It's been a long time coming but the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has finally completed the specifications for Ultra HD Blu-ray. Great news, although with a small HDMI HDCP caveat. Time will tell but good news on balance we think. 

ULTRA HD BLURAY NEWS

It would seem that Yamaha's boast that the new range of recievers sound better than previous years due to some key component upgrades has a ring of truth to it. We have just put a Yamaha RX-V679 on demo and I have to say it sounds very, very good for the money.

NEW YAMAHA RANGE

 Denon, Marantz, Onkyo & Yamaha have all launched new ranges of AV Amplifiers. These will start to come through to us in the next month and are likely to feature 4K, HDCP 2.2, HDR & 3D sound formats heavily. All of the current models are now listed but as details are scant these pages will be added to as we get specifications and photos. Prices are currently accurate and pre-orders are available for those wanting to get their name down.

Still no definite word from Arcam, Anthem & Audio Control but from the titbits of information we have gleaned so far, the Japanese manufacturers will have a fight on their hands as all are likely to sport extremely accurate room equalisation.

AV AMPLIFIERS

We have been a bit quiet of late working on a number of projects, with some big news and some small. Big news will have to wait, but in the meantime we are fully up to speed with Trinnov Audio after our visit to their facility in France. We have also taken on some new accounts, notably with Belgian furniture manufacturer Ethnicraft who do some lovely furniture. We will be focussing on their AV stands, but if you like the look of anything else they do I’m sure we can oblige! I’m slowly adding some of their products to the site as I can. BDI also have a few new stands which will also be added, so keep an eye out for the new Vertica range. Add into the mix a new “S” range of speakers from Quad and two new subwoofers from Canadian manufacturer Paradigm and that tops off our summary thus far. More news to follow!

ETHNICRAFT

BDI VERTICA

QUAD S RANGE

PARADIGM PRESTIGE SUBWOOFERS

Lots going on recently at the shop. I will be moving into some new offices in the next two weeks. I will post up some pictures as and when the room/s are finished. Any local customers are welcome to pop in and say hello we are still in the same building and the kettle will be on (as always).

We are in discussions to place a Trinnov Altitude 8/16 on demonstration in the shop, I will update this page as and when this is a formality, but we seem to be dotting the "I's" and crossing the "T's". After my recent training visit to Trinnov in France, I will also be attending the training at Datasat in September so they can give me the full run down on their fantastic processors. Next week I will also be visiting the JBL Synthesis distributor in the UK to hear their system in operation.

Our sister company Hi-Fi Corner in Falkirk is having a full shop renovation in the next two weeks and as such they are selling the entire contents of the shop to clear the decks for the re-fit. It would be well worth a call to Paul the Manager on 01324 629 011 if you are looking for something, as there are some great deals to be had. I’m trying to get a list of items that they have so I can post it up.

SVS who are famous for their skill with subwoofery have launched a new range of budget cinema speakers named "Prime" which are now on the site. These offer phenomenal value for money.

SVS PRIME

We are almost caught up with the new products on the website. We have listed the new Tannoy XT seties, these have been getting some fantastic reviews of late and are well worth considering if you are looking at that price. Precision has also has had a nice price drop as of this morning.

Tannoy XT

Tannoy Precision

Things have been a bit quiet on the news page of the site lately and I’m aware we have missed one or more Movies for the Weekend. Apologies for the lack of updates, we have been moving into our new office space and it has taken longer than we first anticipated. Well, as of today we are finally there and it is a really nice workspace. It is an identical space to our smaller demonstration area we already have, and adds to our complex of rooms available for customers to visit and experience top notch audio and video.

We have had a lot of new products pop their heads above the parapet, notably some new projectors in the form of JVC’s DLA-X5000, DLA-X7000, DLA-X9000. No native 4K this year from the masters of black but this would appear to be one of the only lacking areas with these new beamers. Sony have also launched slightly revised versions of their native 4K projectors in the form on the VPL-VW320es & VPL-VW520es. Talk among the industry and on the forums is of a revised version of the VPL-VW1100es coming our way soon as well. We are excited to see if the rumours of 8K E-shift and LED technology are true, I guess time will tell. All of the above projectors are on order and will be available to demonstrate as soon as they are available.

We have had some good success with the new Trinnov Altitude 32 with a couple of units already sold and waiting to be installed, we have a demonstration unit which will be with us in the next couple of weeks which will sit alongside the Datasat RS20i unit in our new demonstration facility and warehouse on the other side of Edinburgh. As I’m aware we will be the only place in the UK currently where you can compare the Datasat RS20i and the Trinnov Altitude 32 back to back, some of the finest residential cinema processors on the market. Towards the end of the month I will also be visiting Datasat to have a factory tour and experience two or three outstanding cinemas of theirs which I’m pretty excited about.

