended content and followed by apps, inputs, games and settings. Like all of Sony’s 2016 Androidpowered TVs, the KD-75XD9405 features YouView, which, is an allinclusive platform that amalgamates all catch-up TV services with a sevenday rollback EPG.
On-demand on hand
Of course, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video – both now with 4K and HDR content in their catalogue – are present, along with lesser-known services. Because it’s Sony, there’s also the PlayStation Video store for buying and renting movies and TV shows, and PlayStation Now for disc-free game-playing. And because it’s Android, there’s GoogleCast and Google Play at your service too.
A shortcut for the latter has appeared on the remote, joining the existing Netflix one, but while the layout is familiar we aren’t big fans of the soft edgeless buttons. We’re pleased to see it also operates the Panasonic DMP-UB900 Ultra HD Blu-ray player, though, and this is very much where our journey into picture performance begins. After completing a full THX Optimization test, we watch the tray close on San Andreas, and even by the menu title we know that the Sony has some magic to work. There’s as much sense-shattering devastation as you expect from a Dwayne Johnson-starring blockbuster, and the Sony is a magnifying glass into each still and panorama that depicts San Francisco’s remains.
Devastating detail
Crumbling buildings bask in texture, and household furniture floating down the river in the background can be made out as clearly as if you were looking at it in an IKEA catalogue. The Sony’s colour palette is on the rich, enthusiastic side of neutral, with the benefits of HDR flagged by the variants of shading in explosions and building fires. HDR may not hit you in the face as immediately as 4K does, but you hardly have to pore over the picture to see that faces, trees and pavements are filled with subtler, more nuanced colour gradations. A fiddle with contrast and black levels soon gets the Sony’s black depth to a standard an OLED – famous for its light-off blacks – wouldn’t sniff at.
Smooth moves
The stability of the picture is pleasantly surprising as the speedboat tears through the water and the tsunami crashes over the city, especially when motion smoothness and clarity is bumped up a tad in the picture settings. Crispness and stability is brought down a notch as we head over to a 4K HDR stream of Marco Polo on Netflix, but that’s down to the intrinsically inferior nature of streaming. It’s still a picture a newcomer would raise an eyebrow to. The Sony’s stark clarity and dark detail means you don’t miss so much as a corner of a frame in candle-lit scenes, too.
*Price for Indian equivalent model: KD-65X9300D
TELEVISIONS
“Crumbling buildings bask in texture, and furniture floating down the river in the background can be made out as clearly as if it were in a catalogue“
Filling in the blanks
Native material is undisputedly the KD-75X9405’s specialty, but it fancies itself a savvy upscaler too, as keen to sharply etch the uniforms in a Blu-ray of X-Men: The Last Stand as it is the players’ sharp attire in a highdefinition broadcast of the snooker World Championship. The contrast of the green table and red floor is punchy and solid. As we switch over to standard-def, snooker balls are, as expected, a little softer, losing their crisp outline and shine. But it’s acceptable enough to keep watching. Even a dated DVD copy of Dirty Harry holds up pretty well; colours don’t lose their spark, and you aren’t forced to look away as Eastwood pans his surroundings through binoculars. Picture noise is the main giveaway but it’s not too damning. It would be home cinema sacrilege to spend this much on a TV without having
Soft, rounded buttons aren’t everyone’s cuppa but there’s now a direct-access key for Google Play as well as for Netflix
a good sound system to go with it, so if there are rupees left in the pot we’d plump for a decent surround package. If you’re wondering, however, whether it sounds good enough to tide you over until you can afford one, then the answer is yes. There’s detail, clarity, and balance, with enough weight behind the presentation for casual viewing. So, with the lower-ranging KD55XD9305 also bagging five stars, it’s two out of two for Sony. After a so-so run with TVs last year, it has raised its game. The KD-75XD9405 isn’t cheap, but it embraces the industry’s cutting-edge technologies and reveals their value. If not for the fact that 3D glasses aren’t included, we’d be more than ready to ask “what more could you want?”
We’ll have to sit tight to see what Samsung, Panasonic and LG bring to the table, but for now the Sony KD-75X9405 is the one to beat.
says
Rating ★★ ★ ★ ★ PICTURE SOUND FEATURES
VERDICT Going all-out to maximise compatibility and picture performance, the Sony flagship is currently as good as it gets
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 57
H O W TO. . . S E T U P YO U R T V
FEATURE
C
hoosing the right TV for your needs is only half the journey to reaching televisual nirvana. Once you’ve bought your TV and got it home, there are a few things you’ll need to consider in order to get the most from it. We’ve pulled together some top tips to make sure you do.
Location, location, location
Putting your TV in the right place is one of the easiest things you can do to make sure it looks its best. Make sure as many people as possible view the TV straight on and not at an angle, where colours and black levels start to look washed out. The screen should be at eye level when you’re seated. This rule still stands for wall-mounting, so avoid the trend of placing it above a fireplace. If you must place it up high, angle it downwards to make viewing more comfortable. 58 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
HOW TO... Set up your TV
Think about reflections – most windows have curtains or blinds, and of course lights can be switched off, but a dark room can also cause eye strain during long viewing sessions. Consider placing lamps or lighting behind your TV, also known as ‘bias lighting’. How far you sit from your TV will vary – but, when you’re viewing in HD, rough guidelines suggest 1.5-2 times the diagonal size of the screen. Ultimately though, it comes down to personal preference and what works for you.
Getting connected
What will you be hooking up to your TV? Some will use an AV receiver and have all their sources plugged into that. Others may connect directly to the TV. The best and simplest way to connect to each source is via an HDMI lead. This will ensure you’re getting the best
TV Distances How far you sit from your TV will depend on the size of your room and position of sofa – but, for viewing in HD, rough guidelines suggest 1.5-2x the diagonal size of the screen, as the handy chart on the right shows
Size (in)
Distance (m)
32”
min 1.3m
37”
min 1.5m
40-42”
min 1.7m
47”
min 1.9m
50-52”
min 2.2m
60+
min 2.5m
picture from HD and 4K sources, and can carry both audio and video in one cable. Many of the more affordable soundbars, though, connect to a TV using an optical connection, so it’s worth checking that your particular model of TV has an optical socket – not all do.
H O W TO. . . S E T U P YO U R T V
If your soundbar does use HDMI, make sure you use the HDMI input on your TV labelled ‘ARC’ (Audio Return Channel). This will allow it to pass the audio from connected sources to the soundbar. This will also be the case with AV receivers, for passing the sound from smart TV apps back to the receiver to be amplified. If you’ve bought a 4K TV, also keep an eye out for HDCP 2.2, which might be labelled on one or more of your TV’s HDMI inputs. This is copy protection technology built into 4K-capable
"We’re all for doing our bit for the environment, but your TV’s eco mode setting can often affect the brightness of your screen and cause a variable performance” devices, and you’ll need to use these inputs for connecting to 4K sources such as Blu-ray players or receivers. Most sets now feature some form of smart TV functionality, and you must connect your TV to your home network to access it. Most TVs will walk you through this in the settings menu – or you can hardwire via ethernet for the most stable connection. As for accessing TV channels, if you’re hooking up a satellite or cable box you’ll do that via HDMI, and set-up takes care of itself. If you are using your TV’s built-in tuner, connect your aerial or satellite cable then run an auto-scan in the channel tuning menu.
TV mode
Most TVs offer a handful of preset modes, often a good place to start. You’ll usually see variations on a theme of ‘cool’, ‘warm’, ‘standard’ and ‘dynamic’. Avoid dynamic (sometimes labelled ‘vibrant’). It might look impressive, but colours will be oversaturated and whites overblown, losing detail in the process. We tend to start with either standard or warm (sometimes called ‘cinema’ or ‘pro’) – the latter usually being the most colour accurate. If you have a games console hooked up to the TV, you might want to select Game Mode if it’s available on your set. This is a low-lag preset, with most of the picture processing turned off to allow for quicker response times – especially important in first-person shooter games.
Connections
HDMI A digital connection which handles video and audio
USB Digital connection which offers a great way to watch media files
Contrast
Contrast is another word for white level, and these controls will determine how white the brightest parts of the picture will appear. The aim is a bright image that keeps hold of highlight detail. A good way to test this is a scene with clouds – turn the contrast up to the top and notch it down until you start to see detail rather than a solid patch of white. With many LCD screens you’ll be able to go quite high here – even as far as 80-90 per cent – starting at around 65 per cent should give you a marker. For a plasma screen, this should probably be a touch lower to avoid screen burn.
Brightness
Despite its name, this control actually tweaks the black levels of your TV. We want the blacks in an image to be as deep as possible without losing shadow detail. Turn the brightness right up so the black bars above and below your movie look grey, and then nudge the level down until they look black again. Have something dark on the screen to focus on – a dark jacket or shirt – and keep going as low as possible until you start to lose the detail in the creases. Choose the level before that detail disappeared, usually somewhere around 50 per cent.
Backlight
Picture perfect
Now that’s all done, it’s time to turn your attention to the picture. Your TV will be set to the factory default settings, likely to be bright and overdriven to make it stand out on the shop floor. You can alter it for home use with a few tweaks. Note, though, that whatever tweaks you make to the picture will usually apply only to the selected HDMI input. Some manufacturers offer a global option to apply your settings across all inputs, but you might find it beneficial to program inputs individually so you can make specific tweaks for specific sources. At What Hi-Fi?, we use test patterns to set up TVs for reviewing. You can find THX’s calibrator in the extras on some THX-certified DVDs (though hardly any Blu-rays) like Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Pixar movies. THX has a free app for Android and iOS – but we’ll cover some of the main settings here. If you want to start again, look for the ‘restore factory settings’ option in the settings menu.
Eco mode is another option built in to many TVs. We’re all for doing our bit for the environment, but this setting affects the brightness of your screen and causes a variable performance.
OPTICAL Long-lived digital connector works for audio
ANALOGUE Video connections aren’t used so much these days
The THX Optimizer disc is a favourite at What Hi-Fi? It is used to calibrate our TVs for testing
This setting controls the brightness potential of your TV’s picture (LCD sets only – plasmas don’t have backlighting), allowing you to adjust it for different viewing environments. You might want to notch it down a little in a darkened room to help prevent eye fatigue. This setting will be down to personal preference and environment – best to start halfway and play around.
Colour
The TV mode you choose will often tweak colour controls for you automatically, with the slider usually sitting around midway. Put on a busy scene and see if colours look bright enough – if not, push the colour control up a little for a touch more punch. Next, bring up a scene with human faces to see if skin tones look realistic – this can be the trickiest thing to balance, so spend some time making sure everything looks natural. If you can’t strike a happy balance between vibrancy and realism, a play with the tint and/or hue settings might help, but we often find they’re best left at the factory settings (usually 0 or midway). July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 59
H O W TO. . . S E T U P YO U R T V
Black and white enhancers
Setting up Do adjust your TV So you’ve got your new TV at home, wire it up and you’re ready to go, right? Not yet! Most sets are factory-preset to levels of brightness, contrast and colour, which in natural light appear too punchy and bright. It will also consume more power than it needs to. So this is where some careful tinkering around with the settings – outlined in our handy guide – will help THX Optimizer The THX Optimizer is a set of calibration patterns developed to aid consumers intent on achieving better picture quality. It is so effective that here at What Hi-Fi? we regularly use it in our testing process. Load it up and you’ll find a simple step-by-step series of picture test patterns, such as this one which tests brightness using a range of shadows and squares
“Aggressive motion handling can result in a blurry halo around a moving object. It gives an unrealistic sheen called the ‘soap opera effect’ which makes Hollywood blockbusters look like EastEnders” Sharpness
Adding sharpness to an image might sound like a good thing, but it rarely is, and can leave an image looking unnatural and even rob it of subtle detail. For the most part we suggest keeping this very low indeed, usually no higher than 30 per cent. To test this, take an image with a strong edge and focus on that as you nudge up the sharpness from zero. At some point, you’ll notice the outline start to look unnatural and oversharpened, with a sort of halo appearing around it – you don’t want this, so knock the slider back down until it disappears. Going hand in hand with sharpness is overscanning, a process that dates back before the days of HD, when broadcasters used to hide non-picture data at the edge of the TV image. You’ll need to make sure this is turned off in order to get the full picture.
