Sony
BDV-N590
The Sony BDV-N590 is the first 2012 Sony
home cinema system to be released, and at its core it’s a 5.1 speaker system
complete with 3D Blu-ray player that's capable of bringing surround sound to
your TV, PVR or games console.
The Blu-ray player is housed in the bump on
the left-hand side of the unit. The disc slot is half away along and loads from
the right hand side, which works fine for us.
Pictures
are clean and detailed, sound is clear and loud. And unlike with rivals, you
can jack the volume without losing composure.
Sonos Playbar
The
build is exemplary, the styling minimalist, and it’s chock-full of neat
touches, such as the accelerometers that can tell whether the Playbar is
laid-down or on an edge and adjust the sound accordingly.
To
cut a long short short, the Playbar is a massive improvement over even the most
impressive-sounding flatscreen TVs. The width of the soundstage that’s created
is mighty impressive, and there’s detail, weight and tonal balance that a TV on
its own simply can’t deliver.
The
drivers behind the grille are angled upwards, and while that means you get a
big, atmospheric sound, it sacrifices just a little bit of impact and
directness.
Yamaha YSP-3300
It takes just a couple of minutes with the
bundled mic attached before the Yamaha YSP-4300 has been calibrated to best
send sound to your listening position. And fed a Blu-ray of Jack Reacher via one of the four
HDMI inputs, the results instantly impress.
The
3300 comes with a transmitter for streaming tunes from your iThing, Mac or PC.
It's not as elegant as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth but it sounds great. A bundled
wireless slimline bass box can be placed almost anywhere in the room, as long
as it can still reach a power socket.
Panasonic
SC-BTT590
Pictures
have a greater sense of depth thanks to increased detail, there’s better
texture to skin tones and subtlety to colours, and neither fast motion nor dark
scenes cause the SC-BTT590 any problems.
The handover between speakers is smooth, making for a
convincing surround sound. It’s a smooth sound, too, remaining controlled and
easy to listen to even at high volume, and with a sense of refinement that’s
not often found in systems such as these.
The
integrated iPod dock pops out neatly and the rest of the feature list is
exhaustive: USB and SD card inputs, Viera Connect with iPlayer and Netflix, and
twin HDMI inputs for hooking up PVRs and consoles.
Samsung
HT-E820
The
Samsung HT-E8200 is a 2.1-channel soundbar system designed to bring thrilling
cinema sound into your home without the hassle that goes with a regular 5.1
speaker system.
The
soundbar measures 1041mm wide by 96mm high, making it suitable for TVs between
40 and 46-inches, while its 131mm depth means it won’t stick out too far when
wall mounted.
Bluetooth
connectivity means the Sammy can stream from your mobile device, making it a
music player too.
LG
NB3520A
The
LG NB3520A is surprisingly limited when it comes to AV inputs. In fact, all
that's on offer are two optical inputs for digital audio and a mini-jack input
for analogue audio.
The
main bar is relatively large. It's 80mm tall and 50mm deep.The
subwoofer unit is a bit of a beast of a thing measuring 390mm tall and 360mm
deep.
It's
a combined soundbar and subwoofer package designed for use in larger rooms.
It's capable of pumping out a pretty fearsome 300 watts of sound.
LG
BH8220B
LG
has packed the BH8220B with a wealth of functions. Alongside Full HD 3D
playback, there are two HDMI inputs, an optical digital input, analogue audio
inputs on both phonos to the rear and a 3.5mm socket on the front, and a USB
slot that’s ‘Made for iPod/iPhone’.
the USB port can be used to record from CD onto a
memory device: you can do this in real time while playing a disc or, with the
disc in 'stop' mode, at up to 4x speed.
Blu-rays are this LG’s main reason for being, and
pictures are punchy and colourful. As well as Bluetooth, you can connect
devices to the LG via a home network, either wirelessly or wired, and it can
function as a DLNA client to stream content from a computer or NAS.
Philips
HTS5563
It
has two HDMI inputs plus an optical in, SD card and USB slots, and support for
audio and video files. There’s also an FM radio.
Flick to a DVD or Blu-ray and the picture continues to
look the part. Colours are subtle but still dynamic, detail is high and s
are clean, while blacks remain solid.
The
remote looks decent enough, but the buttons feel cheap and clunky; the
touch-sensitive controls on the main unit are far more reassuring.
Samsung
HT-E5530
The
HT-E5530 is one of many 5.1-channel Blu-ray systems in its current range,
offering 3D playback, smart functionality and wireless media streaming – not to
mention a full 1000W sound system.
The
speakers are visually stunning, coated in a lustrous gloss black finish that
brings instant glamour to the room. The towers, which come in three parts that
have to be screwed together, stand 1.2m tall and exude elegance.
On
the back is an HDMI output and two HDMI inputs that turn the HT-E5530 into a
conduit for other HD sources, such as digital TV receivers and games consoles.
All of the sockets are 3D-ready, with ARC available on the output.
Harman
Kardon BDS 570
Harman Kardon’s BDS 570 is as
distinctive as it is unusual. Just 40cm wide and 10cm high, it’s a
shoebox-sized home cinema solution intended to bridge the gap between
conventional ‘all-in-one’ systems and larger, more capable but also more
complex separates-based set-ups.
Connecting the BDS 570 is straightforward enough. It
provides full-sized, gold-plated speaker output terminals and a single
subwoofer output, and benefits from Harman Kardon’s EzSet microphone-based
automatic calibration and equalisation system.
Sounds are steered with commendable accuracy and the
forceful dynamics of a Dolby TrueHD mix are relayed with few apparent
difficulties even at substantial volumes. Picture quality is just as
impressive, the BDS 570 exhibiting a solid grasp of motion, ample contrast and
a generous.
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