Denon, Marantz, Pioneer and Yamaha all revealed their current ranges for AV amplifiers but the most intriguing product is Yamaha’s new YSP-5600 Dolby Atmos & DTS-X Soundbar. I jokingly said 6 months ago someone would do an Atmos soundbar, and who better than Yamaha the kings of soundbar technology to produce it. I can’t wait to hear one now.

While most of our time is spent in the higher echelons of home cinema, it always excites me to get people who hadn’t considered home cinema or hadn’t heard it before. We recently hosted a show at a modeller’s convention in Edinburgh and rather than take the most expensive kit we had, I took some budget equipment along with not one piece being over £600. It was great to see people’s reaction to a relatively inexpensive system and talk to some people who had maybe not considered home cinema for one reason or another. Well worth doing.

Dan

A couple of days ago I was invited to be a guest of Pulse Cinemas to experience their facility in Essex. After an early start and an interesting journey and landing with Ryan Air, we finally arrived at the fantastic facility early doors, and raring to go. We firstly listened to their small room which is about the size of an average garage conversion. Kitted out with Procella Speakers and Datasat Electronics in quite a dampened room I thought, the system sounded fiery and definitely woke me up! We then moved to the larger premium room with Triad speakers and Datasat Electronics. Both rooms were frankly superb, and a very different sound to what I experienced at JBL with their Synthesis system some weeks ago. Equally as good, with each having their different accent to the sound which let’s face it, if you know what you are doing can be tailored to fit a listeners preference. The larger room was a proper cinema experience, with phenomenal amounts of bass that just seemed to keep going on and on and on. Both very impressive, but the best was yet to come.

Later in the day we were surprised with a visit to David Crozier’s cinema. David worked in the motion picture business for decades, capturing sound and dialogue from actors in his role as a production sound mixer. Recipient of four British Academy (BAFTA) nominations and winner of an Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures award for Finding Neverland, David was and is the real deal as it were when it comes to sound. Basically, if anyone knows sound and knows the motion picture industry, David does. Responsible for sound on films like Harry Potter and Mission Impossible, his CV is long and strong. Now retired and teaching his passion, he is still on the judging board for BAFTA and as he proudly put it uses his cinema “every night of the week”. David’s cinema has been updated somewhat since the article was written for the Procella website, and now features Procella Speakers in an Auro 3D Configuration with 18” subwoofers, Datasat RS20i Processor & Power Amplifiers, Screen Research Multi Aspect Projection Screen, Oppo BDP-105D, Kaleidescape and a Runco 1080p Projector. Simply put, the sound from David’s cinema was staggeringly clear and dynamic and while being at reference level (possibly louder at points) was an utter joy to listen to. The best cinema I have ever heard without question. Interestingly this affirmed my own preference on how to correctly set-up a cinema, somewhat confirmed by David’s professional ears and own preference which we discussed for most of the day and over an evening meal.

Our second day consisted of Datasat RS20i training and a tour around the old DTS facility which is now Datasat HQ in the UK. Treated to a visit inside the cutting room, cinema and projection booth; we got to see behind the scenes of somewhere where a serious amount of Hollywood’s golden audio was mixed and produced. We were also given access to “the vault” before it was moved to the USA. This houses every master copy of DTS audio that was mixed there, and included the Bourne Films and Star Wars to name but a few, a real treat and a proper goose bumps moment for me.

My overriding feeling from the visit and the Datasat RS20i is that it is a magnificent piece of engineering, and a fantastic sounding cinema processor. I would have no hesitation in recommending it to a potential buyer, the surprise of the visit for me was David’s Procella speakers. Not a brand I have spent much time dwelling on in the past, but something I am defiantly looking at in the future and also one I would heartily recommend. I must extended a big thanks to Pulse for having us, but particularly to David Crozier who is one of the nicest men you will ever meet and the most knowledgeable film professional I will probably have the pleasure to talk to.

Should you wish to hear what a Datasat RS20i can really do, we currently have a unit available for demonstration in Edinburgh and would love to let you have a listen.

DATASAT RS20I

DAVID CROZIER ON IMDB

DAVID CROZIER'S CINEMA

SEE PHOTOS OF OUR VISIT HERE

Congratulations to Kathy MaCrae of Edinburgh for winning a Sonos Play 3 in our recent competition at the "Scale Scotland" event. Proudly being presented by our MD Struan Mackenzie.