Look in the menu settings for the aspect ratio, and make sure the screen is set to ‘full’, ‘16:9’ or similar.
Processing
Most manufacturers fill their settings menus with a whole host of processing options, which can not only be confusing but often make the picture worse. That’s not to say they’re all write-offs – there have been improvements in recent years – but it’s a careful balancing act. You’ll rarely gain something in one area without losing in another, however. We suggest you start with all active processing modes off, adjust your picture settings and go from there. You can then test any options from a good starting point to see if they make any improvement to your picture, making sure to start on the lowest setting for each option before pushing it up. Here are some of the most popular processing options to look out for:
For the most part, the best thing you can do for strong black and white levels on your TV is to set your contrast and brightness settings properly. Any added processing to make blacks blacker or whites whiter generally does more harm than good, and will often take a lot of detail from them in the process. Depending on the brand, a low setting on either might be worth a look, but we’d lean towards keeping them off entirely.
Dynamic contrast
This setting will see your TV adapt its brightness depending on what is on the screen – so during a darker scene, it will go dimmer to hit deeper blacks, and then bump up the brightness for a light scene. We’d switch this off – it’s not always reliable, and can cause flickering and brightness jumps in scenes with both bright and dark elements.
Noise reduction/edge enhancement
Noise reduction, or anything of a similar name, will often soften a good HD image too much, snatching away detail in an attempt to make an image less noisy. The same goes in reverse for edge or detail enhancement, which will usually increase noise in a picture by trying to boost definition. The only time these settings come in useful is when watching non-HD broadcast TV – otherwise we’d make sure these stay firmly off.
Motion handling
This is one of the biggest options when it comes to TV processing, but despite decent recent improvements, ultimately you’re still gaining a smoother-moving object for a less stable overall image. Coming under several manufacturer names: Trumotion (LG), Motionflow (Sony) or Motion Plus (Samsung), it analyses the image and inserts repeated frames or blank ones into the video sequence to prevent a jerky end result. Aggressive motion handling will often result in a blurry halo around a moving object, while in movies it can give an unrealistic sheen called the “soap opera effect”. It makes Hollywood blockbusters shot at 24fps (frames per second) look like an episode of EastEnders at 60fps. For this reason, we’d recommend setting it to off or low for movies. Better results can often be achieved when motion controls are separated into blur and judder controls. If your TV offers this, we’d suggest leaving both on lowish settings.
Sit back and enjoy
Now your TV is all set up, all that remains is for you to feed it the best source material that you can, sit back and enjoy. Happy watching! July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 61
4K UHD TV EXPLAINED
4K ULT RA HD T V 2160
1080
480 Standard Definition
High Definition (1080p)
Ultra High Definition
414,720 pixels
2,073,600 pixels
8,294,400 pixels
WHAT IS 4K ULTRA HD TV?
With more 4K Ultra HD TVs on the market, a wider choice of screen sizes, falling prices and (finally!) some content available, 4K TV is now a serious proposition. If you’ve so far resisted the temptation, now might be the time to take the plunge. So what is 4K TV, and how (and where) can you watch it? Officially, 4K resolution is 4096 x 2160 pixels. However, in order to shoehorn this higher resolution video on to a normal 16:9 picture format, it has been altered to 3840 x 2160 – that’s four times the total number of pixels on a Full HD 1080p screen (1920 x 1080). In order to take full advantage of 4K Ultra HD you will of course need a compatible TV, a source and content that fills those all-important extra pixels.
Verdict
If you doubted whether 4K would ever make the breakthrough, it does now look like the resolution is here to stay. The amount of available content has finally made taking the 4K plunge a worthwhile proposition. With the prices of 4K TVs coming down (rapidly), and the level of choice increasing, it’s more viable than ever to put a 4K TV in your home. As such, 4K should be a real consideration for when you buy your next TV.
Sky Q interface
Choosing a 4K TV
The 4K TV market has expanded considerably over the past year or so, with ultra-cheap Chinese sets competing alongside big-name TVs. To make the most of Ultra HD, we wouldn’t recommend using anything too small, as it rather negates the benefits. A 4K TV can be bought for under a lakh, but if you can afford to splash out, the 2016 LG 4K OLED TV range starts at ₨1,84,900 for a 55in and goes right up to ₨6,29,900 for the flagship 65in.
What can I watch in 4K?
Netflix has been streaming 4K content since 2014, with House of Cards: Season 2 making history as the first 4K streaming content and Breaking Bad following shortly afterwards. To watch Netflix 4K you will need a 4K TV with the HEVC codec. Sony has struck a deal with the streaming company to ensure that its TVs get the best out of Netflix, but we have also seen compatible TVs from LG, Samsung and Panasonic. Amazon’s 4K content comprises mainly TV shows, available to stream through its Prime Instant Video service. YouTube also has a selection of 4K videos, but you’ll need to make sure your TV or monitor supports the VP9 codec developed by Google. The first, and so far only, 4K TV content here is provided by Tata Sky and Videocon D2H. The BBC originally intended to broadcast 4K as standard by 2016, with the Rio Olympics a key event. However, the BBC has recently confirmed that it will continue to experiment with the format, and there will be no consumer-facing content from Rio. The good news is Ultra HD Blu-ray is here. The choice of Ultra HD Blu-ray player is limited, but we’ve already seen the Panasonic DMPUB900 and Samsung’s UBD-K8500. 4K discs are now on sale.
62 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
Panasonic DMP-U9000
GETTING SET UP WITH 4K TV You will need a compatible TV, a source and some 4K content. It looks as though 4K is here to stay – and the choice of TVs available
to buy is reflecting that. If it’s films, Netflix is the solution and for sports Sony SET Max is the channel you should be eying, quite literally.
HDR & OLED EXPLAINED
HDR What we see?
What is it made of?
HDR is about widening the colour range to display finer increments of shading. That sounds fairly technical, we know, but the result is what we care about – and that is a more lifelike, hugely impressive picture.
An organic light-emitting diode screen is made of five layers, including the layer of OLED pixels, a colour refiner and an anti-glare coating. It is possible to make a panel so thin it will flex in the palm of your hand.
SDR Picture quality
Colour & Contrast
Capture Processing Display
What the viewer sees
Organic layer
HDR Picture quality
Colour & Contrast
Capture Processing Display
Glass or plastic substrate
What the viewer sees
WHAT IS HDR?
‘HDR’ stands for High Dynamic Range, and is the next big thing in TV. Originating from photography, it refers to a technique that widens a picture’s dynamic range (the contrast between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks).
Finer increments of shading
The theory is that the higher the dynamic range, the closer a picture gets to real life. Your TV’s limited dynamic range, its inability to illustrate the finest differences in brightness, means you miss out on the nuances that really ought to be there. But now TVs are much more capable, and by that, we mean brighter. A normal TV puts out around 100-300 nits of brightness, where one nit (derived from the latin for ‘to shine’) is equivalent to one candle. An HDR TV that qualifies for the Ultra HD Premium Certification needs to output 1000 nits at least. This isn’t about searing your retinas, however. It’s about widening the range in order to display finer increments of shading. You get more details in the shadows and highlights: sunlight gleams properly off windows, colours appear richer and more lifelike, and have more gradations as well as greater shifts in tone. Basically, your picture looks more natural.
On the verge of something big
Of course, you’ll need an HDR-compatible television or a projector, as well as HDR material – content filmed or mastered in HDR. At the moment, HDR is nothing less than a very attractive proposition, but HDR compatible screens, such as the Sony KD-75XD9405 (p50) are still rare. However, with HDR content recently hitting the mainstream via streaming, more TVs will make it to the market. It feels like we’re on the verge of something very big.
FILM STUDIOS THAT HAVE SIGNED UP TO HDR Although there is currently no industry standard for HDR, the UHD Alliance (a coalition of studios and manufacturers) is currently working to reach a consensus
Cover Glass Anode Cathode
Thin film transisitor TFT matrix
WHAT IS OLED?
OLED TVs aren’t a totally new concept. We first caught sight of one back in 2007. Although OLED TVs didn’t really take off then, the technology made its way into smartphones and, eventually, televisions. OLED panels are made from carbon-based materials (the ‘organic’ element) that emit light when an electrical current is passed through them. OLED, like plasma, is an ‘emissive’ system, so it offers the ‘self-illuminating pixel’ benefits of a plasma TV. Contrast that with LCD TVs, which have a ‘transmissive’ display system, which requires light to radiate from either a single or multiple source from behind an LCD matrix to your eyes.
TV in the palm of your hand
OLED has several advantages over LCD panels and the plasmas of old. The backlighting panel on LCD TVs often results in uneven lighting or even light bleed, whereas no backlight means OLED TVs have almost perfectly deep blacks. Plasmas have cells of heated gas: images aren’t particularly sharp, power consumption is higher, and the screens are a lot heftier. But since OLED is made up of pixels that generate their own light and colour, there’s no need for a bulky backlight panel. OLED is made up of just five layers, including the layer with OLED pixels on it, a colour refiner that manages the accuracy of hues and tones, and an anti-reflection coating on the screen that reduces glare. In fact, it is possible to make an OLED panel so thin it will actually flex in the palm of your hand. But, for all the futuristic technology, it’s the prospect of significantly improved picture performance that most entices us.
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 63
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OFF THE SHELF REFERENCE SYSTEM
We use only the best ingredients in the making of this magazine. This in-house system helps us to evaluate incoming products with more insight and accuracy, so you always get the best tests!
Denon AVR-X7200W
Dolby Atmos out of the box and an upgrade to Auro 3D on its way, this is the most future-proof AVR we could get our hands on, yet.
Arcam D33 DAC / UDP-411 BD/SACD Player
Capable of full high-resolution 24-bit/192kHz processing and SACD playback, this duo is state-of-art audio/video decoding
BlueSound Vault
All our CDs and music get stored and served by this elegant solution from the boys at NAD
Mark Levinson No. 585
An integrated amplifier with (almost) no equal, this 200 w/pc dual mono design is the pinnacle of cutting-edge tech along with a 32-bit DAC onboard for added ammo!
PMC Twenty Series speakers
AudioQuest cables
Using the Twenty.26 as mains, Twenty.C for centre, DB1 Gold and Wafer 1 for surrounds, this speaker suite is the ideal blend of neutrality and musicality
Working truthfully between the various components, the DBSequipped line of cables and interconnects helps us see and hear without any anomalies
REL S5 Subwoofer
The cleanest and fastest way to add real weight and dynamics to our system was to introduce the brilliant S5 to the music and multichannel mix. A true legend
Also part of the system: Samsung 75H6400 LED TV, Apple Mac Mini, Audirvana Music Player, JBL Synthesis S800 power amp, Definitive Trinity Signature subwoofer
OFF THE SHELF
The 2-way design helps in creating a punchy presentation and room-filling SPLs.
Oppo Sonica | WiFi Speaker | ₨29,999
Sonorous sonica FOR Big, detailed sound, welldesigned app, multiroom
AGAINST Can get bright at times, plain looks
Rarely has any hi-fi brand garnered such reputation in a short time. Not even a decade in the business and Oppo has already become the benchmark for Blu-ray disc players, headphone amps and is fast building a similar track record for its planar headphones. Hoping some of that halo effect rubs off on a wireless speaker, they have introduced the Sonica. Diminutive in size and modest when it comes to appearance, this curvy but solid speaker features an ethernet port, USB and 3.5mm port around the back, but aims to cater to a much wider group of listeners with Bluetooth, AirPlay and DLNA supported. The USB and ethernet port come in handy when you want to stream from external media drives. So, really, Oppo gives you no reason to reject this speaker on the basis of connectivity. This is Oppo's first attempt at speaker design and everything including the drivers is an in-house effort. The design of the product is a function of teams based both in the UK and US with actual manufacturing done in China, so this really is a global project for Oppo. Since it is also a late entrant into the wireless speaker market, it had enough time to get things right as far as the software side of things are concerned. Its partnering app makes it easy for anyone to set up the Sonica as an individual BT speaker, a paired speaker in a stereo configuration or single speakers across the house in a multiroom set-up. Oppo has also employed DSP to help novice users select sound presets or punch in the size of their room and location of the Sonica to optimise its in-room response.
Hi-res audio has become the norm for any audio product that is released in the year 2016 and the Sonica is no exception. Its repertoire includes a 192kHz/24Bit DAC and the ability to play ALAC, FLAC and AIFF files besides others. Power comes from four amplifiers that drive the dedicated bass driver and a pair of wide-band drivers to cover the mid and the high frequencies. The 3.5in bass driver gets 30-watts of bridged power while the pair of 2.5in wide band drivers get 10-watts each. On the sides, 3in passive radiators help augment and control the bass output from the woofer. For a speaker this size, this certainly is a
68 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
What is perhaps the most impressive aspect is that the bass seldom sounds strained under the command of a DSP generous array of drivers and DSP, optimised to work best in tandem. Sonically, the Oppo Sonica is a winner right off the bat. After the initial set-up process which is a few quick taps to ensure that the speakers have been paired and optimised for their location, we set up a pair of Sonicas in stereo mode. The soundstage was unbelievably wide and large for two wireless speakers of this size. Adele's I Miss You starts with confidence and verve as the drums pan across the left and right channels with heft and real intent. The speakers' structural rigidity is partly to be lauded for this as the enclosure keeps things tight and in control, while the bass radiators do their job in keeping a leash on the bass drivers.
What is perhaps the most impressive aspect is that the bass seldom sounds strained and under the command of a DSP, which is so common with other speakers of the same size. Love Again by Run the Jewels is a bombastic track that punishes any speaker and amp combo with its demanding bass and sharp production, but the Sonica didn't break a sweat and most people walking into the office thought it was the regular active monitors playing with 8in bass drivers! If there is one area the Sonica could improve is the excess sibilance experienced on female vocals such as on Andra Day's City Burns that sees this virtuouso singer hit a falstetto that almost begins to sound shrill. This could be also because the pair of Oppo's we received were out of the box without any break-in time. But even as a stand-alone wireless speaker, the Sonica can hold its own against the competition and stands tall with its ability to play loud without compressing dynamics or lacking in weight. It's plethora of connectivity options and plain but elegant looks will help it find a home with many.
Says VERDICT A late entrant into the wireless speaker world but enters with a bang. Spot on acoustics, ample connectivity and ease of use. A winner! TECH SPECS Drivers 1 x 3.5in bass, 2 x 2.5in wideband, 2 x 3in passive radiators Power 10 watts x 2 (full-range), 30watts x 1 (bass) WiFi 802.11.a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth 4.1 Audio formats ALAC, FLAC, WAV, WMA, MP2, OGG, AIFF, AAC Dimensions (WHD) 147 x 135 x 301mm Weight 2.4kg
OFF THE SHELF
iBasso dx80 | High-resolution player | ₨32,500
All about that Basso FOR Great build; good detail; controlled bass; USB-DAC Joining in a bit late (at least in India) to the high-resolution player party, iBasso wants to make a subtle back door entry. Will it go unnoticed? We don’t think so. What we noticed first though, was the impressive build quality. It’s a solid block to hold and iBasso has decided to give it quite an industrial look. But this is not just a mere high-resolution player, no. It can also be used as a DAC and has proper line out support. There’s also an SPDIF output. The three physical buttons are typical of iBasso design and are very useful to skip tracks or play/pause without switching the display on. The UI on the iBasso is pretty intuitive to use and doesn’t take much to figure it out. You swipe right for Settings and left for the Music menu where you have your playlists and the lot. The drop down menu offers useful shortcuts too. Load up your music via the two microSD card slots provided on top of the device and you’re greeted to a warm and natural sound. It does a great job of the higher frequencies and the mid-range. Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah was delivered with all emotions intact. The bass is also very well controlled
AGAINST Unresponsive touchscreen and doesn’t sound boomy or over-the-top. Royals by Lorde is one of our favourites to test the low end performance of any system and the iBasso delivers with authority and taut. Oh, it can go pretty loud too, retaining
The bass is also very well controlled and doesn’t sound boomy or over-the-top those characteristics without sounding compressed or losing control, which is pretty impressive. The same sonic impression is set even when you use the iBasso as a DAC. To use the DX80 as a DAC you first need to download and install the drivers from the iBasso website. Once done, simply connect the player but make sure you connect it in ‘DAC’ mode. This is done via settings or you can use the drop down menu. After that, just sit back and enjoy your tracks. So, it sounds great and you won’t have to spend ₨50k on the Fiio M7, but there’s one thing we quite don’t like about the DX80 and that’s the display. It’s a 800x480p IPS display that doesn’t respond to touch very well. Apart from that minor niggle, we can’t really find a
fault with the iBasso. This comes highly recommended for someone with a budget of ₨30,000 (you can find it cheaper online).
Says VERDICT A solid high-resolution player that offers a lot more for your money TECH SPECS Screen 3.2in IPS LCD with 800x480 resolution DAC Dual CIRRUS CS4398 Output level 1.6Vrms (Line) 2.9Vrms (Headphone) Formats supported APE, FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, OGG, MP3, DFF, DSF, DXD Connections Line out, headphone out, SPDIF out Dimensions (HWD) 120 x 63.2 x 16.8mm Weight 178gm
Audiostics Syncair | Wi-fi streamer | ₨5900
Sticks and stones FOR Wide variety of apps; set quality options; ethernet port Ahh, audio streamers. As good as a stone to those with Bluetooth built into their amps, but a superb addition for those riddled with wires. In earlier days, streaming used to be some kind of taboo in the world of hi-fi where pristine quality music and files are given top priority. And there’s no doubt such quality can only be achieved via cables, of course the high quality ones – the ones that could cost as much as a small car, if you prefer certain brands. However the Syncair is not for such people. It’s for those of us modest lot who want to get rid of wires. It’s pretty simple to get the Syncair up and running. Ok, we did struggle with it during the wireless connection, so we hard-wired it (thank you ethernet port) to our WiFi router and downloaded the Syncair app available free on the PlayStore, once done, setting it up is a doddle via the app. The software itself is pretty simple to use and offers a whole bunch of services and a host of other apps are supported. Your music is sorted according to ‘Song’, ‘Artist’
AGAINST Rivals offer much more at lower price; no S/PDIF out and Album. There’s TuneIn, TTPOD, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Tidal and a few more services to stream music from, which work flawlessly. There is Spotify thrown in too, but it’s yet unavailable in India. So, you connect the device to your amp via line-out or you connect it to the input plug on your active speakers and you’re ready to stream. While the services work fine, the app struggles a bit with music stored on the device itself. There’s a slight lag in playtime and the tracks pause after about two seconds of you tapping that pause button. However, there are no drops in quality while streaming and that’s great. Of course sound quality depends on what
There’s TuneIn, TTPOD, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Tidal and a few more device you use it on and what service you’ve chosen. You do get a few options to chose the quality of output. Tinker around
the settings and you’ll find the tab to set the quality. Three options are available ‘Super Definition’ (320kbps), ‘High Definition’ (128kbps) and ‘Fluency Definition’ (64kbps), which clearly won’t tickle the audiophile. The only advantage the Syncair seems to have over rival Chromecast Audio, is that handy Ethernet port. It makes life really easy and hooking up your entire system is a doddle. However, you can’t beat the Chromecast Audio’s tempting price and the fact that it supports S/PDIF and 24/192kHZ format.
Says VERDICT A worthy option for those looking to go wireless and clutter-free
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 69
Luxury Audio Brand Audio Solutions brings together cutting-edge technology, specialised manufacturing, and forward-looking design to create an impact in the high-end audio space. Years of research have culminated in an unparalleled sensory experience aimed at the serious audiophile, and it’s now available in India.
541, Aya Nagar, Main M.G. Road, New Delhi-110047 Ph. : 011-26502054, 9811040054 E-mail: p9811040054@gmail.com
OFF THE SHELF
RHA S500i | In ear Headphones | ₨3999
RHA rha ooh la la! FOR Plush fit and good build; passive noise-cancellation So far, the Scottish in ear brand, RHA has been wowing us with their consistent performances across price brackets. Packing the right amount of wallop in all the right departments like build, fit and performance, RHA has very well made it clear that it is here to get the job done. And a good job at that. The RHA S500i features a compact aluminium design, courtesy of a specially engineered micro dynamic driver. The 140.1 model drivers, designed by RHA’s R&D team promise an immersive and detailed output. Seven pairs of eartips (including the one on the earphones), include a selection of dual density and double flange silicone ear tips for best possible fit for varied users. The S500i fit well and do an admirable job at passive noise isolation. We start off with When I’m Gone by 3 Doors Down and right from the guitar intro to the song coming into it’s own with the distortion, et al, it’s clear that this is an earphone more for listeners who prefer a bass-heavy output. Sadly, the bass is overwhelming
AGAINST Muddy bass; shrill treble; thin output
The S500i loves peppy EDM-style tracks and does justice to its pedigree and muddy. Treble’s shrill, as is evident when playing Ant’s Marching by the Dave Matthews band. Shrill enough to wince at times. Opting for a mellower, Did Trouble Me by Tom Jones, detail, soundstage and a relatively laudable mid-range made their presence felt. The output lacked in depth and warmth and detail suffered when more elements join in for a crescendo, regardless of the song. We change tactics and try beat-friendly tracks like Free Tibet by Hilight Tribe, Bangarang by Skrillex and even Metal & Dust by London Grammar. Lo! and behold, the S500i came into it’s own with impressive results. The S500i loves peppy, EDM-style tracks and does some justice to its pedigree with appreciable performance. Depth still is an issue, thus making it sound thin overall. Given the price, RHA might need to R&D some more on this; the competition is tough in this segment.
Says VERDICT Strong secure fit with good passive noise cancellation but that doesn’t save it from a lacklustre performance for the price TECH SPECS Design in-ear Driver 6mm Magnet Neodymium Noise-isolation Passive Impedance 16 Ohm Frequency Response 20Hz-20kHz Sensitivity 100 +-2dB Weight 14 gms Microphone yes, 3 button in-line microphone and controller
Creative SoundBlaster Roar 2 | Portable Speaker | ₨16,999
Doesn’t Roar! FOR Portability, connectivity, design, build quality
AGAINST Sonic detail, bass reproduction
There are speakers that keep it simple by offering you portable sonics that can be accessed via a Bluetooth connection. Then there is the Creative SoundBlaster Roar 2, which does that and packs in every single port and feature you could imagine. Which means, this pint-sized (20% smaller than the original Roar) portable speaker from Creative packs in Bluetooth and NFC tech on the wireless part. Talk ports and it offers an AUX, USB and microSD slot each, through which you can play your favourite tunes, but that’s not all. You can even record your voice while playing a song and charge your smartphone or tablet using the Roar 2’s internal battery. Inside two amplifiers - one dedicated to drive lows and mids, and the other, for delivering high frequencies aim to impress, they try hard and can get room-filling loud, but the sonics
reproduced by the 5 drivers (2 full range drivers, 2 passive radiators+sub), won’t be winning any medals today. We dived into Andra Day’s new album’s title song Cheers to the fall, and quickly realized that the Roar 2 misses out on
Record your voice while playing a song, charge your smartphone or tablet using the Roar 2’s internal battery detail when the instruments kick in. Mind you, it doesn’t fare bad with mids and Day’s vocals do sound good. However, the punch and engagement is simply not there. Play a bass-heavy track like Lose yourself to dance by Daft Punk and you will be disappointed all over again as the delivery lacks attack and depth. You could press the ‘Roar” button for more loudness however it doesn’t entice the ears thanks to the average
audio quality. If you are looking for pristine aural fidelity, look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for a boatload of features packed into a well designed speaker, that is extremely portable, this one might just impress.
Says VERDICT Regardless of the price, the sonics of this portable speaker simply do not entice us TECH SPECS Type Portable Design Bi-amp (5 drivers+built-in sub) Frequency range 15Hz - 25kHz Driver 14mm Max Power Output 15W Battery Life 8 hours (6000mAh Li-ion ) Connections Bluetooth, NFC Ports USB, AUX, microSD slot Dimensions (HWD) 51.0 x 188.0 x 109.0 mm Weight 1Kg
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 71
BUYER’S GUIDE
BUYER’S GUIDE BEST BUYS
NOW WITH THE BEST BUYS IN EVERY CATEGORY
HI-FI INTEGRATED AMPLIFIERS
74
CD PLAYERS
76
DACS
77
MUSIC STREAMERS
78
STEREO SPEAKERS
82
MULTI-ROOM SYSTEMS
83
TURNTABLES
84
WIRELESS SPEAKERS
85
HOME CINEMA
This is the definitive guide to the best home entertainment kit you can buy. From 75in TVs to smartphones, from portable Bluetooth speakers to Dolby Atmos surround-sound packages, here’s where you’ll find the perfect product, fast.
BLU-RAY PLAYERS
87
HOME CINEMA AMPLIFIERS
87
PROJECTORS
88
SOUNDBARS
89
SOUNDBASES
89
SPEAKER PACKAGES
90
TELEVISIONS
91
PORTABLE HEADPHONES
93
INSIDE From wall-sized 4K TVs, class-topping CD players and transports, to speakers and amplifiers of repute, we have it all, in a whole new layout. Shanth Swaroop, Buyer’s Guide Editor
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 73
BUYER’S GUIDE
BEST BUYS
HI-FI
Stereo amps under ₨50,000
The only products worth considering
AMPLIFIERS
THE BEATING HEART OF YOUR HI-FI SYSTEM
Marantz PM6005 ₨47,900 The PM6005 is a multiple Award-winner for good reason. Nicely made, well featured and with refinement and insight few rivals can match. Power 45W Inputs 5 line-in, MM Outputs 2 x speaker, headphone
Onkyo A-9010 ₨27,0000 Best stereo amplifier under ₨30,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Our favourite budget amplifier, this is arguably the most entertaining affordable amp around. It has agility and a wicked sense of rhythm. Power 44W Inputs 5 line-in, MM Outputs speaker, headphone
Arcam FMJ A19 ₨90,000
Stereo amps ₨50,000-₨1,50,000
Arcam’s entry-level amplifier is a terrific combination of sensible features, fine build and entertaining sound. Power 50W Inputs 6 line-in, MM Outputs Speaker, headphone, preamp
Cambridge Audio CXA60 ₨63,400
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best stereo amplifier ₨30,000-₨70,000, Awards 2015
This is a lively performer with expressive dynamics and a surefooted sense of rhythm. Build quality is impressive. Power 60W Inputs 4 line-in Outputs preamp, 2 x speaker, headphone
Naim Nait 5si ₨1,35,000 Naim’s starter amp is an exceptionally polished performer which combines drama with the insight and subtlety to match the very best. Power 60W Inputs 3 line-in Outputs speaker, headphone
Rega Elex-R ₨1,20,500 Best stereo amplifier ₨70,000-₨1,50,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Stereo amps ₨1,50,000+
Arguably the best-value amp Rega makes, with insight and the precise handling of rhythms that’s hard to better even at double the price. Power 72W Inputs 4 line-in, MM Outputs Speaker, preamp
Burmester 032 ₨17,79,221 An expensive product but feels it too. Plug the 032 into a system and it sounds lovely: top-class levels of resolution, authority and dynamics. Power 105W Inputs 5 line-in, MM, MC Outputs Speaker, ’phone, preamp
Mark Levinson No. 585 ₨13,60,800 Get past the cost of the Mark Levinson No.585 Integrated and you’ll find a startlingly capable product – one of the finest amplifiers on the planet. Power 200W Inputs 6 line-in Outputs Speaker, headphone
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AWARD WINNER
AMPLIFIERS CONTINUED Naim Supernait 2 ₨4,27,985
Rega Elicit-R ₨1,90,000
Stereo amps ₨1,50,000+
A terrific integrated amplifier. It’s punchy, with a low-frequency performance that brims with authority. Dynamics are strong too. Power 80W Inputs 5 line-in Outputs Speaker, headphone, preamp AWARD WINNER
Best stereo amplifier ₨1,50,000+, Awards 2015 Rega’s top integrated builds on the qualities of its smaller brother, the Elex-R. We haven’t heard a more precise amplifier for the money. Power 105W Inputs 5 line-in, MM Outputs preamp, speaker
Roksan Caspian M2 ₨2,44,000 A supremely rounded product with solid build, classy aesthetics and a brilliant all-round sound that works well with all types of music. Power 85W Inputs 5 line-in Outputs Speaker, preamp
GamuT D3i ₨9,09,000 This GamuT D3i is a brilliant performer with excellent detail and superb transparency. It isn’t packed with inputs, but will cope with most set-ups. Inputs 3 line-in Output Balanced, single-ended DAC No
Mark Levinson 326S ₨9,10,000 Power amps up to ₨35,00,000
This classy unit has a refined presentation and a spellbinding sense of control. Construction quality is deeply impressive. Inputs 7 line-in Output Balanced, single-ended DAC No
Burmester 911 Mk3 ₨24,65,077 The 911 is a real powerhouse, capable of delivering high power into difficult speakers without struggling. Refinement is top class, as is build. Power output 535W Mono/Stereo Stereo Inputs XLR
Cyrus Mono X300 Signature ₨3,25,000 Don’t let the Cyrus’s compact casework fool you. This powerhouse delivers high volume levels with a pleasing dynamic punch. Power output 225W Mono/Stereo Mono Inputs Phono, XLR
GamuT D200i ₨11,28,000 The D200i combines transparency, muscle and agility better than any alternative we’ve heard. Build and finish are excellent. Power output 220W Mono/Stereo Stereo Inputs phono, XLR
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CD PLAYERS & TRANSPORTS
CD players under ₨1,50,000
CD transports under ₨1,00,000
GET THE RIGHT PLAYER AND CD CAN STILL SHINE Cambridge Audio CXC ₨39,800
AWARD WINNER
Best CD transport under ₨50,000, Awards 2015
If you already have a DAC – the CXC is useless without one – we wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this transport over a standalone CD player. Type CD transport Outputs coaxial, optical
Cyrus CD t ₨1,28,000
AWARD WINNER
Best CD transport ₨50,000+, Awards 2015
An exceptionally talented transport, the CD t offers a level of insight, transparency and clarity you’d struggle to find elsewhere at this price. Type CD transport Outputs coaxial, optical
Marantz CD6005 ₨47,900
AWARD WINNER
Best CD player under ₨50,000, Awards 2015
Marantz’s CD6005 is rightly regarded as fantastic player, one that offers sprinkles of improvements on top of its superb predecessor. Type CD player Outputs coaxial, optical, RCA, headphone
Naim CD5si ₨1,45,000 The CD5si boasts a full-bodied, winningly enthusiastic approach to music. The absence of digital outputs means there’s no upgrade path. Type CD player Outputs RCA, DIN
CD players ₨1,50,000 and above
Burmester 069 ₨51,54,435 If you can get past the massive price tag then you have a wonderful player that ranks among the best, if not the best, we’ve ever heard. Type CD player Outputs 2 x coaxial, opt, XLR, RCA Inputs coax, opt
Burmester 089 ₨22,04,752 A top-class player that requires a suitably talented system to shine, the 089 is one of the best digital sources money can buy. Type CD player Outputs coaxial, optical, USB Inputs coax, opt
Cyrus CD i ₨1,59,000
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best CD player ₨50,000+, Awards 2015
Cyrus says this player is its best-sounding yet, and after listening to how confident and entertaining it sounds, it’s tough to disagree. Type CD player Outputs coaxial, optical, RCA
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CD PLAYERS & TRANSPORTS CONTINUED Cyrus CD Xt Signature ₨2,24,000 Looking for a top-class transport? The Xt Signature provides a sound that’s cleaner, crisper and more dynamic than its predecessor. Type CD transport Outputs coaxial, optical
Awards 2010
The Caspian M2 CD has been around the block, but it’s showing few signs of its age, showing skill with timing, dynamics and authority. Type CD player Outputs coaxial, optical, XLR, RCA
Roksan K3 CD Di ₨1,69,400 Few players at this price are as musical as the K3 CD Di. It promotes the character of your music, so you’ll never tire of listening to it. Type CD player Outputs coax, opt, XLR, RCA Inputs coax, opt
CD players ₨1,50,000 and above
Roksan Caspian M2 CD ₨2,21,800
Naim CD555/555PS ₨16,40,000 A CD player and a separate power supply, this might not look like much but there are few players better at revealing what’s on your discs. Type CD player Outputs RCA
DACS A DIGITAL-TO-ANALOGUE CONVERTER IS A MODERN HI-FI MUST Arcam miniBlink ₨13,800
AWARD WINNER
Best Bluetooth receiver, Awards 15
This receiver has serious dynamic clout, with a zingy and fluid rhythm. The 3.5mm analogue output means an adaptor is needed for trad hi-fi. Inputs Bluetooth Size (hwd) 2.5 x 3 x 4cm
Audiolab M-DAC ₨69,000 A good desktop alternative to the Chord Mojo, with plenty more sockets and features. Smooth balance, fluid dynamics and subtle detail. Inputs USB, opt, coax Size 6 x 25 x 25cm Res Up to 24-bit/192kHz
This tiny DAC/headphone amp remains one of our favourites for its USB-stick size and fine sonic talents. Clear, detailed with a fantastic sense of timing. Inputs USB Size (hwd) 6 x 2 x 1cm Resolution Up to 24-bit/96kHz
Chord Mojo ₨39,990
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
DACS under ₨1,00,000
Audioquest DragonFly v1.2 ₨14,700
Best DAC ₨40,000-₨80,000, Awards 2015
The majority of the Hugo’s performance for a fraction of the price. An enthusiastic performer that stays refined and superbly balanced. Inputs USB, opt, coax Size 2 x 6 x 8cm Resolution 32-768kHz/DSD 512
Rega Aria ₨96,000
NEW ENTRY
A phono stage of rare quality under ₨1,00,000 the Rega Aria will perform superbly – as long as the rest of your system is suitably talented. Type MM, MC Dimensions (hwd) 8 x 22 x 32cm July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 77
DACS CONTINUED Oppo HA-2 ₨27,999
AWARD WINNER
The range of inputs makes this ideal to use with any laptop or smartphone. The engaging performance and detail retrieval is remarkable at the price. Inputs USB, optical Size 16 x 7 x1cm Res up to 384 kHz, 16/24/32-bit
Chord 2Qute ₨1,19,000
AWARD WINNER
DACS ₨1,00,000 and above
The 2Qute’s insight, accuracy and dynamic punch outshine rivals with aplomb. The colourful display and the shiny chassis continue to wow us. Inputs USB, opt, coax Size 7 x 16 x 4cm Resolution Up to 32-bit/384kHz
Bricasti Design M1 DAC ₨9,49,000 This high-end DAC is impeccably built. There’s power, rhythmic coherence and dynamic punch, but it majors in analysis of the music. Inputs USB, opt, coax, AESB, HDMI Size 6x43x30cm Res to 352.8kHz
Chord Hugo ₨1,59,999
AWARD WINNER
The Hugo benefits from the genius circuitry informing Chord’s latest products. It has superb timing, remarkable clarity and plenty of power. Inputs 2x USB, opt, coax Size 2 x 13 x 10cm Resolution Up to 384kHz PCM
Chord Hugo TT ₨3,19,000 This ‘table-top’ version is the basic Hugo design, but supercharged. The finish is gorgeous, and it sounds better than its cheaper siblings. Inputs USB, opt, coax Size 5 x 24 x 23 Res Up to 32-bit/384kHz
Naim DAC-V1 ₨1,95,000 Naim’s entry DAC is typical of the company’s sonic signature, combining a balanced tone with strong dynamics and fine organisation. Inputs USB, 2x opt, 3 x coax Size 9 x 21 x 32cm Res 24-bit/384kHz
MUSIC STREAMERS
Streamers under ₨1,00,000
THE BEST WAY TO SHARE YOUR TUNES AROUND THE HOUSE Bluesound Node 2 ₨50,000 Looking for a non-amplified streamer to hook up to your existing hi-fi? The Node is back, and better, with improved design and connectivity. DLNA Yes Inputs Toslink, 3.5mm Storage No
Cambridge Audio CXN ₨79,600
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best streamer ₨50,000-₨1,00,000, Awards 2015
Building on the success of Cambridge’s Award-winning Stream Magic 6 v2, the CXN features an all-new design and improved sound. DLNA Yes Inputs optical, coaxial, 3 x USB Storage No
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MUSIC STREAMERS CONTINUED Burmester Musiccenter 151 ₨17,90,235 This multi-talented machine is a streamer, server, CD player and ripper, all wrapped in one superbly made chrome-laden box. DLNA Yes Inputs optical, coaxial, USB Storage 4TB
Cyrus Stream Xa ₨1,79,000 Best streamer ₨1,00,000-₨2,00,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER Music streamers ₨1,00,000 and above
The two-time Award-winning Xa is a corker. Its half-width design won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but its truly entrancing sound surely will. DLNA Yes Inputs 2 x optical, 3 x coaxial, USB Storage No
Cyrus Stream XP2-Qx ₨2,69,000 An all-in-one music streamer that serves up an energetic, enthusiastic and immersive performance. Worthy of the sizeable asking price. DLNA Yes Inputs 2 x optical, 3 x coaxial, USB Storage No
Naim ND5 XS ₨3,00,000 Best streamer ₨2,00,000+, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
A forward-thinking design from an established hi-fi company. A brilliant sonic performance and a must-have if you’re after a do-it-all streamer. DLNA Yes Inputs USB, coaxial, optical Storage No
Naim NDS/555PS ₨11,80,000 Hear what this monster of a streaming machine can do and there will be no going back. Can afford the outlay? Lucky you DLNA Yes Inputs 2 x coaxial, optical Storage No
STEREO SPEAKERS THEY BRING THE MUSIC TO YOUR EARS – SO CHOOSE WITH CARE AWARD WINNER
Desktop Speakers up to ₨1,00,000
KEF Egg ₨39,000 Best desktop speaker ₨20,000+, Awards 2015
Our 2015 Best Desktop Speaker Over ₨20k have a distinctive design and flexible connectivity – and a stunning, consistent performance. Size (hwd) 27 x 13 x 17cm Powered Yes Finishes 3
Wharfedale DS-1 ₨16,500
AWARD WINNER
Best desktop speaker under ₨200, Awards 2015
Smart and terrific-sounding; if you’re after small, articulate, affordable desktops with Bluetooth streaming, you can’t go wrong. Size (hwd) 19 x 11 x 15cm Powered No Finishes 1
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STEREO SPEAKERS CONTINUED B&W 683 S2 ₨1,59,000
Floorstanders under ₨1,60,000
Tremendously talented speakers. We’re impressed by their power, scale and delicacy – they’re wonderfully versatile performers. Size (hwd) 99 x 19 x 36cm Powered No Finishes 2
Q Acoustics 3050 ₨75,400 Best floorstander under ₨80,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Another 2015 Award-winner, and no wonder. The powerful 3050s are so talented, they give speakers closer to a lakh a run for their money. Size (hwd) 100 x 20 x 30cm Powered No Finishes 5
Q Acoustics Concept 40 ₨1,27,000 If you want a talented set of speakers with an easy-going, welcoming sound, you must consider these. Size (hwd) 97 x 17 x 29cm Powered No Finishes 2
Tannoy Revolution XT 6F ₨1,41,000 Best floorstander ₨80,000-₨1,50,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
These Tannoys are something special – they fire out an infectious, entertaining sound that charms us. Superbly finished, too. Size (hwd) 100 x 27 x 32cm Powered No Finishes 2
Tannoy Revolution XT 8F ₨1,89,500 Few rivals will be able to match this combination of muscle and subtlety. Most of all they make listening to music fun. Size (hwd) 108 x 32 x 35cm Powered No Finishes 2
Floorstanders ₨1,60,000 and above
ATC SCM40A ₨6,99,000 The price looks steep but factor in built-in amplification and exceptional sound, and the SCM40As emerge as something of a high-end bargain. Size (hwd) 98 x 37 x 34cm Powered Yes Finishes 2
Focal Electra 1038Be ₨8,99,999 A hefty slice of the performance of Focal’s high-end Utopia range, at a fraction of the cost. Impressive detail, dynamics, bass and timing. Size (hwd) 125 x 30 x 40cm Powered No Finishes 2
PMC Twenty 23 ₨3,12,200 These PMCs show real class, serving up sound that’s both refined and exciting. The 23s stand on their clean insight and unfussy nature. Size (hwd) 92 x 15 x 33cm Powered No Finishes 4
PMC Twenty 26 ₨7,72,686* This range of speakers hardly puts a foot wrong. Here, it’s the insightful yet refined balance and impressive levels of detail that win the day. Size (hwd) 109 x 19 x 44cm Powered No Finishes 4
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STEREO SPEAKERS CONTINUED ProAc Response D40/R ₨6,33,000 As musical as they come, these are also as articulate, transparent and dynamic as any floorstander we’ve heard around this price. Size (hwd) 120 x 21 x 34cm Powered No Finishes 6
Spendor A6R ₨2,25,000
AWARD WINNER
Best floorstander over ₨1,50,000, Awards 2015
Spendor D7 ₨4,12,000 When it comes to insight and precision, these floorstanders set the standard at this price. Unfussy, and they deliver a huge sound for their size. Size (hwd) 95 x 20 x 32cm Powered No Finishes 6
Tannoy Kensington GR ₨12,80,000 Along with that traditional appearance comes real substance. These are gentle giants, balancing finesse with force in a mighty appealing way. Size (hwd) 110 x 41 x 34cm Powered No Finishes 2
Floorstanders ₨1,60,000 and above
Musical notes have dimension and depth, and vocals are conveyed with reality and emotion. Outstanding. Size (hwd) 87.5 x 19 x 28cm Powered No Finishes 5
Triangle Signature Delta ₨5,60,000 Terrific timing ability combines with strong dynamics and impressive resolution to produce speakers that can stand toe-to-toe with the best. Size (hwd) 123 x 37 x 39cm Powered No Finishes 3
Dali Zensor 1 ₨24,000 If you’re looking for a versatile, energetic pair of affordable speakers, give these a listen. They have a real feel for the the music. Good fun. Size (hwd) 27 x 16 x 22cm Powered No Finishes 2
Dali Zensor 3 ₨34,500
Monitor Audio Bronze 2 ₨42,000
AWARD WINNER
Best standmounter ₨30,000-₨45,000, Awards 2015
For their size, these Monitor Audio Bronze 2 dig deep in the bass. They’re tonally balanced and impressively detailed too. Size (hwd) 35 x 19 x 26cm Powered No Finishes 4
Q Acoustics 3020 ₨28,900
AWARD WINNER
Standmounters under ₨50,000
If they’re made by Dali, they’re going to be fun to listen to. These classy-looking speakers have plenty of punch and winning dynamics. Size (hwd) 35 x 21 x 29cm Powered No Finishes 3
Best stereo speaker under ₨30,000, Awards 2015
These lovingly constructed boxes deliver an exceptional combination of refinement, insight and dynamics. We can’t fault them. Size (hwd) 26 x 17 x 23cm Powered No Finishes 5
Q Acoustic Concept 20 ₨43,000 If you want a top-quality, sub-₨50K standmounter you ignore this one at your peril. Clarity and refinement shine through in abundance. Size (hwd) 26 x 17 x 28cm Powered No Finishes 2 July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 81
STEREO SPEAKERS CONTINUED B&W 685 S2 ₨65,000
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Product of the Year, Awards 2015
Standmounters ₨50,000 - ₨1,20,000
Put simply, the 685 S2s are superb. Hugely entertaining, with power, punch and excellent detail retrieval. Size (hwd) 35 x 19 x 32cm Powered No Finishes 2
KEF LS50 ₨1,10,000 These striking speakers are blindingly good. Get their partnering kit right and you’ll revel in the excellent bass, energy and fine articulation. Size (hwd) 30 x 20 x 28cm Powered No Finishes 1
Martin Logan Motion 15 ₨78,000 A talented and fun pair of speakers. We particularly like the lively, natural presentation, even if the low end could do with more punch. Size (hwd) 29 x 13 x 24cm Powered No Finishes 2
Triangle Esprit Titus EZ ₨78,500 Your hunt to find a supplier for the Esprits might take a while, but it will be worth it for the articulate and agile presentation you’ll hear. Size (hwd) 31 x 17 x 27cm Powered No Finishes 3
ATC SCM11 (2013) ₨1,42,000 Best standmounter ₨80,000-₨1,50,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
These are the most talented standmounters anywhere near this price. The transparency of their sound compares with far more expensive rivals. Size (hwd) 38 x 21 x 25cm Powered No Finishes 2
Standmounters ₨1,20,000 - ₨2,50,000
Dynaudio Xeo 4 ₨2,40,000 The active Xeo 4s (they have built-in amps) offer hassle-free set-up and an insightful, musical sound from almost any source. High-res support, too. Size (hwd) 28 x 17 x 25cm Powered Yes Finishes 2
Neat Motive SX3 ₨1,50,000 If you’re tight on space, or don’t need an overpowering sound, these articulate, fun-loving speakers should be a shoo-in for your shortlist. Size (hwd) 33 x 16 x 20cm Powered No Finishes 4
ProAC Studio 118 ₨1,25,000 Weighty, detailed bass, lively treble and a good natural balance overall. The energy of the 118’s performance will provide hours of enjoyment. Size (hwd) 38 x 19 x 24cm Powered No Finishes 4
ATC SCM19 ₨2,28,000
AWARD WINNER
Best standmounter ₨1,50,000+, Awards 2015
₨2,50,000+
It’s quite a trick for a speaker to be highly analytical with music yet never sound clinical or passionless. And yet so it is with the SCM19s. Size (hwd) 44 x 27 x 30cm Powered No Finishes 2
PMC Twenty 22 ₨2,80,000 Solid build and a quality finish are just the start; it’s a big, authoritative sound, perfect for those who like a natural kind of presentation. Size (hwd) 41 x 18 x 37cm Powered No Finishes 4
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SYSTEMS SIMPLE DOESN’T HAVE TO MEAN LOWER QUALITY Multi-room systems up to ₨1,00,000
Sonos System From ₨26,500
AWARD WINNER
Best multi-room system under ₨50,000, Awards 2015
If you don’t need high-res, Sonos is an obvious choice for multi-room. A great user experience alongside a full-bodied, insightful sound. Res 16-bit/44.1kHz App Mac, Android Formats MP3, iTunes Plus, WMA
Bluesound Generation 2 From ₨35,000
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best multi-room system over ₨50,000, Awards 2015
Bluesound’s Generation 2 has a more streamlined design and sounds as good as ever, offering high-res support and good connectivity. Res 24-bit/192kHz App iOS, Android Formats MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG
Best music system ₨50,000-₨80,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Stereo systems under ₨50,000
Cambridge Audio Minx Xi ₨51,300
This terrific system is a joy to use. It has a 24-bit/96kHz resolution limit, but that’s OK in light of its articulate and hugely likeable character. Inputs Analogue & digital Sources Streaming, internet
Denon D-M40DAB ₨49,900
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best music system under ₨50,000, Awards 2015
Denon continues to reign supreme on the micro-systems front. There are no Bluetooth or wireless features, but the sound makes up for it. Inputs Analogue & digital Sources CD, streaming, DAB, FM
Stereo systems ₨50,000+
Cyrus Streamline 2 ₨1,73,000 Cyrus expertly combines hi-fi credentials and streaming features with ease. The superb sound quality is second to none at this price. Inputs Analogue & digital Sources Streaming, internet
Naim UnitiQute 2 ₨1,60,000
AWARD WINNER
Best music system ₨80,000-₨2,00,000, Awards 2015
The epitome of a modern streaming system. The insightful, rhythmically precise, spacious sound is tremendous – and worth the high-end price. Inputs Analogue & digital Sources Streaming, internet, DAB+, FM
Systems jargon buster UPnP Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a series of protocols that allow devices easily to discover and communicate with each other over a network to share information.
DLNA DLNA focuses on media formats and management, allowing content (video, audio, pictures, etc) to be shared across devices, with the user able to manage said files. Most DLNA tagged devices are UPnP capable too.
CD-quality CD-quality refers to the resolution of an audio CD, which is 16-bit/44.1kHz. CD-quality should not be confused with high resolution audio.
High resolution High-resolution audio has a higher sampling frequency and bit rate than CD-quality audio. Hi-res files tend to use a range of sampling rates, the most common being 96kHz and 192kHz at 24-bit.
NAS NAS – Network Attached Storage – is an intelligent storage device. Content stored on a NAS can be accessed through a media streamer via a network.
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TURNTABLES DECKS TO KEEP THE VINYL REVIVAL THRIVING
Turntables under ₨50,000
Pro-Ject Elemental ₨24,000 As plug-in-and-play as you’re likely to find, this is a quality entry-level record player for those taking their first steps in the world of vinyl. Speed 33.3 & 45rpm Size (hwd) 9 x 43 x 30cm
Pro-Ject Essential II ₨33,000 Best turntable under ₨40,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
A frill-free, entry-level product that gets all the basics spot-on. Easy to set up and even easier to enjoy, it’s an obvious Award-winner. Speed 33.3 & 45rpm Size (hwd) 14 x 46 x 36cm
Rega RP1 ₨36,000 The unadorned RP1 is an impressive turntable in its own right, with a good sense of drive and pleasing transparency. Speed 33.3 & 45rpm Size (hwd) 12 x 45 x 36cm
Clearaudio Concept ₨94,600
Turntables ₨50,000-₨1,00,000
Best turntable ₨80,000+, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
A thoroughly sorted, easy-to-own package with tremendous sound, combining punch, extension and tonal variation in equal measure. Speed 33.3, 45, 78rpm Size (hwd) 14 x 42 x 35cm
Pro–Ject 1 Xpression Carbon ₨75,000 The Pro-Ject 1 Xpression Carbon UKX is a terrific package for the price; it is balanced and insightful, rivalling the class-leaders in overall ability. Speed 33.3, 45rpm Size (hwd) 13 x 42 x 34cm
Rega RP3/Elys2 ₨72,000
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best turntable ₨40,000-₨80,000, Awards 2015
Turntables ₨1,00,000 and above
Few rivals are as fuss-free or sound so good, building on the balance, resolution and excitement of prior generations while adding more clarity. Speed 33.3, 45rpm Size (hwd) 10 x 45 x 36cm
Rega RP6/Exact ₨1,35,000 The RP6’s simple styling belies its engaging, detailed sound. One of the most expressive and enthusiastic turntables you can buy for the money. Speed 33.3, 45rpm Size (hwd) 12 x 45 x 36cm
Rega RP8/Apheta ₨2,97,000 A terrific turntable that sets standards at the price. A detailed sound delivered with superb agility, strong dynamics and exceptional precision. Speed 33.3, 45rpm Size (hwd) 12 x 45 x 36cm
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WIRELESS SPEAKERS CONTINUED
WIRELESS SPEAKERS FREE YOUR MUSIC WITH ONE OF THESE STREAMING WONDERS Audio Pro Addon T3 ₨29,999
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best portable wireless speaker ₨20,000-₨30,000, 2015
This classy boombox from Audio Pro ignores gimmicks and focuses on delivering the best sound possible for an extremely tempting price. Size (hwd) 12 x 22 x 14 Battery Yes
Cambridge Audio Go ₨12,500 Awards 2014 Wireless speakers under ₨30,000
Few wireless speakers offer such a great combination of build quality, battery life and enjoyable performance as this former Award-winner. Size (hwd) 24 x 12 x 6cm Battery Yes
JBL Xtreme ₨24,990 The Xtreme delivers all the power suggested by its brutish physique, but is also capable of great subtlety and insight. Powerful and portable. Size (hwd) 13 x 28 x 12cm Battery Yes
Monitor Audio Airstream S150 ₨15,500
AWARD WINNER
Best mains-powered wireless speaker under ₨20,000, Awards 2015
Ultimate Ears Roll ₨8,495
£300-£500
The Airstream S150 boasts impressive clarity and detail with solid, weighty bass and an agile and dynamic delivery. Size (hwd) 27 x 12 x 14cm Battery No AWARD WINNER
Best portable wireless speaker under ₨10,000, Awards 2015
Super-portable, waterproof and with great sound, the Roll is the ideal on-the-go companion. We haven’t heard better for less than a ton. Size (hw) 4 x 14cm Battery Yes
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Wireless speakers ₨50,000+
Wireless speakers ₨30,000-₨50,000
WIRELESS SPEAKERS CONTINUED KEF Muo ₨35,000
AWARD WINNER
Best portable wireless speaker ₨20,000, Awards 2015
The Muo brings a touch of luxury with its detailed musical performance and great looks. You won’t get better without going mains-powered. Size (hwd) 8 x 21 x 6cm Battery Yes
Q Acoustics Q-BT3 ₨43,000 Few products are as versatile as these for the price: wireless speakers, soundbar replacement, iPod dock or powered stereo speakers. Size (hwd) 31 x 19 x 24cm Battery No
B&W Zeppellin Wireless ₨58,000 Eight years on, the Zeppelin speaker is still a must-have for the audiophile who wants fine sound in a convenient package. Size (hwd) 18 x 66 x 18cm Battery No
Naim Mu-So ₨1,35,000
AWARD WINNER
Best mains-powered wireless speaker ₨80,000+, Awards 2015
The Mu-so has a rich, powerful sound, a huge sense of scale and soaring dynamics – and it’s now been updated to accommodate Tidal. Size (hwd) 12 x 63 x 26cm Battery No
Getting the most out of your wireless speaker
Wireless tech explained The most used wireless transmission methods tend to be the following: aptX Bluetooth, regular Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay and Kleer (used by Arcam). AirPlay is Apple’s proprietary solution and works only with Apple devices. Bluetooth, and its higherquality aptX variant, will work with any Bluetoothcompatible device, while Kleer requires a dongle. If it were our money, we would opt for one of the Bluetooth variants – it’s versatile and the quality is fine, albeit lower than with a wired connection.
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How much should you spend? This all depends on what you want your dock to do. If you fancy something to take to the park for picnics, then you’d want to consider a unit that has a good battery life. If you’re replacing a micro or mini system, then something like the B&W Zeppelin Wireless will do a commendable job. As ever, try before you buy, especially if you’re heading towards the premium range. A good tip is to take your library with you to the dealer/ retailer and play some of the greatest hits straight from your portable.
Choose the right file type Whichever one you go for, and especially if you’re connecting your device, it’s important to supply the dock with a high enough quality file. We find that 320kbps is as low as we’d go with MP3 files, with Apple Lossless, FLAC or uncompressed WAV far more preferable. If you use an Apple device, and use WAV files on your computer but don’t have space for them on your portable, iTunes has a handy option to sync slightly lower-quality versions of your tracks to your device.
Instant multi-room music If you’re looking to build a multi-room system, you’re in luck. Some docks won’t be able to play music on more than one device at a time (unless you have more than one which can stream to each other), but it does mean you can simply select each device on your portable as you move between rooms and have your music instantly switch between docks. Alternatively, you could fork out for a Sonos system – but that isn’t really the point. Wireless docks mean minimal set-up – always a bonus.
BUYER’S GUIDE
BEST BUYS
HOME CINEMA
The only products worth considering
BLU-RAY PLAYERS
ENJOY HIGH-DEF MOVIE THRILLS
Marantz UD7007 ₨72,900
AWARD WINNER
Cambridge Audio CXU ₨1,25,600
AWARD WINNER
Best Blu-ray player ₨30,000+, Awards 2015
A universal disc-player, packed with features and connections, that pushes the boundaries with both picture and sound quality. Compatibility Blu-ray, DVD, CD, SACD
Oppo BDP-105D ₨1,29,999
Blu-ray players ₨30,000 and above
A 2013 Awards winner, this is a solidly made machine that performs to a very high standard. If you have the right system, it’s a terrific buy. Compatibility Blu-ray, DVD, CD, SACD
It might seem a lot for a disc player, but if you want a quality component that’s as adept with music as it is with movies, you’ll want this. Top class. Compatibility Blu-ray, DVD, CD, SACD
HOME CINEMA AMPLIFIERS STUNNING SOUND THAT TRULY BRINGS MOVIES TO LIFE Denon AVR-X2200W ₨73,900
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best home cinema amplifier ₨50K-₨70K, Awards 2015
Yamaha RX-A850 ₨93,990
AWARD WINNER
Best home cinema amplifier ₨70K-₨1Lac, Awards 2015
In the sweet spot of balancing price, features and performance, this has a hugely entertaining combination of power and precision. Power 7 x 100W Dolby Atmos Yes
AV amplifiers ₨50,000-₨1,00,000
Our AV amp Product of the Year is an articulate and detailed amp, with stacks of functionality and future-proofing. Packed with features. Power 7 x 95W Dolby Atmos Yes
Yamaha RX-V679 ₨59,990 No Dolby Atmos but Yamaha does offer a big, spacious sound with decent detail and balance, though some others are more nuanced. Power 7 x 90W Dolby Atmos No
July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 87
HOME CINEMA AMPLIFIERS CONTINUED
HOME CINEMA AMPLIFIERS AV amplifiers ₨1,00,00 and above
STUNNING SOUND THAT TRULY BRINGS MOVIES TO LIFE Onkyo TX-NR3030 ₨1,90,000 Looking for high-end, high-quality surround audio? This amp delivers with a spacious, subtle sound, a plethora of features and Dolby Atmos. Power 11 x 185W Atmos Yes
Pioneer SC-LX59 ₨1,32,000
AWARD WINNER
Best home cinema amplifier ₨1,00,000+, Awards 2015
The SC-LX59 makes it six ₨1,00,000+ Awards in a row for Pioneer. This latest offering is better than ever, making it a class-leading receiver. Power 9 x 140W Atmos Yes
PROJECTORS
Projectors ₨1,50,000 and above
Under ₨1.5lac
BECAUSE A MASSIVE PICTURE IS HOME CINEMA BenQ W1080ST+ ₨1,25,000 Best projector under ₨1,50,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
This short-throw projector can sit less than six feet from the screen at max zoom – and looks brilliant thanks to its crisp, eye-catching pic. Throw ratio 0.69-0.83:1 Inputs 2 x HDMI, component Speakers Yes
Epson EH-TW7200 ₨1,80,000
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best projector ₨1,50,000-₨2,50,000, Awards 2015
Versatile and easy to set up, this one raises the bar for picture quality in the sub-₨2lacs arena with its realistic, subtle and punchy performance. Throw ratio 1.34-2.87:1 Inputs 2 x HDMI, component Speakers No
Sony VPL-HW55ES ₨3,16,667 Best projector ₨2,50,000+, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
This well-specified Sony produces a very natural picture that’s precisely crisp and bright, and demonstrates exemplary contrast. Brilliant. Throw ratio n/a Inputs 2 x HDMI, component Speakers No
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SOUNDBARS AN IMPRESSIVE WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR TV’S SOUND Under ₨50,000
Q Acoustics Media 4 ₨45,000
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best soundbar under ₨50,000, Awards 2015
Q Acoustics’ debut soundbar is remarkable value – even more so at its reduced price – and more than worthy of its two-time PoY status. Size (hwd) 9 x 100 x 14cm Inputs Optical, RCA Subwoofer No
Best soundbar ₨50,000+, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Soundbars ₨50,000 and above
Dali Kubik One ₨1,05,000
A gorgeous and complete package, Dali’s debut soundbar impresses with its hugely engaging sound and smart, well-equipped exterior. Size (hwd) 15 x 98 x 10cm Inputs Optical, 2 x RCA Subwoofer No
Philips Fidelio B5 ₨54,990 Thanks to two detachable (wireless, battery-powered) speakers, it can add surround sound or be a multi-room system. Great sound, too. Size 7 x 104 x 16cm Inputs 2 x HDMI, optical, coax, RCA Sub Yes
SOUNDBASES AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF SUPERIOR TV SOUND Soundbases under ₨30,000- ₨70,000
Cambridge Audio TV5 ₨37,100 The TV5 shares its TV2 sibling’s rich presentation, but with an extra driver and bigger chassis there’s better detail, clarity and dynamics. Size (hwd) 10 x 73 x 34cm Inputs Optical
Canton DM55 ₨69,000 Best soundbase under ₨70,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Replacing the DM50, the cheaper DM55 is even more appealing – its meaty yet subtle sound is a huge audio upgrade for your TV. Size (hwd) 7 x 55 x 30cm Inputs Optical, coaxial
Select the right cable for your system
Speaker cable What is it? Solid-core or stranded cable. What’s it for? Connecting multiple speakers.
Digital optical cable What is it? Cable that transmits audio as light. What’s it for? Transmitting audio in the digital domain.
HDMI cable What is it? A digital cable that transmits video and audio. What’s it for? To link HDMI sources.
Stereo interconnects What is it? Analogue cable. What’s it for? To replace your kit’s freebie leads.
Mains cable What is it? Heavy-duty cable upgrade. What’s it for? To replace your kit’s inferior mains cable. July 2016 | What Hi Fi? | 89
SPEAKER PACKAGES
Style packages ₨1,10,000-₨2,00,000
Style packages under ₨1,10,0000
GOOD SURROUND SOUND IS A MOVIE-MAGIC MUST
Q Acoustics Q7000i ₨1,06,000 Got a lac to spend on a sub/sat package? Spend it here. This compact set creates a cohesive and expansive soundfield, with strong bass. Size (hwd) Centre speaker 12 x 20 x 16cm Finishes 2
Tannoy HTS-101 XP ₨72,900
AWARD WINNER
Best style package under ₨1,00,000, Awards 2015
The latest incarnation of a multiple winner has a sonic character that retains its fast, spacious quality, but with extra detail and solidity. Size (hwd) Centre speaker 19 x 10 x 11cm Finishes 1
B&W MT-50 ₨1,76,000
AWARD WINNER
Best style package ₨1,00,000+, Awards 2015
These speakers sound crisp, clear and insightful, and the sub and satellites integrate so well. Value and versatility combined. Size (hwd) Centre speaker 25 x 11 x 16cm Finishes 2
B&W MT-60D ₨2,95,000 Compact and stylish (we love that sub), this package presents a dynamic, powerful sound that excels with surround sound and stereo music. Size (hwd) Centre speaker 25 x 11 x 16cm Finishes 2
Before you buy: equipment racks Choosing an equipment rack can be tricky. Here are a few things to consider…
1) Equipment supports have a difficult job to do. Ideally, they should isolate your system from external vibrations, so that it can perform optimally, but also act as a ‘sink’ for any internally generated vibrations – say, the effects of a spinning disc or the low-level buzz of a mains transformer. Make sure there’s enough air space around your kit to avoid it overheating, though. 2) Racks come in different sizes and lengths. Do you need a full-width bench-style rack? If you have lots of hi-fi equipment, a wider rack might suit you better if you have the space for it. For those with only a CD player or amplifier to support, there are rack companies which sell half-width versions.
MODULAR RACK Ideal if you plan to grow your system, but check its ease of assembly
3) Plan for the future by choosing a rack with a modular design. It’s a good halfway house if you have one eye on later system expansion. How easy it is to assemble may be something to consider in this situation, too; a fussy design could bring frustration. However, while another shelf won’t be cheap, it’s likely to be less expensive than investing in a new rack altogether.
“Equipment supports should isolate your system from external vibrations, but also act as a ‘sink’ for internally generated vibrations”
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FULL-WIDTH RACK The solution for those with plenty of hi-fi equipment to support
SPEAKER PACKAGES CONTINUED Best traditional package under ₨1,50,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Traditional packages under ₨1.5Lacs
Dali Zensor 1 5.1 ₨1,14,300
Why did it win an Award? Because of the sound’s punchy dynamics, abundance of detail, expression, articulation and impressive integration. Size (hwd) Centre speaker 16 x 44 x 29cm Finishes 3
Q Acoustics 3000 Series 5.1 ₨99,500 A budget package that makes the sound from films come across as subtle, atmospheric and detailed. This is a fun listening experience. Size (hwd) Centre speaker 15 x 43 x 20cm Finishes 5
Monitor Audio Bronze B5 AV ₨2,42,500
Traditional packages ₨1.5 Lacs+
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best traditional package ₨1Lac-₨3Lacs, Awards 2015
Our Speaker Package Product of the Year is beautifully designed, has ample punch, creates a spacious soundfield and is very musical. Size (hwd) Centre speaker 17 x 46 x 19cm Finishes 4
KEF R100 5.1 ₨3,13,000 Best traditional package ₨3,00,000+, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Gorgeous looks and superior sound quality – the R100 5.1 has both. There’s great scale, seamless integration, and an expressive midrange. Size (hwd) Centre speaker 17 x 53 x 31cm Finishes 4
TELEVISIONS MAKE THE FOCUS OF YOUR ENTERTAINMENT HUB A GOOD ONE AWARD WINNER
Televisions ₨50,000-₨1,10,000
Samsung UA40JU6470U ₨83,900 Best 40-46in TV ₨50,000+, Awards 2015
You don’t need a huge screen to appreciate the benefits of a 4K pic. This sleek 40in set combines features, functionality and performance. Type LCD/LED Screen size 40in Resolution 3840 x 2160
Samsung UA48J6300AK ₨1,04,900
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best 47-52in TV under ₨1,10,000, Awards 2015
It has a pronounced curve, but the picture quality is a fantastic proposition at this price. Astonishingly good Full HD performance. Type LCD/LED Screen size 48in Resolution 1920 x 1080
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Televisions ₨1,10,000-₨2,00,000
TELEVISIONS CONTINUED Sony KDL-55W800C ₨1,24,900 Ultra HD 4K screens may be grabbing all the headlines, but Full HD screens are still in the majority. A Android TV with the flair to dazzle. Type LCD/LED Screen size 55in Resolution 1920 x 1080
Samsung UA48JU6470U ₨1,31,900 Best 47-52in TV ₨1,00,000+, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
This Samsung is special: super-sharp 4K, realistic textures, a smart interface, and a slim, attractive physique. Impressive. Type LCD/LED Screen size 48in Resolution 3840 x 2160
LG65EC970T ₨5,79,900 One of the very best TVs on the market, this LG is a lovely looking telly with a fantastic picture. Whisper it, but OLED is becoming accessible. Type OLED Screen size 65in Resolution 3840 x 2160
LG55EG960T ₨3,59,900 Televisions ₨2,00,000 and above
Best 52-60in TV ₨2,50,000+, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Top-drawer 4K Ultra HD resolution meets OLED technology, and the results are simply stunning. The price seems to be slipping too… Type OLED Screen size 55in Resolution 3840 x 2160
Samsung UA55JU7500K ₨2,41,900 Best 52-60in TV under ₨2,50,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
This 55in beauty produces not just excellent 4K content, but will make your HD TV channels and Blu-rays look awesome too. Type LCD/LED Screen size 55in Resolution 3840 x 2160
Samsung UA65JS9000K ₨4,40,900 Best 60in+ TV, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
005£-003£
This curved set combines excellent smarts with a gorgeous, insightful picture. If a big screen and 4K are must-haves, your search is over. Type LCD/LED Screen size 65in Resolution 3840 x 2160
Sony KD-65X9300C, ₨3,74,900 A great, and very big telly, its stunning picture (and brilliant sound) is everything you would expect from a flagship television. Type LCD/LED Screen size 65in Resolution 3840 x 2160
Gaming TVs
Input lag Televisions come with their own built-in latency, and high latencies lead to less-responsive controls. Manufacturers rarely mention these figures, but look online and you’ll find some useful sites that list television latencies.
92 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
If you’re into gaming then a television that gives you an advantage is vital We’ve highlighted four areas to ensure you won’t be left on the losing side
Local dimming Local dimming works by dimming the backlight in the image’s darker areas, resulting in deeper blacks. TVs with good dimming can have excellent contrast, making for more vivid, expressive colours but they can also add to a TV’s latency.
Don’t believe refresh rates Higher refresh rates update the image faster, which should reduce motion judder. Console games run no faster than 60 frames per second, so refresh rates of 120Hz and more won’t hugely improve performance. A 60Hz set is more than capable.
Game mode Game mode disables processing modes thereby reducing input lag. That’s the good part. Less good is that contrast and image quality suffer, resulting in a drablooking image. A game mode can be useful, but it can also compromise the image.
BUYER’S GUIDE
BEST BUYS The only products worth considering
PORTABLE HEADPHONES
BIN THE BUNDLED BUDS, AND INVEST IN BETTER SOUND
Sennheiser Momentum M2 IEi ₨6990
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Best in-ears ₨5000-₨10,000, Awards 2015
You wouldn’t think anything so small could sound so good for the cost. But good they sound, wonderfully smooth, expressive and balanced. In-line controls Yes Cable length 1.3m In-ears under ₨10,000
FiiO EX1 ₨4,999 These monitors are nicely judged tonally, with plenty of detail. Add an expansive soundstage and you’re looking at great value for money. In-line controls No Cable length 1.2m
SoundMagic E10S ₨1999
AWARD WINNER
Best in-ears under ₨5000, Awards 2015
Paying ₨2000 for a pair of buds like these ranks as one of the simplest, most affordable and most satisfying upgrades available. In-line controls Yes Cable length 1.2m
Shure SE425 ₨23,220 Best in-ears ₨10,000-₨30000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Sennheiser IE 800 ₨54,990
In-ears ₨10,000 and above
If you’re serious about the quality of your in-ear headphones, we’d point you here. The energetic, immersive performance is irresistible. In-line controls Yes Cable length 1.6m AWARD WINNER
Best in-ears ₨30,000+, Awards 2015
You might think it a waste to spend so much on buds, but don’t make up your mind till you’ve heard these – they’re astonishing performers. In-line controls Yes Cable length 1.1m
Shure SE846 ₨84,700 Stunning detail, supreme tonal balance and extraordinary dynamics. You just need to ensure you use an equally talented source In-line controls Yes Cable length 1.2m & 1.6m
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Noise cancelling heaphones up to ₨30,000
HEADPHONES CONTINUED Bose QuietComfort 25 ₨25,200 These cans are a real treat. Their noise-cancelling capabilities are extraordinary, their clear, balanced sound a joy to hear. Quoted battery life 35 hours
PSB M4U2 ₨23,900 As well as obliging with a powerful delivery the PSBs offer a choice of listening modes (passive, active and noise-cancelling), to suit. Quoted battery life 55 hours
AKG K451 ₨4999 Great agility and precision timing combined with excellent build and compact size, makes the K451s a must-audition pair of cans. Type Closed Connection 3.5mm Weight 120g PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
On-ears under ₨15,000
AKG Y50 ₨7990 Best portable on-ears under ₨10,000, Awards 2015
Our Product of the Year cans for 2015 are portable on-ears, and deliver a rhythmic, clear, detailed, dynamic sound. At this price they’re amazing. Type Closed Connection 3.5mm Weight 190g
Philips Fidelio M1MkII ₨10,999
AWARD WINNER
The Fidelios offer an unusually smooth delivery and plenty of weighty, punchy bass. Clarity and precision are further strong points. Type Closed Connection 3.5mm Weight 166g
On-ears ₨15,000-₨30,000
Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H2 ₨15,990 Not only do these headphones look great, they also do a fine job of music reproduction – and offer great pride of ownership. Type Closed Connection 3.5mm Weight 155g
Beyerdynamic T51i ₨19,999 Awards 2014
It’s satisfying when great design, premium build and top performance all come together. These on-ears really do sound as good as they look. Type Closed Connection 3.5mm/6.3mm Weight 174g
B&W P5 Series 2 ₨18,800 Clear, precise sound, bags of detail, punchy rhythm – these gorgeous ’phones have the lot. We can’t think of anything to say against them. Type Closed Connection 3.5mm Weight 195g
System Killers
Mission Impossible Out now 94 | What Hi Fi? | July 2016
Inside out Out now
Mad Max: Fury Road Out now
Ex Machina Out now
Fast and Furious 7 Out now
HEADPHONES CONTINUED Grado SR125e ₨13,200 On-ears ₨15,000-₨30,000
These might have looked at home on the ears of a wartime radio operator, but they sound great. Stay at home, though: they’re leaky. Type Open Connection 3.5mm/6.5mm Weight 363g
Grado SR325e ₨25,900 Best home on-ears ₨15,000-₨30,000, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
If you don’t mind the sound that leaks from them, you’re free to enjoy the fluid dynamics and wonderfully musical presentation. Type Open Connection 3.5mm/6.5mm Weight 330g
AKG K812 ₨99,052 On-ears ₨30,000 and above
For outright insight you’d have to spend thousands more than this on speakers before you get close to the resolution and agility on offer here. Type Open Connection 3.5mm/6.3mm Weight 390g PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
B&W P7 ₨33,000 Worth every penny. The solid build quality and comfy fit we expect, but the level of detail and dynamics swept us off our feet. Type Closed Connection 3.5mm Weight 290g
Shure SRH1540 ₨41,300
AWARD WINNER
Best home on-ears ₨30,000+, Awards 2015
Once the music starts you’ll focus on the expansive, beautifully balanced sound. There’s agility, enthusiasm and genuine musicality too. Type Closed Connection 3.5mm Weight 286g
Best wireless headphones ₨25,000+, Awards 2015
AWARD WINNER
Wireless headphones up to ₨40K
B&W P5 Wireless ₨28,950
All the characteristics of the P5 Series 2 without the wire. The Bluetooth connection works well and the sound is nigh-on as good as the Series 2. Folding Yes Quoted battery life 17hrs Wireless range n/a
Philips Fidelio M2BT ₨14,500 Bluetooth here is the superior aptX version. There’s also NFC connectivity and – most important – a rich, balanced, musical sound. Folding No Quoted battery life 10hrs Wireless range 15m
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Music & Broadcast | Hi-Fi & Home Cinema | Commercial & Construction
F o r G r e at S o u n d, yo u n e e d G r e at A c o u s t i c s . Get the sound qualit y, performance, and ease that countless professional studios have come to rely on in an ultra-compact room acoustic system that o ffe r s a fi r s t- o f- i t s - k i n d m o d u l a r, p r o t a b l e d e s i g n .
E x p l o re : L a t e s t Te c h n o l o g i e s Enhance: Product Line-up Experience: Custom Solutions
Ultra Wood Panels
Horizon Panels
U-Square Panels
Ultra Hex Panels
Ultra Square Panels
Ultra Fuser Diffuser
for more details visit: w w w.ultracousticin.com R e g i s t e r e d O f fi c e : A R A c o u s t i c s L L P , 5 0 4 , Ju p i t e r , G au r av G a l a x y , P h a s e I I , M i r a R o a d ( E a s t ) , M u m b a i 4 0 1 1 07 , I n d i a P h : 02 2 6 5 6 0 6 0 02 , + 9 1 9 9 67 3 0 47 4 9 E m a i l : i n fo @ u l t r a c o u s t i c i n .c o m
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Design | Performance | Support
N E H T S A W T THA 83 SONY PS-LX33 MAY 19
Up on decks Sony turntables, then and now We’re in the middle of a vinyl revival now, but back in 1983 it was a vastly different story. The format looked to be in terminal decline, with the new (Sony co-developed) CD grabbing the limelight and an ever-increasing number of sales. Against such a backdrop it’s no surprise Sony didn’t pay much attention to the quality of its budget turntable designs back then. The PS-LX33, reviewed in 1983, is typical. The specification is fairly typical for the time – direct drive with automatic operation where the arm set down and lifted off the record on reaching the end of the side. It wasn’t devoid of innovation – the cartridge was integrated into the headshell for ease of use and to avoid alignment issues. It’s an admirable idea, but not nearly enough to make this deck anything approaching recommendable. Despite measuring brilliantly for speed stability, this Sony did little else to impress us. It had a bland, undynamic sound that just about managed to stay on the right side of listenable. Things weren’t helped by sensitivity to hum and a lightweight plastic construction that was prone to resonance. The new PS-HX500, reviewed three decades later, is far better. It’s a more thorough design with a greater emphasis on performance. While fully manual it remains easy to use and is well equipped. Features include a built-in phono stage and analogue-to-digital conversion circuitry, which makes it an immensely flexible proposition. Back in ’83 vinyl looked dead and buried. Who’d have guessed that 33 years later the format would have a shot at outlasting CD?
98 | What Hi Fi? |July 2016
3050
FLOORSTANDER “Yet another staggering achievement.” “The British company has once again redefined the rules.” “For the money, they’re sublime.” What HiFi? Sound and Vision, Awards 2015
“a masterpiece in its class, highly articulate and unstressed, an almost magical image depth” “The Q Acoustics 3050 is an amazingly accomplished, highly musical Best Buy.” Hi-Fi Critic, Best Buy, December 2015
“Class-leading budget floorstander” “Superb value for money” “You simply have to hear this loudspeaker” Hi-Fi Choice, Editor’s Choice, June 2015
A MASTERPIECE IN ITS CLASS Hi-Fi Critic, Best Buy, December 2015
Find out more at www.QAcoustics.co.uk BEAUTIFULLY ENGINEERED SOUND
#134, Residency Road, Ground Floor & Basement, Opp Bangalore Club Entrance, Babbler Group
Bangalore - 560025. INDIA Tel: +91-80-30644644/655, Email : sales@babblergroup.com Mobile-9945609621/9945531148.
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